Strong, Richard P. (Richard Pearson) papers, 1911-2004 (inclusive), 1911-1945 (bulk), GA 82

The Richard P. (Richard Pearson) Strong papers contain 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.

Strong, M.D., 1897, Johns Hopkins, was chief of the medical department of the General Hospital in Manila (1910-1913) and from 1907 to 1913 taught tropical medicine in the Philippine University's College of Medicine and Surgery, which he helped to organize. In 1913, Strong became the first Professor of Tropical Medicine at Harvard, and between 1913 and 1934 made several expeditions to afflicted areas in South and Central America and Africa to investigate diseases and obtain material for his laboratory and teaching work. After retiring from Harvard in 1938, he volunteered to teach in the Army Medical School during World War II. During this period, Strong was the foremost authority in the United States in the field of tropical medicine. Throughout his career, he participated in many international commissions investigating disease control.