Guide to Collections Relating to the History of Artificial Internal Organs

Bakken Library and Museum Canada Science and Technology Museum Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Deutsches Medizinhistorisches Museum DeWitt Stetten Jr. Museum of Medical Research Dittrick Medical History Center Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation International Center for Medical Technologies International Museum of Surgical Science John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center Mayo Foundation Archives, Mayo Clinic Medical History Museum of the University of Copenhagen Medical History Museum of the University of Zurich Medicinhistoriska Museet Minnesota Historical Society Museu Nacional de Historia da Medicina Museum Boerhaave Museum of Health Care at Kingston Mutter Museum National Library of Medicine National Museum of American History National Museum of Health and Medicine Science Museum of London Semmelweis Medical Historical Museum, Library and Archives Thackray Museum University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Medical Museum University of Utah, Marriott Library, Special Collections University of Washington Vanderbilt University Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine

National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health   8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894 (301) 496-5405 (301) 402-0872 www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/   Reference Services hmdref@nlm.nih.gov   Collections and reference assistance available Monday to Friday, 8:30-5 p.m. Written requests and telephone requests accepted.   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 John H. Gibbon Papers, 1925-1972   MS C 313   6 boxes and case items   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.   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.   Available   None   None William A. Altemeier Papers, 1945-1983   MS C 411   2.9 linear feet (7 boxes)   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.   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.   Available on-line   None   Bulk of Atemeier collection is at University of Cincinnati National Science Foundation. Special Commission on Medical Research, 1946-1975   MS C 419   ca. 5 boxes   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.   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.   Available on-line.   None   Oral History Collection, 1968 to roughly 1980s   OH 1 through 90   Approximately 113 interviews   Most of these interviews came from the FDA or the PHS historian's office, documenting internal activities.   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.   Available   None   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. FDA Oral History Collection, 1977 and is ongoing     Approx. 109 interviews, catalogued variously (and uncatalogued) as part of the Oral History Collections' 113 interviews.   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.   A collection of interviews with retired employees on the history of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started in 1977 and is ongoing.   A cumulative index to the interviews is available from the library.   None   American Association for Thoracic Surgery Archives, 1917-1967   MS C 355   10 boxes   The Association was founded in 1917.   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.   Available on-line.   None   The American Society for Clinical Investigation Records, 1907-1977   MS C 418   2.1 linear feet   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.   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.   Available on-line.   None   National Society for Medical Research Archives, 1946-1984   MS C 417   30.0 linear feet (74 boxes and 1 map case folder)   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.   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.   Available on-line.   None

Last reviewed: 27 August 2008
Last updated: 02 March 2007
First published: 01 March 2002
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanent: Dynamic Content