By Movieguide® Staff
Noble Story Co. dropped its new documentary, RUSH: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION’S INDISPENSABLE DOCTOR, on Wonder Project on June 1, as part of America250 programming, marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“Benjamin Rush understood something that too many of his contemporaries were not willing to accept: that the ideals of the American Revolution — liberty, equality, and God-given rights — must apply to everyone,” said New York Times bestselling author and historian Joseph Loconte, who hosts the documentary. “His story is not merely a part of the historical record. It is a challenge to every generation that follows.”
Most Americans can name Washington, Jefferson, Adams. Benjamin Rush? Probably not — and Noble Story Co. has set out to change that. Rush was one of 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, one of the youngest in the room at 30 and, by nearly any measure, one of the Revolution’s most consequential figures.
He graduated college at 15, had his own medical practice by 24 and stood beside Washington when he crossed the Delaware. As chief surgeon of the Continental Army, Rush treated battlefield casualties while the nation was still taking shape. He later trained roughly 3,000 students at the University of Pennsylvania, published the first American chemistry textbook and, in 1812, produced the country’s first treatise on psychiatry — a work that earned him the title Father of American Psychiatry long after his death in 1813.
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Rush’s Presbyterian faith wasn’t ornamental. It was the engine behind everything he did, including his work as one of the earliest and most vocal abolitionists in colonial America — he published a fiery pamphlet dismantling the rationalizations his fellow Founders were still clinging to. He also assisted Bishop Richard Allen in founding the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent Black religious denomination in the United States, long before the nation had the language to describe what he was doing.
Rush also played a quiet but pivotal role in one of the Revolution’s most famous documents. He pushed his friend Thomas Paine to write Common Sense — the pamphlet that turned a political argument into a popular movement — and helped sharpen the arguments it made.
“Benjamin Rush is one of those rare figures in American history who was present at every critical moment — and yet somehow forgotten,” said Andrew Teravskis of Noble Story Co. “We are thrilled to partner with Wonder Project to bring his extraordinary story to audiences, especially during this milestone year for our nation.”
The documentary was produced by the Rivendell Center with support from Founding Forward, Grove City College and the National Endowment for the Humanities. It has already screened at the Tribeca Film Center in New York City and at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Too often, some of the most influential figures in our nation’s history are overlooked,” said Kira Foley-Tuzman of Founding Forward. “As our nation commemorates its 250th anniversary and reflects on its past while looking toward the future, we hope this project helps viewers deepen their understanding of our country’s history.”
Movieguide® has long championed stories that recover what entertainment tends to overlook — figures whose public convictions shaped the world they lived in. RUSH: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION’S INDISPENSABLE DOCTOR is available now on Wonder Project, accessible via Prime Video, and is worth adding to the watch list.
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