Skip to main content

Records of the Committee on the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize and Lectureship

 Collection
Identifier: CPP 10/004-01

Scope and Contents

The rPcords of the Committee on the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize and Lectureship, spanning 1900 to 1935, consist of committee reports and correspondence. Included is correspondence concerning the selection of the first recipie11t of the award, H. F. Harris, and committee reports from subsequent years in which additional winners are ' a1111ounced. .-\ 1 so i 11c l uded are an nua 1 financial s ta temen ts from the Trustees of the ~athan lewis Hatfield Prize and Lectureship.

Correspondents include chairmen James Cornelius Wilson, Thomas McCrae, and Alfred Stengel.

Dates

  • 1900 - 1935

Creator

Biographical / Historical

The Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize was established by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1898. Nathan Lewis Hatfield (1804-1887), a Philadelphia physician, was a graduate of Jefferson Medical School and a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia from 1855 until his death in 1887. At a meeting of the College on 1 December 1897, president J. M. Da Costa announced that Walter and Henry Reed Hatfield wished to establish a prize in memory of their fat her. During a Council meeting on 28 December 1897, it was decided that the object of this award would be to further original medical research.

As indicated in the deed of trust of the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize, drafted in January 1898, a committee of three trustees were responsible for administering the Hatfield Prize Fund. In addition, a Committee on the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize, consisting of three Fellows appointed by the President, was established to select the recipient of this triennial award. The deed also stated that the prize would take the form of an essay contest and was open to all members of the scientific and medical professions in the United States.

The first Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize was awarded in 1901 to Professor H. F. Harris of Atlanta, Georgia. Due to inadequate submissions, the next prize was not awarded until 1909. In 1913, t..he rules governing the prize were amended, and the award has converted to a lectureship. The Hatfield Lectures were discontinued in 1972, but reinstated in 1984 by R1·ooke Roberts, president of the College, who selected new lrust..ees for the fund. At this time, the trustees elected to combine the Hatfield Lecture Fund with the College's Common Discretionary Fund, thereby eliminating the trusteeship. As of 1991, the Hatfield Lectureship is administered through the College's Committee on Program.

Extent

.4 Linear feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Custodial History

The source of this collection of records is unknown. The collection was processed and recatalogued in 1991.
Title
Records of the Committee on the Nathan Lewis Hatfield Prize and Lectureship
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Repository

Contact:
19 S. 22nd Street
Philadelphia PA 19103 United States
215-399-2001