1850
Henry Willard Williams, AM, MD, delivers the first course of clinical ophthalmology lectures at Harvard Medical School—the first course of its kind ever given in an American medical school.
1871
Dr. Williams becomes the first Chair of the newly established Harvard Medical School (HMS) Department of Ophthalmology.
1891
Williams' successor, Oliver Fairfield Wadsworth, AM, MD, joins the staff of the Massachusetts Charitable Eye & Ear Infirmary (established in 1824). Soon after, the hospital becomes the hub of Harvard's ophthalmic training.
1891
Benjamin Joy Jeffries, AM, MD, establishes one of the first ophthalmic pathology laboratories in the the U.S., at Mass. Eye & Ear. In 1982, the lab is dedicated to renowned HMS ophthalmologist and alumnus, David G. Cogan, MD.