About SPR

A Brief History
The medical specialty of radiology and St. Paul Radiology both have rich histories. The current physicians of St. Paul Radiology would like to thank their predecessors for their council, training and leadership. Much of the content for the history of St. Paul Radiology comes from John B. Coleman, M.D. who wrote the first account of the history of this practice and published this for his colleagues in May of 1999. His Author's Note: These are sketches of the first 13 members of St. Paul Radiology who comprise three "generations" of the foundings of this independent professional group. Older members will reminisce with me; the younger may find some surprising notes in the history of the organization which gives them their identity. I am responsible for what is said. I interviewed all living principles and widows. Records of the partnership and corporation, which I would prefer to have as sources to back me up, are surprisingly unavailable. Therefore most of what you read is from personal fact-gathering, memory, and opinion perhaps colored by the times. I began to write it more than 20 years after the end of the era which it describes. This may be the only record to come of those people and their times. John B. Coleman, M.D. May 15, 1999

1895

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovers X-rays.
A German physicist, Roentgen was working in a laboratory with a cathode ray tube when he discovered a new light that was emitted when the tube was filled with a special gas and then exposed to a high voltage source. He named the new ray of light "X" ray because in mathematics the X is used to define an unknown quantity.

1896

Dr. William Morton New York (1845-1920)
Authored one of the first books on the new light, The X-ray (1896) He was also credited with performing the first dental radiograph in the United States.

1896

Dr. Edwin Frost takes first medical X-ray
Dr. Frost is noted as the first physician to order an X-ray exam on one of his patients at Dartmouth College.

1903

Alexander Graham Bell
Suggested placing sources containing radium in or near tumors.

1920

Dr. Edward Schons becomes the first radiologist in St. Paul, MN.
St. Paul Radiology and Dr. Edward Schons began providing radiology services in St. Paul in 1920 in the Lowry Medical Arts Building. The first real association was formed in 1936 when Dr. Schons and Dr. John P. Medelman became partners. Drs. Harold Peterson and Leo Nash joined to complete the first practice.