Augustus B. Wadsworth papers

Creator:
Augustus B. Wadsworth, 1872-1954
Date [inclusive]:
1897-1916
Physical Description:
.25 cubic feet (1 box)
Access:

Because folder 7 includes Confidential Health Information (CHI) as defined by Columbia University policies governing data security and privacy, access is allowed only under the terms of Archives and Special Collections’ Access Policy to Records Containing Confidential Health Information.

Call Number:
M-0193
Control Number:
6023051
Abstract:

Correspondence; lecture notes and other course material for bacteriology classes Wadsworth taught; and a laboratory notebook. Almost all the papers date from Wadsworth's time as a faculty member at P&S. Most of the correspondence is in response to an invitation by Wadsworth to attend the 50th anniversary dinner of the Alumni Association of the College of Physicians & Surgeons in 1909.

Among those responding are Nicholas Murray Butler, Henry A. Christian, Francis Delafield, Abraham Jacobi, Herman Knapp, Seth Low, E.L. Trudeau, Robert F. Weir, and William H. Welch.

Cite as:
Augustus B. Wadsworth Papers, Archives & Special Collections, Columbia University Health Sciences Library
Historical/Biographical Note:

Wadsworth was born October 25, 1872 in Brooklyn, NY. He received his B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1892 and his M.D. from the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University in 1896. In 1899 he joined Department of Bacteriology at P & S as an Instructor, becoming an Assistant Professor in 1909. In 1914 he left Columbia to become Director, Division of Laboratories and Research, for the New York State Department of Health in Albany, a position he held until his retirement in 1945. He died June 1, 1954 in New York City.

Scope and Content:

With one exception, all the papers date from Wadsworth's time as a faculty member at the College of Physicians & Surgeons (1899-1914). There is nothing from his medical student days or from his many years with the New York State Department of Health.

The lecture notes for the bacteriology course taught by Wadsworth include notes for a 1912 Summer Session course he conducted as well as miscellaneous notes for the same course, undated but probably c.1904-1912. The notes are in outline form and have as much detail about the course's laboratory work, including cultures and equipment used in that work, as about the actual intellectual content. There is also a set of examination questions dating from 1904 to 1913.

The laboratory notebook relates to Wadsworth's pneumonia research in 1901-1902. Besides this volume, there are several miscellaneous documents that relate to this research, including a case history (1897) and what seems to be the draft of an article.

Most of the correspondence is in response to an invitation by Wadsworth to attend the 50th anniversary dinner of the Alumni Association of the College of Physicians & Surgeons in 1909. There are also individual letters from William J. Gies (1916) and Philip Hanson Hiss (1913).

Box and Folder List:
Box Folder Contents
1 1 Bacteriology Course: Lecture notes and other materials, undated but c.1904-1912
  2 Bacteriology Course: Examination questions, 1904-1913
  3 Bacteriology Course, Summer Session, 1912: Lecture notes
  4 Gies, William J., 1916
  5 Hiss, Philip Hanson: Letter re bacteriology course, 1913
  6 P & S Alumni Association: Letters received by Wadsworth in response to invitation to attend the Association's 50th Anniversary Dinner, 1909; includes letters from Nicholas Murray Butler, Henry A. Christian, Francis Delafield, Abraham Jacobi, Herman Knapp, Seth Low, E.L. Trudeau, Robert F. Weir and, William H. Welch
  7 Pneumonia research: Case history (1897); draft of article (?), undated
  8 Pneumonia research: Laboratory notebook, 1901-1902
Provenance:

These papers were received from Anna M. Sexton of the library of the Division of Laboratories and Research, New York State Department of Health in 1967 (acc.#67.06.09).

Processing Notes:

Removals: Photographs of P & S Classes from the 1910s-20s have been removed to the photograph collection; miscellaneous biographical materials were transferred to the Biographical Files.