Description
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Charles O. Curtman Papers
Date(s)
- 1865-1897 (Creation)
- 1865-1897 (Creation)
Extent
0.3 cubic feet (1 box)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Charles O. Curtman was born Karl Otto Curtman in Giessen, Germany and was a medical graduate of the university in his native city, where he was a student of Justus von Liebig. After working in Antwerp, Belgium as an industrial chemist, he emigrated to the United States and settled in New Orleans in 1850. When the Civil War began he was commissioned as a medical officer in a Confederate cavalry unit, but soon thereafter was assigned to direct the manufacture of medicines and explosives at army laboratories. After the war he practiced medicine in Memphis and from there was recruited to join the faculty of Missouri Medical College in St. Louis. He was Professor of Chemistry at the College from 1868 until 1874 and again from 1883 until his death.
Curtman also taught at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy (the two colleges maintained an informal affiliation) and was on the staff of the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in the city. Too early to be considered a "biochemist," he was nonetheless a significant local pioneer in investigating and teaching laboratory science to medical and pharmacy students. He was the author of three laboratory manuals and numerous journal reviews of current scientific developments. At the very end of his life, he was among the first in St. Louis to investigate applications for the newly discovered principles of x-ray technology.
Scope and content
Collection includes Curtman’s valedictory address to the 1869 class of the Missouri Medical College, a scrapbook of obituaries and biographical articles about Curtman, and an 1865 United States internal revenue license issued to Curtman to practice as a physician in Memphis.
Photocopies of post-humous documents in possession of the donor pertaining to Charles O. Curtman and his family, 1896-1952. Accession 2004-017: To form a series of the Curtman collection.
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
The collection was assembled from documents drawn from collections of the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society Library that were given to the Becker Medical Library in 1990 (Accession 90-061).
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift; Becker Library copy:St. Louis Society for Medical and Scientific Education; 1990; (90-061).
Gift; Jim Heady, 1 November 2004, Accession 2004-017: Photocopies of documents in possession of the donor pertaining to Charles O. Curtman and his family, 1896-1952. To form a series of the Curtman collection.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
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.
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Missouri Medical College (Subject)
- Curtman, Charles O. (Subject)
- Curtman family (Subject)