5. "Hospital trouble", 1869

File — Box: 9, Folder: 5

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: This extensive collection of Henry Hartshorne's papers documents his professional life and activities, concentrating on texts of his lecture courses to students and manuscripts of his published and unpublished writings.

Series 1 consists of sketchy records of Hartshorne's private medical practice which began in 1848. The series contains a journal with a chronological account of his patients from the opening of the office until 20 October 1848. The journal includes financial accounts of expenses incurred in setting up his practice. A statistical record of ailments Hartshorne treated in his practice during 1859 is also included.

Information on Hartshorne's several professional positions and appointments is contained in Series 2. There is one folder of letters (1860-1871), primarily from Philadelphia physicians, attesting to Hartshorne's professional competence and ability. Most of these letters are addressed to the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. Correspondents include B. Howard Rand, John Bell, D. Francis Condie, Wilson Jewell, Isaac Remington, Robert P. Thomas, Ellwood Wilson, James E. Rhoads, Joseph Parrish, Thomas Stewardson, W. S. W. Ruschenberger, Richard Clements, S. D. Gross, Daniel B. Smith, Turner Hamilton, and G. J. Riche. The remainder of Series 2 is sorted by institution and roughly chronological in sequence. Most folders contain single items electing Hartshorne to a certain position. Two notable items are a recipe book (1846-1847) from Hartshorne's residency at Pennsylvania Hospital, and a detailed report on cases seen in the 2nd Ward of U.S.A. General Hospital at 4th and George Streets, Philadelphia, during the Civil War.

Series 3 contains a chronological run of manuscripts of Henry Hartshorne's single lectures, addresses, or speeches (18381893). Most of the speeches deal with hygiene; many were given at Haverford College. Whenever possible, each instance and location of the delivery of a speech has been recorded, as Hartshorne would often deliver the same speech at different institutions and emend his text for different audiences.

The bulk of this collection of Hartshorne papers is contained in Series 4. This series contains the manuscript texts

(1853-1887) of Henry Hartshorne's lecture courses on various subjects principally hygiene at different institutions. Although occasional texts exist for courses at the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute, the Institute for Colored Youth, Pennsylvania College, the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, and the Philadelphia College of Medicine, there are extensive texts for courses on hygiene at the University of Pennsylvania's Auxiliary Faculty of Medicine; etiology, hygiene, and physiology at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania; and hygiene, organic sciences, and philosophy at Haverford College. In addition to the manuscript texts of these lectures, the series also includes additional manuscript and printed material used by Henry Hartshorne to amplify or update his lectures on hygiene as well as examples of examination questions based on these lectures.

Series 5 consists of a small collection of manuscript notes and printed material (1866-1893), presumably assembled as research files for Hartshorne's lectures or articles. Principal subjects represented are cholera, hygiene, and vaccination.

Manuscripts of various writings published and unpublished of Henry Hartshorne are preserved in Series 6. There are several poems, articles concerning Haverford College, a biographical sketch of Joseph Hartshorne, and the first chapter and a plot synopsis of an unfinished novel, The hospital of St. Mark. The bulk of this series, however, is professional in nature. Included is the incomplete text of a prize winning essay on remittent fever for the Northern Medical Association (1850); a report, produced for the American Public Health Association in 1875, on sanitary conditions at resorts; a copy of the fifth edition of Hartshorne's Essentials of the principles and practices of medicine (1881) with extensive notes and emendations, possibly for a projected sixth edition; the preface, lists of illustrations, and parts of the text for a high school physiology textbook (1885); two chapters on diagnosis written for William Pepper's System of practical medicine by American authors (1885-1886); and the manuscript table of contents and several indices for Hartshorne's A household manual of medicine, surgery, nursing and hygiene, [1886].

Henry Hartshorne's work and interest in hygiene found another expression in his concern for public water supplies. His work on two committees, one, in 1889, for citizens in Germantown, the other, circa 1891, as a member of a subcommittee of Philadelphia Council's Water Committee, formed to determine the best source for the city's future water supply, is documented in Series 7. Correspondence, newsclippings, and Hartshorne's manuscript and typescript reports are included.

A few miscellaneous items concerning Hartshorne's membership or activity in professional organizations (1856-1880), such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical Association, the Audubon Society, and the British Medical Association, are preserved in Series 8.

Some miscellaneous material (1836-1897) is preserved in Series 9. Items of interest include: Hartshorne's notes from his student days at Haverford College on the ethical lectures of Daniel B. Smith (circa 1836); one folder of book reviews and printed testimonials concerning published works, principally Hartshorne's revision of J. Russell Reynolds' System of medicine (1880); and his own theory of the origin of the Arabic numeral system (1893).

Series 10 is composed of 32 lantern slides; most are undated. The slides in Series 10.1, all encased in wood sleeves, are of natural history subjects. Series 10.2 contains microscopic examinations, and Series 10.3 consists of views of fireplaces and ventilation systems. These slides were probably used during Hartshorne's lectures.