Call Number:

001.001

Repository:

Science History Institute Archives

Extent:

0.1 linear feet (1 folder.)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Item Description, Arthur Furst American Chemical Society Diamond Jubilee Stamps and Postal Cover Collection, 1951, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1951

Creator:

Furst, Arthur, 1914- and United States Postal Service

Form:

Archival materials

Abstract:

A collection of postage stamps, one postal cover, and correspondence concerning the American Chemical Society Diamond Jubilee from 1951 collected by American toxicologist Arthur Furst.

Born on December 25, 1914 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Arthur Furst was an American toxicologist and cancer researcher. An orphan by the age of four, Furst moved to California where he earned his Associate in Arts degree in psychology at the City College of Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter he transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry in 1937, followed by his Master of Arts degree in chemistry with minors in mathematics and education in 1940.

Furst then took a teaching position at the San Francisco City College, where he taught chemistry for seven years before accepting a full-time Assistant Professorship at the University of South Florida in 1947. Shortly after receiving his Ph. D. in chemistry from Stanford University in 1948, Furst left the University of South Florida to join the cancer research group at the Stanford University Medical School, where he served as Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics starting in 1952. Involved in the creation of the Cancer Chemotherapy Laboratory at the Stanford Medical School, Furst's work and research led to the implementation of a technique that utilized multiple cancer chemotherapy agents in concert, creating a mixture of specific chemotherapeutic agents used to fight cancer and overcome the problem of resistance specific to the disease. Furst was made a full professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University in 1957. He contributed over 300 articles to professional and scholarly journals, and was an active member of the American Chemical Society.

Arthur Furst passed away on December 1, 2005. Sources

Arthur Furst American Chemical Society Diamond Jubilee Stamps and Postal Cover Collection, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Arthur Furst American Chemical Society Diamond Jubilee Stamps and Postal Cover Collection contains a collection of philatelic materials commemorating the American Chemical Society Diamond Jubilee from 1951, as well as personal correspondence from the collection's donor and American toxicologist, Arthur Furst. Included in the collection is a postal cover commemorating the American Chemical Society Diamond Jubilee featuring a black and white photograph of a chemist in a lab, a black and white illustration of a factory, the American Chemical Society logo, and text in English that reads, "First Day of Issue, 75th Anniversary, American Chemical Society," addressed to Furst, in addition to an American Chemical Society Jubilee red postage stamp. Also included is a printed message from Merck & Co., Inc. featuring a black and white reproduction image of the 75th Anniversary of the American Chemical Society commemorative stamp, as well as a sheet of 50 red stamps featuring the American Chemical Society logo set against an urban landscape with text in English that reads, "American Chemical Society, Diamond Jubilee, 1876 1951, U.S. Postage."

Also included in the collection is a hand signed memo from the collection's donor, Arthur Furst, with text in English that reads, "With my Compliments, Arthur Furst," and an email from Furst to Jennifer Landry providing some personal background information and further details about the derivation of the collection's materials.