PRINTER'S NO. 4531
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
1066
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY MALAGARI, STEPHENS, FREEMAN, HILL-EVANS, TOEPEL,
BURNS, READSHAW, SANCHEZ, MILLARD, WEBSTER AND HENNESSEY,
OCTOBER 19, 2020
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
OCTOBER 19, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Honoring the life of Dr. Frank Erdman Boston as a World War I
veteran, military surgeon, community doctor and founder of
the Elm Terrace/Abington-Lansdale Hospital and the Volunteer
Medical Service Corps' ambulance corps.
WHEREAS, Dr. Boston attended Lincoln University, which was
the first degree-granting Historically Black College or
University in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Boston later attended the Medico-Chirurgical
College, which was established as a result of the merger of the
Medico-Chirurgical Society of Philadelphia, the University of
Pennsylvania Medical College and the Jefferson Medical College;
and
WHEREAS, Upon receiving his formal medical training, Dr.
Boston enlisted in the United States Army and was promoted to
the rank of first lieutenant in its Medical Reserve Corps; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Boston was assigned as a medical officer with
the 317th Engineers Regiment of the 92nd Division of the
American Expeditionary Forces; and
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WHEREAS, The 92nd Division fought valiantly throughout France
and participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which was the
largest operation of the American Expeditionary Forces during
World War I; and
WHEREAS, The Meuse-Argonne Offensive has been recorded in
United States' history as the nation's deadliest military
campaign, with more than 26,000 soldiers killed in action and
more than 120,000 total casualties; and
WHEREAS, During the war, Dr. Boston treated soldiers while
under extraordinary conditions, under aerial and gas attacks;
and
WHEREAS, Dr. Boston was promoted to captain and ended his
military service with the rank of major; and
WHEREAS, After returning from the war, Dr. Boston returned to
Philadelphia and settled in the Lansdale area, where he
established the Elm Terrace Hospital, which was later renamed
North Penn Hospital and subsequently became part of Abington-
Jefferson Health; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Boston also established the First Aid Emergency
Squad in Lansdale, which later became the Volunteer Medical
Service Corps of Lansdale; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Boston was also an active volunteer in his local
community, where he served as the chairman of Health and Safety
for the General Nash District of the Boy Scouts of America's
Valley Forge Council; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Boston also served his community as a member of
the Reserve Officers Association of Military Surgeons, the
Montgomery County Medical Society and the American Medical
Association; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Boston died on February 8, 1960, at 68 years of
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age and was buried in Lansdale; and
WHEREAS, In honor of Dr. Boston's accomplishments and service
to his nation and community, Jefferson Health and Abington-
Lansdale Hospital, in collaboration with the Borough of
Lansdale, are honoring Dr. Boston with the creation of a mural
to be located at Lansdale Borough Hall; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life of
Dr. Frank Erdman Boston as a World War I veteran, military
surgeon, community doctor and founder of the Elm
Terrace/Abington-Lansdale Hospital and the Volunteer Medical
Service Corps' ambulance corps.
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