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Barbara Bates papers
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing [Contact Us]Claire Fagin Hall, 418 Curie Boulevard, Floor 2U, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4217
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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Barbara Bates (1928-2002) was born on May 5, 1928 in Auburn, New York, where her father was a doctor and her mother a nurse. She died of Alzheimer’s disease on December 18, 2002 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She completed secondary school as an honor student at Hathaway Brown School in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College in 1949. She then attended Cornell University Medical College. She later completed a Master’s degree in history at the University of Kansas.
She remained at Cornell for five years as a resident physician and lecturer and then practiced as an internist in Connecticut. She was subsequently recruited to help create the programs and coordinate with the faculty at the new University of Kentucky College of Medicine. She was recruited by the University of Rochester and remained there from 1968 to 1975. In 1975 she joined the faculty of the innovative School of Medicine at The University of Missouri at Kansas City where she renewed her interest in the history of medicine. From 1981 until she retired in 1996, Dr. Bates was associated with the University of Pennsylvania and the Medical College of Pennsylvania, where she taught and influenced medical students and nurse practitioners. Her leisure activities comprised gardening, bird watching, backpacking and hiking. She was also an opera fan.
While at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine she began to investigate and write about issues for delivering health care and teaching of comprehensive medicine. Her well-known book, A Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking, was published in 1974. It is used mainly by medical students and nurses and has been published in 11 languages. It is still considered a leading text in its field. While in Rochester she became nationally and internationally known as an activist in interdisciplinary health care. She also worked on the conception of the role of nurse practitioner. In 1992, the award winning study, Bargaining for Life, A Social History of Tuberculosis, 1876-1938 was published.
She early expressed a concern that technology would overwhelm interpersonal care. And that “persistent psychosocial needs went unidentified and unmet.” As early as the mid-1960s she was writing about “doctor-nurse communication, team-work and collaborative practice” to assure better patient care.
In “A Tribute to Barbara Bates, M. D.” by Neville E. Strumpf, PhD, FAAN published in The Chronicle her philosophy was expressed: “Be excellent, be thorough, weigh evidence, don’t be misled, have the courage of your convictions, laugh a lot.”
The Barbara Bates, M.D. personal papers is a collection acquired by the University of Pennsylvania, Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing in 2009. The papers, arranged in ten series, shed light on her prolific professional career as well as her personal life.
Series 1 and 2 explores her personal and educational life. Series 1 contains personal documents such as birth certificate, passports, awards, etc., as well as diaries and correspondence. It also includes information regarding her health, memorial service as well as her selection to be a part of the National Library of Medicine's Exhibition Changing the Face of Medicine, Celebrating America's Women Physicians.
In the third, fourth, and fifth series, Barbara Bates' professional experiences are explored. It documents her work experience prior to her appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, materials for her influential book A Guide to Physical Examination, and her employment at the University of Pennsylvania, including her research on tuberculosis. Documents include her research and correspondence, as well as the original text for A Guide to Physical Examination. This series also sheds light on the activities of the Center during the 1990s as well as the professional lectures she gave.
The sixth series focuses on Barbara Bates' involvement with the Francis C. Wood Institute, College of Physicians of Philadelphia during a period of institutional tradition. This includes, correspondence, data collection and background information on the Institute. The last three series (7-10) contain various personal and professional photographs, audio cassettes, and memorabilia, including medical instruments and her doctor's bag, and copies of the books she wrote.
Also see Joan E. Lynaugh, Papers, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing, Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing; Neville E. Strumpf, Papers, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing, Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing
Gift of Joan Lynaugh, 2009.
People
Subject
Occupation
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Jessica Clark
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open to the public unless noted otherwise at the request of the Donor or to protect individual personal information.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Center with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.
Collection Inventory
This series contains personal documents such as birth certificate, passports, awards, etc., as well as diaries and correspondence. It also includes information regarding her memorial service as well as her selection to be a part of the National Library of Medicine's Exhibition Changing the Face of Medicine, Celebrating America's Women Physicians.
This series is restricted for 25 years, until 2036
This section is restricted at the request of the donor for 25 years, until 2036
This series contains papers written for academic credit, including her Masters' in history thesis.
Broken into three subseries, this series concerns the materials related to her professional career. It documents her work experience prior to her appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, materials for A Guide to Physical Examination, and while at the University of Pennsylvania, including her research on tuberculosis. Documents include her research and correspondence, as well as the original text for A Guide to Physical Examination.
This series contains information on the Center for the Study of the History of Nursing from 1990-1998, including correspondence and committee minutes.
Included in this series are the talks, papers, lectures, and presentations Dr. Barbara Bates gave over her career.
This series documents' Dr. Barbara Bates' involvement with Francis C. Wood Institute, College of Physicians of Philadelphia during a period of institutional tradition. This includes, correspondence, data collection and background information on the Institute.
This series contains personal and professional photographs of Barbara Bates throughout her life. Photographs also include illustrations and artwork for her books A Guide to Physical Examination and Bargaining for Life. Also included are photographs are her memorial service.
This series contains video tapes and cassette tapes of presentations and talks given by Dr. Barbara Bates during the 1990s. It also contains 4 cassette tapes played or recorded at her memorial service held February 2, 2003.
This series contains pieces of memorabilia, including medical instruments and her doctor's bag.