Edward and Grete were partners in all aspects of their lives. They began their journey together in medical school and continued to support one another both personally and professionally. They were faced with new challenges as Edward
She maintained many long term friendships with her associates throughout her life. Dr. Bibring became more dependent on these relationships as her health deteriorated and became more confined to her home.
Dr. Bibring was a close colleague to one of the regal members of the psychoanalytic community, Princess Marie Bonaparte of Greece. They corresponded frequently and attended many of the International Psychoanalytic Association meetings together.
Before the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973 legalizing abortion in the United States, many physicians wrote to Guttmacher pleading for increased advocacy and education of birth control and abortions in the United States. Physicians and…
For every letter of dissenting views Guttmacher received, he read an equal amount of letters commending his work. This letter, written by a single mother, encourages Planned Parenthood to reach out to poorer communities where birth control was not…
Guttmacher received letters from individuals disagreeing with the Planned Parenthood’s mission and services. Many wrote to Guttmacher with ideological and religious differences.
This letter from Waterhouse proposes that Cambridge initiate a general vaccination program for all its citizens—“adopting that easy substitute afforded them by Divine Goodness”—and vaccinate the poor without charge.
In the 1820s, years after his initial vaccination experiments, Benjamin Waterhouse remained closely involved with the subject. He used this letterbook to keep copies of correspondence with President John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, and other…
Benjamin Waterhouse's position as a supplier of vaccine matter to American physicians is attested in this letter to a colleague, Lyman Spalding (1775-1821). Note that the letter also refers to Jenner's gift to Waterhouse of the silver snuffbox…
In this letter, Waterhouse describes for Jenner the difficulties he has encountered with inoculations of spurious matter and asks for some additional vaccine, specifying that the matter be sent on soaked threads pressed between glass and sealed with…
In this letter to Calvin Ellis, the dean of Harvard Medical School, President Eliot outlines several key factors in his proposed educational reforms: a three-year course sequence; examinations, partly written, in each department; familiarity with…
In 1788, John Fleet and George Holmes Hall became the first two graduates to receive medical degrees from Harvard. Here, in the following year, the two are in correspondence concerning treatment of several of their patients.
The Dental Museum acquired and displayed manuscript and archival items, books, and photographs related to the history of the school and the profession of Dentistry. The letter from Dr. C. O. Cone, demonstrator of mechanical Dentistry at the…
One letter from many addressed to Dr. Rock by women interested in birth control and other fertility matters. In this letter, the author applauds his work as described in the Good Housekeeping article, and asks where to find more information on the…
With funding from the Carnegie Institution, Rock worked with Arthur T. Hertig and Eleanor Colby Adams to identify 34 fertilized ova that document the first 17 days after conception. Hertig had completed a fellowship at the Carnegie Institution in…
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…
Holmes’ extensive medical library grew by not only his own purchases but also many gifts from friends, admirers, and colleagues. In this letter to physician John Samuel Whiting (1828-1896), Holmes expresses his thanks for the copy of an early…
Annie Fields was the wife of James T. Fields, the publisher of The Atlantic monthly, and a close friend of Holmes. Here, in this letter to novelist Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909), she describes a visit with Holmes who speaks of his reverence for the…
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., abandoned his studies at Harvard College to join the Massachusetts Volunteers at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was wounded on October 21, 1861, at the battle of Ball’s Bluff, in Virginia, and attended by a…
While Holmes' views on homeopathy are well attested, this letter to Dr. John Collins Warren (1778-1856) indicates he had at least some early interest in the concurrent phrenological movement. Holmes here invites Warren to attend his lecture on the…
Commissioned by William T. G. Morton, Trials of a public benefactor attempts to provide support for his claim to precedence in the discovery of ether anesthesia. Here, as part of the story, Oliver Wendell Holmes coins the term in a letter to Morton…
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…
This letter from Holmes’ tenure as dean of Harvard Medical School relates to the education of two African-American students, Daniel Laing, Jr., and Isaac H. Snowden. Here, at Brooks’ appeal, Holmes waives the lecture fees for Laing…
This letter from Holmes’ tenure as dean of Harvard Medical School relates to the education of two African-American students, Daniel Laing, Jr., and Isaac H. Snowden. The Massachusetts Colonization Society promoted the education of Laing and…
As this letter attests, Holmes was less than enchanted with his composite photograph: “I thank you for them. They are curious, interesting—and fearfully truthful. I do not think much is gained in this instance by the multiple process. I…
Former lecturer in surgery at Harvard and senior surgeon at Boston City Hospital, George W. Gay was approached by the Massachusetts Commission for expert advice on vasectomy and enforced sterilization: “The most feasible method of controlling…
In 1880, Bostonian Loring Moody, familiar with Galton’s work, issued a circular to form an Institute of Heredity, part school, part library, to promote lectures and interest in addressing social ills through eugenic principles. The circular…
Galton admires the composites of Saxon and Wend soldiers done by Bowditch. He says: “The composites are indeed beautiful and quite different in ‘type’ from both American and English. The Saxon & Wends being more alike to one…
During the course of his extensive travels through Europe and America, J. G. Spurzheim maintained a vigorous correspondence with his wife, Honorine, describing the people he met, the hospitals, prisons, and schools he visited, and the spread of…
At the time this letter was written, Nahum Capen (1804-1886) was the corresponding secretary of the Boston Phrenological Society which he had helped to establish after the death of J. G. Spurzheim. He was also a member of Marsh, Capen and Lyon, a…