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United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

Finding Aid to the George Edward Burch Papers, 1926-1977

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Descriptive Summary

Biographical Note

Collection Summary

Index Terms

Administrative Information

Restrictions

Series Descriptions

Papers, 1927-1977

 

Archives and Modern Manuscripts Program, History of Medicine Division

Processed byHMD Staff

Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Dan Jenkins


Descriptive Summary

Collection Number:MS C 376
Creator:Burch, George Edward (George Edward), 1910-
Title:George Edward Burch Papers
Dates:1926-1977
Quantity:52 MS boxes, 20 v., and case items
Abstract:George Edward Burch, an internationally known cardiologist, received his medical degree from Tulane University Medical School, joined the school's Department of Medicine in 1934, and has been affiliated with Tulane University since that time. Correspondence, data relating to meetings, conferences, organizations and journal publication, photographs, clippings, reprints, certificates and diplomas.

Biographical Note

George E. Burch (1910-1986) was born in Edgard, LA. and was an internationally known cardiologist. He received his bachelor (1927) and medical degrees (1933) from Tulane University. He joined the Tulane medical faculty after graduation, advancing rapidly to become Henderson Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine in 1947. He became Professor Emeritus in 1975.

Burch was especially interested in the venous system, which led him to develop a phlebomanometer for measuring venous and tissue pressure in extremely small veins (1936). In 1945, even before the creation of the Atomic Energic Commission, Burch performed the first studies of biologic decay rates in humans. Working with the National Bureau of Standards, he helped establish regulations and safety measures for use of radioisotopes in humans and for radioisotope measuring equipment.

He also conducted pioneering studies in vectocardiography, leading to the creation of standard factors on the spatial ventricular gradient and spatial vectocardiogram of normal and diseased hearts. His studies led to new insights into the electrocardiogram and the description of new patterns of high basal myocardial infarction, localized myocardial hypertrophy, and apical myocardial infarction. His work in this field elevated his research status to international levels, as well as helping to establish Tulane as a leader in cardiology research.

In 1958, he participated in the first space mission to send primates into orbit. His work involved analyzing heart function data telemetered from the Jupiter space mission that sent Able and Baker, two squirrel monkeys, into space. Burch also maintained an interest in bioclimotology throughout his career. He devised several techniques for measuring water loss from the lungs and skin. His studies showed the importance of air conditioning for recovering cardiac patients and others with chronic diseases. He also devised a graphic method for recording pressure-volume loops directly from the heart, making it theoretically possible to obtain details about the tension and power output of the heart, and thus describe many of the theretofore unknown mechanical properties of the heart.

Burch contributions towards the knowledge of congestive heart failure, venous tone, medical climatology, medical peculiarities of the heart as a pump, electrocardiography, cardiomypothies and medical instrumentation have led to the publication of over 840 papers and 12 books on cardiac diseases. His Primer on Electrocardiography (1945) is considered a classic. Active as a consultant for many organizations, he was honored by the American Heart Association with the James B. Herrick Award in 1977. He received the Distinguished Fellowship Award from the American College of Cardiology in 1984.

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Collection Summary

Correspondence contains family, personal and general files. Collection includes extensive material on the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Journal, and other organizations relating to cardiology and cardiovascular diseases.

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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 to the collection 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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Index Terms

These terms are indexed in the National Library of Medicine's on-line catalog LocatorPlus. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog using these terms.
MeSH Subjects
Cardiology
Electrocardiography
Vectorcardiography
Corporate Names
Tulane University. School of Medicine

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Administrative Information

Prefered Citation

Burch, George Edward. George Edward Burch papers. 1926-1977. Located in: Modern Manuscripts Collection, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.; MS C 376.

Provenance

Acquired in 1979.

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Series Descriptions

 

Papers, 1927-1977

Box
1Biographical and personal data
1Graduation programs, report cards, class schedules
1American Board of Internal Medicine - examination and applications
1Positions offered - correspondence, 1944-1953
1George Burch Medical Museum, 1972
1Clippings, 1932-1979
2Clippings, undated
2Military service - orders and memoranda, 1936-1940
2Military status - correspondence, 1940-1953
2Army Extension Course diplomas, 1936-1939
2Mr. & Mrs. George E. Burch, Sr., material
2Family Correspondence, 1932-1942, 1960-1977
2Personal correspondence, 1950-1978
2Correspondence, unidentified
2Correspondence and notes re: Rockefeller Institute Fellowship, 1939-1941
3Fellowships - correspondence and data, 1938-1947
3Awards - correspondence
3Southern Medical Association - Research Medal Award, 1947
3George Burch, Chairman, Department of Medicine - 20th Anniversary, 1947-1967
3Congratulatory letters - Presentation of bust, 1970
3Letters of recommendation (by Dr. Burch)
3Notes and ideas
3Original code for reading EKG's
3Organization of The Medical Regiment
3Miscellaneous research projects, 1948-1949
3Scientific exhibits - correspondence and data, 1937-1953
3Digital plethysmography - TV show, 1954
3ECG and cardioscope - TV show, 1953
3Radioisotopes in Congestive Heart Failure - TV show, 1952
3Videoclinic - TV program - correspondence, 1955
Photographs, 1938-1967; 1969-1978
4Portraits of George Burch, 1938-1967, undated
4George E. Burch and family
4Vivian (Mrs. George) Burch
4George E. Burch with colleagues, 1955-1976
4Burch museum of medicine at Charity Hospital, 1974
4Charity Hospital of Louisiana
4American College of Cardiology, annual meeting, 1968
4American College of Cardiology, annual meeting, 1971
4American College of Cardiology, annual scientific session, 1977
4Tulane Dept. of Medicine, postgraduate course in ECG, 1949-
4Faculty, Dept. of Medicine, Tulane University, 1938-1967
4Miscellaneous meetings and conferences, 1938-1973
4Meetings (unidentified)
4World Health Organization Conference (Meetings)
4Tulane medical resident staff
4Alexander Myasnikon, I. Russek, Meakin, John Herr Musser, Robert L. Levy, H. C. Burger, Robert H. Bayley
5Presentation of the 1st Distinguished Service Award, 1967
5American College of Cardiology, Circuit Course, Taipei, November 3-4, 1961
5George E. Burch and friends
5Miscellaneous photos of Dr. Burch
5George E. Burch and colleagues
5American College of Cardiology, annual meeting
5George E. Burch and Don Craib
519th annual Musser Lecture, 1966
5George E. Burch in Japan
5Washington and Northern Virginia Heart Assn.,, 1962
5Dedication of George E. Burch bust, 1970
5Meeting in Cali, Columbia, 1960
5C.C. Bass - 90th birthday party
5Burch - 25th wedding anniversary, September 15, 1957
5Jim Grayson's retirement party, June 28, 1973
5George Burch with Governor John McKithen
5Postgraduate course in Electrocardiography, Tulane Dept. of Medicine, November 28, 1949
51974 Conference
5Illinois Central Hospital (New Orleans) - Staff
Gustav, Nylin, Maurice Campbell, Bernard Robinson, Hubert Mann, Charles C. Bass, Paul Dudley White.
5Charles M. Pomerat, W.H. Craib, A. de Waart
5David Scherf, A.E. Mirsky, Ludwik Gross, Erlanger, J.B.C. Grangnard
5George E. Burch in England
5Programs, 1932-1978
5Meetings and groups (unidentified)
6"Job Openings" - correspondence (persons recommended by Dr. Burch), 1957-1974
Correspondence, 1927-1977
7Adams, D.M.
7Alimurung, Mariano M.
7Askanas, Zdzislaw
7Boggs, Hale
7Borden Award, 1956-1959
7Carbonell, Carlos
7Cardiology Fellowship Application 1979
7Chevalier, Henri
7Cohn, Alfred E.
7Craib, W.H.
7DeBakey, Michael
7Kimball, J. Leroy
7Koechlin, Renaud
7Lavin, George
7Lewis, Sir Thomas
7Mirsky, Alfred E.
8Musser, John H. - Burch, George E.
8Musser, John H. - Cohn, Alfred E., 1939-1940
8Musser, John H. - Gregg, Alan, 1938-1945
8Musser, John H. - Blake, Dubois, Evans, Justmayer, Lambert, Laphan, Morgan, Week, Wolferth, 1939-1945
8Page, Irvine H.
8Pauling, Linus - correspondence and reprints
8Prinzmetal, Myron - correspondence and data
8Schaffer, Rudolph
8Soffer, Alfred
8Talbot, John H.
8Ting, Nang
8Werrell, William A.
8White, Paul Dudley
8Williams, Horatio B. from Alfred E. Cohn
8Yeager, J. Franklin
8Correspondence - Aa-Ark
9Correspondence - Arm-Burg
10Correspondence - Burk-Cr
11Correspondence - Cu-Fl
12Correspondence - Fo-Harr
13Corresondence - Hart-Kel
14Correspondence - Ken-Lou
15Correspondence - Lov-M
16Correspondence - N-Ri
17Correspondence - Ro-So
18Correspondence - Sp-V
19Correspondence - W-Z
19American Biology Council Task Force - A-Br
20American Biology Council Task Force - Bu-W
20American Biology Council Task Force, 1970-1973
20Advisory Committee on Asian Influenza, 1960
20Advisory Committee on Environmental Physiology, 1957-1961
20All Union Scientific Society of Therapeutics, 1962
20American Board of Internal Medicine, 1956-1962
21American Board of Internal Medicine, 1962-1975
21American College of Angiology, 1962-1971
American College of Cardiology
21Constitution and by-laws, 1967
21General information and admission requirements
21Procedure manual, 1960
21Presidents' opening remarks, 1966-1968
21Board of Trustees - minutes of meetings, 1963, 1966, 1968
21Board of Trustees - correspondence, 1967-1969
21Financial statements, 1966-1969
22Recommendations for Board of Governors, 1967-1968
22Board of Governors - correspondence, 1968-1969
22Handbook for Governors
22Report on the Executive Director, 1967-1968
22Director's Handbook, postgraduate course
22Executive Committee - minutes and report, 1967-1972
22Executive Committee meeting, 1970
22Executive Committee - correspondence, 1968-1969
22Arrangements Committee - correspondence, 1963-1964
22Finances, Resources, and Endowents Committee, 1966-1969
23Committee for Liaison with Congress, 1967-1969
23Long range Planning Committee, 1963-1972
23Meeting Site Selection Committee, 1967-1968
23Nominating Committee, 1968-1971
23Overseas Education Committee, 1968-1969
23Postgraduate Education Committee, 1967-1968
24Postgraduate Education Committee, 1969
24Program Committee, 1963
24Program Committee - correspondence, 1967-1968
24Standing and Ad hoc Committees - correspondence, 1968-1969
24Hong Kong, 1961
24General correspondence, 1958-1964
25General correspondence, 1965-1973
25New member correspondence, 1968
26New member correspondence, 1968-1972
26Annual meetings, 1963, 1968, 1969
27Annual meetings, 1969, 1970
28Annual meetings, 1970, 1974, 1975
28Correspondence on Abstracts, 1963-1964
28Request for information, 1963-1964
28"Cardiology for the Consultant", 1970
28New York Medical Symposium
28Paul D. White Symposium, 1971
28University of Kentuck Symposium, 1971
29Bethesda Conference, 1967-1975
29Bethesda Heart House - groundbreaking, 1975
29Dwight Emory Harken Symposium, 1975
29Conference with American Heart Association, 1967
29Joint meeting with American Heart Association, 1968
29Correspondence with American Heart Association, 1968-1970
29Heart House, 1968-1971
29Regional Leadership conferences, 1972
29Young Investigator's awards, 1963
29Satellite Program, 1968
29"The Book" (109 pages)
29Projects of the college, 1972
29Contributions, 1967-1968
30Contributions, 1968-1970
30Fireside conferences - correspondence
30American College of Chest Physicians, 1970
30American College of Physicians, 1959-1967
30American Heart Association, 1955-1974
30American Heart Journal - correspondence, 1958-1960
31American Heart Journal - Correspondence, 1960-1963
32American Heart Journal - Correspondence, 1964-1967
33American Heart Journal - Correspondence, 1969-1976
American Heart Journal, 1958-1970
34Correspondence, 1976
34J.C. Meakins
34Annotation section, 1974-1976
34Bibliographic citations, 1968-1971
34Board changes, 1964-1968
35Board change, 1969
35Board memebers, 1958-1961
35Clinic Path Conference Section, 1959-1962
35Clinical Cardiology section, 1962
35Editorial Board, 1962-1970
35Editorship, 1958-1959
35Journal exchange, 1959-1961
35Reviewers - declined, 1959-1961
35Meetings, 1959-1961
36American Heart Journal - Meetings, 1962-1967
36American Hospital in Paris, 1972-1973
36American Medical Association, 1945-1972
36Advisory Committee on Medical Science, 1972-1975
36Clinical Convention
37American Medical Association - Provisional Section on Cardiovascular Disease, 1971-1975
37American Therapeutic Society
37American, A-T
37American Heart Association, 1958-1969
37Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology, 1963-1972
37Association of Professors of Medicine, 1971-1974
38Association of University Cardiologists, 1961-1975
39Biometeorological Middle East Conference, 1966
39Cardiovascular Training Grant Program Directors Conference, 1971
39Carrier Corporation, 1958-1964
39Christian Science and Insurance Companies, 1967-1968
39CIBA Pharmaceutical Products, 1957-1973
39Cooperative Studies Evaluation Committee, 1973
39Current Therapy, 1958-1973
39Dwight D. Eisenhower International Heart Institute, 1964
39Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 1973
39Florida Heart Association, 1958
39Foreign PHS Research Fellowship Program, 1957-1958
39German Pathologists, 1967
39Gladstone Foundation, 1974-1975
39Harvard postgraduate course in Angiography, 1975
39Humble Oil and Refining Co. - Medical Division Correspondence
40Illinois Central Hospital Dept.
40Illinois Central Railroad
40Interamerican Congress of Cardiology, 1968
40International Society of Geographical Pathology, 1969
40International Symposium on Vectorcardiography, 1970
40Inter-Society Commission for Heart Disease Resource, 1969
40ICHD, 1969-1970
40John Kent Lewis Memorial Lecture, 1969
40Josiah Macy Conference on Cold Injury, 1951-1955
41Josiah Macy Conference on Shock, 1951-1955
41Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical, 1957-1974
41Lea & Febiger Publishers, 1958-1970
41Life Insurance Medical Fund, 1961-1962
41The Lilly Research Lab, 1961-1974
41Long Island Jewish Hospital Symposium, 1965
41Louisiana State University Medical Center, 1967-1973
41Mayo Educational Advisory Committee, 1965-1966
41Medical Association of South Africa, 1959
42Medical World News, 1962-1974
42Mercer University - Medical Education Consultation Panel, 1975
42"Mission in Science" - Correspondence, notes, itineraries and minutes of meeting, 1947-1949
42C.V. Mosby Company, 1957-1974
42Museum of Man - Correspondence and data, 1958-1959
43National Academy of Sciences, 1956-1961
National Advisory Heart Council, 1951-1958
43Survey on Research Needs, 1951
43Primate Colony, 1957-1958
43Planning Committee meeting, 1958
43National Heart Institute, 1959-1971
National Institutes of Health, 1957-1971
43Advisory Committee of Animal Resources, 1963
43National Heart Institute - Board of Scientific Counselors, 1959-1960
43Primate Centers Research Program - Congressional Testimony, 1970
43Primate Research Center - Committee on Organization, 1959
43Primate Ad hoc Committee on Organization, 1960
44Primate Research Centers - Project site visits, 1959-1961
44National Research Council, 1960
44Subcommittee Cardiovascular Disease, 1948-1951
44Subcommittee Cardiovascular System, 1956-1958
44National Research Council, 1957-1959
44Ochsner Clinic
44Pavlovian Society - correspondence, 1972-1974
44Philadelphia Geriatric Center - Symposium, 1974
44Primate Research Center - correspondence and reports, 1958-1970
45Primate Research Stations - Belgian Congo Trip, 1960-1961
45Primate Research - Project Site Visit - San Francisco, 1960
45Professors of Medicine of Southern Society, 1971
Public Health Service, 1954-1962
45Advisory Committee on Influenza Research, correspondence, 1958-1962
45Cardiovascular Program Directors Meeting, 1954
45Committee on Environmental Medicine, 1957-1962
46Committee on Environmental Medicine, 1962-1963
46Cooperative Grant, Cyto-Chemistry Equipment, 1954-1955
46NIH, Cardiovascular Study Section, 1948
46OVR - Rehabilitation Training Grant, 1956
46Roche Medicacl Image - correspondence, 1967
46Rockefeller Foundation, 1959
46Rockefeller Institute - Correspondence on Research, 1939-1942
46Rockefeller Institute Fellowship - correspondence, 1939-1945
46Royal North Shore Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital - correspondence
46Sandoz Pharmaceuticals
46W.B. Saunders Co.
46Sickle Cell Anemia - correspondence, 1943-1977
46Smith, Kline & French Laboratories
46Sociedad Argentina de Cardiologia, 1969
46Souther Baptist Hospital
46Southern Society for Clinic Research
46Texas Medical Association, 1960
46Texas Medical Association - Annual Session, 1974
46Touro Infirmary, 1962-1969
47Tripler Hospital, 1962
47Veterans Administration Hospital, 1957-1973
47Otolaryngology Training, 1968
47World Congress of Cardiology, 1958-1974
47Primer of Cardiology Preface and Chapters 1-5, 1946-1956
47Primer of Cardiology (1st and 2nd editions) - correspondence, drafts and reviews, 1946-1956
48Primer of Congestive Heart Failure - correspondence, drafts, and reviews, 1952-1955
48Primer of ECG - correspondence, drafts, etc., 1945-1962
49Primer of ECG - correspondence, chapters, reviews, etc., 1944-1957
49Primer of Theory of ECG - correspondence
49Primer of Venous Pressure - correspondence, 1949-1956
49Spatial Vectorcardiography - correspondence with publisher, 1952-1954
49Digital Plethysmography - drafts and reviews, 1954-1955
49"Of Publishing Scientific Papers" - correspondence, drafts and reviews, 1953-1957
50"Of Research and People" - draft, correspondence and review, 1955-1957
50"The Autopsy Incidence of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm"
50Cantharides Blisters Diffusion Studies
50Cole Report, 1956
50"Edema"
50"The Electrocardiograph" (for Encyclopedia Americana), 1971
50The Estimation of the Subcutaneous Tissue Pressure, 1937-1938
50"Management of Congestive Heart Failure", Phoenix, Arizona, 1960
50"The Management of Dysmenorrhea"
50Medical School Notes - Surgical Pathology
50Medical World News - Cardiovascular Review, 1970-1973
50Miscelaneous Editorials, reviews and articles, 1963-1974
50"The Pathological Physiology of Fever"
50"Possible Clinical Applications in Spatial Vectorcardiography", Phoenix, Arizona, January 29, 1960
50"The Psychologic and Physical Benefits of Work in the Elderly"
50"Surgical Thesis and Burns"
50Vectorcardiography, 1949-1953
50Course in Pathology - Outline and Notes
50Suggested Readings for Junior Medical Students, Tulane University, 1931-1932
Tulane University, 1948-1955; 1973
51Department of Medicine - Prospectus and annual reports, 1948-1955
51Ivy Day Address, May 26, 1973
51Unpublished manuscripts (Dr. Burch)
51African Trip - correspondence, 1960-1961
5114th Congress of Internal Medical (Moscow) - Report by Dr. Burch, 1956
51"Confidential Report" to CIA, 1956
51All-Union Scientific Society of Therapeutics - Burch report, 1962
51Japan Trip, 1975
51Invitations Declined, 1970-1974
52Lecture Notes in Physician Diagnosis, 1926-1927
52"Medicine Notes" by George R. Hermann (Hypertension)
52Medical Aids by James Albert Bradley, 1933
52George E. Burch, Parts 1-3
52A Primer of Electrocardiography, 1944
52George E. Burch, "Of Research People"
52George E. Burch, "Of Publishing Scientific Papers"
Vol.1A Primer of Venous Pressure
Vol.2Modern Medical Monographs - Digital Plethysmography
Vol.3Hot Climates, Man and His Heart
Vol.4A Primer of Electrocardiography, 6th edition
Vol.5A History of Electrocardiography
Vol.6Primer of Clinical Measurement of Blood Pressure
Vol.7A Primer of Cardiology, 4th edition
Vol.8Spatial Vectorcardiography
Vol.9Electrocardiography in the Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease
Vol.10-18Collected Papers of George E. Burch, Vols. 1-9 (1936-1974)
Vol.19Annotations, Editorials, Philosophical Papers of George E. Burch, Vol. 1 (1950-1977)
Map case items
Certificates, diplomas, etc.

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Last reviewed: 04 January 2008
Last updated: 02 November 2006
First published: 18 June 2004
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanent: Dynamic Content