Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

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Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Founded in 1824 as the Boston Eye Infirmary, Mass Eye and Ear has a 200-year history of caring for Boston’s residents. It provided early opportunities for women in the medical profession. The institution helped to transform specialized medicine into a public service available to all.

A sepia colored image of a five story building with multiple ads and billboards.

Mass Eye and Ears first location in 1824, the Scollay Building. Photo c. late 1800s. (Courtesy of the Abraham Pollen Archives of Mass Eye and Ear).

For more than two centuries, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (also called Mass Eye and Ear) has been one of Boston’s most important charitable and medical institutions. What became Mass Eye and Ear began as the Boston Eye Infirmary. It was founded in 1824 by Edward Reynolds, MD, and John Jeffries II, MD. They began their practice in a rented room in Scollay Square. The inspiration for the clinic was London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital and Reynolds’s successful cataract surgery on his father. The doctors believed people from all walks of life should have access to specialized treatment for blindness and eye disease. Their first clinic ran one afternoon a week. In fifteen months, it helped over 850 patients.

A man with mutton chops standing at the bottom of a staircase and holding a top hat.

Mass Eye and Ear co-founder John Jeffries II, 1865. Photograph by Black (the National Library of Medicine).

An address at the dedication of the new building of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, by Edward Reynolds, July 3, 1850 (Wellcome Collection).

Treatment of ear diseases soon became part of the practice. The clinic incorporated as the Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1827. In 1850, the Infirmary expanded to meet the needs of Boston’s growing population. It moved to 175 Charles Street in the West End where a hospital was built to provide specialized care.

An illustration of a two story stone building with a fence in front.

Mass Eye and Ear's building at 175 Charles Street, erected in 1850 (Mass Eye and Ear Archives).

Doctors treated Bostonians for cataracts, inflammatory diseases, injuries, and trachoma, a bacterial infection. In 1886, a young woman suffering from trachoma, Anne Sullivan, underwent an operation at the hospital to restore partial sight. Sullivan would become Helen Keller’s lifelong teacher and friend.

Two women in white dresses. One is seated and holding hands with the other woman standing.

Helen Keller, seated, holding hand of her teacher, Anne Sullivan c. 1909 (Library of Congress).

In 1899, over 25,000 people were treated. That same year, the Infirmary moved to its current location at 243 Charles Street. The new building included one of America’s first isolation wards dedicated to contagious eye diseases.

A black and white image of a four story brick building seen from a street corner.

MEEI's building at 243 Charles Street, 1925 (Courtesy of the Abraham Pollen Archives of Mass Eye and Ear).

The Infirmary’s location in the West End made it accessible to the neighborhood’s immigrant community. West End workers generally held industrial, manual, and domestic jobs that put them at high risk for injury. Crowded housing conditions also increased their risk of contracting infectious diseases.

An advertising card that shows the doctors employed by and eye and ear hospital.

Advertising card for MEEI showing its doctors and rules for admittance c. 1850-1899 (Historic New England).

Hundreds of children were treated for contagious and congenital eye conditions. Others were treated for hearing loss caused by infections that antibiotics would later prevent. The hospital was a charitable institution and an essential resource for Bostonians who could not afford medical care.

Four drawings of a library, a parlor, a meal prep room, and an operating theatre with an illustration of a hospital building in the center.

Drawings of the current Mass Eye and Ear building upon its opening, March 9, 1899 (The Boston Globe).

The hospital’s early leadership was almost entirely male, but women played key roles in the daily life and development of the infirmary. In 1895, the hospital established a pioneering postgraduate training school for ophthalmic (eye care) and aural (ear care) nurses. At a time when careers for women were limited, the program trained female nurses. They learned how to assist with eye operations and post-operative patient care. Nurses in the program treated infectious diseases using techniques unavailable at most American hospitals. A Nurse’s Home opened in 1909 where nurses were required to live and observe strict rules of conduct. The building, named the John Jeffries Home after the Infirmary’s founder, still stands. It has since been incorporated into the Whitney Hotel.

A photo taken from a bridge showing the end of the bridge, a 6 story building and a large hexagonal building.

Nurses' home of MEE next to the Longfellow Bridge. Photo by Baldwin Coolidge, November 12, 1909 (Historic New England Library and Archives purchase, Sept. 17, 1918.)

Women continued to make strides at the Infirmary in the early 20th century. In 1907, Catherine Brannick became the Infirmary’s first social worker. This position worked to address patients’ living conditions alongside their medical needs. Dr. Katharine Law was the first known woman to serve as a physician at the Infirmary in 1909. In 1921, Dr. Maud Carvill became the first woman appointed as a surgeon. She specialized in childhood eye diseases and likely saved the vision of many Massachusetts children. One year later, Dr. Isabel Kerr became the first woman to serve as a surgeon in the otolaryngology (ears, nose, and throat) department. The Ladies Visiting Committee, established in 1915, raised funds, volunteered at the hospital, and financed social work positions.

A group of doctors pose for a portrait in front of a blackboard. There are two rows of men in surgical gowns and two women.

Laryngology surgical staff, 1909, including Dr. Katharine H. Law, the first known woman physician at the hospital (Courtesy of the Abraham Pollen Archives of Mass Eye and Ear).

Two rows of doctors and nurses pose for a portrait. There are three women in the center and several of the men wear surgical gowns or suits.

Ear, Nose, and Throat surgical staff, January 1911. Dr. Margaret Noyes Kleinert (third from right) and Dr. Isabel D. Kerr are among the early female surgeons (Courtesy of the Abraham Pollen Archives of Mass Eye and Ear).

In the early 1920s, the hospital expanded its specialized services. They now offered ophthalmology, otology (ear), laryngology (larynx), and plastic surgery. They also strengthened ties with Harvard Medical School (HMS). Varaztad Kazanjian, DMD, MD, became the first Chief of Plastic Surgery Service and HMS’s first Professor of Plastic Surgery in 1923. He is considered the father of modern plastic surgery.

An older man in a suit posing, seated, for a portrait.

Pioneering plastic surgeon Varaztad H. Kazanjian. Portrait by Perham Studio, 1952 (Harvard Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine).

The Infirmary changed its name to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) in 1924. The Howe Laboratory was established in 1926 as the first endowed ophthalmic research unit in the United States. Over time, MEEI increasingly functioned as a Harvard-affiliated research and teaching institute. It still maintained its charitable mission. MEEI treated patients regardless of their ability to pay while expanding its social work and outpatient care.

A newspaper clipping showing two men doing surgery and an illustration of a detached retina.

Coverage of a retinal detachment surgery at the MEEI. This surgery and discussions of a new building for the Retina Foundation on Staniford Street is contemporary with the beginning of the West End Urban Renewal Project, June 15, 1958 (The Boston Globe).

By the 1950s, MEEI was renowned for its specialized medical training and biomedical research. When urban renewal demolished much of the West End, MEEI’s surroundings changed drastically. However, the hospital at 243 Charles Street remained operational and unchanged.

A map of an area of blocks showing several parcels labeled with letters and numbers.

A report by the Cambridge Street Development Corporation formed by MEEI, Mass General Hospital, and the Beacon Hill Civic Association to plan development of Cambridge Street, 1975 (Boston Redevelopment Authority Collection, Boston Public Library).

A fifteen-story building addition was completed in 1974. The 1899 six-story brick building remained and was partially enclosed by the new concrete structure. As the decades passed, MEEI became closely integrated with MGH on a physical and institutional level.

An architectural illustration showing a tall white concrete building standing over a smaller structure with brick structures around it.

An architectural illustration showing the shaded walkway around a building while cars drive in front.

Architectural drawings of the 15-story addition added onto the 243 Charles Street Mass Eye and Ear building, 1968 (Courtesy of the Abraham Pollen Archives of Mass Eye and Ear).

By the 1980s, MEEI was a major center for auditory research. Doctors focused on how hearing might be restored biologically, rather than mechanically. Dr. Joseph Nadol Jr. performed the first cochlear implant surgery in New England at MEEI in 1984. Later breakthroughs include advances in treating age-related macular degeneration. The first FDA-approved gene therapy to restore vision in patients with hereditary blindness was also developed at MEEI.

A large concrete building built over a smaller brick one.

The completed addition of the Mass Eye and Ear building in the 1980s (Courtesy of the Abraham Pollen Archives of Mass Eye and Ear).

Today, about 1 in 5 ophthalmology department chairs in the U.S. and Canada trained at MEEI. It employs roughly 2,400 nurses, physicians, clinicians, and support staff. In 2018, MEEI became part of the Mass General Brigham network and celebrated its bicentennial in 2024.

A river scape with several tall buildings over a green embankment.

The Mass Eye and Ear building on the right nestled in the West End skyline. Photo by Garyfallia Pagonis, c. 2020s (Photo credit Garyfallia Pagonis for Mass Eye and Ear).

MEEI has had a long journey to becoming a world renowned hospital. Its founders treated patients in rented rooms regardless of their ability to pay. Over 200 years, it has become home to one of the world’s largest vision and hearing research centers. Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary has been and will continue to be important in the eyes and ears of Bostonians and beyond.