Joseph Janvier Woodward
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Janvier Woodward (1833–1884), commonly known as J. Woodward, was an American surgeon. • Illustration — Portrait of Joseph Janvier Woodward
Also recorded as Joseph J. Woodward · J. J. Woodward · Joseph Janvier Woodward Jr.
Joseph Janvier Woodward

Robert S. Henry · Public domain
- Born
- 1833 · Philadelphia.
- Died
- 1884 · Media.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- physician · surgeon · photographer
- Education
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania · Central High School
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Janvier Woodward (1833–1884), commonly known as J. Woodward, was an American surgeon. • Illustration — Portrait of Joseph Janvier Woodward
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Note VALÉORINE
Joseph Janvier Woodward (1833–1884) was an American military physician, photographer and physician, among other activities. Born in Philadelphia, the military physician died in Media.
Joseph Janvier Woodward studied at Central High School. The military physician was a member of National Academy of Sciences and held the position of President of the American Medical Association.
Languages used include English. Works by Joseph Janvier Woodward are held at Photography Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q6284343 · wikipedia · Joseph Janvier Woodward
In this article
Biography
Biography
Joseph Janvier Woodward studied at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Central High School. The recorded working language is English. Positions recorded include President of the American Medical Association. Work by Joseph Janvier Woodward is recorded in the collections of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Photography Collection.
Woodward served in the U.S. Civil War as Army Assistant Surgeon and produced several publications on war-related diseases. He was also a microscopist known worldwide and an instrumental pioneer in photo-microscopy. A collection of his photo-micrographs are preserved at the Royal Microscopical Society in the UK. Woodward performed and wrote reports on the autopsies of both Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. He also attended to president Garfield after he was shot. A collection of bulletins on Garfield's condition issued by the attending physicians is held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. According to a website run by the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory: "Woodward was the first scientist to establish photomicrography as a tool for both scientific and medical investigations." According to an article in the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine: "In addition to collecting specimens for the museum's archive, he co-authored the definitive medical history of the Civil War in the 6-volume 1870 publication of the MSHWR.4 Woodward's technique using aniline dyes for staining thin sections of tissue, along with his pioneering work in photomicroscopy, helped prepare the groundwork for modern surgical pathology." In 1881, Woodward served as president of the Philosophical Society of Washington. He was also a curator of certain sections of the Army Medical Museum.
Personal life
Personal life
Woodward's sister was the musician and writer, Aubertine Woodward Moore.

Lt. Col. Joseph J. Woodward, MC, who pioneered in America in the use of aniline dyes for staining microscope slides and in photomicrography "using the highest powers."
Robert S. Henry
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1833
Joseph Janvier Woodward born at Philadelphia.
1884
Joseph Janvier Woodward died at Media.
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Philadelphia.
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Media.
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- 1.Rapkiewicz, Amy. Surgical pathology in the era of the Civil War: The remarkable life and accomplishments of Joseph Janvier Woodward, MD. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. 129. 10. 1313–1316. November 2005. 10.5858/2005-129-1313-SPITEO.
- 2.National Library of Medicine. Official medical bulletins relating to the health of U.S. President James Garfield 1881.
- 3.Rapkiewicz, Amy V. Surgical Pathology in the Era of the Civil War: The Remarkable Life and Accomplishments of Joseph Janvier Woodward, MD. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. 129. 10. 1313–1316. 2005. 1543-2165.
- 4.Past Presidents. PSW Science.
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Joseph Janvier Woodward is recorded as having studied at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Central High School.
Recognition and collections
Work by Joseph Janvier Woodward is
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Photography Collection
Activity and practice
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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