Manuscripts and Archives
Dublin Core
Title
Manuscripts and Archives
Description
Digitized items from our manuscript and archival collections. For collections processed under the auspices of the Archives for Women in Medicine, please see our Archives for Women in Medicine (AWM) collection.
Collection Items
Mary Ellen Avery papers, 1929-2002 (inclusive). H MS c201
The Mary Ellen Avery papers, 1929-2002, consist of personal and professional correspondence, teaching materials, professional activities records, grant records, articles and drafts, lectures and speeches, diaries, photographs, and other records from…
"Declaration for the rerating and increase of an invalid pension."
!["Declaration for the rerating and increase of an invalid pension."](https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/thumbnails/42b40901cc770dfe9932c8613593fe56.jpg ""Declaration for the rerating and increase of an invalid pension."")
His medical studies interrupted due to lack of funds, Philon Currier Whidden (1839-1900) enlisted as a private with the 4th Battalion of Rifles of the 12th Massachusetts Volunteers in June, 1861. He was severely wounded in the left leg at Antietam…
A group of Saxon soldiers and their composite
Bowditch reproduced and described this composite image of Saxon soldiers, as well as a composite image of Wend soldiers, in his article, “Are composite photographs typical pictures?” printed in McClure’s magazine in September 1894.…
A group of Wend soldiers and their composite
Bowditch reproduced and described this composite image of Wend soldiers, as well as a composite image of Saxon soldiers, in his article, “Are composite photographs typical pictures?” printed in McClure’s magazine in September 1894.…
Tremont Street Medical School Prospectus
Holmes was one of the founders and faculty members of the Tremont Street Medical School; he offered courses in anatomy, physiology, and, as attested by this prospectus for the 1848 course, regular instruction in microscopic anatomy, and was one of…
A poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D., delivered before the Society for
Medical Improvement
This lengthy poem by Holmes—never published during his lifetime—was probably recited at one of the anniversary dinners of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement; Holmes frequently composed and presented his poetic efforts for its…
Matriculating book
During the 19th century, every incoming medical student signed this volume at the beginning of the academic session and so agreed to follow the statutes of Harvard University and the direction of the Faculty of Medicine. On the page on the right can…
Letter by Oliver Wendell Holmes to Alexander Ireland
After the death of transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1882, Holmes was approached to write his biography for the “American Men of Letters” series. After publication, he received this letter from journalist Alexander Ireland…
Program from Harvard Medical School centennial celebration
During the 1880s, Holmes was involved with the fund-raising appeals for the Medical School’s Boylston Street building. As part of the centennial celebration and dedication of the new building in 1883, he delivered this oration, tracing the history…
Letter by Oliver Wendell Holmes reflecting on his career
In this letter to an unknown correspondent, Holmes reflects on his career and activities: “My mode of life is rather solitary than social, though I have contributed my share of hilarity to scores of festivals and am almost entitled to be called…
The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser
This local newspaper was one of the first to report the formation of the Harvard Medical School following the plan devised by Dr. John Warren for the Harvard Corporation. The article announces the appointment of the first three faculty members and…
Annual Circular
This first circular from the new location advertises the opportunity for students to examine patients at the Boston Almshouse on Leverett Street and announces the new professorship in clinical medicine.
The faculty was also concerned about the cost…
Notes on Lectures at Harvard Medical School
Although he never practiced as a physician, William James—philosopher and psychologist best known for The Varieties of Religious Experience(1902)—received a degree from Harvard Medical School in 1869 and taught physiology during the…
Laudate Dominum
Harvard's Assistant Professor of Music, F. S. Converse, composed this choral work for the dedication of the new Medical School buildings on September 26th. A chorus of alumni under the direction of Harvard's choir-master performed the piece. A…
Dedication of the New Buildings of the Harvard Medical School
This is a program from the two-day exercises at the dedication, September 25th and 26th, 1906. The faculty speeches and the formal dedication of the Longwood campus were followed the next day by an academic session on the Cambridge campus, with a…
Invitation to the Dedication Ceremonies
This invitation was sent to Dr. Joseph Grindon, the Professor of Clinical Dermatology at Washington University, in St. Louis.
Appointment Certificate of German Sims Woodhead
Honored guests from medical schools in the United States and Europe were present at the dedication ceremonies. This certificate from the Registrary attests to the appointment of Sir G. Sims Woodhead (1855-1921), Professor of Pathology, as the…
Letter from J. Pierpont Morgan to J. Collins Warren
Financier and industrialist J. Pierpont Morgan was the most significant benefactor to the construction of the Quad buildings. His magnificent gift of $1,135,000—the single largest donation received by Harvard to that point—underwrote the…
Letter from J. Collins Warren to Harold C. Ernst
Although there was doubt on the part of President Eliot that the Longwood buildings would be ready for the meeting of the American Medical Association in June 1906, as this letter of J. Collins Warren attests, the architects affirmed that, within a…
Telegram to Charles W. Eliot from Sir William Osler
Although invited to the dedication, physician Sir William Osler—who had just been named Oxford's Regius Professor of Medicine—could not attend, but did telegraph his congratulations.
Dedication of the New Buildings of the Harvard Medical School
This extended version of the dedication program contains transcripts of the speeches and address of Dr. William H. Welch. The dean of the Medical School, William L. Richardson, said, "In these new buildings all that one could ask for has been…
First Year Physiology Notes
This is an example of a typical student notebook from the early years of teaching on the Quad. Dr. Means entered the Medical School in September, 1907, soon after the opening of the new buildings.
Names for Honorary Degrees
As part of the dedication ceremonies, honorary degrees were to be presented to some distinguished physicians. In this memo, the dean of the Medical School, William L. Richardson, canvasses and records the opinions of some of the faculty members on…
Letter of congratulations from Moscow
The Medical School received formal letters of congratulation on the opening of the new buildings from other medical schools in the United States and from institutions abroad, including this unusual greeting from the rector of the Imperial University…
Needs of the Harvard Medical School in the Immediate Future
As a complement to the fund raising campaign for the new campus, Drs. H. P. Bowditch and J. Collins Warren produced this pamphlet to inspire donations to endow professorships, departments, and scholarships at the school.
The Medical School of Harvard University, Class of 1906
The Aesculapiad, the yearbook for Harvard Medical School, first appeared in 1924, but it had this unique precursor in 1906, in conjunction with the opening of the new buildings. The yearbook contains photographs of the faculty and the 68 graduating…
The Harvard Medical School, 1782-1906
Although Thomas Francis Harrington published a three-volume history of the Medical School in 1905, the dedication of the new buildings prompted the appearance of this shorter commemorative work, with a history of the individual departments and a…
Richard Manning Hodges dissecting a cadaver
Animated view of a black and white stereograph exhibiting Harvard Medical School anatomy demonstrator and professor Richard Hodges participating in a research or classroom dissection. Dissection subject stabilized on wooden block.
Women in medicine
Soon after his appointment as Dean of Harvard Medical School, though before he assumed that office, Robert Higgins Ebert (1914-1996) delivered this address at Vassar, at that time still a women's college. Ebert states, "I believe in education for…
Laboratory guide for gross dissection
The Department of Anatomy produced and distributed this step-by-step manual for dissection "to help the student in the important task of displaying for study the structure of the human body. It represents one plan for completing each day's work with…
Histochemical and cytological techniques
This procedural manual on the preparation of organs and tissue was developed by the Department of Anatomy; the passage displayed outlines work on frozen tissue sections.
Report on the desirability of an electron microscope for the Harvard Medical School
Drs. Fawcett, for the Department of Anatomy, and Sognnaes, in the School of Dental Medicine, along with Professor Solomon in the Biophysical Laboratory outlined the need for an electron microscope at HMS, a report probably addressed to the dean.…
Student laboratory dissection exercises
First-year medical students, DeWitt Allen Green, Ernest Bingham Oliver, Harold Bengloff, and Bruce Robinson Merrill, produced these drawings as part of their assigned course work on a cadaver in the fall of 1934.
According to the description in…
The Aesculapiad
These photographs show members of the Class of 1971 in anatomy lectures and the dissecting room.
Argument before the Tewksbury Investigation Committee
A state almshouse for paupers at Tewksbury was founded in 1852. In the 1880s, charges of theft and abuse of the inmates–including the sale of bodies of the deceased to Harvard and other medical schools for anatomical dissection–were…
Excised tumor, partially dissected
Small color drawing of a tumor on cream colored paper. Tumor is partially dissected and pinned open. Drawing has inscription on recto, handwritten in pencil.
Admission ticket to the lectures on the theory and practice of midwifery and medical jurisprudence for E. W. Pierce, November 6, 1839.
Admission ticket to the lectures of Walter Channing on the theory and practice of midwifery and medical jurisprudence for E. W. Pierce,
"How murderers beat the law," from The Saturday Evening Post, December 10, 1949.
!["How murderers beat the law," from The Saturday Evening Post, December 10, 1949.](https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/thumbnails/5fdce4cdaa7a834a945e124b0bfe59cd.jpg ""How murderers beat the law," from The Saturday Evening Post, December 10, 1949.")
Published in the period following the resignation of Alan R. Moritz's and the appointment of Richard Ford, this article from The Saturday Evening Post criticizes the coroner system and promotes the importance of the medical-legal research work at…
Committee to Consider the Future of Legal Medicine in Harvard University. Minutes, April 13, 1936. Pages 01-04.
Following the gift of the Magrath endowment, the Medical School formed a committee to examine the scope, nature, and activities related to legal medicine. These minutes of the committee’s initial meeting outline the proposed activities, association…
Letter : [Glasgow, Scotland], to Frances G. Lee, Littleton, N.H. Page 01-04.
![Letter : [Glasgow, Scotland], to Frances G. Lee, Littleton, N.H. Page 01-04.](https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/thumbnails/beb06c372f87e70a945c48a8cb8a2810.jpg "Letter : [Glasgow, Scotland], to Frances G. Lee, Littleton, N.H. Page 01-04.")
After some weeks abroad, Alan R. Moritz sent these reflections on legal medicine in an academic context to Mrs. Lee to help crystalize the direction and goals of the new department.
My greatest problem to date has been to arrive at some more or less…
My greatest problem to date has been to arrive at some more or less…
Seminar in Legal Medicine. Advanced Session for Medical Examiners, Coroners and Pathologists. Program. Page 01-02.
In 1945, the Department began to offer these educational seminars. The advanced session for medical examiners, coroners, and pathologists was conducted in association with Boston University and Tufts College.
The fall 1945 seminar in homicide…
The fall 1945 seminar in homicide…
"Cinema: the new pictures," August 7, 1950.
!["Cinema: the new pictures," August 7, 1950.](https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/thumbnails/f1b07c199537006b160c5a9dc712204f.jpg ""Cinema: the new pictures," August 7, 1950.")
An MGM film originally intended as a documentary on the work of the Department of Legal Medicine was later recast as a fictional drama—Mystery Street (also known as Murder at Harvard.) The plot concerns a police detective (Ricardo Montalban)…
Autograph letter signed : Boston, Mass., to Winslow Lewis,
[Boston, Mass.?], December 5, 1849. Page 01-03.
![Autograph letter signed : Boston, Mass., to Winslow Lewis, <br /><br />
[Boston, Mass.?], December 5, 1849. Page 01-03.](https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/thumbnails/602fc0a628ec89226cad3c5569d985e8.jpg "Autograph letter signed : Boston, Mass., to Winslow Lewis, <br /><br />
[Boston, Mass.?], December 5, 1849. Page 01-03.")
Following the discovery of charred human bones and some artificial teeth in the laboratory of John White Webster, Harvard's Erving Professor of Chemistry, scientific experts were called in to provide anatomical and chemical analyses of the remains on…
Summons to Charles T. Jackson and others, January 1, 1850. Page 01-02.
Following the discovery of charred human bones and some artificial teeth in the laboratory of John White Webster, Harvard's Erving Professor of Chemistry, scientific experts were called in to provide anatomical and chemical analyses of the remains on…
"How murderers beat the law," from The Saturday Evening Post, December 10, 1949. Page 032-033.
!["How murderers beat the law," from The Saturday Evening Post, December 10, 1949. Page 032-033.](https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/thumbnails/75b40412b77bb020ea650757a03624f5.jpg ""How murderers beat the law," from The Saturday Evening Post, December 10, 1949. Page 032-033.")
Published in the period following the resignation of Alan R. Moritz's and the appointment of Richard Ford, this article from The Saturday Evening Post criticizes the coroner system and promotes the importance of the medical-legal research work at…
"Dean explains dropping Dept. of Legal Medicine" from the Boston Sunday Advertiser, August 13, 1967.
!["Dean explains dropping Dept. of Legal Medicine" from the Boston Sunday Advertiser, August 13, 1967.](https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/thumbnails/7402be8815d5009d9cd2ec6c88c27b6f.jpg ""Dean explains dropping Dept. of Legal Medicine" from the Boston Sunday Advertiser, August 13, 1967.")
The Medical School's new dean, Robert H. Ebert, here announces the dissolution of the Department of Legal Medicine, stating that the training of medical examiners would be handled better by hospitals, and the appointment of William J. Curran, as…
"Remarkable vascular tumour of the neck"
!["Remarkable vascular tumour of the neck"](https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/thumbnails/2933beb6180ba0e885642fc06cb49395.jpg ""Remarkable vascular tumour of the neck"")
John Collins Warren's notes on the etherization and surgical operation on Gilbert Abbott, October 1846.
Collection Tree
- Manuscripts and Archives
- Adams, Zabdiel Boylston papers, 1861-1981 (inclusive), 1861-1894 (bulk). H MS c49.1
- Albright, Fuller papers, 1904-1964, 1990
- American Roentgen Ray Society records, 1913-1952 (inclusive), 1932-1941 (bulk). H MS c293
- American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Records. H MS c192
- Bibring, Edward papers, 1929-1960 (inclusive), 1941-1958 (bulk). H MS c283
- Boston Medical Library Miscellany. B MS misc.
- Bowditch, Henry papers, 1806-1957 (inclusive), 1858-1910 (bulk). H MS c5
- Brazelton, T. Berry papers, 1949-2007 (inclusive), 1971-2004 (bulk). H MS c244
- Cannon, Walter Bradford papers, 1873-1945, 1972-1974 (inclusive), 1881-1945 (bulk). H MS c40
- Capen, Nahum papers, 1783-1885 (inclusive), 1826-1885 (bulk). B MS c23
- Chadwick, James Read papers, 1830-1909 (inclusive). B MS c5
- Cushing, Benjamin papers, 1822-1895. B MS c53.5
- Dickinson, Robert Latou papers, 1881-1972 (inclusive), 1883-1950 (bulk). H MS c591
- Douglass, Darwin DeForrest papers, 1847-1880
- Finland, Maxwell papers, 1916-2003. H MS c153
- Francis A. Countway collection of cards of admission, 1776-1870 (inclusive). B MS c15
- Gamble, Clarence J. papers, 1920-1970s (inclusive), 1920-1966 (bulk). H MS c23
- Gay, George W. (George Washington), 1842-1931 Papers, ca.1906-1920 (inclusive). GA 31
- Guttmacher, Alan Frank papers, 1860s, 1898-1974. H MS c155
- Harken, Dwight E. papers, 1911-1993 (inclusive), 1940-1975 (bulk). B MS c118
- Harvard Medical Library Miscellany. H MS misc.
- Harvard Medical School Buildings and Grounds, Early Locations. Images, ca. 1824-1975
- Harvard Medical School Clubs and Associations Photographs, 1855-1977
- Harvard Medical School Faculty and Staff Portrait Collection: A-C, 1861-1998
- Harvard Medical School Faculty and Staff Portrait Collection: D-W, ca. 1774-2001
- Harvard Medical School. Department of Legal Medicine. Department of Legal Medicine Records, circa 1877-1967 (inclusive), 1909-1967 (bulk). M-DE06.
- Harvard Medical School. Office of Public Affairs. Publication Visual Resource Records. M-AD06
- Harvard Medical School. Office of Student Affairs records. Second year show memorabilia, 1978-2006 (gaps)
- Harvard Medical School. Office of the Dean. Records, 1828-1904 (inclusive), 1869-1874 (bulk). Series 00266
- Harvard School of Dental Medicine Buildings, Grounds and Interiors. Images, ca. 1883-1965
- Harvard School of Public Health catalogs, 1913-1975 (inclusive). AB 2.172
- Harvard School of Public Health publication and visual resource records, 1930-2000 (inclusive)
- Harvard School of Public Health: Miscellaneous
- Hastings family, medical notebooks and papers, 1772-1845. H MS c292
- Hawes, Lloyd E. collection of autographed letters, 1791-1967 (inclusive). H MS c1
- Hertig, Arthur T. papers, 1918-1986 (inclusive), 1922-1976 (bulk). H MS c11
- Himes, Norman E. papers, 1918-1956 (inclusive), 1925-1950 (bulk). B MS c77
- History of Hematology: Selections
- History of Radiology
- Holmes, Oliver Wendell papers, 1838-1890 (inclusive). GA 38
- Holmes, Oliver Wendell papers, 1838-ca.1900 (inclusive). B MS c9
- Holmes, Oliver Wendell papers, 1843-1888 (inclusive). H MS c9
- Hubel, David H. papers, 1953-2005 (inclusive), 1966-1991 (bulk). H MS c253
- Larrabee, Ralph Clinton papers, 1893-1933 (inclusive). GA 48
- Leder, Philip laboratory notebooks, 1963-1965. H MS c296
- Light, Richard U. negatives of Harvey Cushing and other senior medical and surgical staff of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, 1930-1935 (inclusive). H MS c424
- Lindemann, Erich papers, 1885-1991 (inclusive), 1950-1974 (bulk)
- Massachusetts Homeopathic Medical Society records, 1840-1964 (inclusive). B MS c26
- Massachusetts Medical Society records, 1781-1971
- Monks, George H. papers. MC544
- Moreno, Zerka T. (Zerka Toeman) Papers, 1930-2010 (inclusive), 1957-2000 (bulk). H MS c163.
- National Archives of Plastic Surgery (NAPS)
- National Committee on Maternal Health records, 1923-1959. B MS c78
- Paulin, Sven papers, 1955-2014 (bulk), H MS c443
- Peirson, Edward Brooks papers, 1842-1874 (inclusive), 1852-1864 (bulk). f B MS c31.5
- Photograph album of a Massachusetts General Hospital nursing student. H MS c438
- Photographic Scrapbook of the American Ambulance Service, Assembled by Nurse Geraldine K. Martin.
- Rock, John C. personal and professional papers, 1918-1983. H MS c161
- Rutstein, David D. papers, 1916-1989 (inclusive), 1938-1980 (bulk)
- Slides of Base Hospital No. 5, World War I, and Dr. Harvey Cushing. E3.C11
- Southard, Elmer Ernest papers, 1893-1940 (inclusive). GA 81
- Spurzheim, Johann Gasper papers, 1813-1835 (inclusive). B MS c22
- Stone, Abraham papers, 1916-1959. H MS c157
- Strong, Richard P. (Richard Pearson) papers, 1911-2004 (inclusive), 1911-1945 (bulk), GA 82
- The Gift of Experience, 2004-2007 (inclusive). H MS c228
- Ware, John papers, ca. 1813-1869 (inclusive). H MS c7.3
- Warren Anatomical Museum. Records, 1835-2010 (inclusive), 1971-1991. RG M-CL02.01. AA 192.5.
- Waterhouse family collection of papers, 1780-1871 (inclusive), 1811-1818 (bulk). H MS c17
- Waterhouse, Benjamin papers, 1786-1836 (inclusive). H MS c16
- Waterhouse, Benjamin papers, 1797-1829 (inclusive). B MS c10
- Worcester, Alfred papers, 1886-1935 (inclusive). GA95.20