March 30th is National Doctors’ Day, an annual observance aimed at appreciating physicians who help save our lives everywhere. The holiday first started in 1933 in Winder, Georgia, and since then it’s been honored every year on March 30 which was the first anniversary of a doctor using ether anesthesia by Dr. Crawford W. Long.
Eudora Brown Almond, the wife of a doctor in Georgia, believed her husband and other physicians deserved more recognition for their hard work and set out to make this idea a reality. Almond mailed greeting cards to all local physicians and their wives, and she put flowers on the graves of deceased doctors, including Dr. Long. The flowers were red carnations, which would later become the representative flower for the national holiday. A few other local doctors’ wives even assisted Almond in preparing a celebratory luncheon so their husbands’ work in healthcare could be publicly appreciated.
On March 30, 1958, a resolution commemorating Doctor’s Day was adopted by Congress, and then in 1990 then U.S. President, George H.W. Bush signed into law the designation of March 30 as National Doctor’s Day. On National Doctors Day, and every day, we express our gratitude to the Balboa Doctors for all they do!
