Navy medicine material in the National Museum of Health & Medicine's Archives

As I mentioned earlier, I used to work at the National Museum of Health & Medicine in Washington, so I know there's a lot of Navy medicine material in its Archives. The Museum was under the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, a tri-service command with Navy staffing, so more collections should have material. There's hospital ship material scattered in various places, with somewhat out-of-date finding aid. Here's the most relevant items pulled from the Guide to the Collections.

OHA 87
AFIP Historical Files, 1945-present
100 cubic feet, 155 boxes.
Finding aid available, arranged, active, part restricted.
Records of the AFIP including annual reports, research reports, staff biographical files, publications, and course information. The collection was compiled by the AFIP Medical Illustration Service and transferred to the Archives in 1986. Official AFIP records are deposited in the National Archives.

OHA 89
AFIP Oral History Collection, 1991-1994
3 cubic feet, 2 boxes.
Finding aid available, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Oral history interviews conducted by Charles Stuart Kennedy (Georgetown University) with AFIP directors and staff members. Most are recorded on videotape; some on audiotape. Includes transcripts and curriculum vitae. The interviews discuss the subjects' backgrounds, their fields, and the history and staff of the AFIP. People interviewed include Vernon Armbrustmacher, William R. Cowan, Elgin C. Cowart, Charles Davis, Kenneth Earle, Franz M. Enzinger, Richard Froede, Kenton Hartman, Elson B. Helwig, Vincent J. Hyams, Nelson Irey, Kamal G. Ishak, Frank B. Johnson, Lent C. Johnson, Thomas C. Jones, Robert F. Karnei, Jr., Chris Kelly, Donald King, John Madewell, Robert R. McMeekin, Enrique Mendez, Jr., Wayne Meyers, Marc Micozzi, F.K. Mostofi, Florabel Garcia Mullick, Ronald C. Neafie, Bruce H. Smith, Charles Stahl, Robert E. Stowell, Frank Townsend, Sharon Weiss, Hyman J. Zimmerman, and Lorenz E. Zimmerman.

OHA 104
Atomic Bomb Material, 1945-1973
24 cubic feet, 36 boxes.
Finding aid, partially arranged, inactive, restricted.
Material mainly from the AFIP's Atomic Bomb Unit, which stored specimens and photographs from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (much of which was returned to Japan). Includes correspondence, reports, and photographs from the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, Army-Navy Joint Commission for the Study of the Effects of the Atomic Explosions in Japan, Atomic Energy Commission, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, and the Army Medical College, 1st Army Hospital, Tokyo. Includes paintings by Jeff Day displaying the effect of radiation on the eye, apparently commissioned after World War 2 by Dr. Robert M. Sinskey. Also includes film footage.

OHA 126
Brown Collection, 1921-1922
1 oversize folder.
No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Items belonging to surgeon Robert Dwight Brown of the U.S. Public Health Service. Includes his membership certificate in the Association of Military Surgeons and three photographs: personnel at the Algiers (Louisiana) Naval Hospital; a Public Health Service float in an Armistice Day parade; and Public Health Service Hospital 25 (Camp Logan) in Houston, Texas.

OHA 145.55
Davis Slide Collection, 1968-1972
.1 cubic feet, 1 box.
No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Davis supervised the operating room staff at Clark Naval Base in the Philippines during the Vietnam War. 35mm slide photographs are of surgery, and press conferences with a few on patient care.

OHA 171
German Medical Translations, 1938-1945
7 cubic feet, 12 boxes. Finding aid available, arranged, inactive, unrestricted. Translations of German medical material made by the U.S. Navy immediately after World War 2. Includes documents on marrow nailing by Dr. G. Kuntscher, who developed the Kuntscher nailing technique for internal fixation of fractures. Also includes material on special medical consultants‟ conferences, air raid shelter hospitals, plastic surgery, and other topics. Some files include photographs.

OHA 171.05
Geschickter Lantern Slides for Color Atlas of Pathology, 1940s-1960s
11 boxes. No finding aid, unknown if arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Lantern slides published in the pathology textbook "Color Atlas of Pathology" by Dr. Charles S. Geschickter, one of Washington's leading pathologists. Geschickter worked on the three-volume project while he was in the Navy and stationed at Bethesda. 3 lantern slide cabinets, 3 small cabinets and 8 boxes.

OHA 208
Korean War Ballistic Photographs, 1951-1953
2 cubic feet, 7 boxes.
No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted, digitized.
Photographs from a joint Army-Navy commission, which included AFIP staff, testing body armor in combat in Korea. The photographs (including x-rays) show patients, wounds, body armor, and experiments with animals.

OHA 233
Medical Ephemera, 20th century
14 cubic feet.
Finding aid available, arranged, active, unrestricted, partially digitized.
Pamphlets, annual reports, posters, membership cards, bumper stickers, form letters, charity appeals, and other ephemera produced by various companies and organizations including the federal government. Also four boxes of U.S. Navy medical newsletters and Army Medical Department supply bulletins. Primarily public health material with information on cancer, AIDS, nutrition, diabetes, heart disease, substance abuse, and American Indian health. Items that have been digitized may be identified and downloaded from www.archive.org via a search for "Otis Historical Archives."

OHA 240
Military Hospitals Material, 1908-1969
2 cubic feet, 3 boxes.
Finding aid available, arranged, active, unrestricted.
Artificial collection of yearbooks, scrapbooks, photo albums, annual reports, and logbooks from the following hospitals: Oak Knoll Naval Hospital (Oakland, California), Great Lakes Naval Hospital, Fleet Hospital 103 (Guam), San Diego U.S. Naval Hospital, Tripler General Hospital, Mayo General Hospital, 141st General Hospital, Third Field Hospital (Saigon); the hospital ship U.S.S. Sanctuary; also naval hospitals in 1948-1949 and World War 2 general hospitals.

OHA 241.05
Minton Collection, 1940s-1990s
.5 cubic foot, 2 boxes.
No finding aid, unarranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Papers of Dr. Sherman Minton, World War 2 Navy doctor and herpetologist. Includes books, reprints, his diploma from Indiana University, a bibliography of his publications, and a portrait. Other items are in Historical Collections.

OHA 248
National Naval Medical Center Autopsies, 1920s-1964
135 cubic feet, 57 boxes.
No finding aid, partially arranged, inactive, restricted.
Autopsy and surgical pathology reports from Bethesda Naval Hospital (now the National Naval Medical Center).

OHA 248.03
National Naval Medical Center Pathology Lantern Slides, 1950s-1960s
60 cubic feet.
Arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Lantern slides, mostly histology, of pathology. Includes gross brain slides of lobotomies and demonstrations of blood banking.

OHA 250
New Contributed Photographs, 19th century-present
51 cubic feet, 102 boxes.
Finding aid available, arranged, active, unrestricted, digitized.
Artificial collection of medical photographs recently acquired by or located in the Museum and not part of another collection. Includes diverse history of medicine subjects such as the post World War 1 influenza epidemic. Begun by Otis Historical Archives in 1986.

OHA 253
NMHM Audiovisual Collection, 1918-present
300 cubic feet, 98 boxes.
Finding aid available, arranged, active, part restricted.
Medical films, videotapes, filmstrips, and audiotapes donated from a variety of sources. Most are from AFIP's Medical Illustration Service and WRAMC-TV. Some films may be restricted due to copyright. The earliest film in the collection, "Red Cross Work on Mutiles, at Paris, 1918,” shows medical illustrator Anna Coleman Ladd making face masks for the American Red Cross Studio for Portrait Masks for Mutilated Soldiers. A sample of Navy films includes:

-AFIP Annual Lecture: Early and Late Delayed Effects of Radiation on the Central Nervous System, 1964, United States Navy, Bureau of Naval Weapons, 1050', b&w sound 16mm film
-Doctors on the Flight Deck, 1965, US Navy, 1/2" videotape
-Change of Command Ceremony, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Major General Joe M. Blumberg, MC, USA to Captain Bruce H. Smith, MC, USN, 14 July 1967, 1967, WRAMC TV, 16 mm color sound 16mm film
-Change of Command, Major General Joe M. Blumberg, U.S. Army to Captain Bruce H. Smith, U.S. Navy, 1967, WRAMC TV, 1800', color sound 16mm film
-Endodontics Diagnosis and Case Selection, Part 1, 196?, US Navy, 13:01, 3/4" videotape
-Wings for the Doctor, 1971, US Navy, 1/2" videotape

OHA 254
Norse Journal, 1877-1878
.1 cubic foot, .5 box.
No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Journal of assistant surgeon Charles J. Norse, U.S. Navy, who served on the U.S.S. Blake. Journal consists of case histories of patients with post mortem reports. Also contains drawings and descriptions of marine organisms dredged up by the ship.

OHA 265
Parker Collection, 1954
.1 cubic foot, .1 box.
No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Manuscript copy with photographs of "Whole Blood Supply to Korea," by Lt. James H. Parker, U.S. Navy, presented at the 5th Annual Military Medico-Dental Symposium, October 21, 1954.

OHA 272.1
Philadelphia Naval Hospital, c.1960s-1980s
.5 cubic foot, 1.5 boxes.
No finding aid, unarranged, inactive, restricted.
Very approximately 1000 35mm slides of orthopedic cases from Philadelphia Naval Hospital. Some taken during Vietnam War era. Civilian cases included. Also tumor, podiatry, and surgical cases.

OHA 332
Total Eclipse of the Sun Photographs, 1869-1870
.33 cubic foot, 1 box.
No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Photographs and other records of a joint Army Medical Museum-U.S. Naval Observatory expedition to observe the solar eclipse on August 7, 1869, in Des Moines, Iowa. Edward Curtis, assistant to Museum photographer Joseph J. Woodward, led the Army party. Includes photographs of the eclipse taken through a telescope, a photograph of the telescope, and correspondence and reports, including a published report by Commodore B.F. Sands, superintendent of the Naval Observatory.

OHA 345
U.S. Naval Examining Board Logbooks, 1902-1951
3 cubic feet, 2 boxes.
Finding aid available, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Seven logbooks of the Naval Examining Board recording admissions and promotions in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps, Medical Corps, Medical Service Corps, Nurse Corps, and Senior Board of Medical Examiners.

OHA 346
U.S. Navy Medical Department Census, 1945
.25 cubic foot, .5 box.
No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Census of personnel in the U.S. Navy Medical Department, recorded on typewritten sheets bound in cardboard.

OHA 347
U.S. Navy Registers of Dental Officers, ca. 1917-1919
1.5 cubic feet, 1 box. Finding aid available, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Four logbooks recording Navy dental officers, active and reserve, in the World War 1 era.

OHA 347.05
USS Des Moines Dental Collection, 1947-1960
.5 cubic foot, 1 box.
Finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Material from dental office of Navy cruiser USS Des Moines, removed in 1993 by Texas Parks staff, who donated it to OHA. Includes mostly publications: manuals, equipment instructions, Navy regulations, books. Original documents consist of 7 photos. Collection maintained as a unit because of condition of donation; product information also cataloged in OHA 168.

OHA 348
U.S.S. General Harry Taylor Medical Department Log
.2 cubic foot, .1 box.
No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Logbook of the medical department of the U.S. Navy transport U.S.S. General Harry Taylor during World War 2. Contains daily log entries as well as personnel, passenger, surgery, and sick call lists.

Many Navy artifacts are also in the Historical Collections - here's an example:

HC 57
Clothing, 1840-present
Approximately 470 items.
Primarily consists of uniforms of the U.S. Army Medical Department, many from AFIP staff. Highlights include uniforms worn by James Earle Ash, director of the Army Medical Museum (1929-1931, 1937-1946); William Crawford Gorgas, Surgeon General of the U.S. Army (1914-1918) and medical director of the Panama Canal Project; Norman T. Kirk, Surgeon General of the U.S. Army (1943-1947): Thomas Lawson, Surgeon General of the U.S. Army (1836-1861); George Lord, killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876; and Emma Vogel, superintendent of physical therapists during World War 2. A growing collection of uniforms worn by the U.S. Public Health Service is being collected with the assistance of the Service's Office of Public Health History. These include uniforms worn by C. Everett Koop, Surgeon General (1981-1989), and Leonard Scheele, Surgeon General (1948-1956), as well as uniforms worn by the Cadet Nurse Corps founded during the latter part of World War 2. There are also uniforms worn by Reconstruction Aides during World War 1 and U.S. Air Force and Navy uniforms dating from after World War 2, notably the uniform of Vera Zeller, the first U.S. Air Force Director of Nursing. In addition to the uniforms, the collection includes protective clothing developed by the military such as flack vests, body armor, and helmets. A Soviet Army medical officer's uniform during World War 2 and fatigues belonging to a North Vietnamese soldier during the Vietnam War round out the collection of military uniforms. The collection also contains medical clothing, including protective clothing developed in response to the adoption of the Universal Precautions during the 1980s.

Guam

We've heard from a Navy medical librarian on Guam, who has sent us some historic images for our files. I've sent her a list of what photographs we have (catalogued - there's probably more) on Guam in return, and here's a few highlights. For those who are wondering - we don't alter the captions written on the pictures, so insensitive language from wartime will be found.


09-7944-002
Guam. Graduation Exercise. Nursing School for Natives on Guam. 10/15/1948; U.S. Navy BUMED Library and Archives


09-7944-003
Guam Memorial Hospital, Guam, Marianas Islands. Graduation class at the school of nursing. Nursing School for Natives on Guam. 02/15/1948; U.S. Navy BUMED Library and Archives


09-8020-012
U.S. Naval Hospital, Guam. Dental Operating Unit. Equipment and Suites Set up - Dental. 11/29/1954; VU-005-7789-0011-0054; U.S. Navy BUMED Library and Archives


09-8024-033
Naval Regional Dental Center Mobile Unit in operation at "Tent City." Operation New Life, NRDC [Naval Regional Dental Clinic], Guam. 1975; U.S. Navy BUMED Library and Archives


09-7938-028
1st Mass in 2 years. A Navy chaplain conducts mass for Catholic Guamanians, their first they have attended since the Japs captured their homeland two and one half years ago.

Archives: U.S. Naval Medical School Collection

U.S. Naval Medical School Collection
1830s-2011
Artificial collection
7 boxes, arranged, unrestricted, finding aid available

Includes documents and photographs.

Folders:

Anniversary Pamphlets
Annual Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Navy - 1950's
Annual Sanitary Report - 1943
Basic Course in Naval Medicine, 1952 - 1953
Change of Command
Command History, 1959-1972
Command History - Organizational Manuals
Command History for Calendar Year 1986
Command History for Calendar Year 1988
Command History for Calendar Year 1989
Command History for Calendar Year 1994
Command History for Calendar Year 1997
Command History for Calendar Year 1998
Command History for Calendar Year 1999
Commanding Officers
Course Planning Data
Department of Instruction, 1878 -1898
Education and Training Brochures
Educational Articles
Golden Anniversary
History - 1950's
History - 1960's
History - 1970's
History - Early History - Newspaper articles (copies)
History - U.S. Naval Medical School
History - U.S. Naval Medical School, 1902 - 1952
Medical School Prospectus
Medical Service Corps Programs - 1995
Naval Health Sciences Education and Training Command
Naval Health Sciences Education and Training Command - A Report of a
Study
Naval Health Sciences Education and Training Command - Fact Book 1987 -
1988
Naval Health Sciences Education and Training Command - Fact Book 1989
Naval School of Health Care Administration (NSHCA)
Navy Medical Library Improvement Report
Navy Medical Department Education and Training - Fact Book 1987
Records of Department of Instructions, U.S. Naval Hospital, New York
The Hospital Corps - 96th Birthday Ball - 1994
The U.S. Naval Dental School
Training - Folder 1
Training - Folder 2
Training - Folder 3
U.S. Naval Medical School Bulletins
Women in the Armed Forces
Photographs - Naval Medical School Photos (photocopies) circa 1908 via
LOC
Photographs - Washington Naval Medical School - 1938
Photographs - Exterior Photos
Photographs - Graduation Classes
Photographs - Washington Hospital/Medical School
Photographs - NSHA Administrative Conference (1971 Bethesda)
Photographs - Naval School of Hospital Administration (NSHCA)

Archives: Shaw Collection

Shaw Collection
1941-2003(?)
Personal papers
1 boxes, arranged, unrestricted, finding aid available

This collection contains the autobiography, some personal papers, and
images of LCDR John Shaw, MC.

John Andrew Shaw was born on Oct. 6, 1910, in Centreville, Miss. He was
called to active duty in the medical corps of the United States Naval
Reserve in the summer of 1941, and was on duty as Officer of the Day at
the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese
attacked Pearl harbor. He served at the naval hospitals at Pearl
Harbor, Aiea Heights, Long Beach, and was the urologist on the USS Haven
serving the Pacific Fleet. After the bombing of Nagasaki, his hospital
ship was sent there to evacuate allied prisoners of war before the
American army of occupation came in. He was released from active duty
with the rank of commander in 1946.

He wrote an autobiography, "The Twentieth Century As It Happened To Me,"
along with a few articles of prose.

Dr. Shaw died early Tuesday morning, April 1, 2003, in Red Lodge,
Montana.

Archives: Guests of the Emperor: WWII Navy Medical POW Collection

Guests of the Emperor: WWII Navy Medical POW Collection
1941-2011
Artificial collection
15 boxes, arranged, unrestricted, finding aid available

This collection contains documents, letters, ephemera, journals, diaries, lists of names, citations, and images from and about prisoners of war during World War II in various prison camps and hospitals in Japan. These include Bilibid, Canacao, Zentsuji, Makassar, USS Houston, and various Hell Ships. Other material may be found in Oral Histories and other collections.

Folders:

Admiral Hubert J. Van Peenen Finding aid for Box 1-4
Book: Hugh & Mace edited by Peter Van Peenen, a collection of letters written between Hubert John Van Peenen II, Hugh, USN, and his wife, Mavis LeClaire Warner Van Peenen, Mace.
Envelope containing can opener found in Lt Cmdr Van Peenen's briefcase used while a prisoner of Zentsuji
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Medical Notes - Zentsuji
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Greeting Cards from fellow POWs
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Overseas Edition Newsmap
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Transcripts of the examinations and grades for
promotion
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Newspaper clippings
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Prisoner of War Bulletin, June 1943 - June 1944
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Scrapbook of Newsclippings
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Newsletters and Updates for Zentsujins
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Zentsuji in Kansas-Stories from the POWs Reunions
US Navy Medicine - 2 editions, Sept and Oct 1979, including image of Chief Meyers' diary, address book, armband, and one of several belts he wove while in captivity.
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - POW Information
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Mrs. Van Peenen - POW Information regarding Husband
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Personal Collection of Newsclippings
Lt Cmdr Van Peenen - Newsclippings & ephemera of Van Peenen
"Frondoshi" (underpants, or loin cloth) issued by the Japanese to American Prisoners of War at Zentsuji, Shikoku, Japan. Sometimes, an inmate made his own from whatever material available. So one here made by then Lt. Comdr. J.J. Van Peenen (MC) USN
Envelope with shoulder stripes epalets
Empty bottle of Codeine Sulfate
Surgical instruments in towel
Fabric bag carried by POW H.J. Van Peenen containing: 1. Japanese Laborer's shoes worn by POWs; 2. Parts of parachutes used in 1st US Army air dropof food to POWs now at Raku Roshi; 3. dressing case

Lists of Prisoners of War
Marie Adams Papers - Manila Hospital Center, 1941 - 1942
Coggins Papers - Makassar Prison Camp, Celebes Island, CphM Lloyd R. Coggins
The Canacao Journal, 1941 - 1942
War Diary, Canacao Naval Hospital
Casus Belli
CDR T.H. Hayes, MC, USN; Medical Tactics, Jul42 - Dec42
Hayes: Medical Tactics (4th Regiment Historical Papers)
Hayes: Medical Tactics (4th Regiment, USMC, Corregidor), narrative
history of officers in the Manila Bay area
CPR Thomas Hayes - Diary Jul42 - Sept42
CPR Thomas Hayes - Diary Nov42 - Aug43
Diary of Thomas Hirst Hayes - Oct43 - Sept 44
CPR Thomas Hayes - Diary Aug44 - Oct 44
Kentner's Journal, many copies in varying conditions
Reports of Activities of the U.S. Naval Hospital in the Philippines from Dec 8, 1941 - Jan 30, 1945
Reports of Activities of the U.S. Naval Hospital in the Philippines from Dec 8, 1941 - Jan 30, 1945
Proposed Citations for Personnel who Served with U.S. Naval Hospital Unit, Bilibid Prison 30 May 42 - 1 Oct 43
Peart's Journal - Bilibid Prison
Book of War Records: Bilibid Prison
Schweizer, Earl G. - Bilibid Log, A Fragment - Journal
Bilibid Hospital, Oct43 - Sept44
"Under the Japs in Bilibid", by William Silliphant
Bilibid Letter Book, 1942
"Shearer's Journal" May 42 - Jul43 Companion to Bilibid Letter Book, 1942
Misc info
War Diary, unknown author
Carry On - A Bilibid Journal by 1st LT James Robb
Bilibid Prison Commissary Returns 4 June 1946
Bilibid Prison Commissary Returns and Analytical Charts
Clinical Papers -POW-Bilibid
Miscellaneous Documents - Bilibid
Bilibid Prison Hospital
Bilibid Hospital
Manila Bay
Houston Papers - Inventory of Clinical Records
Houston Papers by Raymond Day
The Saga of the USS Houston
Hospital Corps Assignments in the Far East
Hell Ships
Smith, Carey - Oryoko Maru & Other Hell Ships - Journal
The Cruise of the Oryoku Maru
Navy Nurse POW
B&W Photos & Drawings copies - Cabanatuan Prison Camp
POW Journal Finding Aid
Report on Japanese Compensation
Rules and Regulations for Prisoners of War
The Medical Department of the Navy in the Philippines
Hornbostel, Hans USA (Ret) POW - Bataan Death march and his wife,
Gertrude - Times Herald Article
Mission to Nagasaki by LT Helen Groble, USN
Los Banos Prison
POWs WWII
Images
Bilibid Prison Images
Images - POW Photo Album

Archives: King Radiation Health Collection

King Radiation Health Collection
1947 - 2003
Personal papers
8 boxes, arranged, possibly partially restricted, finding aid available

Research and papers collected by CAPT J.J. King regarding radiation health.

US Navy medicine collection at Columbia University

Columbia University Medical Center's A.C. Long Health Sciences Library's Archives & Special Collections has just sent us a link to the papers of Clement Clay, noting they have several thick folders of records from his time as commanding officer of the USS Repose hospital ship, during WWII.

 

 We have several boxes of information and photographs on the Repose, which I haven't gotten to yet except for reboxing them yesterday. There are many biographical files here, but Clay doesn't appear to have one.

 

Archives: Hankins Collection

Hankins Collection
1941-1943
Personal papers
5 boxes, arranged, unrestricted, finding aid available

The Hankins Collections contains letters mainly between Lt. Cmdr. Dr. Franklyn D. Hankins and his wife Mrs. Frances Hankins. During 1941 and part of 1942, Dr. Hankins (then LT) was assigned to the USS Brazos. In early 1942, he was reassigned to Pearl Harbor and then the USS West Virginia to reestablish the sick bay area. He remained with the USS West Virginia (nicknamed Wee Vee) through to it's docking at Bremerton, Washington.

The letters in this collection were mainly between Hankins and his wife.

There are various letters, cards, invitations, announcements, and programs from other people including his parents, brothers, other doctors, patients, other family members and his two children (at the time): Patsy and Eddie Lou.

The letters contained in this collection were donated by their daughters. Dr. Hankins died in 1995 and Mrs. Hankins died in 2002.

Archives: USS Missouri Dental Appointments Log

USS Missouri Dental Appointments Log
1948-1949
Organizational records
1 folder, arranged, unrestricted
Transferred from Navy Department archives

USS Missouri dental appointments log book from January 2, 1948- June 10,
1949, under Dr. Van L. Johnson. Book notes name, rank, ship or station,
and services rendered (most often fillings).

Archives: Link Collection

Link Collection
1942-1947; 1987-1989
Personal papers
1 folder, unarranged, unrestricted
Documents and photographs relating to Dr. Melvin Robert Link,
Lieutenant, (MC), US Navy. Link served during World War II from
1942-1947. He was a medical officer on the USS Walke (DD 723) from
1944-1945, and then transferred to the US Naval Hospital Philadelphia,
and ended his naval career at the US Naval Hospital Brooklyn. Also
includes material from the reunion of the USS Walke crew in 1989.

An introduction, and archives collections information

BUMED 09-7980-44 "101 Airborne." Vietnam photos - unidentified.

The US Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) Office of Medical History has some pretty substantial collections of documents and photographs (and books and artifacts) that they've hired me to physically arrange and intellectually describe so they can be used for research. I'm assisted in this by a part-time contract archivist who'll hopefully make an appearance here as well. For those who don't know me, I was in charge of the National Museum of Health & Medicine's archives for 22 1/2 years, where I set up the Repository for Bottled Monsters blog, and the Otis Archives Flickr site. While there, with the help of Andre "Mr. Grog," I had thousands of the Historical Office's photographs scanned. Over 100 of these are on the Museum's Flickr site and can be downloaded and used now, but we hope to get all of them online for use... somehow.

As I describe collections, I'll be posting the information about them here as a stopgap measure. I'll be working towards a full-blown Guide to the Collections, individual finding aids, and also a searchable database that will hopefully all be online. If you're interested in doing research, we're open by appointment.

Michael Rhode
Archivist / Curator
US Navy BUMED Office of Medical History
202-762-3813
michael.rhode@med.navy.mil

Oct 5: Free Concert at Navy Memorial

Navy Memorial & U.S. Navy Band to Host Diversity Concert Series

WHAT:

Hispanic Diversity Concert – free, live performance by the U.S. Navy Band’s premier jazz ensemble, the Commodores, to honor Hispanic Heritage Month. The concert will tell the story of Hispanics in the Navy by highlighting the career of Navy Bandmaster Jose Contreras, featuring Latin-American influenced jazz music that was popular during his service. It is the first in a series of performances that will celebrate different ethnicities in the Navy.

Since the U.S. Navy was established, Hispanics have served in every major conflict. Contreras entered the Navy in 1909 when boarding in Chile, rose through the naval ranks and retired in 1933. He worked the Navy Yard until 1954. His narrative is one of courage and commitment, and demonstrates that immigrants form the true fabric of our democracy.

WHEN:
Wednesday, 5 October 2011 @ 12:00pm

WHERE:
United States Navy Memorial
Burke Theater
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
www.navymemorial.org
Metro: National Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter (Green and Yellow lines)

COST:
Free and open to the public. No RSVP required, but seating is limited.

U.S. Navy Memorial Presents John Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail.

On 13 October 2011, the Navy memorial will be hosting acclaimed author Tim McGrath who will present his book John Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail. Guests are invited to learn about one of the U.S. Navy’s founding fathers through this biography, which explores the life of “Father of Time” John Barry, whose legendary career extended from the Continental Navy through the early years of the U.S. Navy. The reading is part of the U.S. Navy Memorial’s “Authors of Deck” book lecture series and is free and open to the public. Following the presentation, McGrath will be available for a Q&A session and book signing.


WHEN:
Thursday, 13 October 2011 @12:00pm

WHERE:
United States Navy Memorial
Naval Heritage Center
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
www.navymemorial.org

COST: Free and open to the public

Navy Medical School of Instruction, 1902

First Hospital Corps School Class Photograph, October 1902. This photograph shows students and instructors at the precursor of the Hospital Corps School and Medical Education and Training Command (METC). Known as the “Navy School of Instruction,” this institution opened in March 1902 in Norfolk, VA, and went far to mold the early Hospital Corpsmen. Of note is the School’s principal instructor Pharmacist Edward May, USN (top row, seventh from right). May fathered, counseled, and taught the first nine classes of the School (over 350 students). In 1905, May was stricken with typhoid fever, and died fifty days later on 28 October 1905. He was buried at Naval Hospital Portsmouth, VA. More information of the Navy Medical School of Instruction will be found in the Winter 2012 edition of THE GROG.

A sneak preview of our latest documentary

Two characters in our latest documentary on the history of the old Naval
Observatory. Character on left is Mary Clemmer Ames, Washington
journalist in the 1870s, and a former president on the right.

New issue of The Grog online

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that we present the Summer 2011 edition of THE GROG. In this edition we examine the Navy Medical Department's role in the Coal Medical Survey of 1947 and how it came about. We follow this with a spirited assortment of original articles including Dr. James Alsop's look at Navy hospital care in 1812, Jan Herman's account of working in documentary films, Leanne Gradijan's statistical report of physicians in the Civil War and much more. As always we hope you enjoy your humble tour of Navy medicine's past.

THE GROG is accessible through the link below. If you prefer a PDF version to be sent directly to your inbox please let us know. For all those who have already requested to be put on the PDF mailing list a low resolution version will be sent to you shortly.

Link to THE GROG, Summer 2011
http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog_summer_2011

Very Respectfully,

André

André B. Sobocinski
Deputy Historian and Publications Mgr.
Office of Medical History (M00H)
Dr. Benjamin Rush Education and Conference Ctr.
Navy Medicine Institute for the Medical Humanities (NMI)
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED)
Tel: 202.762.3244
Fax: 202.762.3380
E-Mail: andre.sobocinski@med.navy.mil

Got Grog?

Summer 2011
http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog_summer_2011

Spring 2011
http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog_spring_2011

A September 11th memory

Reprinted from Navy Medicine November-December 2001.

My name is Daniel Smith of the Skokie IL. Fire Department. Myself and five other firefighters recently stayed aboard the USNS Comfort deployed to New York City after the September 11th terrorist attack on the WTC. The Comfort was to serve as a mass casualty hospital facility. With few survivors the roll of the Comfort was changed to house and feed rescue personnel working at the trade center site.

The hospitality of the Comfort's crew was exceptional. We were bunked and fed by a very caring and helpful group of Officers and enlisted personnel. We could never board or leave ship without someone insisting on us eating. We are grateful to the Marines who guarded the ship, patrolled the dock area and controlled the access to the ship. This gave us great peace of mind while being preoccupied by the loss of our brother firefighters.

I extend a gratitude of thanks to Navy Department, Navy Medicine and the Comfort's Captain and the crew for JOB WELL DONE.