The President's tumor
A reporter got it right in 1893. It took until 1917 for a surgeon to say so.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
Elisha Jay Edwards got the story right, and for twenty-four years the official answer was that he had not. In June 1893 the American economy was failing, and President Grover Cleveland went to his dentist about his upper jaw. The army surgeon called in found an ulcer nearly as large as a quarter. Cleveland's own doctor, Joseph Bryant, told him: "It is a bad looking tenant. Were it in my mouth I would have it removed at once."
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
Mutter Museum, 19 South 22nd Street. Open Wednesday to Monday, 10 am to 5 pm, closed Tuesdays (museum site, 2026). Entry is ticketed and limited, so buy ahead for weekends.
Sources
- It Is a Bad Looking Tenant, Mutter Museum
- William W. Keen's material related to the operation of President Cleveland, College of Physicians of Philadelphia
- W. W. Keen, Physician to the Presidents, Hektoen International
- Grover Cleveland's Deadly Secret, Mental Floss
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