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Michigan State University

Health and Medicine at MSU Archives & Historical Collections: Medical Education - Personal Papers/Individual Collections

Medical Education - Personal Papers/Individual Collections

Walter Adams papers (UA 2.1.13), 1969

  • 2 cu. ft.
  • Walter Adams reluctantly accepted the position of University President in April 1969, on the condition that it would not be a permanent position. Adams was popular with students, faculty, and trustees. He stepped down on January 1, 1970, returning to his previous position as Professor of Economics. During the Adams administration, the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Urban Affairs Center were established.
  • Walter Adams' papers contain administrative subject files, speeches, and correspondence from his short term as President of Michigan State University. Subject files contain monographs, correspondence, and other documents related to the various schools and departments of the university, and to student affairs.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/78

Paul Dressel and family papers (UA 17.112), 1939-2005

  • 5 cu. ft.
  • This collection has been arranged into four series. Series 1 (Dressel Papers) is composed of Paul Dressel’s papers and writings. This includes papers authored, co-authored or edited by him. Included are manuscripts and rough drafts, pamphlets, individual papers, and photographs. Series 2 (Collected Documents) is comprised of documents collected by Paul Dressel during his time at Michigan State University. Many of these collected papers pertain to the establishment of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at MSU. Series 3 (The Hannah Years Book Materials) is made up of the materials used to write his book on the Hannah years, “From College to University: The Hannah Years at Michigan State University”. This includes interviews and recollections from current and retired faculty and staff, clippings, departmental and college histories, reports, and other publications.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/6

Richard Adams Fennell papers (UA 17.125), 1936-1983

  • 3 cu. ft.
  • Richard Adams Fennell was born April 19, 1903, in Decatur, Alabama. Fennell worked as a part-time laboratory technician in the Tennessee Valley branch of the Alabama State Health Laboratory. Fennell received his bachelor's degree in Zoology from Birmingham Southern in 1927. Subsequent to graduation from Birmingham Southern, Fennell worked as a graduate assistant there until 1928. In the fall of 1928, Fennell entered Duke University to do graduate work. He also served as a graduate assistant there. After leaving Duke, Fennell spent the summer of 1930 at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Bethesda, Maryland. That fall, Fennell returned to Birmingham Southern as an instructor in Biology. In 1933, Fennell entered John Hopkins University for doctoral study in Zoology. He also worked as a graduate assistant at John Hopkins. In 1936, after receiving his Ph.D. in Zoology from Johns Hopkins, Fennell was appointed as an instructor at (then) Michigan State College. He taught several courses, including Comparative Anatomy, Histology, Histological Technique, Invertebrate Zoology, General Zoology, and Morphology. He also assisted with General Biology. From 1944-1946, Fennell also worked as an agent at the U.S. Regional Poultry Laboratory in East Lansing, and in 1947 he was promoted to a full professorship. By 1957, Dr. Fennell was offering courses in Comparative Anatomy, Histology, Histological Technique, and Embryology. During his career as a zoologist, Dr. Fennell was a very prolific writer. His first paper was published in 1926, and he published numerous other articles, primarily during the forties, fifties, and sixties. Fennell retired in June 1970 at the age of 67, retaining the title "professor emeritus" and serving as a consultant to the university until his death, on September 17, 1982, at the age of 79.
  • The papers consist of correspondence, university related materials, and laboratory notebooks and manuscripts. The correspondence ranges in dates from 1936 to 1970, with the greatest concentration being in the forties and fifties. The correspondence is business-related and written to colleagues and associates. Several manuscripts written by Dr. Fennell are also in the collection, written between the mid-forties and mid-sixties. There are also numerous published articles, some written by Fennell, but most written (in German) by others. There are also several class syllabi and laboratory schedules from classes taught by Dr. Fennell in the late sixties as well as examinations from those classes. Lecture notes from 1968 are also present, as are laboratory equipment lists and inventories, and various and sundry other university-related materials. Finally, there are two laboratory notebooks, probably complied by Fennell during his collegiate career.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/345

Philipp Gerhardt papers (UA 17.254), undated

  • 1 folder
  • Philipp Gerhardt is a former chairperson of the Michigan State University Department of Microbiology and Genetics and a former director of the College of Osteopathic Medicine degree program. He was also an associate dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine for research and graduate studies.
  • The collection contains a copy of a summary written by Gerhardt recalling the changes in the Department of Microbiology and Public Health from 1965-1975.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/620

John A. Hannah papers (UA 2.1.12), 1857-1991                 

  • 140 cu. ft.
  • Born October 9, 1902, John A. Hannah was the twelfth president of Michigan State University. He served in this capacity from July 1, 1941 to April 1969. During his tenure, he also served the U.S. Government as Assistant Secretary of Defense, 1953-1954; and Chairperson of the Commission on Civil Rights, 1957-1964. He died in 1991. During his tenure as President, the University grew from an enrollment of just over 6,000 to just under 40,000. Corresponding with this growth was an extensive building program and the upgrade and modification of the curriculum.
  • The Hannah papers consists of Administrative Files, 1925-1986; General Subject Files, 1928-1991; Committee Files, 1951-1969; Association Files, 1941-1989; Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1929-1986; Speeches, et. al., 1940-1985; Civil Rights Commission records, 1957-1969; Publications, 1933-1991; Ephemera/Miscellaneous Materials; Audio-Visual Materials, and a series of restricted files pulled from each series.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/15

Alfred Day Hershey papers (UA 10.3.118), 1934-1970

  • 5 folders
  • Alfred Day Hershey was the first MSU alumnus to win the Nobel Prize. He received a B.S. degree in microbiology in 1930 and a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1934. He shares the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in bacteriology.
  • This collection contains newspaper and magazine articles about Alfred Hershey; announcements of seminars given by Hershey; a copy of his Nobel Lecture (1969); manuscripts of his work, including his Ph.D. dissertation (1934); and programs from an MSU event honoring Hershey.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/54

William L. Johnston papers (UA 17.259), 1980-1993

  • .4 cu. ft.
  • William Leslie Johnston was born on February 21, 1921 in Sault Saint Marie, Ontario, Canada. He received an associate's degree in 1938 from Toronto University, a D.O. degree in 1943 from Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, and did his internship in 1944 at Massachusetts Osteopathic Hospital. He had a private practice from 1945 to 1973. He came to Michigan State University in 1973 as a professor in the Department of Biomechanics. In 1981 he became a professor in the Department of Family Medicine. He retired in July 1990 and died in 2003.
  • The collection contains faculty assignments for osteopathic medicine classes and medical clinics and class materials for palpatory skills classes. The class materials include handouts for various techniques.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/832

Sarah Van Hoosen Jones papers (UA 1.1.3), 1852-1972

  • .66 cu. ft.
  • Sarah Van Hoosen Jones was born on her family's farm in Rochester, Michigan, in 1892, to Joseph Jones and Alice Van Hoosen. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Chicago. After her father's death in 1897, Sarah and her mother lived with Sarah's aunt, Bertha Van Hoosen, a surgeon practicing in Chicago. Sarah earned a Ph.B. in languages from the University of Chicago in 1914 and then spent a year in Europe. In 1916, she earned an M.S. in Animal Husbandry, and in 1923, a Ph.D. in Genetics, both from the University of Wisconsin. In 1923, she returned to Rochester to manage the family farm, where she raised chickens and beef and dairy cattle, as well as feed for the animals. She was celebrated for her success with Holstein-Frisian cattle, was president of the Michigan Holstein-Frisian Association, and was the first woman to be named a Michigan Master Farmer. Jones also served two terms on the State Board of Agriculture (Michigan State University Board of Trustees) and twice represented the Board at the Association of Governing Boards of State Universities and Allied Institutions, as its president in 1955. She was a founder of the MSU-Oakland Foundation and has an MSU residence hall named in her honor.
  • The Sarah Van Hoosen Jones papers document her academic, agricultural, and civic accomplishments, as well as the history of Rochester, Michigan. Papers relating to her farming activities and membership of the State Board of Agriculture (later the MSU Board of Trustees) and the Association of Governing Boards of State Universities and Allied Institutions are incomplete. Family papers include correspondence of her parents and letters to her grandfather. Papers of her aunt, Bertha Van Hoosen, evidence her interest in the role of women in medicine.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/336

Frank Stewart Kedzie papers (UA 2.1.8), 1855-1995

  • 7 cu. ft.
  • Frank Stewart Kedzie (1857-1935), the son of Robert Clark Kedzie, a professor of chemistry at Michigan Agricultural College, was born in Vermontville, Michigan. He received a B.S. from M.A.C. in 1877. He married Kate Marvin of Lansing. Kedzie studied medicine with a local physician until 1880, when he returned to the College to teach chemistry. After earning a master's degree, he became head of the Chemistry Department in 1902. In 1915 he was appointed acting president of M.A.C. and later formally took over the position. During his presidency the Union Building and Beaumont Tower were built. He was the first president to solicit private funds, and he succeeded in getting R.E. Olds' support for a new engineering building. He resigned the presidency in 1921 and became Dean of Applied Sciences. He also became the college historian. In addition to his college work, Kedzie played an important role in the development of the sugar-beet industry in Michigan.
  • The Frank Stewart Kedzie Papers consist primarily of personal and business correspondence, including letters relating to his presidency. The Subject File series contains materials from his years as president, including financial records and faculty meeting minutes, and also from his term as college historian. It also includes two volumes of the Marvin family Bible containing a family record. The series Alumni Catalogue consists of letters from Kedzie to MSC alumni requesting information for an updated Alumni Catalogue.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://archive.lib.msu.edu/uahc/FindingAids/ua2-1-8.html

Robert Clark Kedzie papers (UA 17.109), 1851-1961

  • 2 cu. ft.
  • Robert Clark Kedzie (1823-1902) graduated from Oberlin College (1846) and the University of Michigan (M.D. 1851). He practiced medicine in Kalamazoo and Vermontville and with the U.S. Army during the Civil War. He took a position as Professor of Chemistry at M.A.C. in 1863 and taught for 39 years. A prolific scholar, he wrote texts in chemistry, studied problems in public health and safety and in agriculture. A member of the Michigan Medical Society, he served as President of the American Public Health Association (1882), Vice-President of the American Medical Association, President of the Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experimental Stations (1899). He served in the Michigan Legislature (1867). He was known as the "father of the sugar beet industry" in Michigan.
  • Collection includes handwritten manuscripts and publications written by Kedzie on a variety of topics; 3 scrapbooks of newspaper clippings on the Samuel Johnson case (1889), the removal of MAC president Lewis G. Gorton (1895), and scientific research (n.d.); notes on Kedzie's funeral; miscellaneous letters and research notes by Kedzie; recollections about Kedzie by a former student.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/327

Henrik Joakim Stafseth papers (UA 17.66), 1902-1967

  • 6 cu. ft.
  • Henrik Joakim Stafseth (1890-1968) was a professor and administrator in Bacteriology, Microbiology, and Public Health at Michigan State University. Born in Norway, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1911, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1918. He received his degrees from North Dakota Agricultural College (B.S. 1915) and Michigan Agricultural College (D.V.M. 1917, M.S. 1930, Ph.D. 1935). In 1945-46 Stafseth served as Chief Veterinarian for the U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in China. He was instrumental in establishing China's first modern veterinary college at Lanchow, Kansu Province. He traveled and worked in several European countries between 1925 and 1926.
  • Collection consists of personal and professional papers of Henrik Joakim Stafseth. Correspondence and diaries document his professional activities and travels in the U.S. and overseas, especially in China (1945-46). Correspondence, agendas, and minutes record his involvement with the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (1950-1955). A variety of pamphlets and publications on aspects of public health and veterinary medicine are included.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/981

Don Stevens papers (UA 1.1.2), 1905-1973

  • 28 cu. ft.
  • Don Stevens, a native of Greenville, Michigan, was a member of the MSU Board of Trustees from 1958 to 1970 and chaired the Board from 1968 to 1970. He is an honorary alumnus of both MSU and Wayne State Universities, and formerly served on the Wayne State Board of Governors. He was active in a variety of organizations related to higher education and/or labor. He was education director of the Michigan AFL-CIO, and was president of local 386 Dairy Workers' CIO, president of the Kent County CIO Council, and Executive Board member of the Michigan CIO Council. He has served on numerous educational advisory boards at the state and national level, and has worked in Africa, France, and Belgium representing the United States.
  • The Don Stevens papers include a variety of materials on higher education, including medical school, particularly Michigan State University, as well as disputes and conflicts pertaining to it.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/72

Robert C. Ward papers (UA 17.273), 1950-1998

  • 7 cu. ft.
  • The collection consists of subject files, correspondence, and project files pertaining to Ward's career in osteopathic medicine at Michigan State University. The papers are listed alphabetically by subject with groupings for projects. Projects include Cranial Research (1985 – 1995), Myers-Briggs (1967 – 1985), Osteopathic Principles Education (1978 – 1986), Osteopathic Principles Textbook (1973 – 1995), Radiology (1976 – 1985), and the Establishment of the Residency Program (1984 – 1993). The papers also include many articles, presentations and course materials (1976 – 1996) by Dr. Ward during his tenure at MSU. There are also papers by other MSU faculty including Paul Dressel and Myron Magen. There are also several video tapes related to biomechanics research studies and for student training.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/668

Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. papers (UA 2.1.14), 1950-1977

  • 28.3 cu. ft.
  • The Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. papers contain primarily correspondence which documents the varied aspects of Wharton's presidency, including his interaction with members of the Board of Trustees, University committees, intercollegiate organizations of which MSU was a member, corporations and foundations, and the state and federal governments. The papers also contain university subject files (1950-1958; 1964; 1969-1977) pertaining to university operations; records and reports paralleling the correspondence; and copies of Wharton's speeches and public statements during his presidency. His achievements included the integration of the College of Osteopathic Medicine with the other medical colleges.
  • Finding aid to the collection: https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/52