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LUCRETIA W. MCCLURE
Updated and revised by MICHAEL A. FLANNERY
“The library is the historian’s laboratory,” and in health sciences libraries, the historian may be a resident, a student, a physician, or an individual interested in a particular topic or person in the fields of medicine or science. Gnudi goes on to say the historian must have the scholarly reference works that form the “working apparatus” of this laboratory.1
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a sampling of the resources that hold the information necessary to the users seeking historical facts and knowledge. The earlier editions of this book included chapters on history sources by Judith A. Overmier.2 They continue to be relevant and useful. This chapter focuses on new resources as well as those that may be found in a general collection. Many libraries in the health sciences do not have formal history of medicine departments or collections, yet users come with history-related questions. There are a surprising number of books, journals, materials in electronic format, and so forth that may be useful in answering questions of a historical nature. Librarians must develop a creative mode of thinking when searching for answers in general works.
The Nature of Questions
Many of the questions fall into these categories: biographical, bibliographical, dates and facts, and illustrations. These are the “Who was it?,” “What did he do?,” “When did it happen?,” and “Do you have a picture of it?” questions. The Internet brings an indispensable dimension to the librarian’s ability to find historical information. Once it was necessary to have the volumes at hand in order to search. Today, the library can supplement its print resources with an array of digital locations. Because the Internet changes rapidly, only a sample of websites will be provided because new URLs appear and disappear daily.
The librarian in a small medical, hospital, or special library now has more opportunity than ever to search for the answers to historical questions. When the search of print resources proves unfruitful, the Web opens doors to the homepages of libraries with spectacular history of medicine collections. These libraries often have librarians with extensive knowledge of the history of medicine who may provide assistance. History-of-medicine organizations also have websites as well as electronic discussion lists, and all may be tapped for guidance and help.
Biographical Sources
One of the most frequently asked questions is about the individual physician or scientist. Often the person asking has superficial information at best. Knowing the dates of birth or death, an institution from which the individual was graduated or taught, or a medical specialty can give the librarian a lead to an obituary or an announcement of an honor. The following are examples of resources of biographical information.
13.1. Bynum, William F., and Helen Bynum, eds. Dictionary of Medical Biography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006. 5 vols.
13.2. Hafner, Arthur W., ed. Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804–1929; a genealogical guide to over 149,000 medical practitioners providing brief biographical sketches drawn from the American Medical Association’s Deceased Physician Masterfile. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1993. 2 vols.
13.3. The New York Times Obituaries Index. New York: New York Times, 1970–1980. Vol. 1, 1858–1968; vol. 2, 1969–1978.
13.4. Magill, Frank N., ed. The Nobel Prize Winners: Physiology or Medicine. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1991– . Vol. 1, 1901–1944; vol. 2, 1944–1969; vol. 3, 1969–1990.
13.5. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1919– . Vol. 1– .
13.6. Sammons, Vivian O. Blacks in Science and Medicine. New York: Hemisphere, 1990.
13.7. Bullough, Vern L., Olga M. Church, and Alice P. Stein. American Nursing: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Garland, 1988–1992. 2 vols.
13.8. Scrivener, Laurie, and J. Suzanne Barnes. A Biographical Dictionary of Women Healers: Midwives, Nurses, and Physicians. Westport, CT: Oryx Press, 2002.
13.9. Thacher, James. American Medical Biography. Boston: Richardson and Lord, 1828. 2 vols. in 1. Reprint: New York: DaCapo, 1967.
13.10. Atkinson, William B. The Physicians and Surgeons of the United States. Philadelphia: Robson, 1878.
13.11. Kelly, Howard A. Cyclopedia of American Medical Biography; comprising the lives of eminent deceased physicians and surgeons from 1610–1910. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1912. 2 vols.
13.12. Kelly, Howard A., and Walter L. Burrage. American Medical Biographies. Baltimore, MD: Norman, Remington, 1920.
13.13. Kelly, Howard A., and Walter L. Burrage. Dictionary of American Medical Biography. New York: Appleton, 1928.
13.14. Kaufman, Martin, Stuart Galishoff, and Todd Lee Savitt, eds. Dictionary of American Medical Biography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984. 2 vols.
13.15. Holloway, Lisabeth M. Medical Obituaries: American Physicians’ Biographical Notices in Selected Medical Journals before 1907. New York: Garland, 1981.
13.16. Morton, Leslie T., and Robert J. Moore. A Bibliography of Medical and Biomedical Biography. 3rd ed. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005.
Each of these tools provides information for those seeking biographical material. The Dictionary of Medical Biography provides 1,100 biographies of major medical practitioners in all times and cultures. Practitioners of alternative medicine as well as major figures from traditional Chinese, Indian, and Islamic medicine are included. Some 3,000 images as well as bibliographies for further reading on these individuals and their work are also provided. The AMA Directory of Deceased American Physicians includes indexes of African-American practitioners, female practitioners, and self-designated eclectic, homeopathic, and osteopathic practitioners. The New York Times Obituaries Index provides the date of death and location of an obituary. Finding the death date of an individual is often the key to locating further information (i.e., an obituary, and so forth). Comprehensive information on a laureate’s life and career is presented along with description of the speeches and commentary that accompany the awarding of the Nobel Prize in the series on the Nobel Prize winners in physiology or medicine.
One of the most useful sources for information is the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The journal indexes list names of physicians under the terms Deaths or Obituaries, leading to brief obituaries that provide basic information. Specialty journals often have extensive obituaries of their noted members, and the transactions of many societies write elaborate memoirs of cherished members.
More than 1,500 African-American physicians, scientists, and other professionals are listed in Blacks in Science and Medicine. The first biographical dictionary to be published since Kelly and Burrage published the DAMB in 1928, it was the work of the same name published in 1984. The work covers the seventeenth through twentieth centuries and in addition to physicians and surgeons, included representative blacks and women, biochemists, medical educators, and hospital administrators. The coverage is through 1976. Bullough’s American Nursing directory includes biographies of 175 women and two men in nursing who were deceased or born before 1890. The Dictionary of Women Healers is another source for information on women in a variety of health professions.
The biographical tools for American physicians of an earlier age began with Thacher. His work was followed by Atkinson, Kelly, and others. All are of value when searching for biographies and/or portraits of important practitioners. Holloway’s work includes brief biographical information as well as sources of obituaries for some 17,350 physicians deceased before 1907. A Bibliography of Medical and Biomedical Biography is limited to works published in book form in the English language during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It includes those who have made significant contributions to the related biomedical sciences, making it broader than Thornton’s Select Bibliography of Medical Biography.
13.17. Rosen, George, and Beate Caspari-Rosen, coll. and arrang. 400 Years of a Doctor’s Life. New York: Schuman, 1947.
13.18. Comroe, Julius H., Jr. Retrospectroscope: Insights into Medical Discovery. Menlo Park, CA: Von Gehr Press, 1977.
Popular biographies or sources such as Rosen’s 400 Years portray physicians through short sketches or personal experiences. Other titles such as Comroe’s Retrospectroscope offer background information concerning various discoveries, thus shining light on the scientist or physician seeking answers.
Good biographical information may be found in alumni directories, local newspapers, and historical society publications. Major textbooks often have biographical information concerning those who developed a treatment or device or who made significant breakthroughs in medicine or science. The standard medical, nursing, and dental directories are also useful in finding basic information about individuals. Databases such as MEDLINE as well as the print Index Medicus for earlier years are good sources for obituaries of well-known individuals in science and medicine. The Journal of Medical Biography, started in 1993 by the Royal Society of Medicine in London, has biographies of both patients and physicians.
Biographical Websites
With the advent of the Internet, a whole realm of resources has been developed. Never before has so much information been available at the touch of a keyboard. The caveat is, of course, to be certain of the creator of the information and to view all sites with healthy skepticism. Among the useful sites are the following:
13.19. Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. http://galenet.gale.com/a/acp/db/bgmi.
13.20. Whonamedit.com. Oslo, Norway: Whonamedit.com. Available: http://www.whonamedit.com/.
13.21. Profiles in Science. Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine. Available: http://www.profiles.nlm.nih.gov/.
13.22. The Social Security Death Index. Provo, UT: MyFamily.com. Available: http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/.
13.23. American National Biography Online. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Available: http://www.anb.org/.
13.24. Bois, Danuta. Distinguished Women of Past and Present. Available: http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/.
13.25. Women Physicians’ Autobiographies. Available: http://research.med.umkc.edu/teams/cml/WomenDrs.html.
The Web tools listed above offer a great variety of coverage. The Gale resource lists persons from all time periods, geographical locations, and fields of endeavor. The Whonamedit source lists eponyms from A to Z, includes biographies by country, lists female entries, traces the eponym to the article by the named author, and identifies the source of an obituary.
The National Library of Medicine produces the Profiles in Science database, listing prominent twentieth-century biomedical scientists. The listing may be reviewed chronologically or alphabetically and many have pictures and papers. The Death Index lists more than 70 million names, including dates of birth and death, social security number, last known residence, and date of last benefit. The American National Biography includes more than 18,700 men and women who have influenced and shaped American history and culture. A recent collaboration between the ANB and the National Portrait Gallery will link these entries with an “accurate likeness for the subject.” With 2,700 illustrations currently, the ANB will add many more as a result of the new partnership.
Two websites that provide biographies of women in science and medicine are the Distinguished Women of Past and Present that includes women from the fourth through the twentieth centuries and Women Physicians’ Autobiographies that grew out of a project begun by Dr. Marjorie S. Sirridge including medical school graduates 1849–1920.
There are many such sources on the Internet today, and it is likely that many more will become available. A search may start with putting an individual’s name on a search engine to bring forth an array of sites. Comparing the information with one of the standard biographical tools is one way to ensure that the information is accurate.
One last but important general source for biographical information on the Web is the Harvard Library Resource Guide for the History of Science (http://guides.library.harvard.edu/content.php?pid=140185&sid=3166031&gid=4877). Clicking on the appropriate tab will also link the researcher with information in public health, nursing, and the pharmaceutical sciences.
Portraits and Illustrations
While many of the biographical sources include portraits of the individuals, there is need for resources that point to the printed source or institutional location of portraits of widely known scientists, physicians, nurses, or others in the health field. Several works that include anatomical illustrations are also listed.
13.26. Portrait Catalog of the Library of the New York Academy of Medicine. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1960. 5 vols. Suppl. 1, 1959–1965; suppl. 2, 1966–1970; suppl. 3, 1971–1975.
13.27. Berkowitz, Julie S. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Portrait Catalogue. Philadelphia: The College, 1984.
13.28. Burgess, Renate. Portraits of Doctors and Scientists in the Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine: A Catalogue. London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1973.
13.29. Roberts, Kenneth B., and J. D. W. Tomlinson. The Fabric of the Body: European Traditions of Anatomical Illustrations. New York: Clarendon Press, 1992.
31.30. Porter, Roy. The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
13.31. Netter, Frank H. The Ciba Collection of Medical Illustrations: A Compilation of Pathological and Anatomical Paintings. Summit, NJ: Ciba Pharmaceutical Products, 1959–1993.
13.32. Sournia, Jean-Charles. The Illustrated History of Medicine. London: Harold Starke, 1992.
13.33. Naythons, Matthew. The Face of Mercy: Photographic History of Medicine at War. New York: Random House, 1993.
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