Leo Loeb Papers

Description

Reference code

FC002

Level of description

Collection

Title

Leo Loeb Papers

Date(s)

  • 1893-1959 (Creation)
  • 1893-1959 (Creation)

Extent

33.8 cubic feet (84 boxes)

Name of creator

(1869-1959)

Biographical history

Leo Loeb was born in Mayen, Germany on September 21, 1869 and studied at the Universities of Heidelberg, Berlin, Basle, and Freiburg. He received his medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1897. Upon graduation he moved to Chicago, Illinois at the age of 27 and briefly established a private practice. After only 10 months of working as a private practitioner, he decided to devote more of his time to research, so he joined the Department of Pathology at the University of Illinois. In 1904, Dr. Loeb accepted a position at the University of Pennsylvania as Professor of Experimental Pathology.

Dr. Loeb moved to Saint Louis in 1910 to become the Director of the Department of Pathology at the Barnard Skin and Cancer Hospital. His long association with the Washington University School of Medicine began in 1915, when he became Professor of Comparative Pathology. Following the resignation of Eugene Opie, he became Professor of Pathology and head of the department in 1924.

Dr. Loeb was a charter member of the American Association for Cancer Research and served as president of that association in 1911. Among the many honors he received throughout his career was his election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1937. Dr. Loeb retired as emeritus Professor of Pathology that year, but even at the age of 72, he and continued his experimental investigations and focused a majority of his time writing. His book titled The Biological Basis of Individuality was published in 1945, and at the time of his death in 1959, Loeb was working on two additional books. One is on mental processes and titled Psychical Goods or The Imponderables. The other unfinished book is concerned with the causes and nature of cancer.

His autobiography in Ingles' A dozen doctors (1963) gives fascinating details of his life in Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.

Scope and content

The Leo Loeb papers consist of Dr. Loeb’s note books, lectures, research notes and manuscripts,  and scrapbooks. The series of personal correspondence is largely incoming and fragmentary with some letters filed in  Series 8: Bibliographical notes on the medical literature, manuscripts, research pathology data and occasional related correspondence, Undated & 1921-1958. The papers also include notes and drafts for two unpublished books. One is on mental processes and titled _Psychical Goods_or _The Imponderables. _The other unfinished book is on cancer.

System of arrangement

Conditions governing access

The collection is open and accessible for research.

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Users of the collection should read and abide by the Rights and Permissions guidelines at the Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives.

Users of the collection who wish to cite items from this collection, in whole or in part, in any form of publication must request, sign, and return a Statement of Use form to the Archives.

For detailed information regarding use of this collection, contact the Archives and Rare Book Department of the Becker Library (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).

Preferred Citation:

Item description, Reference Code, Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives, Washington University in St. Louis.

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Finding aids

Custodial history

Dr. Loeb's scientific and personal papers , manuscripts scrapbooks, lecture notes and other records were given to the Library in 1960 under the terms of his will.

Immediate source of acquisition

Library received under the terms of Leo Loeb's will.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

Leo Loeb Correspondence, Box 21, in Jacques Loeb Papers, 1889-1924. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms011136

Specialized notes

Alternative identifier(s)

Rules or conventions

"Describing Archives: A Content Standard, Second Edition (DACS), 2013."

Sources used

Archivist's note

Finding Aid Authors: Martha Riley and Paul G. Anderson.

Archivist's note

© Copyright 2019 Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives. All rights reserved.

Place access points

Name access points

Accession area