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George Wagoner Papers

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Held at: Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

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

George Wagoner, Philadelphia-based orthopedic surgeon, was born in 1896. He cultivated his interest in medicine by training with his father, Dr. George W. Wagoner of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He eventually attended college at the University of Pennsylvania and went on to graduate from its Medical School in 1922. Wagoner then interned at the Philadelphia General Hospital until 1924, where he met and eventually married his fellow intern Marjorie S. Jefferies, M.D. From 1924-1926, he served as the first John Hunter Fellow in Research Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1926, he began work at Bryn Mawr Hospital, becoming the Chief of Orthopedic Surgery. He then studied bone pathology with Professor Lang at the University of Innsbruck from 1929-1934. During his time as Professor of Orthopedic Research and director of the laboratory at the Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, he introduced the celloidin mount technique for microscopic examination of total specimen sections. He also studied the relationship of climate to the epidemic of poliomyelitis for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis from 1936-1937.

In addition to his medical research, Dr. George Wagoner spent a great deal of his career in leadership and administrative roles. He served in the United States Ambulance Corps in World War I and again as a Commander in the United States Naval Reserve in World War II. He held the position of Secretary-Treasurer of Staff of Bryn Mawr Hospital from 1947-1950, ascending to the hospital’s President from 1950-1952. Before his death in 1957, he ended his career as Attending Orthopedic Surgeon at the Graduate Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and served as an orthopedic surgery consultant for Pottstown Hospital and Women’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The George Wagoner Papers are divided into three series.

Series I: Photographs and Illustrations consists of photographs, x-rays, negatives, and illustrations created or used by Dr. Wagoner, the bulk of which are undated. Of note in this series are glass slides and x-rays of subjects ranging from tissue samples to bone case studies. Also included are pictures of 1932 flood of Johnstown, presumably taken by Dr. Wagoner. One folder containing a "Treatment of Giant Cell Tumor" chart is stored separately in flat file.

Series II: Papers series contains of George Wagoner’s personal papers. This series includes translations Dr. Wagoner wrote for international colleagues so that their papers might be published in journals written in English. Of particular interest are United States Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau Meteorological reports used by Dr. Wagoner to research the relationship between climate and the poliomyelitis epidemic. Another important part of this series is a letter and certificate to Dr. Wagoner from President Franklin D. Roosevelt for his work with the Orthopedic Council. Other presidential materials consist of a program and related papers from a dinner with The Medical Club of Philadelphia with President Taft.

Series III: Publications series houses academic articles written by Dr. Wagoner, which span the years of 1923 to 1939. These papers deal largely with the study of various bone diseases. Of note are papers relating to the article “Giant Cell Tumor on Radius,” which include paper research, original photographs, and correspondence about the paper. Additionally, four folders house assorted reprints of Dr. Wagoner’s published articles, dating from 1923 to 1939.

Publisher
Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Finding Aid Author
Mary Hanes
Finding Aid Date
September 2016

Collection Inventory

Box of Photo Slides, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 1
Box of Photo Slides, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 1
Box of Photo Slides, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 1
Foetal Vertebra Coronal, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 1
Foetal Vertebra Horizontal, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 2
Foetal Vertebra Sagittal, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 3
Photographs for Dick Hunts Paper with Wagoner and Pendergrass on Vertebra, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 4
Oed Foetal Photographs, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 5
Photo prints, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 6
Photo prints, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 7
X-rays and paper illustrations, n.d.
Box 5 Folder 1
X-rays and paper illustrations, n.d.
Box 5 Folder 2
X-rays and paper illustrations, n.d.
Box 5 Folder 3
X-rays and paper illustrations, n.d.
Box 5 Folder 4
X-rays and paper illustrations, n.d.
Box 5 Folder 5
Osteochondroma of Skull, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 1
Bone Defect original illustrations, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 2
Vertebral Circulation: G. W. Wagoner Pathology, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 3
Elephantitis Pictures, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 4
Conductives Septum of Right and Left Ventricles, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 5
Original Drawings to Metabolism of Articular Cartilage, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 6
Original Drawings, used for the presentation before the Rheumatism Society, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 7
Cartilage cell illustrations, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 8
Four prints of photographs of xrays of vertebra, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 9
Vertebral Anomalies Negatives, n.d.
Box 6 Folder 10
"Vent. Col. Circ. G. Wagoner 1930's", 1930's.
Box 6 Folder 12
Illustrations, 1930-1936.
Box 6 Folder 13
Photo History, Robert Korgu[l]y Jr., Ewing's Sarcoma of Os. [Colus], 1932.
Box 6 Folder 14
Johnstown Flood, 1936.
Box 6 Folder 15
Enlargement of Foetal Vertebra, 1938.
Box 6 Folder 16
Bone tuberculosis illustrations, 1940.
Box 6 Folder 17
"Treatment of Giant Cell Tumor" chart, n.d.
Box Drawer 4
Photo album, n.d.
Box 7
Paper on Giant Cell Tumor of Radius x-rays, n.d.
Box 8 Folder 1
Photograph of Victor Legallais, n.d.
Box 8 Folder 2
Charles Weir Jr. Vertebral Anomalies and James Carter, n.d., 1926.
Box 8 Folder 3
Etruscan Bronze, 1929.
Box 8 Folder 4

Manuscript and Drawings for "Respiration and Glycolysis of Cartilage in Relation to its Age", n.d.
Box 8 Folder 5
United States Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau Meteorological Surveys, 1915-1916, 1922-23, 1925-1932.
Box 8 Folder 6
Correspondence and newsclippings, n.d., 1927-1941.
Box 8 Folder 7
President Franklin D. Roosevelt letter and certificate, 1939.
Box 8 Folder 8
"Fractured Spine Transport Splint" papers, 1940-1941.
Box 8 Folder 9
The Medical Club of Philadelphia banquet, 1911.
Box 9 Folder 1
Autographed papers, 1917-1934.
Box 9 Folder 3
Research, 1922.
Box 9 Folder 4
Correspondence with John H. Waters, 1923.
Box 9 Folder 5
Reprints - Medical, 1923.
Box 9 Folder 6
Autographs and correspondence, 1923-1933.
Box 9 Folder 7
"Vertebral Anomalies" research notes, 1928-1932.
Box 9 Folder 8
"Invertebral Disk Extensions" draft, 1931.
Box 9 Folder 9
Professor F. J. Lang's trip to the United States, Translation of papers, details of publications of same, 1932.
Box 9 Folder 10
Scrapbook of comments and reviews, 1932-1933.
Box 10 Folder 1
Manuscripts for "Mitosis in Osteocytes" and "Exposure Spine to Lessen Hemorrhage", 1936.
Box 10 Folder 2
International Congress of Radiology Certificate, 1937.
Box 10 Folder 3

"Atrophic Arthritis and Hypertrophic Arthritis", n.d.
Box 11 Folder 1
Idiopathetic Osteosathyrosis: Complete Data and Finished Paper, 1923.
Box 11 Folder 2
"A Simple Macrotome", 1923-1924.
Box 11 Folder 3
Reprints, 1923-1941.
Box 11 Folder 4
Reprints, 1923-1941.
Box 11 Folder 5
"Experiments on Renal Blood Flow with a Description of Two New Methods for its Determination", 1925.
Box 11 Folder 6
Reprints, 1926-1939.
Box 11 Folder 7
Reprints, 1926-1939.
Box 11 Folder 8
Klein, Mr. W. H. "Giant Cell Tumor on Radius", 1931-1932.
Box 12 Folder 1
"Paper on Giant Cell Tumor of Radius" research, 1931-1934.
Box 12 Folder 2
"Evidence of Disease as Seen in Skeletal Remains of Antiquity", 1932.
Box 12 Folder 3
"Paper on Giant Cell Tumor of Radius" photograph of William Klein giant cell tumor of left radius, 1932.
Box 12 Folder 4
"Prevention of Subluxation of the Humeral Head Following Operations for Arthrodesis of the Shoulder Joint", 1933.
Box 12 Folder 6
"Clinical Treatment of Certain Bone Diseases Caused by Hyperfunction of the Parathyroid Glands", 1934.
Box 12 Folder 7
"Calcium Phosphorus Metabolism - An Hypothesis", 1935.
Box 12 Folder 8
"Textbook of Surgery", 1935.
Box 12 Folder 9
"Volkmann's Ischemic Contracture", 1936.
Box 12 Folder 10
"A Technique for Lessening Hemorrhage in Operations on the Spine", 1937.
Box 12 Folder 11
"Syphilis of Bone", 1937.
Box 12 Folder 12
"Anterior and Posterior 'Notch' Shadow" and illustrations, 1938.
Box 12 Folder 13

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