TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary
Biographical/Historical Note
Collection Summary
Index Terms
Administrative Information
Restrictions
Series Descriptions
Series I: Biographical Information,
1867-1975
Series II: Correspondence,
1841-1965
Series III: Addresses and Articles by Billings,
1875-1913
Series IV: Scrapbooks and Clippings,
1872-1949
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Archives and Modern Manuscripts Program, History of Medicine Division
Processed by HMD Staff; Jim Labosier; Processing Completed 2003
Encoded by Jim Labosier
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| Collection Number: | MS C 81 |
| Creator: | Billings, John S. (John Shaw), 1838-1913 |
| Title: | John Shaw Billings Papers
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| Dates: | 1841-1975 |
| Quantity: | 17.64 linear feet |
| Abstract: | Primarily consists of Billings' correspondence during his time as head of the Library of the Surgeon General (1868-1895). Also includes some
biographical information, a collection of Billings' reprints, speech
texts, scrapbooks, and clippings. |
John Shaw Billings (1838-1913) was born in Allensville near Vevay, Indiana. He graduated from Miami University and the Medical College of Ohio. In 1862 he joined the U.S. Army Medical Department. During the American Civil War he organized hospitals in Washington, D.C. He served in the field at the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, during the Wilderness Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg.
Staying in the Army Medical Corps after the war, Billings organized the Library and Museum of the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States Army and other army records. This organizational work led to his service with the United States Census. He was also active with the National Board of Health during this period.
Known as an expert in planning hospitals, Billings was asked to plan the hospital for Johns Hopkins University. Later he planned the six other medical institutions and was a professor of Hygiene at the University of Pennsylvania. He was chairperson of the Board of the Carnegie Institution for ten years.
Best known for his work in libraries and bibliographies Billings built the collection of the Office of the Surgeon into the world renowned National Library of Medicine; supervised the publication of the Index Catalogue of the Library of the Office of the Surgeon General and Index Medicus, parent of the computer medical index MEDLINE; and planned the New York Public Library.
Excerpted from: http://www.medlib.iupui.edu/hom/billings.html.
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The papers consist chiefly of official library correspondence for the years 1868-1895 when Billings was in charge of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office. Other items in the collection include genealogy information, diplomas and certificates, draft of History and literature of surgery, copies of letters in the New York Public Library, scrapbooks, and latter-20th century materials produced within NLM that are related to the collection.
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Restrictions
Restrictions
Collection is not restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access. For online customer service, please visit custserv@nlm.nih.gov.
Copyright
Copyright was transferred to the public domain. Contact the Reference Staff for details regarding rights. For online customer service, please visit custserv@nlm.nih.gov.
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| These terms are indexed in the National Library of Medicine's online catalog LocatorPlus. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog using these terms. |
| MeSH Subjects |
| | Libraries, Medical |
| | Surgical Procedures, Operative--history |
| Corporate Names |
| | Library of the Surgeon General's Office (U.S.) |
| Geographic Names |
| | District of Columbia |
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Billings, John S. John Shaw Billings Papers. 1841-1975. Located in: Modern Manuscripts Collection,
History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD; MS C 81.
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Series I: Biographical Information,
1867-1975
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Box | Folder |
39 | 4 |
John Shaw Billings - record of letters sent,
1867-1868 |
42 | 4 |
Billings' account with the U.S., with William Wesley, and with Trubner & Co.,
1869-1872 |
39 | 8 |
Certificate and cards,
1879-1880 |
39 | 7 |
Columbia College catalogue (course offered by Billings),
1885 |
39 | 3 |
John Shaw Billings, 1838-1913, an autobiographical fragment,
1905 |
39 | 6 |
Handbook of the New York Public Library,
1916 |
39 | 5 |
History of the Weikert family - 1735-1930, by Edward L. Weikert, Jr.,
1930 |
40 | 19 |
Jean A. Curran reprints re: JSB,
1953-1967 |
40 | 2 |
Photo of Billings' Buddha - letter from Margaret J. Billings to Dr. Jean A. Curran - JSB sketch for N.Y.P.L.,
1954 |
39 | 9 |
Billings centennial exhibit,
1955-1965 |
40 | 17 |
Genealogy,
1975 |
39 | 2 |
John Shaw Billings Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony - booklet,
1990 |
40 | 4 |
"Billings' activities such as are ascertained by special documents" by H. W. Jones,
n.d. |
40 | 14 |
"A letter for Dr. Billings (a one-sided correspondence)" by H. W. Jones,
n.d. |
39 | 10 |
At the Medical College of Ohio,
n.d. |
43 | 1 | Banquet and presentation in honor of J.S. Billings, reprinted from The Medical News [miniture edition], Dec. 7, 1895 |
43 | 2 | "In memoriam, John S. Billings", Presbyterian Hospital, NY, June 10, 1913 |
43 | 3 | William Osler dinner, program and menu, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, n.d. |
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Series II: Correspondence,
1841-1965
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Box | Folder |
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Chronological,
1841-1895 |
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36 | 5 | | 1841-1865 |
36 | 7 | | Jan-Mar., 1864 |
36 | 8 | | Apr. 1-4, 1864 |
36 | 9 | | Apr. 5-9, 1864 |
36 | 10 | | June 1864 |
36 | 11 | | 1866 |
36 | 12 | | 1867 |
1 | 1-23 | | [1868?]-Dec. 1870 |
2 | 1-29 | | Jan. 1, 1871 - Jan. 31, 1872 |
3 | 1-21 | | Feb. 1, 1872 - June 8, 1872 |
4 | 1-21 | | June 9, 1872 - Oct. 31, 1872 |
5 | 1-21 | | Nov. 1, 1872 - June 30, 1873 |
6 | 1-27 | | July 1, 1873 - Apr. 24, 1874 |
7 | 1-22 | | Apr. 25, 1874 - Oct. 30, 1874 |
8 | 1-22 | | Nov. 1, 1874 - June 30, 1875 |
9 | 1-19 | | July 2, 1875 - Feb. 14, 1876 |
10 | 1-22 | | Feb. 15, 1876 - Jan. 17, 1877 |
11 | 1-27 | | Jan. 18, 1877 - Jan. 31, 1878 |
12 | 1-28 | | Feb. 1, 1878 - June 30, 1879 |
13 | 1-28 | | July 1, 1879 - Sept. 30, 1880 |
14 | 1-28 | | Oct. 1, 1880 - Sept. 30, 1881 |
15 | 1-20 | | Oct. 1, 1881 - June 30, 1882 |
16 | 1-18 | | July 1, 1882 - Jan. 20, 1883 |
17 | 1-13 | | Jan. 21, 1883 - Apr. 29, 1883 |
18 | 1-19 | | May 1, 1883 - Nov. 7, 1883 |
19 | 1-20 | | Nov. 8, 1883 - June 13, 1884 |
20 | 1-23 | | June 14, 1884 - Mar. 31, 1885 |
21 | 1-20 | | Apr. 1, 1885 - Jan. 14, 1886 |
22 | 1-24 | | Jan. 15, 1886 - Feb. 14, 1887 |
23 | 1-17 | | Feb. 15, 1887 - Nov. 15, 1887 |
24 | 1-19 | | Nov. 16, 1887 - July 6, 1888 |
25 | 1-19 | | July 6, 1888 - Dec. 31, 1888 |
26 | 1-17 | | Jan. 1, 1889 - Aug. 20, 1889 |
27 | 1-15 | | Aug. 21, 1889 - Feb. 28, 1890 |
28 | 1-22 | | March 1, 1890 - June 16, 1891 |
29 | 1-18 | | June 18, 1891 - Dec. 31, 1892 |
30 | 1-13 | | Jan. 1, 1893 - Apr. 7, 1893 |
31 | 1-14 | | Apr. 8, 1893 - June 30, 1893 |
32 | 1-15 | | July 1, 1893 - Nov. 9, 1893 |
33 | 1-14 | | Nov. 11, 1893 - Feb. 28, 1894 |
34 | 1-12 | | Mar. 1, 1894 - June 21, 1894 |
35 | 1-5 | | June 22, 1894 - Dec. 31, 1895 |
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Subjects,
1874-1965 |
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36 | 1 | |
Acquisition of materials for library - letters sent - November 12, 1886 - April 23, 1887,
1886-1887 |
36 | 3 | |
Billings (Brunton-Williams) - from Reading Pathological Soc.,
1965 |
36 | 4 | |
Billings-Brunton,
1908 |
36 | 6 | |
Copies of 2 letters from the Austrian Legation to the State Dept. - "on Peruvian bark",
1858, 1956 |
36 | 13 | |
Billings to Bowditch (investigation of the influence of alcohol),
1893-1895 |
37 | 1 | |
Billings letters, to Fletcher, to Baker,
1902-1903 |
37 | 6 | |
Billings (Jacobi-Griffith; Welch form letter) from N.Y.P.L. (1905),
n.d., 1965 |
37 | 2 | |
Billings (Osler) from N.Y.P.L.,
n.d. |
37 | 5 | |
Billings (Osler),
1883 |
35 | 6 | |
11th Census - 152,
1890 |
35 | 7 | |
11th Census - 153,
1890-1893 |
35 | 8 | |
11th Census,
1889-1895 |
40 | 18 | |
JSB letters to Margaret [copies],
1890-1913 |
37 | 3 | |
Osler (Billings),
1881-1912 |
37 | 4 | |
Osler (Billings) from N.Y.P.L.,
1887-1903 |
36 | 2 | |
Sub-committee on...the drink problem - letters sent,
Dec. 29, 1894-Sep. 23, 1895 |
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Thomas Windsor library, Great Britain,
1874-1911; 1950 |
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37 | 7 | | |
Windsor (reprint by D. M. Schullian),
1950 |
37 | 8 | | | 1874-1876 |
37 | 9 | | | 1877-1879 |
37 | 10 | | | 1880-1882 |
37 | 11 | | | Jan.-July, 1883 |
37 | 12 | | | Aug.-Nov., 1883 |
37 | 13 | | | 1884 |
37 | 14 | | | 1885 |
37 | 15 | | | 1886 |
37 | 16 | | | 1887 |
37 | 17 | | | Jan.-June, 1888 |
37 | 18 | | | July-Dec., 1888 |
37 | 19 | | | 1889-1890 |
37 | 20 | | | 1891-1894 |
37 | 21 | | | March 26, 1895 |
37 | 22 | | | 1910-1911 |
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Letter transcriptions,
n.d. |
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40 | 5 | |
C. McDougall to Billings,
1943 |
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Transcriptions by H. W. Jones,
n.d. |
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40 | 6 | | | 1867-April, 1868 |
40 | 7 | | | May-June, 1868 |
40 | 8 | | | July-Aug., 1868 |
40 | 9 | | | Sep.-Dec., 1868 |
40 | 10 | | | Jan.-April, 1869 |
40 | 11 | | | May-June, 1869 |
40 | 12 | | | July-Oct., 1869 |
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Series III: Addresses and Articles by Billings,
1875-1913
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Box | Folder |
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Addresses,
1886-1908 |
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40 | 1 | |
"Scientific men and their duties" - talk by Billings,
1886 |
39 | 11 | |
Lectures delivered by Billings at the School of Mines, Columbia College,
1887-1888 |
40 | 3 | |
"Testimonial to A. Carnegie" - Authors Club,
1902 |
40 | 15 | |
Address given at Radcliffe College, 1908 [copy],
n.d. |
40 | 16 | |
Miscellaneous lecture data,
n.d. |
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Articles,
1875-1913 |
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40 | 13 | |
"An hour with the doctor in the draft office" by J. S. Billings,
1891 |
40 | 23 | |
"Remarks by J. S. Billings, M.D., L.L.D., D.C.L." - Billings galley proof,
n.d. |
40 | 25 | |
Reprints,
1875-1880 |
41 | 1-5 | |
Reprints,
1882-1895 |
42 | 1-3 | |
Reprints,
1895-1913 |
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Series IV: Scrapbooks and Clippings,
1872-1949
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Box | Folder |
39 | 1 |
Scrapbook and alphabetical list of civilian doctors and the Medical Department doctors they served with,
1872-1875 |
38 | 1-2 |
"A collection of notices, reviews, etc. in relation to the Index Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, vol. 1, II,
1875-1895 |
38 | 3-5 |
Scrapbook - death notices, letters of condolence, eulogies - copy 1 [photocopies],
1905-1949 |
42 | 5-7 |
Scrapbook - death notices, letters of condolence, eulogies - copy 2 [photocopies],
1905-1949 |
40 | 22 |
Clippings,
1891 |
40 | 20 |
Clippings,
1891-1892 |
40 | 21 |
Clippings,
1899 |
40 | 24 |
Clipping - New York Daily News [photocopy],
March 23, 1906 |
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