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Records of the Trustees of the William F. Jenks Memorial Award
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Held at: Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia [Contact Us]19 S. 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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The William F. Jenks Memorial Prize Fund was established in 1885 by Helen C. Jenks at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia to honor the memory of her husband, William Furness Jenks.
The trust placed $5000 under the administration of three trustees, James H. Hutchinson, James V. Ingham, and W. S. Ruschenberger, and created a Prize Committee to set a subject for a triennial essay competition on obstetrics or the diseases of women or children. The winner of the competitjon received a cash award derived from the income of the trust. In addition to management of the fund, the trustees were responsible for publication of the prize-winning essays. Awards were given in 1889 and 1895, but no suitable essays were submitted for the 1892 or 1898 competitions. In 1900, dissatisfied with the general results of the essay competition, Mrs. Jenks altered the trust, converting the principal and income into the William F. Jenks Memorial Library Fund to enable the Library of the College to purchase books in obstetrics and the diseases of women and children. A final essay competition was set for 1901, but no award was given.
The collection contains correspondence, legal and financial documents, reports, and related material, documenting the work and history of the Trustees of the William F. Jenks Memorial Fund, 1885-1901. Most of this material was assembled, addressed to, or produced by James V. Ingham, secretary of the trustees.
The bulk of the trustees' records are preserved in one bound volume, roughly chronological in order, containing correspondence concerning the establishment and alteration of the Jenks Trust; letters and reports to the trustees from Horace Y. Evans, representing the William F. Jenks Memorial Prize Committee; bills, publishing agreeme11ts, correspondence, and sales statements concerning prizewinning essays; letters from obstetricians and gynecologists, thanking the trustees for sending copies of the published essays; a bank account book; minutes of one 1885 meeting of the trustees; a printed obituary of William F. Jenks; and the trustees' final report to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 1901, containing a history of the trust. There are also six folders of loose items, includjng the original deed creating the Jenks Trust; several letters from John Strahan, first recipient of the Jenks Prize; a check book and financial report; and sample essays by Henry Pierce Cuthbert and Alfred Hand, Jr., from the 1901 competition on Jithemia in children.
The records of the Trustees of the William F. Jenks Memorial Fund were transferred to the Secretary of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by the trustees, following their final report on 3 April 1901.
The collection was processed and catalogued in 1991 .
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