The following collections relate to the history of vaccination. Unless otherwise stated, these collections are available in print at the Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Visit the Online Resources and Virtual Exhibits tabs for a curated list of collections with digital content. To ask a question or arrange for access to paper-based collections, submit a request to the reference team at the Center for the History of Medicine.
Browse Vaccine-related Archives and Manuscript Collections*:
*Collections may appear in multiple categories
Image: Warning! This house contains a case of Measles. From the papers of Frank Taylor Woodbury, 1855-1974 (inclusive).
Colman, Benjamin, 1673-1747; Correspondence from Benjamin Colman to an unidentified recipient, 1721 July 25; B MS Misc; 2 letters, processed, AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Benjamin Colman (1673-1747), A.B., 1692, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a minister at the Brattle Street Church in Cambridge. He also served as an Overseer of Harvard College for forty-eight years and as a Fellow for eleven years. After Harvard President John Leverett died in 1724, Colman was offered the presidency, but he declined, largely due to his concern that his liberal views would prove too controversial and divisive. This draft of correspondence to an unidentified minister in Boston, Massachusetts, from Reverend Benjamin Colman (1673-1747), dated 25 July 1721, regarding a letter published in a local newspaper that condemned Dr. Zabdiel Boylston (1679-1766) and the practice of smallpox inoculation. Colman defends Boylston’s efforts to inoculate the population of Boston, which was facing a smallpox epidemic in 1721, and comments on his “tenderness, courage, & skill in that hazardous operation.” Also contains correspondence from Frederick Shattuck to John Farlow of the Boston Medical Library that accompanied the donation of the Colman correspondence in 1909.
Fansher, Sylvanus, 1770-1846; Sylvanus Fansher papers, 1805-1846 (inclusive), H MS c472, 0.14 c.f.; processed.
Sylvanus Fansher (1770-1846) was a physician practicing in Connecticut and Rhode Island. He conducted research on smallpox and provided public vaccinations, and was a proponent of establishing a national smallpox vaccine program. Fansher wrote several broadsides on smallpox, including Progress of vaccination in America (1816) and Rules to be attended to during vaccination (1817). He also authored A concise treatise on electricity (1830).
Gregory, John, 1724-1773; Lectures on the practice of physic as delivered by Dr. Gregory at Edinburgh A.D. 1770 : manuscript, [circa 1790?], B MS b79.1
Vol. 1: Ascites, angina, apoplexy, asphyxia, asthma, bleeding, cough, consumption, diarrhea, dysentery, fevers, gastritis, gout, hemorrhage, hysteria, hiccups, hydrocele, jaundice, inoculation, inflammation, leprosy, melancholia, measles, nephritis, ophthalmia, quinsy, scabies, scrofula, scurvy, tetanus, women's diseases, wounds, and worms.-- Vol. 2. Inflammation, gangrene, pleurisy, coughs, fever, consumption, empyema, phrenitis, hepatitis, gastritis, enteritis, nephritis, angina, ophthalmia, rheumatism, gout, headache, toothache, colic, poisons, hydrophobia.-- Vol. 3. Preternatural evacuations, hemorrhage, hemorrhoids, diabetes, cholera, dysentery, diarrhea, palsy, syncope, apoplexy, vertigo, catalepsy, tetanus, asphyxia, hysteria, epliepsy, asthma, hypochondriac disease, mania, and melancholia.-- Vol. 4. Ascites, hydrocephalus, scrofula, rickets, scabies, scurvy, lues venerea, jaundice, stone and gravel, worms, deformities, wounds, herpes, burns, diseases of women, diseases of pregnancy, diseases of children.
Hartley, Thomas, d. 1765; Smallpox inoculation certificate for William Peirse,1764 December 17, B MS Misc.; 1 manuscript, processed, AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Thomas Hartley (d. 1765) was keeper of Rainsford Island Hospital, which housed patients with smallpox and other infectious diseases in the 18th and 19th centuries. The island is located in Boston Harbor. A letter signed by Thomas Hartley (d. 1765), the keeper of the Rainsford Island Hospital, certifying that William Peirse was free of smallpox and could return to Boston, Massachusetts, dated 17 December 1764.
Holyoke, Edward Augustus, 1728-1829, Manuscript on smallpox inoculation, B MS Misc., 1 volume, AVAILABLE ONLINE
Edward Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829), A.B., 1746, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a physician in Salem and the son of Harvard's ninth president, Edward Holyoke (1689-1769). He studied medicine under Thomas Berry (1695-1756) of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and once Holyoke's practice was established in Salem, he took on pupils including future Harvard Medical School professors John Collins Warren (1778-1856) and James Jackson (1777-1867). Holyoke was also the first president of the Massachusetts Medical Society from 1782 to 1784. In this undated manuscript, Holyoke describes the various methods of inoculation used by physicians, ways to store inoculation matter, and how to treat patients after they are infected with smallpox including administering a cooling regimen recommended by English physician Thomas Sydenham, restricting animal-based food, and encouraging moderate exercise. Holyoke also writes that he administers calomel, compound powder of crab's claws, and cream of tartar to his patients six days after smallpox eruptions first appear.
Houghton, Thomas; Correspondence from Thomas Houghton to John Phillips, 1792 September 9, 1 letter, AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Correspondence from Thomas Houghton, of Andover, Massachusetts, to John Phillips in Boston, dated 9 September 1792, concerning public views in his town on smallpox inoculation. Attached is a letter announcing the death of Thomas Houghton in 1815.
Jeffries, John (1745-1819); Kine Pox 1775-1802 (inclusive), B MS b1.3, 1 volume, processed, AVAILABLE ONLINE
John Jeffries (1745-1819), A.B., 1763, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, M.D., University of Aberdeen, Scotland, was a Boston physician and scientist. He was an assistant surgeon on a British naval vessel when the Revolutionary War commenced in 1775. A Loyalist, Jeffries evacuated Boston with British forces in 1776, and worked as a surgeon in a British military hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia, until 1779, when he moved to London. In 1785, Jeffries became the first man (with Jean-Pierre Blanchard) to fly a balloon across the English Channel between England and France. He returned to Boston in 1790, and practiced medicine there until his death. Jeffries’ ledger containes lists and charts of smallpox inoculation cases and patient case histories of Boston physician John Jeffries (1745-1819), recorded from November 1775 to June 1802. Descriptions include patients’ names, ages, and physical condition, method of inoculation and symptoms. The entries dated 1800-1802 are not in chronological order.
See also: Small Pocks, 1775-1779, B MS b1.2, AVAILABLE ONLINE, which is a ledger containing accounts of smallpox inoculation by Jeffries at Rainsford Island Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, from June to July 1775; at a West Boston smallpox hospital in July 1775; and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, between 1776 and 1779. The accounts include dates, names, ages and physical condition of patients, and details regarding the method of delivery. Among the patients he inoculated was his son, John, at Rainsford Island Hospital on 14 June 1775.
Kittredge, J. (1829). Account Books, 1829-1857.
Consists of three volumes of Kittredge's account books dating from 1829 to 1857. Entries include male, female, and juvenile patients, with their place of residence, date, treatment, and fee charged. Kittredge dressed legs, fingers, hands; extracted teeth, handled obstetrics cases, and vaccinated individuals and groups.
Latham, James, approximately 1734-1799; Receipt from James Latham to Thaddeus Maccarty, 1777 June 21; B MS Misc., 1 manuscript, processed, AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Thaddeus Maccarty (1747-1802), B.A., 1766, Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut, was a physician practicing in Fitchburg and Worcester, Massachusetts. After graduating Yale, he studied medicine with John Frink (1732-1821) of Rutledge, Massachusetts, the first president of the Worcester Medical Society (established 1794). Maccarty opened his medical practice in Dudley, Massachusetts, in 1770, in partnership with Dr. Ebenezer Lillie. After several years, he moved to Fitchburg, where he established a smallpox hospital in partnership with Dr. James Latham (approximately 1734-1799), who ran smallpox hospitals in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and Claverdale, New York. Latham had a contract with English physician William Sutton, through which he had access to the "Suttonian method" of inoculation, which included use of inoculation matter from individual with mild cases of smallpox, administration of the matter through shallow cuts, and eschewing bleeding and purging. Receipt for payment of seventeen pounds, six pence by Dr. Thaddeus Maccarty (1747-1802) to Dr. James Latham (approximately 1734-1799) of Manor Livingston, New York, dated 21 June 1777. The payment was likely collected in accordance with their 1776 partnership agreement related to smallpox inoculation services.
See also: Correspondence from James Latham to Thaddeus Maccarty, 1776 July 24-1777 June 21; 3 letters. Correspondence from Dr. James Latham (approximately 1734-1799) in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and Manor Livingston (Livingston Manor), New York, to Dr. Thaddeus Maccarty (1747-1802), B.A., Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut, regarding authorization for Maccarty to administer smallpox inoculations in various towns in Worcester County, in addition to his own town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, via the English "Suttonian" method. In certain parts of North America, Latham had exclusive rights to appoint physicians to carry out Suttonian inoculation. Maccarty opened a smallpox hospital in Fitchburg in 1776 in partnership with Latham; under their articles of agreement, Maccarty was licensed to practice the Suttonian method in that town for twenty-one years. AVAILABLE ONLINE.
McKean, Robert, 1732-1767; Correspondence from Robert McKean to an unidentified recipient, circa 1761; B MS Misc, 1 letter, processed. AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Robert McKean (1732-1767) was a minister and physician in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He was a founding member and the first president of the New Jersey Medical Society in 1766. Correspondence from Dr. Robert McKean (1732-1767) of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in circa 1761, ton an unidentified recipient in Boston, Massachusetts, describing, step by step, McKean's method of smallpox inoculation, which appeared to follow the "Suttonian method" of the English physician Robert Sutton. McKean advises tailoring treatment to each patient's constitution, preparing them for inoculation with a specific diet free of liquor and animal foods, and inoculating patients with the mildest form of the disease as possible. He also discouraged bleeding patients before inoculation.
Spalding, Lyman, 1775-1821; papers, 1798-1912 (inclusive), 1798-circa 1820 (bulk); B MS c2, 0.84 c.f., processed, AVAILALBE ONLINE (see below)
Lyman Spalding (1775-1821), M.B., honorary M.D., Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, practiced medicine in New Hampshire and New York. He was noted for his work in smallpox vaccination, treatment of yellow fever, and study of anatomy. Spalding taught chemistry at Dartmouth Medical School and Fairfield Medical College for several years. He also founded the Pharmacopœia of the United States of America. Spalding studied under John Warren (1753-1815), Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846), and Aaron Dexter (1750-1829), and he was the twenty-second graduate of the Harvard Medical School in 1797. Physician Nathan Smith (1762-1829) was a mentor to Spalding in his youth, and after graduating Harvard, Spalding moved back to New Hampshire to help Smith found Dartmouth Medical School in 1797. He was a lecturer there in chemistry, and he also established a medical practice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1800, Spalding resigned from his full-time lectureship at Dartmouth to focus on his medical practice, although he continued to teach part time until 1802. He received cowpox matter from Harvard Medical School Professor Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846), who introduced smallpox vaccination in the Unites States, and in 1800, Spalding became the first physician in New Hampshire to vaccinate patients against smallpox. He also initiated an annual bill of mortality for the Portsmouth population. Spalding was elected to the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1801, and in 1811 he served as its vice president. He moved his practice and his family to New York City in 1816, and he began giving lectures at Fairfield Medical College. In 1817, at meeting of the New York County Medical Society, Spalding proposed that a national Pharmacopœia be assembled. The United States Pharmacopœia was published in 1820.
Tufts, Cotton, 1732-1815; papers, 1751-1805 (inclusive), B MS c30, 0.18 c.f., processed
Cotton Tufts (1732-1815), A.B., 1749, honorary M.D., 1785, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, studied medicine with his older brother, Simon Tufts (1727-1786), in Medford, Massachusetts, and later established his own practice in Weymouth, Massachusetts. In 1780, he was one of the incorporators of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he was later a delegate to the Massachusetts convention on the United States Constitution. Tufts was also an incorporator of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1781, and served as its fourth president (1787-1795). The Cotton Tufts papers, 1751-1805 (inclusive), consist of the correspondence of physician Cotton Tufts (1732-1815) with his older brother, Simon Tufts (1726/7-1786), and other physicians, regarding medical matters, and the founding of a medical society in Massachusetts. Letters to Tufts pertain to the organization of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a meeting in 1785 of the Massachusetts Medical Society, among other topics. Also includes manuscripts by Tufts and a fragment of Tufts' medical journal from his practice in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Includes material on smallpox (see finding aid for more information).
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene records, 1908-2013 (inclusive), 1930s-1980s (bulk); H MS c192, 131.25 cubic feet, processed.
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (the "Society") was founded in 1903 by a group of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania physicians as the American Society of Tropical Medicine. The creation of the society stemmed in part from the expansion of American political holdings in tropical and sub-tropical areas around the world, including the Philippines and South America, as well as from contemporary developments in microscopy and virology. The Society began to publish on its tenth anniversary with the American Journal of Tropical Diseases and Preventive Medicine. The question of a merger between the American Society of Tropical Medicine, the National Malaria Committee (later renamed the National Malaria Society), the American Foundation for Tropical Medicine, and the American Academy of Tropical Medicine was first brought up in 1950 and submitted to the memberships of all four organizations. The journals of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and the National Malaria Society were also merged, resulting in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Post-merger, special interest groups began to emerge among the Society membership. One of the first was the American Committee on Arthropod-borne Viruses, established in 1959 in response to a World Health Organization (WHO) call in 1958 for more research on arthropod-borne viruses. The Society currently describes itself as “…a worldwide organization of scientists, clinicians, and program professionals. The organization’s mission is to promote global health through the prevention and control of infectious and other diseases that disproportionately afflict the global poor.” For additional information, please visit the Society's corporate website, http://www.astmh.org
Blank, Irvin Haas, 1902-2000; papers, 1927-1992; H MS c160; 10.4 c.f., processed.
Irvin Haas Blank, 1902-2000, BS, 1924, University of Cincinnati; PhD, 1928, University of Cincinnati, was a research dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass. who worked in the Harvard Medical School Department of Dermatology for over 42 years, retiring officially in 1968, and continuing to work, largely at the Wellman Laboratories, until 1968. Blank's research focused on skin therapy with topical agents, percutaneous absorption, contact dermatitis, and hydration of the skin. Contains laboratory notebooks, research data, correspondence, writings, and glass slides from Blank's work as a dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; also included are records from his work as a consultant with private organizations and his involvement with professional groups.
Boston Women's Health Book Collective; subject files, 1970-1998; H MS c261, 103 c.f.
The Boston Women's Health Book Collective is a nonprofit, public interest women's health education, advocacy, and consulting organization which was formally established in 1972 and published Our Bodies, Ourselves in 1973. Contains vertical files gathered by the organization about a wide range of women's health issues including abortion, birth control, and childbearing in the United States and abroad.
Brigham and Women's Hospital; records, 1913– (inclusive) 1980–2000 (bulk); BWH c1, 47.5 c.f., processed (To request access, email BWH Archivist)
Brigham and Women’s Hospital is an aggregate of several hospitals: Boston Lying-in Hospital, Free Hospital for Women, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and the Robert B. Brigham Hospital. In 1832, the Boston-Lying In Hospital, one of the nation’s first maternity hospitals, opened its doors to women unable to afford in-home medical care. In 1875, the Free Hospital for Women was founded “for poor women affected with diseases peculiar to their sex or in need of surgical aid.” The Peter Bent Brigham Hospital was opened in 1913 “for the care of sick persons in indigent circumstances.” The Robert B. Brigham Hospital, opened in 1914 to serve patients with arthritis and other debilitating joint diseases. In 1966, the Boston Lying-In Hospital and the Free Hospital for Women formally combined missions and operations resulting in the incarnation known as the Boston Hospital for Women. In 1975, it merged with the Peter Bent Brigham and the Robert B. Brigham Hospitals forming the Affiliated Hospitals Center. In 1980, at the time of the opening of a new, state-of-the-art facility, the Affiliated Hospitals Center became known as the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School. BWH c1, the records of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, include those generated by the staff of the institution while conducting administrative business and public outreach. The dates range from 1913 through the present, with the bulk of the records covering 1980 through 2000. Included in the BWH records are correspondence, meeting minutes and agendas, memoranda, reports, committee records, press releases, programs, newspaper clippings, photographs, video and audio tapes, flyers, artifacts and memorabilia, serial and stand alone publications, and the visual material used to create publications. The largest series of records are the Photographs and Publication Production Records which contain the majority of the archival photographs relating to BWH staff and facilities.
Duran i Reynals, Francesc, 1899-1958; papers, 1913-1960; H MS c194, 13.64 c.f.; Processed.
Francesc Duran i Reynals (1899-1958), M.D., University of Barcelona, Spain, was a Research Associate and Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology at the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. Duran i Reynals was known for research regarding the viral etiology of cancer and the mechanisms of spread of infectious diseases and cancer. Duran i Reynals was born on 05 December 1899 in Barcelona, Spain, and attended the University of Barcelona for his undergraduate and graduate studies, working with Ramon Turro. Duran i Reynals became the first Spanish scientist to culture bacterial viruses. In 1926, he moved to Paris, France, to work with Alexandre Besredka (1870-1940) and Élie Wollman (1917-2008) in the laboratory at the Institut Pasteur. From 1926 to 1928, Duran i Reynals relocated to New York, New York, to work with Dr. James B. Murphy (1884-1950) at the Rockefeller Institute in the Department of Cancer Research. He was named an Assistant in that department in 1928, and held that position until 1934, when he returned to Spain to start a new laboratory of cancer research at the University of Madrid. However, when the Spanish Revolution halted all plans, Dr. Murphy rehired Duran i Reynals at the Rockefeller Institute, where he remained until 1938. At that time, he became a Research Assistant, and later a Research Associate and lecturer, in the Department of Microbiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. He spent summers from 1938 to 1957 working as a Scientific Associate at the Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. He died on 28 March 1958 in New Haven, Connecticut. The Francesc Duran i Reynals Papers, 1913-1960, are the product of Duran i Reynals’s professional, research, and publishing activities throughout the course of his career.
Essex, Myron (1939- ); papers 1949-1996 (inclusive) 1965-1996 (bulk); H MS c466, 16.67 c.f. and .01 gigabytes Processed.
The Myron Essex papers, 1949-1996 (inclusive), 1965-1996 (bulk), are the product of Essex’s professional, research, teaching, and publishing activities throughout the early years of his career as a researcher in the field of public health and microbiology, and in his roles as the Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences (1989-) and Chair, Harvard AIDS Institute, now the Harvard AIDS Initiative. Essex’s research has focused on the link between retroviruses and immunosuppressive disease in animals and human beings, including HIV-AIDS; he is responsible for the discovery of gp120, the virus surface protein used for blood screening and HIV detection, and the identification of the simian T cell leukemia virus (STLV) and the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in monkeys, and the HIV-2 virus in people in West Africa.
Gay, George W. (George Washington), 1842-1931; Papers, ca.1906-1920 (inclusive); GA 31; 1 box, unprocessed.
Gay (Harvard, M.D. 1868) was instructor in clinical surgery, 1888-1900, and lecturer on surgery at the Harvard Medical School, 1900-1908. He was also surgeon at Boston City Hospital for many years. He served on the Committee on State and National Legislation of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Papers pertain mostly to Gay's work on committees of the Massachusetts Medical Society, his reports concerning Wrentham State School residents, and reports relative to Boston City Hospital affairs. Society records contain correspondence, drafts, and legal documents relating to legislation and medical malpractice, health insurance, eugenics, vaccination, narcotics, and medical expert witnesses. Other material includes letters and reports, 1909-1916, written to Gay as trustee of Boston City Hospital; copies of speeches and articles; and correspondence, 1906-1919, with colleagues about medical treatment, vital statistics, Mental Hygiene Society activities, as well as personal concerns.
Good, Robert A., 1922-2003; papers 1943-2006 (inclusive); H MS c317, 39.2 c.f., processed.
Robert Alan Good (1922-2003), B.A., 1944, M.D., Ph.D., 1947, University of Minnesota, was a pediatrician, microbiologist, and pathologist. Good was a founder of modern immunology and a pioneer in bone marrow transplantation. His research focused on the cellular basis of immunity, thymus function, immunodeficiency diseases, cellular engineering, and nutrition. Serving in several positions in the Pediatrics and Microbiology departments, Good's research activities at the University of Minnesota included identifying the thymus gland as a primary source for the body's defenses, outlining the important role that tonsils play in the development of the immune system, and leading the team that performed the first successful bone marrow transplantation. In 1970, Good was awarded the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award and the Gairdner Foundation Award. In 1972 Good moved to the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York, serving as President and Director until 1982. After serving at the Cancer Research Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, from 1982 to 1985, Good moved to the University of South Florida and All Children's Hospital, St. Petersburg, where he worked until his death in 2003. The Robert A. Good Papers are the product of Good's activities as an administrator, research, professor, and lecturer.
Haseltine, William A. (1944-) papers, circa 1944-2008 (inclusive), 1962-2008 (bulk); H MS c359, 146.96 cubic feet, Processed
The William A. Haseltine papers, circa 1944-2008 (inclusive), are the product of Haseltine’s activities as a researcher, business executive, educator, lecturer, consultant, and contributing member of national and international organizations. Professional Records (Series I) comprise the bulk of the collection and consist of administrative and research records, meeting minutes, reports, subject files, personnel records, correspondence, presentations, and drafts produced by Haseltine and his colleagues at the various companies and organizations he was employed at or founded, including Human Genome Sciences, Inc., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Cambridge BioScience Corporation. Travel records (Series II) contain lecture drafts, meeting programs, and correspondence from Haseltine’s amfAR meetings and conferences on AIDS research. Subject files (Series III) consist of articles, notes, newspaper clippings, and correspondence about Alzheimer’s disease, nanotechnology, stem cells, cancer, HIV, and AIDS. Personal records (Series IV) contain correspondence with friends and family, school notebooks, letters of recommendation, journals, and invitations to social events. The papers also include Haseltine’s manuscript drafts and reprints, collected reprints on HIV and AIDS, and videotapes and audiotapes from Human Genome Sciences and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute meetings (Series V, VI, and VII).
Kasper, Dennis L.; papers, 1971-2013; H MS c404, 36.25 c.f. and 11.09 GB, processed.
Dennis L. Kasper, born 1943, BS, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1963; MD, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, 1967, microbiologist, researcher, professor, and administrator focusing on bacterial infections and bacterial carbohydrates, including those of group B Streptococcus and Bacteroides fragilis, among others, as well as the interactions of the microbiota with the mucosal and systemic immune systems. Kasper began his time at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1973, as an Albee Fellow (1973-1985) and Instructor (1973-1974). In 1975, Kasper was hired as an Assistant Physician, Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and as an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. He became an Associate in Medicine, Peter Brent Brigham Division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1977. Kasper acted as an Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School from 1979-1985, at which point he was promoted to Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. During this time, he became a Physician and the Director, Division of Infections, Beth Israel Hospital in 1981. Kasper acted as the Associate Director the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital from 1982-1988, when he became the Co-Director, and then the Director (1996-2012). His academic career included a post as the Edward Kass Professor of Medicine (1988) and then as the William Ellery Channing Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Harvard Medical School, positions Kasper has held since 1989. He additionally acted as the Executive Vice Chairman, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as the Executive Dean for Academic Programs at Harvard Medical School (1997-2003). He was the Scientific Director at the New England Center of Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Harvard Medical School (2003-2014). Summary Scope and content: The Dennis L. Kasper papers, 1971-2013, are the product of Kasper’s professional, research, and publishing activities throughout his career as a researcher in the field of microbiology, and in his roles as the Assistant Director and Director of the Channing Laboratory, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, a Physician and Director of Division of Infections, Beth Israel Hospital, and as the Executive Dean, Academic Programs and the William Ellery Channing Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, both at Harvard Medical School. Kasper’s research has focused on bacterial infections and bacterial carbohydrates, including those of group B Streptococcus and Bacteroides fragilis, among others, the interactions of the microbiota with the mucosal and systemic immune systems, as well as bacterial antigens, antibodies, and streptococcal vaccines, additives to reduce toxic shock, and immunomodulating polymers.
Klein, Jerome O., 1931-; papers, 1949-2002 (inclusive); H MS c351, 4.3 c.f., processed.
Jerome O. Klein (born 1931), B.A, 1952, Union College, Schenectady, New York; M.D., 1956, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine, an attending physician in (and a former Chief of) the Section of Pediatric Infectious Diseases of the Department of Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center (BMC), and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Between approximately 1961 and 2000, Klein served as a research fellow at the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory (renamed the Maxwell Finland Laboratory in 1979) at Boston City Hospital and at the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. While at the Thorndike Laboratory, Klein served as a Francis Weld Peabody Memorial Fellow from 1964 to 1966. Klein’s primary research interests are infectious diseases in infants and children, particularly otitis media (middle-ear infections) and vaccines.The Jerome O. Klein papers, 1949-2002 (inclusive), consist of professional and personal correspondence, laboratory and administrative records, meeting records, writings, and photographs and videos generated as a result of Klein’s activities as a physician, research fellow, and author. They includes records generated through Klein’s activities at the Thorndike Memorial, Maxwell Finland, and Channing Laboratories; the Boston Medical Center; Harvard Medical School; the Communicable Disease Center's Epidemic Intelligence Course; the Society for Infectious Diseases; and by Klein’s work on his two major textbooks, Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant (co-edited with Jack S. Remington), and Otitis Media in Infants and Children (co-authored with Charles D. Bluestone).
Lagakos, Stephen W. (1946-2009) papers, 1979-2010 (inclusive), 1995-2009 (bulk); H MS c338, 21.4 c.f. 9.82 GB, partially processed (contact Public Services)
The Stephen W. Lagakos papers, 1971-2009 (inclusive), 1995-2009 (bulk), are the product of Lagakos’s activities as an HIV/AIDS researcher, biostatistician, and professor of biostatistics. The papers include research records from Lagakos’s involvement in HIV/AIDS clinical trials, his professional writings, his teaching records from the Harvard School of Public Health and the State University of New York, Buffalo, records from his involvement with professional organizations, and personal correspondence, appointment books and photographs.
Massachusetts. Department of Public Health. Records of the Laboratories, 1930-1959 (bulk); uncataloged. 22 boxes. Unprocessed.
Includes administrative files of the Antitoxin and Vaccine Laboratory; correspondence of the Department of Public Health Commissioner; financial records; and a considerable amount of other material.
Neutra, M. R. (Marian R.).; papers, 1975-2016 (bulk), H MS c481, 24 c.f., processed.
Marian R. Neutra, Ph.D., 1966, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, is Ellen and Melvin Gordon Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus at Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Neutra joined the Harvard Medical School (HMS) faculty in 1973; she taught Histology and Cell Biology at HMS from 1974 to 2004 and was recipient of multiple teaching awards. Neutra was founding associate director of the Harvard Digestive Diseases Center (HDDC) from 1984 to 1998, and director from 1998 to 2005. She established the Gastrointestinal Cell Biology Research Laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital in 1990; at HMS she served as Master of Castle Society and chair of the curriculum committee from 1992 to 1998. Neutra’s research was focused on epithelial cell biology and mucosal immunology; her findings have contributed to an improved understanding of the biological basis of antigen sampling at mucosal surfaces and mucosal immune responses to pathogens and vaccines. Neutra served on multiple NIH review committees, including Cell Biology and Vaccines for Microbial Diseases. She also served on numerous scientific advisory committees including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) AIDS Research Advisory Committee from 1994 to 2000 (chair 1997 to 2000) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative from 2007 to 2012, as well as similar initiatives in Canada and Europe. In 1990, she became the second woman to be appointed to the rank of full professor at Boston Children’s Hospital. Summary Scope and content: Records created and collected by Marian R. Neutra and reflecting her research, teaching, and professional activities related to epithelial cell biology and mucosal immunology, including grants records, correspondence, photographic prints photographic negatives, original drawings, slides, and electronic media.
Rutstein, David D. (1909-1986) papers, 1936-1986, 1938-1967 (bulk); H MS c315, 102.25 cubic feet, processed
Consists of records created by David D. Rutstein during the course of his career as Professor of Preventive Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Cardiac Bureau of the New York State Department of Health, and Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health from 1943 to 1946. Papers also includes records of Rutstein’s activities as a researcher, academic, medical school administrator, and contributing member of national and international professional health care boards and foundations. Includes correspondence files for programs Rutstein initiated within the Department of Preventive Medicine at Harvard Medical School, as well as his work on curriculum development; teaching activities; and plans for a program in community health care at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston. Other professional activitie include: involvement in medical societies, especially the American and Massachusetts Heart Associations and American Council on Rheumatic Fever; consulting and advisory work for a variety of international and national medical bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Public Health Service, and service as Chairman of the United States-United Kingdom Cooperative Rheumatic Fever Study; research on pneumonia, rheumatic fever, heart and blood vessel diseases, and the dissemination of results to scientists and to the general public through a weekly television program ("The Facts of Medicine") and publications; and lobbying efforts.
Vinson, John W., papers, 1924-1979 (inclusive), H MS c479, 2.4 c.f. unprocessed (contact Public Services)
John W. Vinson (1916-1979), B.S., 1940, Duke University, Durham, NC; S.D. in hyg., 1958, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, was an associate professor of microbiology at the Harvard School of Public Health from 1958-1979. He was the first scientist to cultiave certain strains of rickettsia, a microorganism responsible for trench fever, which eventually led to the development of a vaccine. In 1964 he received the Hans Zinsser Award for research in trench fever. Records include grey literature, publications, and reprints relating to venereal disease, Rickettsion disease, trench fever, drug abuse, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, canine rabies, urinary tract infections, and other microbiological diseases. Also contains correspondence, grant records, and some manuscript materials from John W. Vinson.
Weller, Thomas Huckle (1915-2008) papers, 1960s-1970s; H MS c357, 65.7 c.f., processed
Thomas Huckle Weller (1915-2008), A.B., S.M., 1936, 1937, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; M.D., 1940, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, was a virologist and 1954 Nobel Prize winner who headed the Department of Tropical Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, from 1954 to 1981. The collection consists of records generated as a product of Thomas Huckle Weller's service on the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board (AFEB), a body providing medical advice to the United States Department of Defense and the American military service. Specifically, records relate to Weller's work for the Commission on Parasitic Diseases and the Commission on Malaria. Records consist of correspondence, meeting minutes, agendas, memoranda, notes, photographs, grant applications, contracts, and annual reports.
Zinsser, Hans, 1878-1940; papers, 1887-1954 (inclusive), 1898-1942 (bulk); H MS c73, 16 c.f., processed. Online access (see below).
Hans Zinsser (Columbia, M.D. 1903) was Charles Wilder Professor of Bacteriology and Immunology at Harvard Medical School from 1935 to 1940, chief of Bacteriological Services at Children's and Infants' Hospital, and consultantin bacteriology at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Mass. His research included the development of a vaccine for typhus, work on the etiology of rheumatic fever, host response to syphilis, nature of the antigen-antibody reaction, the measurement of virus size, and studies of delayed hypersensitivity and allergy. Contains personal papers, research writing and travel material, and some teaching notes. Personal papers include manuscripts of poems and other literary work, correspondence with publishers and friends, family correspondence and financial material, diary and reports relating to Zinsser's World War I service, clippings, and other personal items such as photographs, awards, and datebooks. Other material includes notes on experiments and related research; and notes, manuscripts of writings and reprints on medical topics. Also contains considerable printed material. Additional accession includes a manuscript of The Doctor and Education: The Collected Essays of Hans Zinsser, personal correspondence, and biographical information. See also: Hans Zinsser papers, 1901-1940 (inclusive), H MS c18, 2 c.f. , card catalog.
Essex, Myron (1939- ); papers 1949-1996 (inclusive) 1965-1996 (bulk); H MS c466, 16.67 c.f. and .01 gigabytes Processed.
The Myron Essex papers, 1949-1996 (inclusive), 1965-1996 (bulk), are the product of Essex’s professional, research, teaching, and publishing activities throughout the early years of his career as a researcher in the field of public health and microbiology, and in his roles as the Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences (1989-) and Chair, Harvard AIDS Institute, now the Harvard AIDS Initiative. Essex’s research has focused on the link between retroviruses and immunosuppressive disease in animals and human beings, including HIV-AIDS; he is responsible for the discovery of gp120, the virus surface protein used for blood screening and HIV detection, and the identification of the simian T cell leukemia virus (STLV) and the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in monkeys, and the HIV-2 virus in people in West Africa.
Lagakos, Stephen W. (1946-2009) papers, 1979-2010 (inclusive), 1995-2009 (bulk); H MS c338, 21.4 c.f. 9.82 GB, partially processed (contact Public Services)
The Stephen W. Lagakos papers, 1971-2009 (inclusive), 1995-2009 (bulk), are the product of Lagakos’s activities as an HIV/AIDS researcher, biostatistician, and professor of biostatistics. The papers include research records from Lagakos’s involvement in HIV/AIDS clinical trials, his professional writings, his teaching records from the Harvard School of Public Health and the State University of New York, Buffalo, records from his involvement with professional organizations, and personal correspondence, appointment books and photographs.
Boston Women's Health Book Collective; subject files, 1970-1998; H MS c261, 103 c.f.
The Boston Women's Health Book Collective is a nonprofit, public interest women's health education, advocacy, and consulting organization which was formally established in 1972 and published Our Bodies, Ourselves in 1973. Contains vertical files gathered by the organization about a wide range of women's health issues including abortion, birth control, and childbearing in the United States and abroad.
Margaret Foley antivaccination correspondence. (1915). Part of the History Vault: Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library. AVAILABLE ONLINE (Harvard Key required).
See also: Margaret Foley antivaccination correspondence. (1916); Margaret Foley antivaccination documents, including Ernest McCormick essay "Is Vaccination a Disastrous Illusion". (1911); Names and addresses of Massachusetts House of Representatives members, for antivaccination crusade. (1916).
The following journals may also be of interest:
Strong, Richard P. (Richard Pearson) (1872-1949) papers, 1911-2004 (inclusive), 1911-1945 (bulk); GA 82, 69 cubic feet, Box and folder listed, with small selections from collection digitized (contact Public Services)
Contains correspondence files and related material concerning the Department of Tropical Medicine from the earliest years under the Harvard Medical School until Strong’s retirement, as well as records related to Strong’s: teaching activities at Harvard and at the Army Medical School; scientific expeditions; World War I work as head of the Red Cross commission to combat the typhus epidemic in Serbia; involvement in social clubs, international congresses, and professional societies such as the American Academy and Foundation of Tropical Medicine; advisory work for the National Research Council Committee on Medical Problems of Animal Parasitology; and service on the Massachusetts Public Health Council. The papers also contain: records pertaining to Strong’s research and writing; some family correspondence; some personal financial papers; correspondence, memoranda, and photographs relating to Strong’s teaching for the Army during World War II; a book and series of DVDs about the Harvard African Expedition in 1934; and a diary and letters belonging to Strong’s wife, Grace Nichols. Harvard teaching and departmental material contains correspondence with other offices, information about faculty appointments, lecture notes, course schedules, examinations, budgets, and reports and publications concerning establishment of the department in 1913.
See also: Richard Pearson Strong and the Iatrogenic Plague Disaster in Bilibid Prison, Manila, 1906 (Journal article, REQUIRES Harvard Key login); Harvard African Expedition (film--AVAILALBE ONLINE) Between 1913 and 1934, Richard P. Strong made several expeditions to afflicted areas in South and Central America and in Africa to investigate diseases and obtain material for his laboratory and teaching work.
Vinson, John W., papers, 1924-1979 (inclusive), H MS c479, 2.4 c.f. unprocessed (contact Public Services)
John W. Vinson (1916-1979), B.S., 1940, Duke University, Durham, NC; S.D. in hyg., 1958, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, was an associate professor of microbiology at the Harvard School of Public Health from 1958-1979. He was the first scientist to cultiave certain strains of rickettsia, a microorganism responsible for trench fever, which eventually led to the development of a vaccine. In 1964 he received the Hans Zinsser Award for research in trench fever. Records include grey literature, publications, and reprints relating to venereal disease, Rickettsion disease, trench fever, drug abuse, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, canine rabies, urinary tract infections, and other microbiological diseases. Also contains correspondence, grant records, and some manuscript materials from John W. Vinson.
Zinsser, Hans, 1878-1940; papers, 1887-1954 (inclusive), 1898-1942 (bulk); H MS c73, 16 c.f., processed. Online access (see below).
Hans Zinsser (Columbia, M.D. 1903) was Charles Wilder Professor of Bacteriology and Immunology at Harvard Medical School from 1935 to 1940, chief of Bacteriological Services at Children's and Infants' Hospital, and consultantin bacteriology at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Mass. His research included the development of a vaccine for typhus, work on the etiology of rheumatic fever, host response to syphilis, nature of the antigen-antibody reaction, the measurement of virus size, and studies of delayed hypersensitivity and allergy. Contains personal papers, research writing and travel material, and some teaching notes. Personal papers include manuscripts of poems and other literary work, correspondence with publishers and friends, family correspondence and financial material, diary and reports relating to Zinsser's World War I service, clippings, and other personal items such as photographs, awards, and datebooks. Other material includes notes on experiments and related research; and notes, manuscripts of writings and reprints on medical topics. Also contains considerable printed material. Additional accession includes a manuscript of The Doctor and Education: The Collected Essays of Hans Zinsser, personal correspondence, and biographical information.
Gamble, Clarence James, 1894-; papers, 1920-1970s (inclusive), 1920-1966 (bulk); H MS c23; 268 boxes; processed.
The Clarence James Gamble Papers, 1920-1970s, are the product of Gamble's activities in the development and testing of contraceptive methods, changing attitudes of the medical and health professions, legislative reform and education of the public, governmental involvement on local and national levels, and demographic studies in developing countries after the post-World War II population explosion. The collection includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, conference papers, financial data, newsletters, and other records resulting from the establishment, direction, and financing of programs by Gamble to advance the cause of population control through organizations such as the National Committee on Maternal Health, American Birth Control League, Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau, Birth Control Federation, Planned Parenthood Federation, and International Planned Parenthood Federation.
See: clinical trials of birth control in Puerto Rico.
Rock, John, 1890-1984; personal and professional papers, 1921-1985 (inclusive); H MS c161; 43.2 c.f.; processed
The John Rock papers, 1921-1985, are the product of Rock's activities as a fertility specialist and endocrine researcher at the Free Hospital for Women in Brookline, Mass. The collection includes correspondence, research studies, raw data, statistics, writings, lecture notes and outlines, lantern slides and photographs chronicling his research in oral contraceptives, in vitro fertilization, human embryo development, corpus luteum, artificial insemination, and the effect of temperature on the fecundity of human sperm.
See: clinical trials of birth control in Puerto Rico.
Weller, Thomas Huckle (1915-2008) papers, 1960s-1970s; H MS c357, 65.7 c.f., Processed
Thomas Huckle Weller (1915-2008), A.B., S.M., 1936, 1937, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; M.D., 1940, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, was a virologist and 1954 Nobel Prize winner who headed the Department of Tropical Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, from 1954 to 1981. The collection consists of records generated as a product of Thomas Huckle Weller's service on the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board (AFEB), a body providing medical advice to the United States Department of Defense and the American military service. Specifically, records relate to Weller's work for the Commission on Parasitic Diseases and the Commission on Malaria. Records consist of correspondence, meeting minutes, agendas, memoranda, notes, photographs, grant applications, contracts, and annual reports.
Zinsser, H. (1922). The Etiology and Epidemiology of Influenza / Hans Zinsser. Part of the Open Collections Program at Harvard University: Contagion. Available online.
Richard Pearson Strong and the Iatrogenic Plague Disaster in Bilibid Prison, Manila, 1906 (Journal article, REQUIRES Harvard Key login)
Aycock, W. Lloyd.; papers, 1919-1951 (inclusive), H MS c203; 2.1 c.f., processed
William Lloyd Aycock (1889-1951) was an epidemiologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. He also directed research for the Harvard Infatile Paralysis Commission. Aycock's research focused on epidemiological aspects polio and leprosy, particularly the subclinical aspects of polio, which led to his theory that polio was much more widespread than initially assumed, and that its paralytic form was the extreme, even atypical, manifestation of the disease.
Brandt, Allan M.; papers, 1800-2005 (inclusive), 1976-1996 (bulk); H MS c533; 25 c.f.; unprocessed
Allan M. Brandt (1953-), B.A., 1974, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; M.A., 1975, Columbia University, New York, New York; M.Phil., 1978, Columbia University; Ph.D., 1983, Columbia University, is the Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, and Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Brandt served as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University from 2008 to 2012. His work focuses on ethical and social aspects of global health and medical diseases of the 20th century, and has written on the social history of epidemic disease, public health and health policy history, and the history of human experimentation. He is the author of No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States since 1880 (1987), The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America (2007, 2009), and Morality and Health (1997). Consists of records created and collected by Allan M. Brandt including: published and unpublished writings; project records for published and unpublished works; teaching records; records of professional committee memberships and activities; talks and lectures; history of medicine subject files; and records of Brandt’s graduate and undergraduate work.
Harvard School of Public Health. Molecular and Integrative Physiological Sciences Program; Executive Administration Files, 1914-1982 (inclusive), 1938-1982 (bulk); Series 00139; 1.15 c.f.; unprocessed
Consists of records produced by James Laverre Whittenberger's as head of the Department of Physiology. Includes records, reports and correspondence generated from government contracts and research. Research topics in the records include poliomyelitis, environmental health, and respiration.
Weller, Thomas Huckle (1915-2008) papers, 1960s-1970s; H MS c357, 65.7 c.f., processed
Thomas Huckle Weller (1915-2008), A.B., S.M., 1936, 1937, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; M.D., 1940, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, was a virologist and 1954 Nobel Prize winner who headed the Department of Tropical Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, from 1954 to 1981. The collection consists of records generated as a product of Thomas Huckle Weller's service on the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board (AFEB), a body providing medical advice to the United States Department of Defense and the American military service. Specifically, records relate to Weller's work for the Commission on Parasitic Diseases and the Commission on Malaria. Records consist of correspondence, meeting minutes, agendas, memoranda, notes, photographs, grant applications, contracts, and annual reports.
Whittenberger, James Laverre (1914-2007) papers, 1933-1963; H MS c324, 4.2 c.f., processed
Contains correspondence and related material, mostly concerning Whittenberger's research at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Research which was conducted for the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis from 1945 to 1962 is documented by correspondence, reports, financial records, and material from congresses and conferences, in addition to reports on poliomyelitis epidemics. Also includes grant files, 1947 to 1957, for HSPH Department of Physiology contracts with the Army Chemical Center in Maryland, and papers from conferences on respiration. There is some material on Whittenberger's work on HSPH committees and with professional societies. Notebooks, 1958 to 1963, contain correspondence with contributors and publishers of Artificial Respiration (1962), which Whittenberger edited, and copies of articles included in the volume, along with notes, memoranda, reviews, and illustrations.
Colman, Benjamin, 1673-1747; Correspondence from Benjamin Colman to an unidentified recipient, 1721 July 25; B MS Misc; 2 letters, processed, AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Benjamin Colman (1673-1747), A.B., 1692, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a minister at the Brattle Street Church in Cambridge. He also served as an Overseer of Harvard College for forty-eight years and as a Fellow for eleven years. After Harvard President John Leverett died in 1724, Colman was offered the presidency, but he declined, largely due to his concern that his liberal views would prove too controversial and divisive. This draft of correspondence to an unidentified minister in Boston, Massachusetts, from Reverend Benjamin Colman (1673-1747), dated 25 July 1721, regarding a letter published in a local newspaper that condemned Dr. Zabdiel Boylston (1679-1766) and the practice of smallpox inoculation. Colman defends Boylston’s efforts to inoculate the population of Boston, which was facing a smallpox epidemic in 1721, and comments on his “tenderness, courage, & skill in that hazardous operation.” Also contains correspondence from Frederick Shattuck to John Farlow of the Boston Medical Library that accompanied the donation of the Colman correspondence in 1909.
Fansher, Sylvanus, 1770-1846; Sylvanus Fansher papers, 1805-1846 (inclusive), H MS c472, 0.14 c.f.; processed.
Sylvanus Fansher (1770-1846) was a physician practicing in Connecticut and Rhode Island. He conducted research on smallpox and provided public vaccinations, and was a proponent of establishing a national smallpox vaccine program. Fansher wrote several broadsides on smallpox, including Progress of vaccination in America (1816) and Rules to be attended to during vaccination (1817). He also authored A concise treatise on electricity (1830). The Sylvanus Fansher papers, 1805-1846 (inclusive), consist of correspondence, manuscripts, research materials, and patient records related to Sylvanus Fansher's (1770-1846) work on smallpox vaccination, as well as personal correspondence with his family.
Hartley, Thomas, d. 1765; Smallpox inoculation certificate for William Peirse,1764 December 17, B MS Misc.; 1 manuscript, processed, AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Thomas Hartley (d. 1765) was keeper of Rainsford Island Hospital, which housed patients with smallpox and other infectious diseases in the 18th and 19th centuries. The island is located in Boston Harbor. A letter signed by Thomas Hartley (d. 1765), the keeper of the Rainsford Island Hospital, certifying that William Peirse was free of smallpox and could return to Boston, Massachusetts, dated 17 December 1764.
Holyoke, Edward Augustus, 1728-1829, Manuscript on smallpox inoculation, B MS Misc., 1 volume, AVAILABLE ONLINE
Edward Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829), A.B., 1746, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a physician in Salem and the son of Harvard's ninth president, Edward Holyoke (1689-1769). He studied medicine under Thomas Berry (1695-1756) of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and once Holyoke's practice was established in Salem, he took on pupils including future Harvard Medical School professors John Collins Warren (1778-1856) and James Jackson (1777-1867). Holyoke was also the first president of the Massachusetts Medical Society from 1782 to 1784. In this undated manuscript, Holyoke describes the various methods of inoculation used by physicians, ways to store inoculation matter, and how to treat patients after they are infected with smallpox including administering a cooling regimen recommended by English physician Thomas Sydenham, restricting animal-based food, and encouraging moderate exercise. Holyoke also writes that he administers calomel, compound powder of crab's claws, and cream of tartar to his patients six days after smallpox eruptions first appear.
Jeffries, John (1745-1819); Kine Pox 1775-1802 (inclusive), B MS b1.3, 1 volume, processed, AVAILABLE ONLINE
John Jeffries (1745-1819), A.B., 1763, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, M.D., University of Aberdeen, Scotland, was a Boston physician and scientist. He was an assistant surgeon on a British naval vessel when the Revolutionary War commenced in 1775. A Loyalist, Jeffries evacuated Boston with British forces in 1776, and worked as a surgeon in a British military hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia, until 1779, when he moved to London. In 1785, Jeffries became the first man (with Jean-Pierre Blanchard) to fly a balloon across the English Channel between England and France. He returned to Boston in 1790, and practiced medicine there until his death. Jeffries’ ledger containes lists and charts of smallpox inoculation cases and patient case histories of Boston physician John Jeffries (1745-1819), recorded from November 1775 to June 1802. Descriptions include patients’ names, ages, and physical condition, method of inoculation and symptoms. The entries dated 1800-1802 are not in chronological order.
See also: Small Pocks, 1775-1779, B MS b1.2, AVAILABLE ONLINE, which is a ledger containing accounts of smallpox inoculation by Jeffries at Rainsford Island Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, from June to July 1775; at a West Boston smallpox hospital in July 1775; and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, between 1776 and 1779. The accounts include dates, names, ages and physical condition of patients, and details regarding the method of delivery. Among the patients he inoculated was his son, John, at Rainsford Island Hospital on 14 June 1775.
McKean, Robert, 1732-1767; Correspondence from Robert McKean to an unidentified recipient, circa 1761; B MS Misc, 1 letter, processed. AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Robert McKean (1732-1767) was a minister and physician in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He was a founding member and the first president of the New Jersey Medical Society in 1766. Correspondence from Dr. Robert McKean (1732-1767) of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in circa 1761, ton an unidentified recipient in Boston, Massachusetts, describing, step by step, McKean's method of smallpox inoculation, which appeared to follow the "Suttonian method" of the English physician Robert Sutton. McKean advises tailoring treatment to each patient's constitution, preparing them for inoculation with a specific diet free of liquor and animal foods, and inoculating patients with the mildest form of the disease as possible. He also discouraged bleeding patients before inoculation.
Small Pox Hospital, Boston; Clinical Records of the Small Pox Hospital at 112 Southampton St., Boston, from Jan. 23, 1902 to April 1902, 1902
Records of smallpox patients, including vaccination information.
Spalding, Lyman, 1775-1821; papers, 1798-1912 (inclusive), 1798-circa 1820 (bulk); B MS c2, 0.84 c.f., processed, AVAILALBE ONLINE (see below)
Lyman Spalding (1775-1821), M.B., honorary M.D., Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, practiced medicine in New Hampshire and New York. He was noted for his work in smallpox vaccination, treatment of yellow fever, and study of anatomy. Spalding taught chemistry at Dartmouth Medical School and Fairfield Medical College for several years. He also founded the Pharmacopœia of the United States of America. Spalding studied under John Warren (1753-1815), Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846), and Aaron Dexter (1750-1829), and he was the twenty-second graduate of the Harvard Medical School in 1797. Physician Nathan Smith (1762-1829) was a mentor to Spalding in his youth, and after graduating Harvard, Spalding moved back to New Hampshire to help Smith found Dartmouth Medical School in 1797. He was a lecturer there in chemistry, and he also established a medical practice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1800, Spalding resigned from his full-time lectureship at Dartmouth to focus on his medical practice, although he continued to teach part time until 1802. He received cowpox matter from Harvard Medical School Professor Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846), who introduced smallpox vaccination in the Unites States, and in 1800, Spalding became the first physician in New Hampshire to vaccinate patients against smallpox. He also initiated an annual bill of mortality for the Portsmouth population. Spalding was elected to the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1801, and in 1811 he served as its vice president. He moved his practice and his family to New York City in 1816, and he began giving lectures at Fairfield Medical College. In 1817, at meeting of the New York County Medical Society, Spalding proposed that a national Pharmacopœia be assembled. The United States Pharmacopœia was published in 1820. The Lyman Spalding papers, 1798-1912 (inclusive), 1798-circa 1820 (bulk), contain correspondence of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, physician Lyman Spalding (1775-1821) with medical colleagues concerning public health issues, patient case histories, and his appointments and lecturing. Topics covered include smallpox vaccination and requests for cowpox matter, treatment of rabies and other diseases, his medical practice in New Hampshire, establishing a national Pharmacopœia, and exchange of bills of mortality. Also includes manuscripts of addresses on fever, and manuscripts and notes concerning medical and surgical cases, such as midwifery and yellow fever. There is also a small collection of correspondence and manuscripts of Spalding's grandson, James Alfred Spalding (1846-1938), a physician in Portland, Maine. Digitized materials include:
Tufts, Cotton, 1732-1815; papers, 1751-1805 (inclusive), B MS c30, 0.18 c.f., processed
Cotton Tufts (1732-1815), A.B., 1749, honorary M.D., 1785, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, studied medicine with his older brother, Simon Tufts (1727-1786), in Medford, Massachusetts, and later established his own practice in Weymouth, Massachusetts. In 1780, he was one of the incorporators of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he was later a delegate to the Massachusetts convention on the United States Constitution. Tufts was also an incorporator of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1781, and served as its fourth president (1787-1795).
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