Harvard School of Public Health. Department of Tropical Medicine program establishment, management and review records
Overview
The Harvard School of Public Health Department of Tropical Medicine program establishment, management and review records are the product of the founding and early development of the department, including its origin within Harvard Medical School as the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine.
Dates
- Creation: 1913-1974 (inclusive)
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1913-1938
Language of Materials
Records are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Access requires advance notice.
Audio-visual recordings are restricted to access until such time as they can be converted to digital media. Once converted, recordings may be restricted based on the recording's content, title, or as per the restrictions for the folder from which the recording was removed.
Conditions Governing Use
The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in the collection. Researchers are responsible for identifying and contacting any third-party copyright holders for permission to reproduce or publish. For more information on the Center's use, publication, and reproduction policies, view our Reproductions and Use Policy.
Extent
1.84 cubic feet (1 records center carton, 1 letter size document box, 1 half letter size document box)The Harvard School of Public Health Department of Tropical Medicine program establishment, management and review records are the product of the founding and early development of the department, including its origin within Harvard Medical School as the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine. Topics include fundraising and support for the department and departmental initiatives and programming. Types of material include account books, correspondence, and department publications.
Records are entirely in English.
Administrative History
The Department of Tropical Medicine became part of the Harvard School of Public Health in 1922. It was formerly known as the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine, which was a part of Harvard Medical School from 1913. The department trained students in diagnosis, transmission, and prevention of tropical diseases.
In January 1913, Richard P. Strong (1872-1949) was appointed Professor of Tropical Medicine to organize a School of Tropical Medicine at Harvard. The school was organized under the Graduate School of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The school was sometimes referred to as the Department of Tropical Medicine, and the course of study was known as Courses in Tropical Medicine. In 1915, this was renamed the Courses in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The Harvard School of Tropical Medicine came under the general responsibility of Harvard Medical School in December 1917. In 1922, the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine officially merged with the Harvard School of Public Health to become the Department of Tropical Medicine. In 1938, the Department of Tropical Medicine combined with the Department of Parasitology and the Department of Comparative Pathology to become the Department of Comparative Pathology and Tropical Medicine. In 1944 the department was renamed the Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine. The department was subsumed into the Department of Epidemiology in 1946 along with the Department of Communicable Diseases. In 1949, the Department of Tropical Public Health was re-established as an independent department. In 1981 it was renamed the Department of Tropical Health. The Department of Tropical Health, the Department of Cancer Biology and the Department of Molecular and Cellular Toxicology were combined to create two new departments: the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and the Department of Cancer Cell Biology in 1998. The Department of Cancer Cell Biology closed in 2004.
Richard P. Strong directed the Courses on Tropical Medicine as part Harvard School of Tropical Medicine prior to the formation of the department within the Harvard School of Public Health. He continued as department chair after the merger, serving as head from 1913 to 1938. Department chairs for the Department of Comparative Pathology and Tropical Medicine were Ernest E. Tyzzer (1875-1965, chair 1938-1942), René J. Dubos (1901-1932, chair 1942-1944). Donald L. Augustine (1895-1984, chair 1944-1946) was chair under the name Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine. Chairs of the Department of Tropical Public Health were James Simmons (1890-1954, chair 1949-1954), Thomas Weller (1915-2008, chair 1955-1981), and John David (chair 1981-1998). The department conducted research trips to South America. Strong was also heavily involved in the efforts of the Red Cross during World War I, as the General Medical Director of the League of Red Cross Societies.
Collection Arrangement
These papers were assigned a call number upon their reception at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine and were arranged in order by call number. The historical call number order has been maintained. A call number can represent a single item or multiple folders. Folders with the same call number are arranged in the order that existed at time of processing.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was transferred to the Harvard Medical Library by the Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Tropical Medicine.
- Accession number 2022-046. Harvard School of Public Health. Department of Tropical Medicine. Date unknown..
Processing Information
Processed by Rebecca Thayer, 2023 September.
These materials were originally part of a collection known as the Early School of Public Health records (E72). E72 records were cataloged according to an in-house catalog number system. These catalog numbers have been retained where they exist and are located in the file-level scope notes. Processing was done by Hanna Clutterbuck-Cook in 2019, 2021 and 2022. Clutterbuck-Cook refoldered and reboxed material and transcribed folder titles from original folders which were then discarded. Original folder titles were retained unless they were determined to be unduly repetitive; for example, “Harvard School of Public Health” has been removed from folder titles. In cases where the title of an item on the card catalog card differed from the original folder title, the card catalog title was appended to the beginning of the original folder title. Clutterbuck-Cook and Heather Mumford identified offices and records management series for E72. Clutterbuck-Cook arranged the materials accordingly. Clutterbuck-Cook and Mumford conducted research on the department and its history to draft a finding aid. Additional surveying was done in 2023 by Thayer. Thayer separated out and arranged the Department of Industrial Hygiene records. Thayer also interfiled materials originally collected as part of an E72 vertical file (designated by the word "file" after the call number). Thayer finished the finding aid.
Subject
- Strong, Richard P. (Richard Pearson), 1872-1948 (Person)
- Shattuck, Frederick Cheever, 1847-1929 (Person)
- Shattuck, George Cheever, 1879-1972 (Person)
- Harvard School of Public Health (Organization)
- Title
- Harvard School of Public Health. Department of Tropical Medicine program establishment, management and review records, 1913-1974 (inclusive), 1913-1938 (bulk): Finding Aid.
- Author
- Rebecca Thayer
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- med01009
Repository Details
Part of the Center for the History of Medicine (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine) Repository
The Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine is one of the world's leading resources for the study of the history of health and medicine. Our mission is to enable the history of medicine and public health to inform healthcare, the health sciences, and the societies in which they are embedded.