Samuel Hahnemann Monument
The Samuel Hahnemann Monument, also known as Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, is a public artwork dedicated to Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy. It is located on the east side of Scott Circle, a traffic circle in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The Classical Revival monument consists of an exedra designed by architect Julius Harder and a statue sculpted by Charles Henry Niehaus, whose works include the John Paul Jones Memorial in Washington, D.C., and several statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. The monument is significant because Hahnemann is the first foreigner not associated with the American Revolution to be honored with a sculpture in Washington, D.C. The monument was dedicated in 1900 following years of fundraising efforts by the American Institute of Homeopathy. Among the thousands of attendees at the dedication ceremony were prominent citizens including President William McKinley, Attorney General John W. Griggs, and General John Moulder Wilson. The monument was rededicated in 2000 and a restoration process was completed in 2011. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The monument and surrounding lot are owned and maintained by the National Park Service, a federal agency of the Interior Department. History Background Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) was a German physician who created homeopathy, an alternative medicine system that is considered a pseudoscience. He studied chemistry and medicine at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, earning a medical degree in 1779. He was then appointed Surgeon-in-Chief at a hospital in Dresden and later served as superintendent of an insane asylum in Georgenthal. While serving on the faculty at Leipzig University, Hahnemann became disillusioned with standard medical procedures of the time, including over drugging and bleeding. He pursued what he considered "natural laws" of medicine, opposing allopathy and developed the "laws of similars" (similia similibus curantur, meaning like is cured by like). His unorthodox views were controversial at the time, but Hahnemann continued to pursue his homeopathic studies and published several works, including The Organon of the Healing Act (1810), Materia Medica Para (1811–1821), and The Chronic Diseases, Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homeopathic Cure (1828). He is considered the greatest influence on the practice of homeopathy, which was very influential in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A monument honoring Hahnemann was first proposed in 1881 by physician James H. McClelland at a meeting of the Homeopathic Medical Society. It wasn't until June 1892 at the 45th Session of the American Institute of Homeopathy (AIH) that the organization agreed to undertake the project. Members of the nation's homeopathic community began raising funds, including the largest single donation of $4,510 by physician Nancy T. Williams. The AIH was assisted in its endeavor by the National Sculpture Society, which formed a committee to select an artist and design. The committee consisted of sculptors George Edwin Bissell, Daniel Chester French, and Olin Levi Warner, and architects Thomas Hastings and Russell Sturgis. A design competition was held with 25 models submitted. They were displayed at the American Academy of