Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1569

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.4 linear feet (2 boxes)

Preferred Citation:

LeRoy M. Ennis collection of Japanese dentistry material, 1932-1951, Ms. Coll. 1569, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1932-1951 (inclusive)

Creator:

Ennis, Le Roy M. (Le Roy Massey), 1893-1978

Form:

Photograph albums, Photographs, and Publications (documents)

Abstract:

LeRoy M. Ennis (1893-1978) was a dentist and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania focusing on the study of roentgenology (radiation) and oral surgery. In 1951, he was a member of the United States Dental Commission which visited Osaka Dental College in Japan, an effort to aid dentists in that country. This collection documents Japanese dentistry in the 1930s to 1951 through photographs and includes publications about the practice of dentistry and dental education in Japan, many of which were produced prior to the trip.

LeRoy M. (Massey) Ennis, born on January 9, 1893 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, earned his education at the Thomas W. Evans Museum and Dental Institute School of Dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1916. After his graduation, he began his work with Penn's School of Dentistry and continued there throughout his career; serving as instructor in oral surgery (1917 and 1919), instructor of roentgenology (1919-1930), assistant professor of roentgenology (1930-1943), and professor of oral roentgenology (beginning in 1943). He also served as professor and director of oral roentgenology at the Graduate School of Medicine, also at the University of Pennsylvania. He was named emeritus professor in 1963.

In June, 1917, Ennis was commissioned in the United States Army Dental Corps of the First Division and served in France, "largely in the trenches at the front line," (Manson-Hing). He served as a captain in the Army Reserves until 1934; and then served as a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserves from 1934 to 1945. In 1952, he was serving as a consultant radiologist to the Army, the Navy, and the Veterans Administration.

Active in professional organizations, Ennis served as president of the Philadelphia County Dental Society; president of the Pennsylvania State Dental Society; secretary of the American Academy of Oral Roentgenology (of which he was a founder); and president of the American Dental Association. According to Manson-Hing, he also lectured internationally, in Canada, Mexico, Holland, Japan, Egypt, Burma, England, Guatemala, Chile, Venezuela, and Ecuador; served as a member of the Ivory Cross Expedition in the Netherlands (1946); and served as a member of the United States Commission on Dentistry to Japan (1951). Following his retirement in 1963, Ennis worked to raise funds for Project HOPE by serving aboard the S.S. Hope in Ecuador and Nicaragua, as well as lecturing about the work of health care workers who provide care in their communities and respond to urgent health crises through the organization.

Ennis died on February 28, 1975.

Works consulted:

Manson-Hing, Lincoln R. "LeRoy M. Ennis (1893 to 1978)," American Academy of Dental Radiology, Volume 46, Number 2, 1978 August, pages 307-309.

"Official Call," Journal of the American Dental Association, Volume 45, 1952, page 52.

This collection documents the state of Japanese dentistry in the 1930s to 1951 as presented to the United States Commission on Dentistry to Japan during their trip in 1951. According to Manson-Hing, the Commission was "charged with examining and reporting on the condition of dental education and practice in that country," (Manson-Hing, p. 308).

A photograph album was created by the Osaka Dental College and presented to LeRoy M. Ennis. The photographs include images of Junichiro Iizuka, president of the Osaka Dental College; buildings on campus; classrooms and laboratories on campus; and the Dental Hospital with patient spaces (waiting room and clinic), as well as dental student and dentist spaces (laboratories, operating rooms, lecture halls, and clinic). At the end of the volume, there are photographs of specimens and tools. There is also one loose scrapbook page (that was not part of the photograph album) with two photographs that appear to be of school children and dentists.

The collection also contains publications relating to dentistry in Japan, dating from 1932 to 1951. It is probable that many of these publications were used by Ennis as research prior to his trip and they discuss dental education, dental care for school children, dental practices, and dental research. At least one publication was created specifically for the Commission's visit to Japan, "Osaka Dental College: Special Report," (box 1, folder 3) and more than a dozen were created in the years just before the visit.