When we think of romance, images of flowers, candlelight dinners, and beach walks typically come to mind. But for William Halsted, a founding professor of Johns Hopkins Hospital in America, it was a pair of rubber gloves that truly sealed the deal.
But before I reveal why, let’s set the stage.
Our star, Caroline Hampton, was a member of a prominent Southern American family and the niece of Confederate General Wade Hampton III. She was a strong-willed woman who, defying her family’s expectations, chose her own path. She left the Deep South to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse, enrolling in a New York nursing school. After graduating in 1888, she moved to Baltimore, where the next chapter of her life began.
Enter Professor William Halsted.
Caroline was appointed Chief Nurse under Professor Halsted, and it wasn’t long before their professional relationship blossomed into something more. Their shared passion for medicine soon became a love for each other. Despite their budding romance, they maintained their professionalism in the operating room.
One of the disinfectant solutions Halsted used during surgeries was a harsh mix of carbolic acid and mercuric chloride. As his diligent scrub nurse, Caroline’s hands were regularly exposed to these chemicals, leading to severe dermatitis. The irritation was relentless, and though Caroline endured it silently, William couldn’t bear to see her suffer.
Determined to find a solution, Halsted reached out to the Goodyear Rubber Company to create protective rubber gloves specifically for Caroline. Caroline continued her work, unaware of his efforts, until shortly after their wedding in June 1890, when he presented her with two custom-made pairs of rubber gloves.
The gloves provided much-needed relief for Caroline’s hands, and William earned himself a place in the history of medical innovation—and the good graces of his new wife. Word of Halsted’s thoughtful invention quickly spread, and soon, other theatre staff and surgeons began using rubber gloves.
Halsted is widely credited as the first to develop and introduce rubber surgical gloves in America.
Fast forward about 60 years and the first disposable latex medical gloves were manufactured by the Ansell Rubber Company, rolling off the production line in 1964.
As an interesting side not, did you know that the world uses an estimated 100 billion medical gloves each year, with some factories producing up to 45,000 gloves per hour!
So, the next time you slip on a pair of rubber gloves, take a moment to give a silent nod to William Halsted, the innovative surgeon who knew that sometimes love—and medicine—are best expressed with a pair of gloves.
While I didn’t invent the rubber glove, I’m passionate about empowering dental practitioners, practice managers and dental assistants to feel confident in their infection control knowledge and practices.
With over 10 years as an infection control consultant—after 15 years as a practicing dentist—I understand how overwhelming infection control can feel. There’s an overload of information out there, often conflicting, and you don’t have time to sift through it all.
