The journal was established in 1896 at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine by William H. Welch, the school's founder and also the first president of the Board of Scientific Directors of the Rockefeller Institute (since renamed Rockefeller University). From its inception, Welch edited the journal by himself—even editing manuscripts while attending baseball games. By March 1902, the editorial burden became too great for Welch, who stopped publishing papers and began stockpiling manuscripts and unanswered correspondence in his office, explaining the conspicuous absence of published papers from 1902 to 1904.[2]