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Papers of Laurence E. Strong
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Held at: Science History Institute Archives [Contact Us]315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Science History Institute Archives. 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
Laurence E. Strong (1914-2007) was an American physical chemist and chemistry educator. Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on September 9, 1914, Strong graduated from Kalamazoo College in 1936 and earned his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Brown University in 1940. From 1940 to 1946, he worked at Harvard Medical School's Department of Physical Chemistry, where he served as a researcher on the Harvard Blood Plasma Project. A wartime clinical chemistry project spearheaded by Edwin J. Cohn, Harvard Medical School researchers used blood fractionation techniques to isolate the serum albumin fraction of blood plasma, which was used in transfusions to mitigate blood loss. This development saved numerous lives on the battlefield during World War II.
After World War II, Strong returned to Kalamazoo College as a Professor of Chemistry. In 1952, he was appointed Chairman of the Chemistry Department at Earlham College. While at Earlham, he served as Director of the Chemical Bond Approach (CBA) Project, a program established to develop a new and improved high school chemistry curriculum. Strong retired from teaching in 1979 but remained at Earlham as a research professor until 1993, when he moved to Sandy Spring, Maryland.
Laurence E. Strong died at Montgomery Hospice in Rockville, Maryland on March 8, 2007.
Sources
Papers of Laurence E. Strong, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Papers of Laurence E. Strong contain the professional papers of American physical chemist and chemistry educator Laurence E. Strong. The collection is arranged into the following two series:
- Chemical Bond Approach Project Files
- Harvard Blood Plasma Project Files
The Papers of Laurence E. Strong were donated to the Science History Institute (formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation) by Laurence E. Strong in 1993.
The Papers of Laurence E. Strong were processed by Andrew Mangravite in March 2016.
People
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Science History Institute Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid created by Andrew Mangravite and encoded into EAD by Kenton G. Jaehnig.
- Finding Aid Date
- 2016
- Access Restrictions
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There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes and the collection is open to the public.
- Use Restrictions
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The Science History Institute holds copyright to the Papers of Laurence E. Strong. The researcher assumes full responsibility for all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
Collection Inventory
The Chemical Bond Approach (CBA) Project was a program established to develop a new and improved high school chemistry curriculum. Largely begun as a response to the challenge posed by the Soviet Sputnik project to the United States' scientific preeminence, the CBA Project grew out of conferences for high school chemistry teachers held at Wesleyan College in 1958 and Reed College in 1959. Work had already begun on the drafting of a new curriculum for advanced placement chemistry students when the program obtained funding from the National Science Foundation.
While at Earlham College, Laurence E. Strong served as Director of the CBA Project. During his tenure as Director, a textbook, a teachers' guide, and a laboratory manual were produced.
Arranged in its original order, this series contains Laurence E. Strong's Chemical Bond Approach Project files. The files in this series, which include materials generated during Strong's stint as Director, pertain to matters regarding the CBA Project, including the Reed College Conference on High School Chemistry, the development of project materials, and publicity. The contents of these files include correspondence, proposals, textbooks, publicity materials, and a preprint. Of particular interest is Strong's annotated copy of Chemical Systems, the basic textbook of the CBA Project.
The Harvard Blood Plasma Project was a World War II clinical chemistry project. It worked to extend the storage life and make more effective use of blood products for the American war effort. Lead by American biochemist Edwin J. Cohn, this wartime project employed blood fractionation techniques developed by Cohn to isolate the serum albumin fraction of blood plasma, which maintains the osmotic pressure in blood vessels. Used in transfusions to mitigate blood loss, this development is credited with preventing numerous battlefield deaths from shock during the war. Laurence E. Strong served as a researcher on the Harvard Blood Plasma Project from 1940 to 1946.
Arranged in its original order, this series contains Laurence E. Strong's Harvard Blood Plasma Project files. The files in this series document the progress of the Harvard Blood Plasma Project and concern several topics that project researchers worked on, including serum albumin, human plasma protein, and blood substitutes. The contents of these files consist of project reports, memoranda, and articles.