Abstract Details

Title Merrill Moore Poet Laureate of Boston City Hospital Neurological Unit

Topic Research Methodology, Education, and History

Presentation(s) History of Neurology Posters (7:00 AM-5:00 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 007

Background Participation in Boston City Hospital Neurology.

Objective Detail the life and contributions of Merrill Moore who was a prominent resident of the South End of Boston while training and working on complex addiction problems at the Neurological Unit of Boston City Hospital in the 1930s through the 1950s.

Design/Methods Historical review of multiple sources including the Stuart Wright Collection: Merrill Moore Papers 1929–1987, undated Manuscript Collection #1169-007 East Carolina University .

Results Merrill Moore was born Austin Merrill Moore at Columbia, TN on 11 September 1903. His father was poet, novelist, and historian John Trotwood Moore. Merrill Moore attained a bachelor's degree in 1924 and an MD in 1928 from Vanderbilt University. He trained at the Neurological Unit of the Boston City Hospital and then in 1935 Moore established a private practice as a physician in Boston. He also taught neurology at Harvard Medical School and at Boston City Hospital He was known for his research on alcoholism and drug addiction. During World War II Moore received a Bronze Star for his service during the Bougainville Campaign as a U. S. Army psychiatrist. He also served in New Zealand. His literary adventures included his membrship in the Fugitive Group of poets together with Robert Penn Warren, Allen Tate, and others, he published many poems from 1922 to 1926 in a poetry magazine, The Fugitive, and in Fugitives, An Anthology of Verse in 1928. Over his life, he published more than forty volumes of poetry and is said to have written more than 50,000 sonnets. He died at age 54 on 20 September 1957.

Conclusions Known as the Poet Laureate of Boston City Hospital, Moore was involved in early efforts to help Sigmund Freud escape from Europe but the planned itinerary to the South End of Boston ended instead in Hempstead outside of London.

Authors/Disclosures
Benjamin R. Brooks, MD, FAAN (Clinical Trials Planning LLC) PRESENTER	Dr. Brooks has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant for Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America. Dr. Brooks has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant for Medicinova. Dr. Brooks has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Biogen. Dr. Brooks has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for AB Science. Dr. Brooks has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Ionis. Dr. Brooks has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America. Dr. Brooks has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Muscular Dystrophy Association. The institution of Dr. Brooks has received research support from Mitsubishi TanabePharma America. Dr. Brooks has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving as a Member Annual Surveillance Committee CDC National ALS Registry with Center for Disease Control Agency Toxic Substances Disease Registry. Dr. Brooks has a non-compensated relationship as a Member ALS Quality Measures Subcommittee with American Academy of Neurology that is relevant to AAN interests or activities.