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Samuel D. Gross correspondence
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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.
Overview and metadata sections
Samuel David Gross was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on 8 July 1805. He married Louisa Weissell in 1828; they had at least four children, including physician Samuel Weissell Gross (1837-1889). Gross died in Philadelphia on 6 May 1884.
Gross began to study medicine under a country practitioner. He then attended Jefferson Medical College and received his M.D. in 1828. He first practiced in Philadelphia, then removed to Easton.
In 1833, Gross became Demonstrator of Anatomy at the Medical College of Ohio. In 1835, he became Professor of Pathological Anatomy at the Cincinnati Medical College. He published Elements of pathological anatomy in 1839; it was the first English language text on the subject. From 1840 to 1856, Gross was Professor of Surgery at the University of Kentucky in Louisville. In 1856, he succeeded Thomas D. Mutter in the chair of surgery at Jefferson Medical College and held that position until 1882.
Samuel D. Gross was a founder of the Pathological Society of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, and the American Surgical Association. He was president of the American Medical Association in 1867 and president of the International Medical Congress in 1876. He became an Associate Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1846 and a full Fellow in 1857.
The Samuel D. Gross papers consist of two collections, including records of the American Surgical Association correspondence, photographs, and newsclippings. For a more detailed description of the materials included, please the "Scope and Content" note for each item.
The Samuel D. Gross papers include two collections. For the provenances, please see the "Custodial History" note for each item.
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Collection Inventory
This small collection of letters, mostly written by Samuel D. Gross to various physicians, 1854-1883, was probably assembled and retained for its autograph value. Major correspondents are John Ashhurst, Jr., Rene LaRoche, and George W. Norris. Subjects include surgical procedures and consultations, personal matters, a projected contribution by Gross to Ashhurst's International encyclopedia of surgery and Gross' Lives of eminent American physicians and surgeons of the nineteenth century. Also included are a holograph recipe written by Gross, circa 1861, and a signature cutting.
This small collection of material, originally housed in the Samuel D. Gross Library at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, contains letters from surgeons to Gross and other materials, records of the American Surgical Association, photographs, and newsclippings, 1851-1889.
The letters to Samuel D. Gross in Series 1 include items from James L. Little on the treatment of fractures, 1882; G. R. Patton, conveying to Gross a new surgical instrument, 1870; Alan P. Smith on lithotomy, 1882; and Horatio R. Storer on surgical matters, 1882.
Series 2 contains records of the American Surgical Association, including files of printed material on its early annual meetings, 1882-1889; letters of acknowledgement to the Committee of Publication and certificates of copyright for the Association's Transactions, 1884-1889; and an autograph letter of Thomas Annandale, expressing pleasure at his election to foreign and honorary fellowship, 1885.
The collection also includes five photographs of surgical cases, including a fibrocellular tumor of the arm, circa 1879; an amputation of both legs and an arm, circa 1881; and two photographs of an aneurism, undated.
A small collection of newsclippings of items of medical or surgical interest, 1851-1881, is preserved in Series 4.