"The Needle Used to Sew Up McKinley's Stomach"

This needle was donated in the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in 1999 and at that time experts were consulted to attempt to verify the authenticity of the needle. Based on information provided by Dr. Jack Fischer, author of Stolen Glory: The McKinley Assassination, and A. Wesley Johns in The Man Who Shot McKinley, it was determined that it is probably that one of the needles used in the surgery. The name "Simpson" was an important identifying feature. Burton J. Simpson had just completed his sophomore year at the University of Buffalo Medical School and had spent the summer treating minor injuries at the Pan-American Exposition hospital. It was reported that the most thrilling part of the job was the chance to ride in the hospital's electric ambulance. During McKinley's surgery, Simpson and fellow medical student Edward D. Mann were put in charge of the sutures and the instrument tray. It can be hypothesized that Simpson knew he was participating in an historic event and instead of discarding or sterilizing the needle for reuse, saved the needle. 

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION - For access to this image, please contact the Curator at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site.