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L. Webster Fox papers

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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 2/335
Repository:
Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Extent:
.8 linear feet
Language:
English
Date:
1888-1939 (inclusive)
Creator:
Fox, L. Webster (Lawrence Webster)
Form:
Clippings, Correspondence, and Photographs
Abstract:

Lawrence Webster Fox was born on March 19, 1853 in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Dr. Thomas G. and Diana (Hershey) Fox. Fox graduated from the Pennsylvania State Normal School in 1875 and received his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College in 1878. Dr. Fox spent the next four years studying opthalmology in Berlin, Austria, and London. After returning to the United States, he served as assistant ophthalmologist at Jefferson Medical College (1882-1885) and ophthalmic surgeon at Germantown Hospital (1883-93). Dr. Fox became a professor of ophthalmology at Medico-Chirurgical College in Philadelphia beginning in 1893 and later at the Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Army Reserve Corps, Dr. Fox was also an officer of the Pennsylvania Home Teaching Society and Free Circulating Library for the Blind.

In September, 1889, Dr. Fox married Beatrice Bickerton of Liverpool, England. He had studied medicine in England with Miss Bickerton's brother, Herbert. Dr. and Mrs. Fox had three children: Beatrice, Thomas, and Lawrence Jr. Thomas died in 1894 at age two from diphtheria.

In Dr. Fox's later years, his work took him to the western United States to treat the Blackfeet Indians. For his role in for bringing about the elimination of trachoma, an eye disease prevalent among native Americans, Dr. Fox was adopted into the Blackfeet tribe. L. Webster Fox died on June 4, 1931.

The bulk of the collection consists of personal correspondence between L. Webster Fox and Mrs. Fox (Beatrice Bickerton) both before and after their marriage. The collection also contains other family correspondence, clippings about Dr. Fox's medical practice, a small number of documents relating to the Medico-Chirurgical College, and family memorabilia. There is a photo of Dr. and Mrs. Fox with others on a trip to Alaska.

Series 1 contains Dr. Fox's letters to and from Beatrice Bickerton Fox (1888-1911) and also correspondence sent and received from others. Several are to his daughter, Beatrice; later ones describe his work with the Blackfeet (Sihasapa) Indians.

Series 2 is a small amount of Dr. Fox's professional correspondence (1910-1925).

Series 3 contains primarily correspondence between Beatrice Bickerton Fox and various correspondents including letters relating to the death of the Fox's son, Thomas. Two letters request Dr. Fox's eye lotion and two letters tell how the writers are dealing with Irish problems. A small note tells of Dr. Fox performing an eye operation consisting of grafting a part of a chicken's eye to a man's eye. One letter contains a description of a Native American visitor to the Fox's home. Also included in this series is a letter from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia thanking Beatrice Fox Griffith for her donation of books from the estate of Dr. Fox.

Series 4 concerns Dr. Fox's work at the Medico-Chirurgical College (1915-1916).

Series 5 is composed of miscellaneous items such as newspaper clippings, photographs, and invitations.

This collection of the papers of L. Webster Fox was donated to the Historical Collections of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by Charles E. Letocha, M.D.

The collection was processed in June, 1997.

People
Organization
Subject

Publisher
Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Collection Inventory

Subseries 1.1: Letters to Beatrice Bickerton, 1888 - 1911.
Box 1 Folder 1-3
Subseries 1.2: Letters to other correspondents. Includes letters to daughter Beatrice Fox., 1880 -1896.
Box 1 Folder 4-6
Suberies 1.3: Beatrice Bickerton Fox, 1887 - 1911.
Box 1 Folder 7-10
Subseries 1.4: Letters from various correspondents, 1888 - 1894.
Box 1 Folder 11
Series 2: Professional correspondence. Includes letters from various correspondents and the Medico-Chirurgical College., 1910 -1925.
Box 1 Folder 12-13

Subseries 3.1: Letters to Beatrice Bickerton Fox from various correspondents, 1881 - 1931.
Box 2 Folder 1-4
Subseries 3.2: Letters from Beatrice Bickerton Fox, 1890 - 1926.
Box 2 Folder 5-7
Subseries 3.3: Letters to Beatrice Fox Griffith. Includes thank you letter from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia for books from the estate of Dr. Fox, also thank you letter from the Philadelphia County Medical Society for a bust of Dr. Fox., 1915 -1939.
Box 2 Folder 8
Subseries 3.4: Letters to and from Charles F. Griffith, 1926 - 1927.
Box 2 Folder 9
Subseries 3.5: Miscellaneous correspondence, undated.
Box 2 Folder 10
Series 4: Medico-Chirurgical College records. Includes Conference notes and Board of Trustee documents., 1915 -1916.
Box 2 Folder 11

Clipping, Mrs. Fox's photo, 1912.
Box 2 Folder 13
Subseries 5.2: Page from program for the British War Memorial, inscription over the door of the Medico-Chirurgical Hospital, memoir of Dr. Fox's adoption into the Blackfeet tribe, 1888 - 1931.
Box 2 Folder 14
Subseries 5.3: Invitation from Guarantors of the Greater Woman's College of Pennsylvania, undated.
Box 2 Folder 15
Subseries 5.4: Itinerary, visit to Philadelphia, undated.
Box 2 Folder 16
Subseries 5.5: Promissory note from Geo. A. Mayberry, 1834.
Box 2 Folder 17
Subseries 5.6: Moon Reading For the Blind, sample embossed card (similar to Braille)and letter pertaining to the Moon type, 1911.
Box 2 Folder 18
Subseries 5.7: Photograph, Dr. and Mrs. Fox and others, Alaska, 1904.
Box 2 Folder 19
Subseries 5.8: Poem, "Ode In Time of Departure," no author, 1918.
Box 2 Folder 20
Subseries 5.9: Receipt of stock purchase by Charles F. Griffith, 1936.
Box 2 Folder 21
Item row 26, 1953.
Box 4 Folder 1
Item row 27, 1953.
Box 4 Folder 4

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