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Guide to the P. C. Remondino Papers
MS 4
MS 4
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Title: P. C. Remondino Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS 4
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.25 Linear feet
(7 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1734-1924
Abstract: This collection contains the papers and research of P.C. (Peter Charles) Remondino, San Diego physician.
creator:
Remondino, Peter Charles, 1846-1926
This collection is open for research.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
This collection contains papers of P.C. (Peter Charles) Remondino, including autobiographies, published works, manuscripts
and drafts dated from 1891 to 1922. Published works include “History of Circumcision,” “The Modern Climatic Treatment of Invalids
with Pulmonary Consumption in Southern California,” and “Medical Education,” among others. An assortment of transcribed articles
of Remondino’s interests extend from 1734 to 1911. Also included in the collection are some of Remondino's personal papers,
including military and pension documents, as well as poems and musical compositions written and/or collected by his daughter,
Luisa Re Mondini.
Collection processed by Aimee Santos on March 6, 2012.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
P. C. Remondino Papers, MS 4, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number 790607.
Biographical / Historical Notes
P.C. (Peter Charles) Remondino was born in Turin, Italy on February 10, 1846. After his mother passed away, he and his father
immigrated to America in the spring of 1854. Remondino spent his first year in America attending a private school in New York
City to learn the English language. His father then brought the small family to Wabasha, Minnesota where he opened up a general
store. At the age of 16, Remondino accompanied Dr. Francis H. Milligan, the local doctor and former professor, on his rounds
in Wabasha. His profound interest and predilection in medicine grew and not long after, with the encouragement of Dr. Milligan,
he was studying at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. While a student, Remondino, along with other classmates, responded
to the call for surgeons during the Civil War’s Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. His service as a medical cadet in Virginia
exposed him to the primitive battlefield medicine where petroleum was a typical medical treatment for many ills, from gunshot
wounds to the amputation of a shattered limb. The winter session brought him back to Jefferson Medical College to resume his
studies the same year. He graduated the following year in the spring of 1865.
Immediately after graduation, he returned to the army as an Acting Assistant Surgeon, serving at various hospitals, camps,
and military prisons in Virginia. He also fell victim to malaria, which was prevalent in the area. He returned to Minnesota
to start his own private practice until the declaration of war with Prussia by the Republic of France on September 4, 1870.
He sought service as a Volunteer Surgeon with the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War and was one of two Americans
to receive the French Military Medal for war service. During his tour of Europe, malaria plagued him again. As a result of
the impairment of his health in both wars, he became interested in medical climatology and began his pursuit of a more suitable
climate. After travelling by steamer and several weeks stay in San Francisco, he finally settled in San Diego in 1873. In
January of 1874, he opened an office next door to an old classmate, Dr. Robert Gregg.
In 1875, Dr. Remondino was appointed City Physician and was the first President of the City Board of Health, a position he
intermittently occupied until his death. He was the Surgeon of the Southern California Railroad Company and the Pacific Coast
Steamship Company. For many years he was the Surgeon of the U.S. Marine Hospital Service.
Built by Dr. Remondino and Dr. Thomas C. Stockton, the first private hospital in San Diego opened its doors in 1881. The two-story,
24 bed structure was located on the corner of F and Columbia Streets. Dr. Remondino later sold his share of the hospital to
Dr. Stockton in 1884. In 1886, Dr. Remondino temporarily retired from practicing medicine. In the same year he and his wife
built the Saint James Hotel, located on the corner of 6th Avenue and E Street in Downtown, San Diego. Subsequently, he resumed
full practice once again. On record, only eight physicians practiced in San Diego in the year of 1887. Dr. Remondino had 39
subscribers in 1881. His practice extended into Ensenada where he successfully operated on a number of cysts of the pancreas
of parasitic origin from sheep.
Dr. Remondino’s interest in the history of medicine generated a collection of literature which at one point became the largest
medical library in the state of California. One of his travels to Europe brought back a diversity of 3,000 medical books in
various languages. For a period of time, he held the Chair of History of Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Los Angeles, which is now the medical department of the University of Southern California. He urged the establishment of
a Secretary of Health position in the United States President’s Cabinet as early as 1892. This development did not occur until
the creation of the Cabinet-level Department of Health, Education and Welfare under President Eisenhower in 1953. He occupied
many distinguished positions including San Diego County Physician, Vice President of the California Medical State Society,
President of the Southern California Medical Society, and President of the San Diego County Medical Society. He also served
on the State Board of Health of California. He was associated with the American Public Health Association, the American Medical
Association, and the New York Medico-Legal Society.
In 1877, Dr. Remondino married Sophia Ann Earle, a niece of the Bishop of Marlborough of London, the late Honorable Alfred
Earle. In 1891, Dr. Remondino and his wife Sophia built one of the first houses on San Diego’s Banker's Hill. They had four
children, Caroline Katherine, Frederic Earle, Luisa, and Charles Earle. Daughter Luisa’s last name is documented as “Re Mondini”
in her published book “Fancy’s Garden and Other Poems.” Dr. Remondino died from cerebral thrombosis on December 10, 1926,
leaving his autobiographical work unfinished.
Collection is arranged into seven series:
Series I: Autobiography and Memoirs
Series II: Manuscripts and Published Works
Series III: Research Notes
Series IV: Research Articles
Series V: Personal Papers
Series VI: Luisa Re Mondini Papers
Items in each series are arranged by subject.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California State Board of Health.
Gregg, Robert
Jefferson Medical College.
Milligan, Francis H.
New York Medico-Legal Society.
Pacific Coast Steamship Company.
Re Mondini Stahel, Luisa
Remondino, Peter Charles, 1846-1926
St. James Hotel (San Diego, Calif.).
Stockton, Thomas Coates, 1837-1910
Air embolism
Alcohol intoxication
Animal psychology
Certificates of death
Circumcision
Climatology
Ethnology
Gunshot wounds
Hospital buildings
Impotence
Longevity
Malaria
Medical care
Medical climatology
Medical education
Medical examinations
Medical libraries
Medical treatment
Medicine
Medicine, Preventive
Military medicine
Physician
San Diego (Calif.)
Santa Fe Depot (San Diego, Calif.)
Stab wounds
Surgeons
Surgery
Transfusion medicine
Tuberculosis
Veterinary medicine
Wabasha (Minn.)
War -- Medical aspects
Wounds and injuries