1. Correspondence, 1979-1984

File — Box: 2

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: These records of the Chairman of the Section on Medical History of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, lecture announcements, and minutes of the Executive Committee of the Section on Medical History, The collection spans 1974 to 1985 and includes the records of Lawrence Charles Parish, chairman of the section from 1975 to 1978, and Steven J. Peitzman, chairman from 1982 to 1985.

Series 1 contains the records of Lawrence Charles Parish. Present is correspondence, memoranda, lecture announcements, and minutes of the Executive Committee of the section; Parish arranged all of this material chronologically in his files. Documented in these records is the formation of an Institute for the History of Medicine (1976), and the establishment of the W, B, McDaniel Memorial Lecture (1976) and the Benjamin Spector Memorial Lecture (1977). Series 1 also contains records pertaining to a special meeting of the Section on Medical History devoted to lectures on Sherlock Holmes (1976 March 17) and another section meeting held in honor of Black Medical History Day (1976 December 15).

Most of the correspondence in Series 1 is with Dorothy I. Lansing, the Clerk of the Section on Medical History, who worked closely with Parish in planning section activities. Other correspondents in the collection include President John P, Hubbard, Executive Director William F. Chaveas, and Executive Committee members Herman Beerman and Samuel X Radbill. Also included are letters from individuals who presented lectures at section meetings, including Morris H. Saffron, Donald C. Geist, Toby Gelfand, John Ellis, Steven Selden, Samuel P. Martin, John A, Kenney, and Baruch S, Blumberg.

Series 2 contains the records of Steven J, Peitzman; included is correspondence, reports, and lecture announcements. The correspondence in this series is primarily with members of the Executive Committee of the Section on Medical History, including Samuel X Radbill, Herman Beerman, Palmer Howard Futcher, Barbara Bates, and Lawrence Charles Parish. Also present are letters from Christine A, Ruggere, Curator of Historical Collections of the Library of the College of Physicians, concerning the acquisition of the Daniel J, Swinney papers, which were purchased with funds donated by the Section on Medical History. Series 2 also includes correspondence pertaining to Joseph T. Freeman's plan to establish a Section on Geriatrics at the College of Physicians.