The Man in the Mirror

An Inmate From The Joliet Correctional Center Shows A Battered Nose (At Left) And, Two Years Later, The Results Of His Cosmetic Surgery
An Inmate From The Joliet Correctional Center Shows A Battered Nose (At Left) And, Two Years Later, The Results Of His Cosmetic Surgery

Dr. Michael Lewin, born in Poland in 1909, was encouraged by his uncle to go into the field of cosmetic surgery. At age 25, he moved from Poland to the United States. That was in 1934. A few weeks after arriving, he joined the house staff at Beth Israel hospital in New York, but by the time he was ready to pursue a private practice, World War II had overcome the U.S. medical field. Lewin became a Major in the Medical Corps and served dutifully until the war was over.

Following, his list of accomplishments and titles would be extensive: founder, chief, director, sometimes all three. Post-war, he could do as he pleased. But among all his responsibilities to this professional work, he pursued a number of special projects in reconstructive surgery. One of those normally would have become a footnote in his career; when Lewin passed away, he was actively a member of 23 separate medical societies and the aforementioned list could fill volumes. But in 1963, he had decided to take up the mantle for a social idea: If we physically altered the look of inmates, would that change their futures?