Evarts A. Graham Papers

Description

Reference code

FC003

Level of description

Collection

Title

Evarts A. Graham Papers

Date(s)

  • 1904-1957 (Creation)

Extent

63.65 cubic feet (157 boxes)

Name of creator

(1883-1957)

Biographical history

Evarts Ambrose Graham was born in 1883 and raised in Chicago where his father was Professor of Surgery at Rush Medical College and a surgeon on the staff of Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Graham's academic training included a liberal arts degree from Princeton University, an M.D. from Rush Medical College, an internship at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, a fellowship in pathology at Rush Medical College, and two years of study as a part-time student in chemistry at the University of Chicago. In 1916, Graham married Helen Tredway, a graduate student in chemistry at the University of Chicago, and for two years the couple lived in Mason City, Iowa, where he was a surgeon in a private clinic.

During World War I Graham was commissioned to serve as a captain in the Army Medical Corps, where, because of his broad background in medicine, surgery, and chemistry, he was appointed to the Empyema Commission. The specific task of this commission was to investigate pleural cavity abscesses called empyema, a form of post-influenza disease which, in some camps, was killing as many am 90 percent of the soldiers who suffered from it. Graham contended that the chief cause of death from empyema was not the disease itself, but too early surgical intervention. He advised that the drainage of the abscesses be delayed until after the pneumonia had subsided, and the Surgeon General permitted Graham to treat a group of empyema patients at Camp Lee, Virginia, in accordance with this principle. Among the group of patients so treated, the mortality rate quickly dropped to about four percent. The reputation thus gained later won Graham an appointment as Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in 1919.

As Bixby Professor of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief of the Barnes and St. Louis Children's Hospitals from 1919 to 1951, Graham brought international fame to the Washington University School of Medicine. His medical achievements included the development of cholecystograpy (the x-ray visualization of the biliary tract), the first successful total pneumonectomy (the removal of an entire lung), and the experimental production of skin cancer in mice by the application of cigarette tars obtained from an automatic smoking machine.

Between 1925 and 1954, Graham served on various medical committees of the National Research Council. He also serve on on a number of Government committees including the Committee to Study the Medical Department of the Army (1942), the President's Committee to Study the Health Needs of the Nation (1952), and the Medical Task Force of the Second Hoover Commission (1953-1954). Additionally, Dr. Graham was president of various surgical and medical associations including the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (1928), the American Surgical Association (1937), the American College of Surgeons (1940-1941), the Interstate Post-graduate Medical Association of North America (1948), and the XVI Congress of the International Society of Surgery (1955). He also edited the Yearbook of General Surgery (1926-1957) and served as a member of the editorial and advisory boards of the Archives of Surgery (1920-1945) and the Annals of Surgery (1935-1957).

As a full-time professor of surgery, Graham was able to fulfill a long standing ambition to practice surgery, to engage in medical research, and to train young doctors. He trained outstanding physicians, and his students came to hold top hospital and teaching positions the world over. Such prominent surgeons as Warren H. Cole, Nathan A. Womack, Brian Blades, Thomas H. Burford, and many others are tributes to Graham's ability as a teacher. Upon his retirement in 1951, Graham became Bixby Professor Emeritus of Surgery at Washington University. He died in 1957.

Name of creator

(1872-1948)

Biographical history

Fred T. Murphy graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1901. In 1911, he was appointed professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, and in 1914 he was appointed chief surgeon at Barnes Hospital and consulting surgeon at City Hospital. In 1916, Murphy organized and equipped, under the sponsorship of the American Red Cross, a hospital which was ready for service as Base Hospital 21 when war was declared. Murphy served as its Commanding Officer until he was called to be the medical and surgical Director of the Red Cross. At the end of the war, Murphy received not only the distinguished service medal, but was one of the few members of the medical corps to attain the rank of Brigadier General. He gave up active practice and moved to Detroit, administering the Murphy Family Trust and serving as the Director in large banking, manufacturing, and real estate corporations.

Scope and content

The original inventory of the Graham Papers was compiled before the collection was donated to the Washington University School of Medicine Library.  Unfortunately, some items were removed from Dr. Graham’s files before the collection was donated.  Therefore, the inventory that was provided along with the collection included citations to many items, particularly scientific reprints, which had in fact been removed from the files before the collection was donated to the Archives.

The decision was made by the library staff to continue using the original inventory in order to show the collection in its entirety.  The inventory has been revised to include the following changes: (1) empty folders are marked as such by brackets or by an asterisk (*) to indicate items removed; (2) the collection has been microfilmed, and notations concerning the reels may be found within the inventory; (3) the collection has been placed in document boxes and notations concerning the boxes have been added to the inventory.

The files are divided into sixteen series, which are listed below. The series designations together with the folder titles provide basic descriptions of the contents.  Particular note, however, should be made of series 11, which contains correspondence files of Dr. Fred Murphy, Graham’s predecessor as Chairman of the Department of Surgery.

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

Generated finding aid

Custodial history

In the fall of 1961, the papers of Evarts Ambrose Graham were given to the Washington University School of Medicine Library by his widow, Helen Tredway Graham.

Immediate source of acquisition

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

Specialized notes

Alternative identifier(s)

Rules or conventions

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

Sources used

Archivist's note

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

Place access points

Genre access points

Accession area