New Interns in Archives

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Polina Ilieva

During the 2016 Spring semester the UCSF Archives & Special Collections is hosting two interns:

Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones is our first EXCEL program intern. The UC San Francisco Excellence through Community Engagement & Learning (EXCEL) Program is a clerical/administrative training program which aims to develop the potential workforce in UCSF’s surrounding communities and provide San Francisco residents with access to health-field related employment opportunities. It is a work-based program that uses both classroom and on-the-job training to prepare participants for career path jobs in the healthcare sector. In the past month Jessica who works in the Archives four days a week has successfully completed the State Medical Society Journals assessment and Cholera pamphlets cataloging projects. She is working on rehousing and creating detailed inventory for the Photo Portraits collection which will help preserve these photographs and facilitate their discovery. Jessica will help organize, rehouse and create inventories for newly acquired papers and also learn how to scan and create metadata for materials in diverse formats.

Here is what Jessica wrote for the blog: “I am a mother of two beautiful children ages 1 and 4. I am a San Francisco native and a current intern through the EXCEL Cycle 10 UCSF Medical Administrative Internship. After becoming a mother I realized what I was inspired and motivated by. I have many talents and desires but my main four passions in life are Children, Happiness, Self Love, and Fashion. Due to my natural spirit to connect and adapt with people so well I have a goal to become a professional as a Clinical Social Worker in Pediatrics. I am one step closer to my future by getting my foot in the door within my internship at UCSF. I plan to reach out and advocate for families that lack social and emotional support. I want to make a difference within children and actually give and instill in them extra love, support, and mentoring . Currently I am interning for the Archives and Special Collections, I plan to enrich my own knowledge and gain plenty experience to become an unparalleled asset. I also plan to look into the development of pediatrics department within UCSF. Finally, I am so thankful for this amazing opportunity. My dream is becoming a reality.”

Kristin Daniel

Kristin Daniel first became interested in library science when she was young; when her curiosity, more often than not, led her to find answers in books. The importance of information availability stayed with her throughout her schooling. Her passion was put on hold after she graduated high school in 1998, as economic necessities led her to a decade of service in the retail and hospitality industries. She got the opportunity to return to school and pursue her dream in 2008.

She graduated cum laude from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and is currently in her last semester of San Jose State University’s iSchool Masters in Library and Information Science program. Her coursework at SJSU reflects her interest in public librarianship with an emphasis in archives and preservation. Kristin is hopeful that she can serve her community’s information needs with the skills she can learn at her internship at UCSF: practical experience in cataloging, collection processing, and digitization. With so many people turning to digital means of finding information she is a firm proponent of a global library network.

Between being a stay-at-home-mom and a full time grad student, Kristin doesn’t have a lot of time for hobbies. When she can find a few moments to relax, however, she can usually be found reading sci-fi/fantasy novels, exploring San Francisco’s numerous events/attractions, and daydreaming about winning the lottery so she can build a craft studio. A lifelong California resident, Kristin currently resides in San Ramon with her husband and two-year-old son.

Kristin is continuing the project started by previous interns – organizing and creating an inventory of biographical files. She also helps with Quality Control of digital files for the State Medical Society Journals project.

Both Jessica and Kristin are assisting with the survey of the Archives and Special Collections manuscript and university records collections. The inventory and reorganization of these collections will greatly increase intellectual control, department efficiency, and user access.

We are grateful to our interns for their dedication and help!

Medical Quackery Series: Bloodletting

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Kelsi Evans

In this series, we’ll be exploring artifacts and other material from our collections related to medical misinformation and fraud. Step right up folks and learn how everything from bleedings to electricity can cure your ills!

Bloodletting as a medical practice has existed for thousands of years; ancient peoples, including the Greeks and Egyptians, used bloodletting to cure numerous conditions. The treatment, which involved draining blood with leeches or by puncturing the skin with a sharp instrument, was based on the theory of bodily humors. People believed that good health resulted from a balance of the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. A person suffered illness when these humors became unbalanced. Bloodletting was devised as a way to correct harmful imbalances in the body.

"Old wooden barber pole. 1900." From the Graves (Roy D.) Pictorial Collection, ca. 1850-ca. 1968. Courtesy the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Accessed via Calisphere https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/tf1r29n9jj/

“Old wooden barber pole. 1900.” From the Graves (Roy D.) Pictorial Collection, ca. 1850-1968. Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, accessed via Calisphere: https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/tf1r29n9jj

In Europe and the United States, surgeons and barbers offered bloodletting as a treatment for just about everything, from pneumonia to gout to cancer. Barbers so regularly performed bloodletting that they adopted a symbol to help advertise the service: the barber’s pole, a red and white striped pillar reminiscent of blood and bandages.

Leeches and a number of different instruments were used for bloodletting in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The lancet was one of the simplest tools; it consisted of a sharp, pointed blade attached to a straight handle. A variation of this was the fleam, a wide double-edged blade at a right angle to the handle. The folding fleam pictured here includes two blades encased in a brass shield.

Folding fleam. Artifact Collection, number 431.

A spring lancet was more mechanized. It included a spring trigger that snapped the blade into a vein. Spring lancets were, perhaps unsurprisingly, difficult to clean and often became rife with bacteria.

Spring lancet and case. Artifact Collection, number 416.

Spring lancet detail. Artifact Collection, number 416.

Detail of spring lancet. Artifact Collection, number 416.

Scarificators allowed for multiple cuts to be made at once. The octagonal or round base housed six to twenty blades that released from the bottom with the flick of a lever.

Scarificator. Artifact Collection, number 518.

Removing scarificator from original box. Artifact Collection, number 518.

Detail of scarificator with blades extended. Artifact Collection, number 518.

Blades of scarificator. Artifact Collection, number 518.

Bleeding bowls were often used to catch blood during the procedure. These came in different sizes and material, including brass, ceramic, and pewter.

Bleeding bowl. Artifact Collection, number 557.

Today, bloodletting is widely discredited as a medical treatment. However, phlebotomy therapy is used to treat certain conditions, including hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes abnormal iron accumulation. Leeches are making a comeback too; some reconstructive surgeons use them to restore circulation following procedures.

To view more bloodletting instruments, make an appointment with the UCSF Archives. You can also check out our exhibit on the third floor of the UCSF Library until April 2016. You’ll see a 19th-century spring lancet engraved to UC Medical College Dean Richard Beverly Cole from his mother!

Celebrating Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Polina Ilieva

A heart is a universal symbol of the Valentine’s Day. We would like to share with you a selection of heart illustrations from the UCSF Rare Book Collection.

lower Diagrams of the heart. Lower, Richard. Richardi Lower … Tractatus de corde : item de motu, colore, & transfusione sanguinis, et de chyli in eum transitu, ut et de venae sectione : his accedit Dissertatio de origine catarrhi .., 1728.

verheyen

Illustrations of the heart and lungs. Verheyen, Philip. Corporis humani anatomiae, 1710.

cabrol

Diagram of the heart. Cabrol, Barthelemy. Ontleedingh des menschelycken lichaems, 1633.

vesling

Illustrations of the heart and lungs. Vesling, Johann. Syntagma anatomicum, 1666.

Kezar Stadium: The Original Home of Professional Football in the Bay Area

Posted on February 3, 2016 by duhlich

Before there was Levi’s Stadium, there was Candlestick Park—and before there was Candlestick, there was Kezar Stadium. In light of the Super Bowl 50 festivities happening on the Embarcadero right now—celebrating a game some 40 miles south of the city—it is good to remember that the original home to both of the Bay Area’s professional football teams is less than five blocks away from UCSF Parnassus.

UCSF aerial, 1959. Kezar in top right corner.

Built in 1924-1925, Kezar first served as a multi-purpose stadium hosting a myriad of sports, ranging from track and field to soccer to cricket. After the San Francisco 49ers inaugural season in 1946, the facility became primarily a football stadium, staging games for the next 25 years, including the Oakland Raiders first four home games in 1960. Though never home to a Super Bowl, Kezar did host two NFL conference championships, including the 49ers last home game there on January 3, 1971 against the Dallas Cowboys.

UCSF aerial, 1938. Kezar to left of frame.

UCSF aerial, circa 1955. Kezar in foreground.

In addition to football and other sports, Kezar stadium presented many other concerts and events, and had a memorable role as the home and workplace of the Scorpio killer in the first Dirty Harry movie. It was torn down in 1989, prior to the Loma Prieta earthquake, and rebuilt in its current incarnation as a much smaller, 10,000 seat venue (some 50,000 seats smaller than its original capacity of 59,942). It was recently renovated, and now features 1,000 seats from Candlestick Park.

UCSF aerial, 1969. Kezar at top left.

Cable Car Day

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Kelsi Evans

January 17^th is Cable Car Day! This occasion marks the day Andrew Smith Hallidie received the first patent for cable car railways in 1871. Legend has it that Hallidie was inspired to create the cable car after witnessing horses struggle to pull carriages up San Francisco’s steep hills.

San Francisco cable car. From UCSF MediCal yearbook, 1968

Hallidie first tested the cable car in San Francisco in 1873. Hallidie partnered with Clay Street Hill Railroad that year and by September the company offered public service in San Francisco.

San Francisco cable car. From UCSF MediCal yearbook, 1968

Cable car companies faced competition from electric streetcars throughout the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Streetcars, which run on steel rails and are connected to overhead wires, were cheaper to build and maintain than cable cars, which run on steel rails and are propelled by an underground cable.

Streetcar in front of the UC Affiliated Colleges (later UCSF), circa 1910. Photograph collection.

Streetcar in front of the UC Affiliated Colleges (later UCSF), circa 1910. From photograph collection.

San Francisco cable car. From UCSF MediCal yearbook, 1968

By the mid-20^th century, San Francisco was considering completely eliminating cable car lines. Concerned citizens protested the proposal and, thanks to their efforts, the cable cars were saved.Today, San Francisco’s cable cars are protected as a National Historic Landmark. You can still ride on a San Francisco cable car; visit SFMTA’s website for tickets and more information.

Happy Holidays (and 2015 Winter Closure)

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Polina Ilieva

This Holiday Season we would like to thank all of you are dear readers and supporters!
With your help we were able to acquire numerous collection, design and install 4 new exhibits, organize three archives lectures, answer hundreds of reference questions, catalog, process and digitize dozens of collections!

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area please visit the “Windows on Science” exhibit at Exploratorium’s Living Systems Gallery – this exhibit highlights UCSF’s leadership in health science research and education and a long history of collaboration between the Exploratorium and UCSF.

UCSF exhibit at the Exploratorium. Photographer, Mark Citret.

Researchers at UCSF use the model species and organisms on display in the Exploratorium’s Living Systems Gallery. While the Exploratorium exhibits these species and organisms to teach visitors about science, UCSF researchers use them to conduct experiments that can change our lives.

Four exhibit areas in the Living Systems Gallery at the Exploratorium have been identified around four model species and organisms: stem cells, zebra fish, c.elegans/round worms, and microscopes. The UCSF exhibit builds on the “Lessons from the Lab” exhibit in the Cell Gallery, which exhibits live organisms and discuss what scientists have learned from them. This exhibit fills in some of the details: describing what UCSF scientists have learned from each organism and what types of experiments are conducted. The list of featured UCSF-affilicated researcher includes: Nadav Ahituv Lab, Bruce Conklin, Cynthia Kenyon, Shinya Yamanaka, Ron Vale Lab. Artifacts from the UCSF archives that relate to the research being exhibited are also on display.

UCSF exhibit at the Exploratorium. Photographer, Mark Citret.

The Archives and Special Collections will be closed from Wednesday, December 23, 2015 through Sunday, January 3rd, 2016. We will reopen on Monday, January 4th.

The Archives team wishes you all a Happy New Year!

“A Winter Wonderland”

Posted on December 10, 2015 by duhlich

When recently asked whether the archives had any pictures of snow in San Francisco, one of my colleagues mentioned that she had seen a folder that mentioned snow in our photograph collection. We were able to track it down pretty quickly, and sure enough, the title of the folder was: “San Francisco—Some Snow, 1930s.” Quickly thumbing through the prints, I found this breathtaking photograph of the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, with snow on the Marin Headlands in the background.

It is fairly rare that I answer a reference question so quickly—and with such stunning results. But had I really? Trying to determine an approximate date for the image, I looked up the dates for the major snow storms in San Francisco (which was easy, considering there were only four during the 20^th century) and cross-referenced it with the construction of the bridge. The only snow storm in San Francisco during the 1930s was on December 11, 1932—almost a full month before construction began on the bridge on January 5, 1933.

Disappointed, but also a little intrigued, I looked at some of the other “snow” images in the folder. This one, which appears to be of the Marin Headlands as well, with the city in the foreground, had the following caption on back: “Looking North: When the cold wind doth blow, we sell this for a snow picture. Infrared.”

The mystery was solved when I took a peek at the verso of another “snow” picture. This one was taken with a telescopic lens from the Dean’s office of the UCSF School of Dentistry, and showed downtown San Francisco with the Berkeley Hills in the background. The image was dated March 8, 1934.

A scan and transcription of the anonymous photographer’s description of how he or she was able to turn the Bay Area into a winter wonderland at the beginning of March is below. Evidently the infrared plates used in taking the image turned the “bright green grassy slopes of early spring” into what appeared to be snowy peaks. Unfortunately, this meant that we didn’t have any photographs of snow readily available, but at least it made for a fun little search.

“University of California Medical Center Campus, San Francisco. A telescopic view of San Francisco and the Univ. of California at Berkeley 12 miles away taken from the dean’s offices in the College of Dentistry. This photograph was taken March 8th 1934 after 5pm with infrared plates.The white patches on the hills which resemble snow are the bright green grassy slopes of early spring.”

The Nutcracker Visits UCSF Pediatrics

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

We’re bringing you some holiday cheer courtesy of the San Francisco Ballet! In December 1974, dancers in SF Ballet’s 30^th anniversary performance of The Nutcracker visited patients in the pediatric wards of Moffitt Hospital, UCSF Medical Center. The performers danced and distributed nutcracker dolls and posters to patients.

San Francisco Ballet’s Diana Weber as the Sugar Plum Fairy and patient, 1974. Photograph collection, News Services carton, SF Ballet Visit folder. Photo by Paul Kolsanoff.

Ballerina Diana Weber, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, chatted with patients and performed with the Rat King.

The Rat King and Diana Weber as the Sugar Plum Fairy, 1974. Photograph collection, News Services carton, SF Ballet Visit folder. Photo by Donna Chaban.

Other characters from the show joined in too, including one of the Rat King’s minions.

The Rat King, 1974. Photograph collection, News Services carton, SF Ballet Visit folder

Nutcracker performer, 1974. Photograph collection, News Services carton, SF Ballet Visit folder. Photo by Donna Chaban.

Nutcracker performer, 1974. Photograph collection, News Services carton, SF Ballet Visit folder. Photo by Donna Chaban.

To learn more about the event and UCSF Pediatrics in the 1970s, check out this original press release available in our digital collections on HathiTrust.

Processing the Papers of Nobel Laureate J. Michael Bishop

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

We are processing the papers of J. Michael Bishop, Nobel Prize-winning scientist and UCSF Chancellor Emeritus. The project will produce a detailed finding aid for the collection and a digital collection of selected material.

J. Michael Bishop

J. Michael Bishop, MD, joined the UCSF faculty in 1968. He was appointed director of the GW Hooper Research Foundation in 1981 and named UCSF Chancellor in 1998, a post he held until 2009. He continues to serve as Hooper’s director and as professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

In 1989, Bishop and his research colleague, Harold Varmus, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in cancer research. Bishop and Varmus discovered the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes. Their work helped clarify the processes that convert normal cellular genes into cancer genes and impacted our understanding of the genesis of human cancer.

Bishop and Varmus. Photograph Collection, Bishop.

Bishop and Varmus in laboratory. Photograph Collection, Bishop.

Bishop’s papers (MSS 2007-21) contain his laboratory research notebooks and professional papers, including article drafts, correspondence with other scientists, and teaching and lecture material. Also included are drafts and figures from Bishop’s autobiographical book, How to Win the Nobel Prize: An Unexpected Life in Science.

Handwritten wager between UC Berkeley faculty member Mike Botchan and Art Levinson, Bishop's staff scientist at the time. Figure included in Bishop's book, How to Win the Nobel Prize. Exhibit files, Bishop.

1983 wager between UC Berkeley faculty member Mike Botchan and Arthur Levinson, Bishop’s staff scientist at the time. Figure included in Bishop’s book, How to Win the Nobel Prize. Exhibit files, Bishop papers, MSS 2007-21.

Group photograph of California Nobel Prize winners with family members and dogs. Exhibit files, Bishop.

Group photograph of California Nobel Prize winners with family members and dogs, 1998. Bishop pictured at center. Exhibit files, Bishop papers, MSS 2007-21.

The collection even includes replicas of Varmus and Bishop’s Nobel Prize medals!

Replicas of Varmus and Bishop Nobel Prize medals. MSS 2007-21.

The UCSF Archives and Special Collections also houses the papers of Harold E. Varmus (MSS 93-51, MSS 84-25, and MSS 88-47). Please contact us if you would like to view any of these collections.

Unadulterated Holiday Spirits

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

Post by David Uhlich

‘Tis the season for reminders about the proper handling of Thanksgiving leftovers, cautions regarding the dangers of overindulgence, and USDA recommendations that you cook your turkey breast until it is roughly the texture of sawdust. A recent foray into the rare book vault indicates that almost 200 years ago a German chemist named Fredrick Accum was doling out similar fare.

From A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons…, Fredrick Accum, 1822.

In his book, titled simply Culinary Poisons (or more lengthily A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons, Exhibiting the Fraudulent Sophistications of Bread, Beer, Wine, Spiritous Liquors, Tea, Coffee, Cream, Confectionary, Vinegar, Mustard, Pepper, Cheese, Olive Oil, Pickles, and Other Articles Employed in Domestic Economy, and Methods of Detecting Them), Accum warns about the dangers of food additives and contamination, both for fraudulent purposes and as a byproduct of newly industrialized food production. For example, in his chapter “Disgusting Practice of Rendering Butchers’ Meat, Fish, and Poultry Unwholesome,” Accum rails against butchers who tamper with meat to make it appear fresher and those who mistreat animals that are meant for the table. While definitely a man of many words, Accum echoes current desires for natural, organic, cruelty-free foods. He would almost certainly approve of spending the extra money for that free-range heritage turkey.

From A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons…, Fredrick Accum, 1822.

Accum’s motto for the book is “there is death in the pot” (from 2 Kings 4:40), but he seems just as concerned with those that might tamper with the bottle. In the 344 page text, there are 30 pages dedicated to wine, 25 pages to spirits, and over 60 pages regarding the adulteration of beer. In fact, one of the numerous other books he wrote was A Treatise on the Art of Making Wine from Native Fruits; Elucidating the Chemical Principles upon Which the Art of Winemaking depends, the Fruits Best Adapted for Home-Made Wine, and the Methods of Preparing Them. Sounds like the kind of person we’d all like to have at our holiday parties this year!

Brought to Light

Stories from UCSF Archives & Special Collections

New Interns in Archives

Medical Quackery Series: Bloodletting

Celebrating Valentine’s Day

Kezar Stadium: The Original Home of Professional Football in the Bay Area

Cable Car Day

Happy Holidays (and 2015 Winter Closure)

“A Winter Wonderland”

The Nutcracker Visits UCSF Pediatrics

Processing the Papers of Nobel Laureate J. Michael Bishop

Unadulterated Holiday Spirits