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William J. Taylor 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

Call Number:
MSS 2/264
Repository:
Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Extent:
4 folders
Language:
English
Date:
1892-1933 (inclusive)
Creator:
Taylor, William J. (William Johnson)
Form:
Correspondence
Abstract:

William Johnson Taylor was born in Worcester County, Maryland, on 13 October 1861. He attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and received his degree in 1882. After his residency at Pennsylvania Hospital, he established a private practice in Philadelphia. Taylor's interest in surgery brought him to the attention of William W. Keen, who hired Taylor as his assistant at the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases. Later, Taylor became Attending Surgeon at the hospital.

Taylor became a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1889 and was always an active member. He served as a Censor, a member of Council, and Chairman of the Library Committee. Taylor was a key member of the College's Building Committee (1904-1914), the body largely responsible for the erection of the College building on 22nd Street. Taylor was also a Fellow of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery and served as its president from 1908 to 1909.

During World War I, Taylor went overseas with a Pennsylvania Hospital Unit stationed in France. Upon his return from the war, Taylor was elected President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia; he served in this capacity for three years, from 1919 to 1922. It was during Taylor's presidency that Marie Curie visited the College and donated her electrometer to its collections. In addition to his skill as a physician, William J. Taylor had a sincere interest in books and libraries. He served on the Board of the Library Company of Philadelphia for over twenty years; he was Director of the Library Company in 1909 and its president from 1933 to 1935, until illness forced him to retire. William J. Taylor died less than a year later, on 22 January 1936.

This collection of William J. Taylor's letters spans 1892 to 1933. The letters are divided into four sections: Taylor's outgoing letters, some of which were written during World War I; incoming letters from other physicians offering or requesting advice about surgical procedures; incoming letters from Mary Scott Newbold lecturers; and miscellaneous incoming letters. Section 1 contains Taylor's outgoing letters to John B. Roberts and Charles Perry Fisher. Two of the letters to Fisher were written while Taylor was stationed at Base Hospital No. 10 in France during World War I. In these letters, Taylor discusses the conditions in France and England and sends news about other Fellows of the College of Physicians who were stationed overseas. Also included in Section 1 is Taylor's letter to Dr. Howe in which he encloses his recipe for kumiss.

The letters in Section 2 are from other physicians; some of the letters request advice in surgical matters, others offer advice. Included are Elizabeth Atlee's notes pertaining to the relationship between weight and uterine cancer; W. S. Halsted's report on his book about hernias; William H. Hudson's letter offering special equipment for use in cranial surgery; a letter from Thomas W. Huntington describing his experiences with incipient hip disease; and letters from Hugh H. Young describing his method of prostatectomy. Also present is a letter from J. R. Umstad asking Taylor for advice on a brain abscess in one of his patients.

Section 3 contains letters from Mary Scott Newbold lecturers, including John I. Hunter and N. D. Royle (1924), Sir Wilfred Grenfell (1930), Charles Singer (1930), Michel Weinberg (1930), W. J. Merle Scott (1931), Sir Thomas Lewis (1931), F. J. Lang (1931), and Ronald T. Grant (1933). In their letters, the lecturers discuss the arrangements for their visit to the College of Physicians and announce their selected lecture topics.

Miscellaneous letters are contained in Section 4. Included are letters from Mary Scott Newbold lecturers Sir Humphry Rolleston (1928) and M. W. Ireland (1921), Surgeon General of the U. S. Army.

Most of the letters in this collection of William J. Taylor's correspondence were donated by Taylor to the Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia on 10 May 1935. Two of the letters were donated by John B. Roberts on 16 April 1925. The source of the other letters in the collection is unknown.

The collection was processed and catalogued in 1992.

Organization
Subject

Publisher
Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Collection Inventory

1. Taylor, William J. Philadelphia, Pa., to Dr. Howe, 12 August 1892.
Box 1
2. Taylor, William J. Philadelphia, Pa., to John B. Roberts, 21 November 1901.
Box 1
3. Taylor, William J. Philadelphia, Pa., to John B. Roberts, Philadelphia, Pa., 31 December 1901.
Box 1
4. Taylor, William J. Philadelphia, Pa., to John B. Roberts, 30 November 1903.
Box 1
5. Taylor, William J. Philadelphia, Pa., to John B. Roberts, Philadelphia, Pa., 11 January 1913.
Box 1
6. Taylor, William J. Philadelphia, Pa., to Chas. P. Fisher, Philadelphia, Pa., 11 March 1914.
Box 1
7. Taylor, William J. France, to Charles Perry Fisher, 26 January 1918.
Box 1
8. Taylor, William J. London, England, to Charles Perry Fisher, 27 June 1918.
Box 1

1. Atlee, Elizabeth. Philadelphia, Pa., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 01 June 1910.
Box 1
2. Bloodgood, Joseph Colt. Baltimore, Md., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 28 May 1898.
Box 1
3. Halsted, William Stewart. Baltimore, Md. to William J. Taylor, 26 May 1898.
4. Halsted, William Stewart. Baltimore, Md., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 04 June 1898.
Box 1
5. Hudson, Wm. H. Atlanta, Ga., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 07 December 1910.
Box 1
6. Huntington, Thos. W. San Francisco, Ca., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 18 September 1915.
Box 1
7. Meltzer, Samuel James. New York, N.Y., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa. , 15 March 1906.
Box 1
8. Umstad, John R. Norristown, Pa. to William J. Taylor, 5 December 1911.
9. Young, Hugh H. Baltimore, Md., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 23 January 1902.
Box 2
10. Young, Hugh H. Baltimore, Md., to William J. Taylor, 27 January 1902.
Box 2

1. Fibiger, Johannes. Copenhagen, Denmark, to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 05 February 1925.
Box 2
2. Grant, Ronald T. London, England, to William J. Taylor, 02 January 1933.
Box 2
3. Grenfell, Lady Anne. Boston, Mass., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 23 January 1930.
Box 2
4. Grenfell, Sir Wilfred Thomason. Boston, Mass., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 04 January 1930.
Box 2
5. Grenfell, Sir Wilfred Thomason. Washington, D.C., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 20 March 1930.
Box 2
6. Hunter, John I. New York, N.Y., to William J. Taylor, 25 October 1924.
Box 2
7. Lang, Franz Joseph. Innsbruck, Austria, to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 20 May 1931.
Box 2
8. Lewis, Sir Thomas. Hampstead, England, to William J. Taylor, 01 June 1931.
Box 3
9. Lewis, Sir Thomas. Hampstead, England, to William J. Taylor, 20 June 1931.
Box 3
10. Royle, Norman Dawson. Chicago, Ill., to William J. Taylor, 1924 Nov.
Box 3
11. Scott, W. J. Merle. Rochester, N.Y., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 10 February 1931.
Box 3
12. Singer, Charles. London, England, to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 06 February 1930.
Box 3
13. Singer, Charles. London, England, to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 21 April 1930.
Box 3
14. Singer, Charles. London, England, to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 25 October 1930.
Box 3
15. Weinberg, Michel. (in French : Paris, France, to William J. Taylor, 10 July 1930.
Box 3
16. Weinberg, Michel. Weinberg, Michel. (in French : Paris, France, to William J. Taylor, 31 August 1930.
Box 3
17. Weinberg, Michel. (in French : Baltimore, Md., to William J. Taylor, 22 October 1930.
Box 3
18. Weinberg, Michel. Wayne, Pa., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 07 November 1930.
Box 3

1. Dorrance, George Morris. Philadelphia, Pa., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 03 November 1909.
Box 3
2. Ireland, Merritte Weber. Washington, D.C., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 05 February 1921.
Box 3
3. Rhein, John H. W. Philadelphia, Pa., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 22 October 1903.
Box 3
4. Rolleston, Sir Humphry. Cambridge, England, to William J. Taylor, 28 October 1927.
Box 3
5. Root, Elihu. New York, N.Y., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 08 January 1921.
Box 3
6. Taylor, John Madison. Philadelphia, Pa., to William J. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., 02 March 1915.
Box 3

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