The Isaiah L. Alden diary contains the reflections of a medical student and doctor in Michigan and Maine from 1867-1869. Alden provided detailed, near-daily accounts of his studies at the University of Michigan and at Bowdoin College, and described his work at the U. S. Marine Hospital in Portland, Maine.
Alden commenced the diary on December 1, 1867, while he was studying medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his early entries, he reflected on his life as a student, and often included descriptions of lectures given by several professors at the university, as well as accounts of medical cases he saw at various clinics. He also made note of various religious meetings he attended during this time, particularly at Ann Arbor's Methodist church. Alden left Ann Arbor for his native Maine in March 1868, and began working at the U. S. Marine Hospital in Portland, Maine, shortly after his arrival in April. He continued to describe his medical work during the period, as well as a lengthy vacation he took in the summer of that year. Upon his return, he experienced chronic discomfort caused by the complications of tuberculosis, and he tried to obtain a life insurance policy in late September, but was rejected. He left the hospital, and resumed his medical education in mid-February 1869. The remainder of the diary contains accounts of his time at the Medical School of Maine (now the School of Medicine at Bowdoin College), including notes about various professors, lectures, and examinations, and about his deteriorating health. The volume's final entry is dated May 11, 1869.
Isaiah L. Alden was born on June 8, 1846, and lived in East Turner, Maine. In 1867, he began to study medicine at the University of Michigan, but left for Portland, Maine, in March 1868, where he worked for the U. S. Marine Hospital. During a summer visit to Turner that year, Alden contracted a serious disease, and at the end of the year he quit his job at the hospital. In February 1869, he returned to school, and resumed his medical studies at the Medical School of Maine (now the School of Medicine at Bowdoin College). His health continued to deteriorate, and he was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. He survived and moved to Iowa to practice law, though his frail health forced a return to Livermore Falls, Maine, in the early 1870s. Alden married Dora Staples on July 24, 1871, and they had three children: Sibyl, Minnie, and Loyal. He remained in Maine until his death on July 1, 1886.
