Radio Rootz' This Day in History

• produced by Kristal Graham
• in

An event known as the Doctors' Riot took place in New York City as an angry mob stormed a hospital and began destroying everything from specimens to surgical instruments. It was a common practice then for medical students to dig up graves in search of cadavers, and the tension between the community and the physicians in New York City had grown as the act of body snatching became more noticeable. The Riot continued into the next day at which point soldiers were called in to quell the uprising and in the process killed many of the rioters. Even after most of the doctors and medical students fled the City, it took days for the violent atmosphere to finally subside. While U.S.