2016 – Fugitive Leaves – from The Historical Medical Library

Making the Medieval Digital

Staff Digital humanities, Education and outreach, Out of the stacks, Staff projects December 19, 2016April 22, 2019BiblioPhilly, Codicology, Digitization, History of medicine, History of the book, Medieval manuscripts, Paleography

“If [medieval] culture is regarded as a response to the environment then the elements in that environment to which it responded most vigorously were manuscripts.”

– C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature

Composite Medical Miscellany I. England, 15th century. Call number 10a 215.

The Historical Medical Library, as part of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL), is participating in a CLIR grant to digitize Western medieval and early modern manuscripts held by libraries in the greater Philadelphia area. The Library is lending thirteen medical manuscripts dating from c. 1220 to 1600 to this project, called Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis (BiblioPhilly). Our manuscripts will be digitized at the University of Pennsylvania’s Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Images (SCETI) and the digital images hosted through the University of Pennyslvania’s OPenn manuscript portal and dark-archived at Lehigh University.

Dr. Katharine Sturgis: A Pioneer in Medical Research

Staff Uncategorized December 9, 2016May 15, 2025

When Dr. Katharine Rosenbaum Guest Boucot Sturgis was elected the first female president of the College of Physicians in 1972, it was one of only a series of firsts she had accomplished in her career as a physician, teacher, administrator, researcher, editor and consumer advocate. But Dr. Sturgis did not see herself as having accomplished anything special just because she was a woman. She once reflected, “I never looked at people as men or women or black or white.” Dr. Sturgis had great respect for all people while never complaining about how she had to compete and, ultimately, thrive in the male-dominated medical profession which she chose as her vocation.

She was born Katharine Rosenbaum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1903, and, at a young age, decided to pursue a medical career. She had to convince her skeptical father that medicine was a feasible vocation for a young woman. This was no small feat in an era where women were expected to be homemakers and not much else in the male-centric society in which she grew up. Not to be deterred, she convinced her father by making a dress from scratch with him knowing full-well that she despised sewing. Her father then relented and allowed her to attend college to study pre-med.

Katharine Sturgis, despite a debilitating two-year bout with tuberculosis which landed her in a sanitarium, eventually earned her medical degree from Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1942. Of her time at Woman’s Medical, despite her raising her two children alone, she once reminisced, “I never was given one iota of extra consideration, and I think that’s why I broke down with TB. I had to do everything everyone else did. There was no quarter shown.” This dogged determination to accomplish her goals despite obvious hardships would serve Dr. Sturgis well throughout the rest of her career.

While doing her residency at Herman Kiefer Hospital in Detroit, Dr. Sturgis came to the realization that research was her calling. She once reflected upon the neglect of research in the medical field, “Unfortunately, neither our profession nor the public has yet recognized the fact that we will never have enough clinicians for the sick unless we turn off the parade of illness.” Dr. Sturgis was to leave an indelible mark on the field of medical research before her career was over.

Dr. Katharine Sturgis’ years of research into lung cancer resulted in advances that came as a result of her participation in such projects as the Philadelphia Pulmonary Research Project. She was later to become a resolute advocate for cleaning up air pollution as well as an active naysayer on the dangers of smoking and its direct correlation to lung cancer. Dr. Katharine effectively lobbied for cleaner air standards from state and federal authorities while she served as the first woman president of the Philadelphia County Medical Society.

After serving as a board member of the College of Physicians since 1951, Dr. Sturgis’ tenure as president was short-lived due to health considerations. However, she left an ineffaceable mark on the College for her determined fundraising efforts and serving as chairperson of the Bicentennial Committee.

Dr. Sturgis’ awards and honors are too innumerable to mention, but two most precious to her were the prestigious Trudeau Award and her recognition as an Honorary Life Member of the American Lung Association in 1973. While reflecting upon her long and distinguished career in 1977, Dr. Sturgis humbly spoke, “I don’t kid myself that my career has made any major contributions to medicine, but as far as I am personally concerned, I’ve loved every minute of what I’ve done. I only wish I had more years in the field I love so much.” Dr. Katharine Sturgis was an exceptional doctor, advocate, teacher and researcher.

The Library of the College of Physicians contains a treasure trove of information on the life of Dr. Katharine R. Sturgis, a life that spanned such historically significant events as World War II, The Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the United States Bicentennial. By researching her personal letters, correspondence, and newspaper articles, a student will get a real sense of how history unfolded through the words of such an outstanding person as Katharine R. Sturgis.

The links below will direct you to the catalog record or finding aid of the resource listed. Remember to check our library catalog and finding aids – these are only some of the great sources we have about Dr. Katharine Sturgis!

Primary sources

Katharine R. Sturgis Papers, 1948-1979
Call number: MSS 2/0355-01

General Correspondence of Katharine R. Sturgis, 1972-1974
Call number: CPP 2/002-02

Presidential Papers of Katharine Sturgis, 1970-1974
Call number: CPP 2/002-01

In Her Own Words: Oral Histories of Women Physicians
By Regina Markell Morantz-Sanchez, 1982
Call number: WZ 150 I35 1982

Secondary sources

Tuberculosis Medical Research: National Tuberculosis Association, 1904-1955
By Virginia Cameron, 1959
Call number: WF 1 NC277

Antibiotics and Antibiotic Therapy: A Clinical Manual
By Allen Elemer Hussar, 1954
Call number: QB 511

*Content written by Mike Mooney, Temple University Cultural Fieldwork Initiative intern

The Battle Creek Sanitarium: Constructing History Through Ephemera

Tristan Dahn Out of the stacks, Staff projects November 22, 2016September 27, 2019Battle Creek Sanitarium, History of medicine, Medical trade ephemera, Primary sources

The Battle Creek Sanitarium of Battle Creek, Michigan was a health resort which employed holistic methods based on principles promoted by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Treatments included hydrotherapy, electrotherapy, phototherapy, physical training, exposure to fresh air, enemas, and dietetic plans crafted to lower patient’s libidos in order to live a chaste lifestyle free of sin. It became a destination for both prominent and middle-class American citizens, including celebrities such as J.C. Penney, Henry Ford, Amelia Earhart, Warren Harding, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Sojourner Truth. In order to draw so many prominent figures and a wealthy base of clients to its somewhat remote location in Michigan – and to promote the ideas of its founders, the Kellogg brothers – the Sanitarium needed to produce a wide swath of promotional materials, many of which survive today in The Historical Medical Library’s Medical Trade Ephemera collection.

Collections of Stones, Collections of Ideas

Staff From our researchers, In the museum, Out of the stacks November 3, 2016November 22, 2016Chemistry in medicine, History of medicine, John Syng Dorsey, Lithotomy, Urinary stones

– by Wood Institute travel grantee Dr. Edward Allen Driggers*

Historians take for granted the ways in which the profession produces knowledge. Usually historians construct a question from the historiography or primary sources that they encounter. I think occasionally, though, Clio speaks and we are inspired. I recently completed one of the most dynamic years of my life: my daughter was born into the world, I completed my Ph.D. in the history of science, and I completed my first year on faculty in the history department at Tennessee Technological University. My recent research trip to the Historical Medical Library at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia did the same thing for me that it did in 2014 under my first Wood Institute travel grant: it allowed me to be quiet and let the muse speak. It was inspiring.

The Vocabulary of the Book: Adventures at Rare Book School

Staff Staff projects October 19, 2016November 22, 2016History of the book, Professional development, Rare Book School, Rare books, Special collections librarianship

This past June, I experienced what many rare book librarians only dream of – I was accepted at Rare Book School, also know as Summer Camp for Book Nerds. Rare Book School (RBS) was founded in 1983 by Terry Belanger to enhance the study of books across multiple disciplines and fields. Today, RBS offers over 60 courses at multiple locations, with the main hub being at The University of Virginia.

I was accepted into the most competitive class at RBS: The History of the Book, 200-2000 taught by John Buchtel, Head of Special Collections at Georgetown University, and Mark Dimunation, Chief of the Rare Books and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress. The course promised a survey of printing methods and the evolution of the book, and the cultural impact of both. The course also provided a strong list of vocabulary words and phrases that all students who wish to stay in the field should know. I received my master’s degree a little more than a year before attending RBS, and in my current position as Reference Librarian, I find myself working with scholars from all over the world, all of whom have multiple perspectives on books. This course seemed promising.

George Outerbridge: A Philadelphia Fellow in WWI France

Staff Digital humanities, Intern work, Voices from our collection September 23, 2016March 27, 2018Base Hospital no. 10, Fellows of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, George Outerbridge, Military physicians, World War I (1914-1918)

– by Paige Randazzo, Digital Projects intern

The year 2017 marks the centennial of the United States’ entry into World War I. In memory of those Fellows of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia who served in times of war, the Historical Medical Library will be creating a geo-referenced digital timeline using the letters and photographs of College Fellow and World War I surgeon George Outerbridge (1881-1967). The collection was donated to the Library in 1972 after they were found by the residents of George Outerbridge’s former home.

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