OVERVIEW

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SUREONS
ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS

The processed and cataloged records of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) contain roughly 300 linear feet of materials stored in the Archives Room on the 27^th floor of the Headquarters building at 633 N. St. Clair Street, Chicago, IL USA. The materials are arranged according to a scheme that takes into account the College’s origination and administrative structure.

ACS archival records include the minutes, agendas, correspondence and other meeting materials of its Board of Regents, Board of Governors and all other existing entities of the College. The Archives contains the periodical and monograph publications produced by the College as well as any other historically valuable material produced by and unique to the College in the performance of its mission. Although papers of its members (called Fellows) and even its Presidents are generally not found here, one major exception is the papers of ACS Founder Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS.

The papers of Franklin H. and Isabelle H. Martin consist of a set of “Memoirs,” (1899-1936) which are 48 three-ring binders of scrapbook materials, such as news clippings, photos, diary entries, travel souvenirs, programs related both to ACS functions and Chicago social life, and Martin’s documentation of his service on President Woodrow Wilson’s wartime civilian body known as the Council of National Defense and specifically the minutes of the General Medical Board.

Besides the “Memoirs,” Martin’s papers include original records such as minutes of boards of various Chicago hospital and postgraduate medical schools with which he and his father-in-law were connected (1872-1910); his obstetric/gynecology case books (1891-1917); and his diaries, journals, personal files, correspondence, and tributes about him.

Another rich resource found in the ACS Archives is Eleanor K. Grimm’s compilation of the history of the American College of Surgeons, from 1913 to the 1950s, which is contained in 26 three-ring binders. Miss Grimm was the private secretary of Dr. Franklin Martin from 1913 until his death in 1935, and then chief administrative officer of the College until her retirement in 1951. Her compilation, besides including tear sheets from ACS publications, is comprised of typed transcripts of her narration as spoken and read onto wire recording devices. Interspersed with her finely documented notes are her own views expressed and labeled as such. She created a very detailed index to accompany this “ACS History.”

The records housed in the Archives include paper-based materials, film, photographs, audio tapes, recordings, portraits, artwork, and artifacts.