George Dock papers

The Manuscripts series, which contains roughly 700 items, chiefly contain the works of George Dock, some of which relate to his autobiography, but chiefly to his medical work. These include articles, speeches, essays, book reviews, translations, notes, as well as copies of his autobiographies "Apologia Pro Vita Mea" and "My Medical Education." There are also several items written by other medical professionals. There are also a large amount of material related to Dock's work with several hospitals and their administration. This material includes reports, salary information, and other documents related to Barnes Hospital, University of Michigan Medical School and St. Mary's Hospital in Philadelphia. There is also a good amount of material related to medical students including student schedules, grades and evaluations, guidelines for students, lectures and George Dock's ideas regarding teaching medicine. Also included are several records belonging to patients of Dock's.

The Correspondence series, which contains 3,229 items, consists mainly of letters to and from George Dock (the ones by Dock are usually unsigned copies he retained and a majority of those are in fragile condition). The main subjects are related to George Dock's involvement in the various medical schools of which he was a faculty member, the medical organizations to which he belonged, the medical libraries with which he was involved, and medical and personal correspondence. There are letters pertaining to the creation and running of the Archives of Internal Medicine and Journal of the American Medical Association. The letters from the Human Betterment Foundation and California Department of Institutions contain discussions regarding their second survey of sterilization in California's mental institutions. The letters to his wife, Laura McLemore Dock, detail his studies and travels in Europe, his early years at the University of Michigan, his experiences in the Spanish-American War, and a 1919 trip to the Jesus Maria Rancho in Santa Barbara County, California. The correspondence with his family are mostly about his travels and local happenings, not discussions of his work, with the exception of letters to his son, William Dock. Notable participants include: American Heart Association, American Medical Association (and Journal), Barlow Society for the History of Medicine, Barnes Hospital (Saint Louis, Mo.), Charles C. Bass, Elmer Belt, Richard C. Cabot, California Medical Association, C. N. B. Camac, Isadore Dyer, John F. Fulton, M. Howard Fussell, E. S. Gosney, Huntington Memorial Hospital (Pasadena, Calif.), Los Angeles County Medical Association (and Library), John Herr Musser, Sir William Osler, Paul Popenoe, George Canby Robinson, St. Louis Medical Society, the medical schools of the universities of Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, Yale Medical Library and Casey A. Wood. Some specific subjects mentioned are: Leopold Auenbrugger, Biliary tract, Charity Hospital (New Orleans, La.), College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign, Le Roy Crummer, laboratory diagnosis, hospital administration, John Hopkins University, D. J. Larrey, malaria, medical history taking, medical societies, Florence Nightingale, physicians' salaries, sexually transmitted diseases in California, health aspects of the Spanish-American War, Typhoid fever, vaccinations, women physicians, Horatio C. Wood, and medical and sanitary affairs in World War I.

The Ephemera consists of 793 items and consists of ephemera relating to Dock's life. This includes materials from the various universities at which Dock worked and associations of which he was a member (American Association for the History of Medicine, Los Angeles County Medical Association, and American Medical Association); booklets and publications related to Dock including a bibliography of his writings; biographies and obituaries of Dock; awards and certificates won by Dock; his personal medical records; items related to Dock's book collections and collecting; photographs of himself, his friends and family and his travels and some related to medical issues including smallpox and tuberculosis (two prominent people represented in the photographs are Elmer Belt and Sir William Osler). There are also several folders of newspaper clippings collected by George Dock and some about him. There are four folders of material related to celebrations held for Dock including his centennial celebration that was held in 1960.

There are also five scrapbooks (1846-1913) of George Dock's. One scrapbook contains clippings that Dock kept of anecdotes, sayings, and articles of interest. The other four scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, articles and ephemera related to his career including one that pertains to materials collected on his travels through Europe and his studies in Germany from 1884 to 1912, including the International Congress of Medicine in 1897. There is also one microfilm reel that contains the correspondence of George Dock (Dock's son) who was serving in Europe during World War 1.

The addenda contains material that was transferred back to the Manuscripts Department from the Rare Books Department. It includes correspondence, manuscripts, speeches, ephemera, etc. It includes correspondence between Sir William Osler and George Dock.