PRINTER'S NO. 4531
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 1066
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY MALAGARI, STEPHENS, FREEMAN, HILL-EVANS, TOEPEL,
BURNS, READSHAW, SANCHEZ, MILLARD, WEBSTER AND HENNESSEY,
OCTOBER 19, 2020
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
OCTOBER 19, 2020
A RESOLUTION
1 Honoring the life of Dr. Frank Erdman Boston as a World War I
2 veteran, military surgeon, community doctor and founder of
3 the Elm Terrace/Abington-Lansdale Hospital and the Volunteer
4 Medical Service Corps' ambulance corps.
5 WHEREAS, Dr. Boston attended Lincoln University, which was
6 the first degree-granting Historically Black College or
7 University in the United States; and
8 WHEREAS, Dr. Boston later attended the Medico-Chirurgical
9 College, which was established as a result of the merger of the
10 Medico-Chirurgical Society of Philadelphia, the University of
11 Pennsylvania Medical College and the Jefferson Medical College;
12 and
13 WHEREAS, Upon receiving his formal medical training, Dr.
14 Boston enlisted in the United States Army and was promoted to
15 the rank of first lieutenant in its Medical Reserve Corps; and
16 WHEREAS, Dr. Boston was assigned as a medical officer with
17 the 317th Engineers Regiment of the 92nd Division of the
18 American Expeditionary Forces; and
 1 WHEREAS, The 92nd Division fought valiantly throughout France
2 and participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which was the
3 largest operation of the American Expeditionary Forces during
4 World War I; and
5 WHEREAS, The Meuse-Argonne Offensive has been recorded in
6 United States' history as the nation's deadliest military
7 campaign, with more than 26,000 soldiers killed in action and
8 more than 120,000 total casualties; and
9 WHEREAS, During the war, Dr. Boston treated soldiers while
10 under extraordinary conditions, under aerial and gas attacks;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, Dr. Boston was promoted to captain and ended his
13 military service with the rank of major; and
14 WHEREAS, After returning from the war, Dr. Boston returned to
15 Philadelphia and settled in the Lansdale area, where he
16 established the Elm Terrace Hospital, which was later renamed
17 North Penn Hospital and subsequently became part of Abington-
18 Jefferson Health; and
19 WHEREAS, Dr. Boston also established the First Aid Emergency
20 Squad in Lansdale, which later became the Volunteer Medical
21 Service Corps of Lansdale; and
22 WHEREAS, Dr. Boston was also an active volunteer in his local
23 community, where he served as the chairman of Health and Safety
24 for the General Nash District of the Boy Scouts of America's
25 Valley Forge Council; and
26 WHEREAS, Dr. Boston also served his community as a member of
27 the Reserve Officers Association of Military Surgeons, the
28 Montgomery County Medical Society and the American Medical
29 Association; and
30 WHEREAS, Dr. Boston died on February 8, 1960, at 68 years of
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 1 age and was buried in Lansdale; and
2 WHEREAS, In honor of Dr. Boston's accomplishments and service
3 to his nation and community, Jefferson Health and Abington-
4 Lansdale Hospital, in collaboration with the Borough of
5 Lansdale, are honoring Dr. Boston with the creation of a mural
6 to be located at Lansdale Borough Hall; therefore be it
7 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life of
8 Dr. Frank Erdman Boston as a World War I veteran, military
9 surgeon, community doctor and founder of the Elm
10 Terrace/Abington-Lansdale Hospital and the Volunteer Medical
11 Service Corps' ambulance corps.
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