Parkland Hospital

In 1890, Dallas was a frontier town with medical care delivered by doctors on horseback. The poorly funded city hospitals were ill equipped and had no real medication or nurses. It is difficult to look back on history and define the moment when modern medicine began, but for Dallas, that moment was in 1894 with the building of Parkland Hospital. As Dallas grew and felt the pain of the polio epidemic, world wars, and the Kennedy assassination, Parkland Hospital was there. This is the story of Parkland Hospital and its 120-year journey from frontier medicine to becoming one of the world's premier medical centers.

Parkland's past is told through photographs and stories collected by John W. Boyd, MD, a physician in the Dallas area for the past 30 years. After graduating from Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, John completed his residency at Parkland Hospital in 1985. In cooperation with universities, libraries, and museums, John presents a history of Dallas told through the eyes of Parkland Hospital and Southwestern Medical School.