The bulk of the Dunning papers documents his professional career from about 1900 to 1940. His work as an editor of the Journal of the Allied Dental Societies and his involvement with Columbia University's School of Dental and Oral Surgery (since 2006, known as the College of Dental Medicine) are particularly well-documented. Major correspondents include S.E. Davenport, Sr., S.E. Davenport, Jr., William J. Gies, Edward Kirk, Henry S. Dunning, and J. Howard Reed. The papers also include some documents and many dental instruments and other artifacts belonging to Henry S. Dunning, William's brother.
History and Biography
William Bailey Dunning, dentist and dental educator, was born April 11, 1874 in Peekskill, New York, the son of Edwin James Dunning, Jr. He received his D.D.S. from the New York College of Dentistry (now the New York University College of Dentistry) in 1895 and entered the practice of Samuel E. Davis in New York City shortly thereafter.
Besides maintaining an active practice, Dunning had a long career as a dental educator. Though he served as adjunct professor of operative dentistry at the College of Dental and Oral Surgery of New York (CODOS) in 1907-1916, he is best known for his association with the Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery (SDOS). Dunning, along with his brother, the oral surgeon Henry S. Dunning, was a member of the committee appointed by President Nicholas Murray Butler in 1916 to study the idea of founding a Columbia dental school. The committee's report, "A Dental School on University Lines" (May 1916), was largely written by Dunning, and he was instrumental in raising funds for the new school. Dunning formulated much of the new dental school's curriculum and he served on the faculty as Professor of Dentistry from 1917 until his retirement in 1946.
From 1912 to 1918, Dunning was editor of the Journal of the Allied Dental Societies, a research journal jointly sponsored by the state dental societies of New York and New England. He co-authored with S. E. Davenport, Jr., A Dictionary of Dental Science and Art (1936) and was the author of numerous articles. He was a member of the New York Academy of Dentistry (President, 1933-1935); the First District Dental Society (President, 1916-1917); the Dental Society of the State of New York; the American Dental Society; the American College of Dentists; the International Association for Dental Research, and many other professional organizations.
Dunning married Rose Morse in 1903. They had three children the oldest of whom, James Morse Dunning, served as Dean of the Harvard University School of Dental Medicine. William B. Dunning died on July 21, 1959.
Organization
Organized in six series:
I. Personal correspondence
II. Professional journalism and articles
III. Columbia University School of Dental & Oral Surgery/Dental education
IV. Professional organizations
V. Henry S. Dunning
VI. Artifacts.
Correspondence, minutes, syllabi, lecture notes, printed material, photographs and artifacts documenting the professional career of dentist and dental educator William B. Dunning.
The bulk of the papers dates from about 1900 to 1940. Dunning's work as an editor of the Journal of the Allied Dental Societies and his involvement with the Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery are particularly well-documented.
Major correspondents include S.E. Davenport, Sr., S.E. Davenport, Jr., William J. Gies, Edward Kirk, and Henry S. Dunning. Personal letters are rare, with even most of the letters from his brother, Henry S. Dunning, concerned with professional matters. The papers also include many dental instruments and other artifacts, most of which appear to have belonged to Henry S. Dunning.
Series I. Personal correspondence.
Letters from family members and close professional colleagues such as S. E. Davenport, Jr. and William J. Gies, though the correspondence from the latter group is more professional than personal in nature. In addition, there is a folder of notes and background material on the genealogy of the Dunning and related families.
Series II. Professional journalism and articles.
Dunning's editorship (1912-1918) of the Journal of the Allied Dental Societies is well documented and includes correspondence with fellow editors, and with contributors, subscribers, printers and advertisers. It provides a full picture of the operations of a professional journal in the early 20th century. Correspondence relating to Dunning's co-authorship with S.E. Davenport, Jr. of A Dictionary of Dental Science and Art (1936) documents the long gestation of this volume (1915-1936). Records of Dunning's involvement with the Journal of Dental Research contain much correspondence with William J. Gies, its editor. In addition, there are many reprints and manuscripts of Dunning's own scientific articles.
Series III. Columbia University School of Dental & Oral Surgery/Dental education.
The papers are rich in records documenting the founding and early years of Columbia's School of Dental and Oral Surgery (SDOS): correspondence, 1915-1940; newspaper clippings, 1916-1917; syllabi, lecture notes, examinations and other course materials; programs; and fundraising material. They reveal that Dunning and his brother, Henry S. Dunning, played prominent roles in the inception and early years of the SDOS. In addition, the series has letters and reminiscences of J. Howard Reed, founder of the College of Dental and Oral Surgery of New York (CODOS) (founded in 1892 as the New York Dental College), which merged with Columbia in 1923; CODOS printed material, including catalogues and class schedules; and a small amount of printed material from the New York College of Dentistry (now the New York University College of Dentistry). Printed material relating to SDOS is in Series VI.
Series IV. Professional organizations.
Among the many organizations documented in the records, there is much on the First District Dental Society of New York, though comparatively little relating to Dunning's tenure as its President (1916-1917). Instead, much of the correspondence documents his role as contributing editor of the Society's journal (1919-1939). There are also records of Dunning's work with the Dental Society of the State of New York, 1911-1939; the New York Academy of Dentistry; the New York Odontological Society; and the Dental Health Committee of the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association.
Series V. Henry S. Dunning.
Correspondence, typescript and printed articles, dental illustrations and World War I memorabilia of Henry S. Dunning (1881-1957), younger brother of William B. Dunning. Henry S. Dunning was both a dentist (New York College of Dentistry, 1904) and surgeon (Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, 1911). He served as a maxillofacial surgeon with the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War I and was professor of oral surgery at the Columbia University School of Dental & Oral Surgery (1923-1948).
Series VI. Artifacts.
Includes photographs, many of them World War I scenes that probably came from Henry S. Dunning; a certificate of membership; a watercolor sketch by W.B. Dunning; and much printed material including dental school catalogs from both Columbia and other universities; a 1919 yearbook of the College of Dental and Oral Surgery of New York (CODOS); and dental instruments, many of which seem to have belonged to Henry S. Dunning.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Gift of James M. Dunning, 1980, 1988, 1991, with additional material from him that was held by the Office of the Dean, School of Dental and Oral Surgery, until 2001. These papers originally formed part of the "William J. Gies Collection in the History of Dentistry," an amalgam of Dunning family papers, Gies memorabilia, SDOS records, and records relating to SDOS that had been removed from the Central Records of the Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences. With the accession of the complete Central Records of the Vice President by Archives and Special Collections in 1993, it was decided to return the Vice President's records in the Gies Collection to Central Records and reprocess the Dunning and Gies papers as separate collections.
Processed c. 1990 with generous financial support from the William J. Gies Foundation; reprocessed and finding aid rewritten by Stephen Novak, 2001.