Biographical Note: Hiram B. Benjamin was born in Austria.
He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Buffalo and a medical degree
from the Marquette University School of Medicine in 1930. From 1942 to 1946, he
served as chief of surgery in naval hospitals in the Pacific theater, returning to
his Milwaukee surgical practice after the war. In 1948 he received his an M.S. in
anatomy from from Marquette and joined the faculty of the medical school. For
nearly three decades, he served as a Clinical Professor of Anatomy, with research
interests focused on the development of synthetic plasma, the replacement of the
esophagus and other blood vessels with skin from living humans, and gastric ulcer
formation. Scope and Content: The collection consists of a single scrapbook assembled by Dr. Benjamin, primarily documenting his research team's discovery of the use of okra as a substitute for human plasma. The scrapbook includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and telegrams documenting his discovery and career. |