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Guide to Collections Relating to the History of Artificial Internal Organs

respository

National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health



address

8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894


Telephone

(301) 496-5405


Fax Number

(301) 402-0872


Website

www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/



Contact Person

Reference Services


email

https://support.nlm.nih.gov/ics/support/KBList.asp?folderID=150



Access and Services

Collections and reference assistance available Monday to Friday, 8:30-5 p.m. Written requests and telephone requests accepted.



Abstract

Materials relating to the history of medicine and other health professions and related institutions. Manuscripts and oral histories are largely modern American in their focus. The collections contain private or personal papers, oral history tapes and transcripts of individuals who have influenced the evolution of contemporary medicine; papers of health-related organizations and societies; and nonclinical photographs relating to the history of medicine. Total volume: 900 collections; 140 oral histories; 70,000 pictures. Inclusive dates: 15th century to present.




Collections


title/date

John H. Gibbon Papers, 1925-1972



Collection ID

MS C 313



Quantity

6 boxes and case items



Biographical Note

Dr. John Gibbon (1904-1973) was widely recognized for his pioneering efforts and invention of the heart-lung machine. He was Professor of Surgery and Chairman, Department of Surgery, Jefferson Medical College.



Collection Description

The Gibbon papers contain correspondence, photos, typescripts, reprints, printed matter, and diplomas, certificates, and awards. Includes material relating to Gibbon's pioneering efforts and invention of the heart-lung machine as well as biographical and genealogical data.



Finding Aid

Available



Restrictions

None



Related Material

None




title/date

William A. Altemeier Papers, 1945-1983



Collection ID

MS C 411



Quantity

2.9 linear feet (7 boxes)



Biographical Note

Dr. William Altemeier received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati and was in the Department of Surgery at Cincinnati, 1940-1978. He was Professor of Surgery and Chairman of the department, 1952-1978.



Collection Description

The William Altemeier papers contain biographical data, correspondence, photographs, and clippings. A sizeable portion of the collection consists of correspondence. Includes letters from Christiaan Barnard, Lester Bryant, Stacey Day, Michael DeBakey, Warfield M. Firor, Steele Mattingly, Roy McClure, Jonathon E. Rhoads, Albert Wyss and Herbert E. Wyss.



Finding Aid

Available on-line



Restrictions

None



Related Material

Bulk of Atemeier collection is at University of Cincinnati




title/date

National Science Foundation. Special Commission on Medical Research, 1946-1975



Collection ID

MS C 419



Quantity

ca. 5 boxes



Biographical Note

In January 1955, at the request of the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Olveta Culp Hobby, the National Science Foundation appointed a special committee on medical research to undertake a review and evaluation of the medical research programs of the department. Due to the limited time available to the committee, their investigations focused on the largest segments of the department's medical research programs. Included in the final report was discussion of research activities of the Children's Bureau of the Social Security Administration, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Bureau of State Services of the Public Health Service. By far, however, the committee spent the most time investigating the intramural and extramural research programs of the National Institutes of Health.



Collection Description

The papers in the collection reflect the committee's activities and interests towards producing their final report delivered in December 1955. The collection contains supporting documentation for the report, including curriculum vitae of researchers, bibliographies and publications of the institutes, notes from meetings held with officers of the NIH. See in particular the Program Analyses Report on Heart research.



Finding Aid

Available on-line.



Restrictions

None



Related Material



title/date

Oral History Collection, 1968 to roughly 1980s



Collection ID

OH 1 through 90



Quantity

Approximately 113 interviews



Biographical Note

Most of these interviews came from the FDA or the PHS historian's office, documenting internal activities.



Collection Description

Transcripts or tape recordings of interviews with physicians and other persons connected with medical matters; addresses, and a tape recording of the William Stewart Halsted Centenary program, Baltimore, MD, 1952. Topics covered include medical education, military medicine, public health, social medicine, costs of medical care, blood banks, drugs, quackery, cancer treatment, medical research, biochemistry, gastroenterology, immunology, psychiatry and surgery. Of particular interest is OH 15 Vivien Thomas, OH 57 Owen Harding Wangensteen, OH 69 Alfred Blalock, OH 74 Helen Brooke Taussig.



Finding Aid

Available



Restrictions

None



Related Material

There is one unprocessed collection from an unpublished study: Dr. Judith P. Swazey, Acadia Institute, ACC. 767 "The artificial heart: a case study … documents" - 1.3 ft. (1 ½ boxes including 55 tapes). Interviews and field notes taken by Judith Swazey, Renee Fox and Judith Watkins on Jarvik 7 artificial heart used by William DeVries at Humana Hospital in Louisville and at the University of Utah.




title/date

FDA Oral History Collection, 1977 and is ongoing



Collection ID


Quantity

Approx. 109 interviews, catalogued variously (and uncatalogued) as part of the Oral History Collections' 113 interviews.



Biographical Note

Oral history interviews conducted by Fred L. Lofsvold, Robert G. Porter, Ronald T. Otters and J.H. Young as part of the FDA History Project begun in 1977; W. F. Janssen also took part in a number of the interviews. Several older interviews by Dr. Young and his students are included.



Collection Description

A collection of interviews with retired employees on the history of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started in 1977 and is ongoing.



Finding Aid

A cumulative index to the interviews is available from the library.



Restrictions

None



Related Material



title/date

American Association for Thoracic Surgery Archives, 1917-1967



Collection ID

MS C 355



Quantity

10 boxes



Biographical Note

The Association was founded in 1917.



Collection Description

Among the names prominent in the collection are Ethan Flagg Butler, Nathan W. Green, Rudolph Matas, and Herbert Willy Meyer. Constitution and by-laws, history of the organization, biographical data on founders, correspondence, photographs, proceedings, reports, programs of meetings, and membership data.



Finding Aid

Available on-line.



Restrictions

None



Related Material



title/date

The American Society for Clinical Investigation Records, 1907-1977



Collection ID

MS C 418



Quantity

2.1 linear feet



Biographical Note

The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) was organized in 1908 as the American Society for the Advancement of Clinical Investigation (its present name was adopted in 1916). The society was begun with the avowed purpose of encouraging medical research by physicians engaged in medical practice, but its creation was also in part a response to the limited membership of the Association of American Physicians, which excluded many of the "Young Turks" who formed the ASCI. The ASCI was later to face the same problems itself, as interest in clinical investigation in the United States grew. There have been two primary foci for the society's activities. The first is the annual meeting of the society. The second is the Journal of Clinical Investigation. It was begun in 1924 with the financial support of the Rockefeller Institute, supplemented later with support from the Rockefeller Foundation's General Education Board and the Chemical Foundation.



Collection Description

The records of the American Society of Clinical Investigation found in the National Library of Medicine document many of the key events in the history of the organization. The heart of the collection is the set of official minutes and records kept by the secretary of the organization from 1907 to 1965. Included in the minutes are summaries of the annual meetings, decisions of the governing council, and discussion of the finances and other publishing problems of the Journal. The secretary's record books are supplemented with material on the membership of the society. Included are listing of members, catalogues of members (which include a list of their publications), and nominees for election.



Finding Aid

Available on-line.



Restrictions

None



Related Material



title/date

National Society for Medical Research Archives, 1946-1984



Collection ID

MS C 417



Quantity

30.0 linear feet (74 boxes and 1 map case folder)



Biographical Note

The National Society for Medical Research was established in 1946 with the purpose of insuring the freedom of investigators and teachers to use laboratory animals, whenever such use is justified. Over three hundred organizations supported NSMR. The official publication was the Bulletin of the National Society for Medical Research. The Board of Directors of the National Society for Medical Research was also active in lobbying for or against legislation involving the use of animals in research. NSMR also monitored the impact of mandated testing required by regulations on the use of human subjects in research. In 1984 the National Society for Medical Research merged with the Foundation for Bio-Medical Research.



Collection Description

Correspondence, minutes, photographs, publications, clippings, printed matter, and legal cases and legislation covering the society's entire history. Includes extensive materials from antivivisection groups from 1924 to 1983, and a large collection of animal pound laws, federal legislation, and government regulations relating to the research use of animals. Notable subject files of interest regarding surgery and artificial organ developments include 36 - Heart Disease, 1958-60; Heart Surgery, 1968; 37 - The Untouchable Heart, 1961-79; 38 - Transplantation, 1956-79.



Finding Aid

Available on-line.



Restrictions

None



Related Material