Walter Mendelson

When Henry George conscientiously accepted a nomination for mayor of New York in 1897 he was advised by his physician and adherent, Dr. Walter Mendelson, that the strain of the campaign might kill him. George died a few days before the election. Before and after his friend’s death Dr. Mendelson labored to win acceptance for George’s Single Tax theory. The physician’s versatile mind was attracted to many subjects outside his profession. He went deep enough into botany to have a fern named after him. Jewelry and clocks made by him were widely exhibited. An honor graduate of the class of 1879 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, he later served as president of its alumni association and was for several years a trustee of the university. He published a study of the life of Maimonides, Jewish physician and philosopher. Of Jewish and Quaker ancestry, he was born in Germantown, and was a member of the Society of Friends. He retired to Philadelphia, when he gave up his general practice in New York, eighteen years ago.

Geoffrey Parsons
1940 Century Memorials