Nancy Hulston, MA
Adjunct Associate Professor of the History of Medicine and Archivist
University of Kansas School of Medicine

Living in Paris before the beginning of the First World War in 1914 and staying on in France well into 1919 after the war ended Dennie had a unique five-year perspective on an event most Americans experienced for only a single year. Born in Excelsior springs, Missouri, in1883, he spent his early years in the Kansas City area, graduating from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, with a BS degree in 1908. He then matriculated at the University of Kansas where he graduated from its School of Medicine in 1912. He pursued postgraduate training at Kansas City General Hospital from 1912-13, and at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1913-1915.

Dr. Charles C. Dennie

In 1914, through the auspices of Massachusetts General Hospital, Dennie studied dermatology and syphilology at The Hospital St. Louis in Paris. His studies there, however, were interrupted by Germany’s declaration of war against France by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, who, in August, 1914, “like a whirling dervish, struck out venomously at England and France” to quote Dennie. In the days that followed, Dennie gained eyewitness experience of the French people desperately trying to save their country.

Dennie and his wife, Glynn, first arrived in Paris in early August, 1914, and nowhere did they find anyone who thought war with Germany was imminent. One evening, they saw a bus loaded with American schoolteachers, followed by several other buses carrying similar passengers, driving toward the railroad depots. At that time, there had been no news of war, yet the passengers seemed very excited, as if they had heard something. The Dennies’, suspicious that the people on the buses knew something of the impending threat of war that the general French population did not, had their fears realized the following morning, August 14, 1914, when they awoke to cries from the street that, “Germany has declared war on France.”

Soon people crowded the streets, and a riot, lasting all day and into the night, ensued between factious groups of people who were both pro- and anti-war. At one point in the riot, the French were calling out “Allemand!” While Dennie was dark of skin, his wife was blonde and appeared of German descent, which did not go unnoticed by the locals. As Dennie later wrote, “A French gentleman, who was not participating in the riot, said to me, ‘Pardon, Monsieur is not of our country. We know that you are Flemish and are with us. If you would take my advice you will take Madam with you immediately from within the crowd. Be so advised and thus avoid the danger of your life. While I know better I am sure they consider her to be German.’” With these words, the young doctor quickly left the streets with his wife in tow. For three weeks, the couple remained in Paris as witnesses to the early struggles of the French people, as the world turned upside down and a war to end all wars began.

Dennie was one of the few physicians remaining at The Hospital St. Louis, for out of patriotism, many had joined the military to serve their country. At one point, as the other physicians left, Dennie felt it was his duty to help the French by becoming a military medical officer. He went to the headquarters of the Foreign Legion to join. There the sergeant in command informed him: “Mon Docteur, we would be highly pleased to have you in the Foreign Legion, but I must tell you something that perhaps you do not know. The French have their doctors march right along in the front rank of fighting men where you not only stand an equal chance with the soldiers of being killed but a greater chance because of your distinctive uniform. The German sharpshooters pick off all of the officers first, especially the doctors, so that we expect our first wave of medical men to be eliminated. I know it is a foolish procedure but such are the rules of The Army and while we would be glad to have you, I would not advise you to seek a rendezvous with death.” With that, Dennie wisely decided not to enlist. The French sergeant predicted correctly; nearly all of the French Army’s physicians died in the first wave of action.

Base Hospital #28 near Limoges, France

Upon returning to Kansas City in 1916, Dennie was appointed Assistant in Dermatology at the Kansas University School of Medicine. Then, back in France, from 1918 to 1919, he served as a major in the United States Army Medical Corps at Kansas City’s Base Hospital #28 at Limoges, and then was in charge of the embarkation camp at Bordeaux, France.

After the war, he ran a lucrative private practice in Kansas City, and from 1939-1949 he served as head of dermatology at the Kansas University School of Medicine. “Uncle Charlie,” as he was known to students and colleagues alike, was a specialist in congenital syphilis in children, and was closely affiliated with Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, over the years. He was president of the American Dermatological Association in 1949, became a professor emeritus in 1953, and was his medical school’s Medical Alumnus of the Year in 1962. He died on January 13, 1971 at age 85.

Dr. Dennie with patients

As a medical historian, writing about the First World War, Dr. Dennie stated: “It takes a much beloved cause to draw people into an insoluble group and to make people take up a common cause.” At the end of one of his essays, Dennie bid adieu to the men and women of Base Hospital No. 28, “We who are left are old and worn; but we shall have the love of our outfit in our hearts, so I will say farewell to a brave and gallant company!”

Dr. Dennie poses for a photo in his office

The background information and images are from The Archives of the University of Kansas Medical Center.