William Thompson Sedgwick Papers

Collection

Call Number: MS 1312

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, research material, writings and biographical material collected by C.-E.A. Winslow for a biography of Sedgwick, published in 1924. The correspondence (1879-1921) is with students and colleagues on professional matters, and the fragmentary research material concerns bacteriological studies of milk. For additional Sedgwick correspondence, see the C.-E.A. Winslow papers, MS749. The writings include articles, lecture notes, reports and essays. Also in the papers is a lengthy tribute to Sedgwick by George C. Whipple. These papers form part of the Contemporary Medical Care and Health Policy Collection.

Dates

1864-1922

Creator

Sedgwick, W. T. (William Thompson), 1855-1921

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Acquired as part of the C.-E.A. Winslow Papers (MS 749).

Arrangement

Arranged in four series: I. Correspondence. II. Research Materials. III. Writings. IV. Bibliographic Material.

Associated Materials

Related material: C.-E.A. Winslow Papers (MS 749), Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1312

Additional Description

Overview

Biographical / Historical

William Thompson Sedgwick (1855-1921), educator and bacteriologist, was one of the founders of the American public health profession. Educated at Yale (Ph.B., Sheffield Scientific School, 1877) and Johns Hopkins (Ph.D., 1881), Sedgwick taught at Johns Hopkins, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard. He was responsible for founding schools of public health in both M.I.T. and Harvard.

The Sedgwick Papers at Yale were collected by C.-E.A. Winslow while he was preparing a biography of Sedgwick, A Pioneer of Public Health--William Thompson Sedgwick (1924) with E.O. Jordan and G.C. Whipple. The papers are made up of one and one-half linear feet of material that is arranged in four series: CORRESPONDENCE, RESEARCH MATERIAL, WRITINGS, and BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL. Although the manuscript group is fragmentary and incomplete, it represents the largest extant collection of Sedgwick's papers.

CORRESPONDENCE spans the years 1878 to 1920 and consists of correspondence from students and colleagues. The 1906 correspondence from students on the occasion of Sedgwick's thirtieth anniversary in teaching is of special interest. RESEARCH MATERIAL is largely undated and fragmentary and concerns bacteriological studies of milk. WRITINGS extends from 1879 to 1920 and includes articles, lecture notes and texts, reports, essays and occasional programs. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL includes a lengthy tribute to Sedgwick by George C. Whipple.

The Sedgwick Papers are part of the Contemporary Medical Care and Health Policy Collection, and they were originally accessioned as part of the papers of C.-E.A. Winslow. For additional Sedgwick correspondence see the Winslow Papers (MS 749).