Based upon the rich and extensive archives housed in the Wood Library-Museum, 21 authors tell their stories either as past participants or thoughtful historians, re-enacting complicated historical issues and events in a present-day context. A clear departure from traditional history, this book may be read with ease and pleasure as individual essays or in its entirety, from its founding by an obscure group of nine in Long Island to the ultimate realization of a vibrant organization a century later. Readers will realize that the struggles and challenges, unique in different eras in the past, were the building blocks of success that spanned an entire century. This volume celebrates the centennial of an important professional organization by witnessing the pioneers’ struggles to achieve what benefits all in American medicine today.