Open Wide Exhibit Opening Reception and Self-Guided Tours

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Kelsi Evans

What do a famous French dentist, Snow White, and a Victorian gentleman with a pesky toothache have in common? They are a few of the harassed, horrified, and often hilarious figures you can find in the exhibit Open Wide: 500 Years of Dentistry in Art.

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 27th, 12noon – 1pm, UCSF Library

REGISTER HERE

Join the UCSF Archives and Special Collections for the opening reception and self-guided tours exploring artworks from the collection of Dr. Morton G. Rivo, D.D.S., a former Chief of Periodontics at the UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion. These selections were first displayed in a 2003 exhibit of the same name at the University of Buffalo. UCSF’s iteration of Open Wide adapts materials from this earlier show and augments the artworks with artifacts, rare books, and UCSF School of Dentistry records from UCSF Archives. Together, they offer a glimpse into how perspectives on dentistry – and dentistry itself – have changed over the years.

Open Wide will be on display on three floors (first, third, and fifth) of the UCSF Library at Parnassus through August 2019.

12pm Opening Remarks by Dr. Morton G. Rivo, D.D.S., former Chief of Periodontics at the UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion; Sabrina Oliveros, exhibit curator; and Sara Hughes, MA, EdD. Associate Dean of Education & Student Affairs, School of Dentistry

Processing the John Greenspan Papers

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Kelsi Evans

As part of our current National Archives NHPRC grant, “Evolution of San Francisco’s Response to a Public Health Crisis: Providing Access to New AIDS History Collections,” we’ve been processing the papers of John S. Greenspan. Greenspan served as the founding Director of the UCSF Oral AIDS Center and the UCSF AIDS Specimen Bank. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Oral Pathology in the Department of Orofacial Sciences and the former Associate Dean for Global Oral Health in the School of Dentistry at UCSF along with Director-Emeritus of the campuswide AIDS Research Institute at UCSF.

John S. Greenspan and Deborah Greenspan. Photograph by David Powers. AR 2015-31, carton 2.

Greenspan’s work has played a major role in HIV research and care. He and his longtime collaborator and wife Deborah Greenspan, BDS, DSc, discovered the lesion hairy leukoplakia and determined the significance of this and other oral lesions in HIV/AIDS. He has published and lectured widely on the oral aspects of AIDS, oral pathology, and immunopathology.

Photographs of the Second International Workshop on the Oral Manifestations of HIV Infection, 1993. Greenspan papers, MSS 2016-14.

Greenspan’s research interests include the global health aspects of AIDS and his professional service reflects this. He has served as President of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) and the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). He is the founding President of the IADR Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Network (IADR-GOHIRN) and of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health’s Global Oral Health Interest Group (GOHIG).

Conference programs. Greenspan papers, MSS 2016-14.

Greenspan’s papers include records of his research and work developing the Oral AIDS Center and the AIDS Specimen Bank. They also include material related to his teaching and service in professional organizations, including AADR and IADR. Greenspan’s papers feature correspondence with members of his global network of researchers and healthcare providers and records of the various national and international conferences and meetings of which he was a part. The collection includes some unique types of material, including audiovisual recordings, glass microscope slides, health science instruments, and conference posters and photographs of events.

Dissection instruments. Greenspan papers, MSS 2016-14.

At the conclusion of the Greenspan processing project, a detailed finding aid will be available to researchers online and a small portion of the collection will be digitized and made available on Calisphere.

Archives WWI Exhibit, Talk and Tours

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Polina Ilieva

Exhibit opening and Archives talk: “DO THE BEST FOR OUR SOLDIERS:” University of California Medical Service in World War I.

Date: Tuesday, May 23rd
Exhibit Tour: 11 am – 11:45 am, main floor of the Library
Lecture: 12 pm – 1:15 pm, Lange Room, 5th Floor, UCSF Library
Exhibit Tour: 1:30 pm – 2 pm, main floor of the Library

Lecturers: Morton G. Rivo, DDS (retired) and Wen T. Shen, M.D. (UCSF)
Moderator: Aimee Medeiros, PhD (UCSF)
Location: Lange Room, 5th Floor, UCSF Library – Parnassus
530 Parnassus Ave, SF, CA 94143

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: http://calendars.library.ucsf.edu/event/3321575

Lieutenant Colonel Howard C. Naffziger in World War I army uniform. Base Hospital 30 collection, AR 2017-16, carton 1, Family Album World War I.

The UCSF Archives and Special Collections is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibit at the UCSF Library, “DO THE BEST FOR OUR SOLDIERS:” University of California Medical Service in World War I. The exhibit commemorates the centennial anniversary of US involvement in World War I and recognizes the service of UCSF doctors, nurses and dentists at Base Hospital No. 30 in Royat, France. It also highlights the war-related research and care provided by UCSF scientists, clinicians, and healthcare workers in San Francisco and abroad.

Join UCSF Archives & Special Collections for guided tours of the exhibit and an afternoon talk with Drs. Morton G. Rivo and Wen T. Shen. Dr. Shen will speak on the biography of Dr. Howard C. Naffziger. Lieutenant Colonel Howard C. Naffziger, a prominent neurosurgeon before the war, served in the Army Medical Corps in France and at home, as Chief of the Neuro-Surgical Service at the U.S. Army Letterman General Hospital located in the Presidio. Naffziger became the Chair of the first Department of Neurosurgery at the University of California in 1947.

Dental chair and equipment. This picture accompanied aletter written to Dr. Guy S. Millberry on October 7, 1918. UCSF School of Dentistry scrapbook titled “Dental College Alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917 – 1919.”

In April 1917, when America formally entered World War I, the United States Army had 86 dental officers, the US Navy, even fewer. Dr. Rivo will discuss the contributions of the UCSF Medical and Dental Schools that helped to quickly establish extensive dental/maxillofacial services on the Home Front and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. He will address the role of dentists and oral surgeons, both in the US as the military mobilized, and in France, during the ensuing brutal year and a half of combat which terminated in November 1918.

This exhibit was curated by Cristina Nigro, graduate student from the History of Health Sciences Program, UCSF Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine.

Operating room at Juilly, France in 1918 with Surgical Team #50, friends and Miss Perry Handley. UCSF Tales and Traditions, Volume VIII, Base Hospital 30 staff, WWI.

Morton G. Rivo, DDS
Dr. Rivo received his dental education at SUNY Buffalo. He continued his specialty training in Philadelphia and Boston, first as a Fellow in Periodontology at the Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and then as Resident Fellow in Periodontology and Oral Medicine at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital in Boston. Dr. Rivo served as a Captain in the US Army Dental Corps in France, stationed near the old World War 1 battlefields.

After practicing for several years in Buffalo, Rivo transferred his clinical practice to San Francisco where he subsequently worked and taught periodontics for over 30 years. He is the former Chief of Periodontics at UCSF Medical Center/ Mt. Zion Hospital and was a member of the Medical Staff at California Pacific Medical Center. Dr. Rivo is past-president of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry. He is also the past-chair of the Achenbach Graphic Arts Council at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Dr. Rivo has retired from the practice of periodontology and currently is a student at the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco, where he is studying art, music, history and philosophy.

Wen Shen, M.D.
Wen T. Shen, M.D., M.A. is an endocrine surgeon specializing in procedures for thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal gland surgery. His research focuses on the molecular biology, genetics and treatment of thyroid cancer as well as the use of minimally invasive surgery. Shen also has an interest in medical history and has studied the development of hormonal therapies for benign and malignant conditions and the impact of the 1942 Coconut Grove Fire in Boston on the evolution of surface treatment for burns.

Dr. Shen graduated magna cum laude at Harvard College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and science. He earned a medical degree and completed a surgical residency and research fellowship in endocrine surgery at UCSF. He received the Esther Nusz Achievement Award from the UCSF Department of Surgery, Resident’s Prize from the Pacific Coast Surgical Association, William Osler Medal from the American Association for the History of Medicine and Rothschild Prize from the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University.

In 2016, Dr. Shen was elected the 67th President of the UCSF Naffziger Surgical Society for its 2016-2017 term.

Halloween Costumes from the Archives

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

If you’re looking for some last minute costume inspiration this Halloween, the UCSF archives have you covered!

Students in the School of Nursing, 1951, illustrate the power of teamwork. If you want to dress up as a bunny rabbit, make sure you have a friend willing to wear the complementary carrot costume. It really brings the whole thing together.

UCSF School of Nursing students, 1951. From a scrapbook, AR 83-03, carton 1.

UCSF School of Nursing students, 1951. From scrapbook, AR 83-03, carton 1.

Or you can go with a timely pop culture reference like these two School of Dentistry students in 1987. Well, Maverick and Goose from Top Gun is more of a classic reference now, but you get the idea.

UCSF School of Dentistry students. From School of Dentistry yearbook, 1987, University Publications.

The UCSF Library staff, 1988, is full of ideas ranging from spooky to suave.

UCSF Library staff, 1988. Photograph collection, Library.

Finally, you can really just go for it, like these three characters visiting the Pediatrics Department in 1973. Not sure if Snoopy and his friends, Gorilla and Flower, are creepy or cute… let’s just say they are elaborate!

Characters visiting the UCSF Pediatrics Department, 1973. Photograph collection, Pediatrics Department.

Hope you feel inspired, Happy Halloween!

1970s Dentistry Recruitment Posters

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

For our final installment of stories from the School of Dentistry records, AR 2015-4, we bring you recruitment posters from the 1970s. These posters promoted professional careers in dentistry and dental hygiene. They were created using photographs by Bob Vogel.

School of Dentistry recruitment poster, 1971. AR 2015-4, OS 1

School of Dentistry recruitment poster, 1971. AR 2015-4, OS 2

Note that the posters encourage interested students to contact Minority Admissions at the School of Dentistry. In the 1970s, this office provided support to underrepresented minority students and helped build diversity at the school. Various dental faculty members, alumni, and students worked to shape the direction of the admissions program.

School of Dentistry recruitment poster, 1971. AR 2015-4, OS 2

Activists in the 1960s and 1970s viewed minority admissions as a key issue in the larger struggle for professional and academic equal opportunity. To learn more about the period’s activism regarding admissions at UCSF, check out this June 1975 special issue of Synapse, the UCSF student newspaper. It focuses on minority admissions and includes quotes and letters from students and staff.

Editorial by Khati Hendry in Synapse, Vol. 19, No. 33, June 12, 1975

Editorial by Khati Hendry in a special issue of Synapse, Vol. 19, No. 33, June 12, 1975

UCSF continues to promote diversity and inclusion across the university. To learn more about work being done today, visit the Office of Diversity and Outreach and check out this article about the UCSF School of Dentistry Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion.

Please contact us if you would like to view material from AR 2015-4. You can read our previous posts about this collection here and here.

Dental Department Buried Treasure

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

Last week we looked at the Dental Department “Earthquake Class” of 1906. This week we have another unique dentistry story. It involves feuding faculty, buried treasure, and a surprise discovery!

The Dental Department / College of Dentistry of the University of California was established in 1881. San Francisco practitioner Samuel W. Dennis, MD, DDS, was instrumental in its founding; he gathered support from Medical Department faculty, corresponded with other dental programs in the country to create a curriculum, and recruited dental instructors. He served as the first dean of the school from 1881-1882 and was later reappointed, serving from 1883-1885.

Samuel W. Dennis

Disagreements concerning curriculum and the school’s administration quickly developed between Dennis and his fellow dental faculty members. Tensions continued to mount for the next fifteen years until a disgruntled Dennis left the college in 1896.

First faculty of the Dental Department, 1882. AR 2015-4 SOD records, box 1

When Dennis left, he took with him a number of the school’s early records, including receipts, announcements, lecture notes, and examples of course requirements and examinations. Apparently, he then buried the material in a lead box under a grove of eucalyptus trees in South San Francisco. When Dennis died in 1906 (some accounts say 1907) he had never revealed the exact location of the records.

From the “Treasure Chest” contents: Anatomy test, 1891. AR 2015-4 SOD records, box 1

In 1929, as workers were excavating an area on which the Bayshore Highway was to be constructed, they uncovered a heavy box. Inside they found old documents labeled “Dental Department of the University of California.” Luckily, one of the workers recognized the potential value of the discovery and returned the material to the university. Dean Guy S. Millberry began investigating the papers and came to the conclusion that they had to be the missing Dennis material.

From the “Treasure Chest” contents: Freshman student course requirements, undated. AR 2015-4 SOD records, box 1

The box came to be known as the “Treasure Chest.” Today, the box and its surviving contents are housed in the UCSF Archives and Special Collections as part of the School of Dentistry records, AR 2015-4.

– Sources for this post include a 1997 School of Dentistry history booklet titled “The Early Days,” published by the University of California. The booklet is available to researchers in the School of Dentistry records, AR 2015-4.

Dentistry “Earthquake Class” of 1906

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

On April 18, 1906, a massive earthquake struck San Francisco. UC facilities in the city sustained serious damage, including the destruction of the clinical teaching lab of the School of Dentistry (then called the College of Dentistry / Dental Department). As the college began to reestablish teaching activities following the disaster, dentistry faculty considered how best to manage the would-be graduating class of 1906.

College of Dentistry class of 1906. AR 2015-4 SOD records

Though further instruction immediately following the earthquake was not possible and many of the department’s student records were destroyed, the faculty ultimately decided to recommend the class of 1906 for graduation. As Dentistry Dean and Professor Guy S. Millberry noted in his key to the class photograph, the students “graduated after the Earthquake April 18 without examination.”

Guy Millberry key to the "earthquake class" photo, 1906. AR 2015-4 SOD records

Guy Millberry key to the 1906 “earthquake class” photo. AR 2015-4 SOD records

Look closely at the class photograph above and you’ll notice a surprising detail: a skull in the second row (click on the image to enlarge). Millberry even includes a sketch of the skull in his key, noting its identity is unknown.

Click here to learn more about how the Affiliated Colleges (later UCSF) responded to the earthquake. The School of Dentistry records, AR 2015-4, include a number of early dentistry photographs and historical documents. Please contact us if you would like to view the material.

UCSF Mobile Dental Clinic

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

We’re spotlighting two images of the Mobile Dental Clinic on display now in our exhibit Many Faces, One UCSF at the UCSF Library.

The UCSF Mobile Dental Clinic program originated in the mid-1960s. Led by dental faculty including Dr. Marvin Stark, the program provided care to underserved communities in California. Today, the Mobile Dental Clinic’s tradition of service continues with the School of Dentistry externships, a program that provides practical training for dental students and patient care to California’s rural and underserved communities.

Children in line in front of the Mobile Dental Clinic, 1966. Photograph collection

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Mobile Dental Clinic treated patients in California’s Central Valley, including migrant farm workers and their children. Dentists, students, and other health care professionals traveled from site to site in buses outfitted with equipment and supplies.

Inside the Mobile Dental Clinic, 1974. Photograph collection

The work of Mobile Dental Clinic practitioners inspired students, including UCSF Dental Alumni Association Medal of Honor winner Nelson Artiga-Diaz. Artiga-Diaz would later become Assistant Dean for Community Clinics and help build the externship program.

Learn more about Artiga-Diaz and the UCSF School of Dentistry externship program here.

New Exhibit: Many Faces, One UCSF

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

Visit the 3^rd floor of the UCSF Library and view our new exhibit, Many Faces, One UCSF: Celebrating 150 Years of Innovation, Education, and Care.

The exhibit is free and open to the public now through May 31, 2016. View rare medical artifacts and unique photographs from our collections and learn how UCSF has pioneered health science education, research, and patient care for over 150 years.

School of Pharmacy case. The exhibit includes cases dedicated to each of the four schools: School of Pharmacy, School of Nursing, School of Medicine, and School of Dentistry

UCSF Educates case. The exhibit includes cases dedicated to the UCSF mission of education, innovation, service, and care.

UCSF Educates case. The exhibit includes cases dedicated to the university’s missions of education, innovation, service, and care.

Visit the companion online exhibit here: Many Faces, One UCSF

We’re excited to share our collections with the public and proud to be a part of UCSF.

Professor of Prosthodontia photographs, early 1900s

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Maggie Hughes

William Fuller Sharp, DMD, DDS, was the first alumni of the Dental Department of the Affiliated Colleges of the University of California (later UCSF School of Dentistry) to be placed on the faculty– where he remained for over fifty years. Sharp joined the school as an instructor in 1894, later becoming Professor of Mechanical Dentistry in 1899, Professor of Prosthetic Dentistry, Professor of Clinical Prosthodontia, and Professor of Prosthodontia, Emeritus in 1921. Sharp served as Acting Dean from 1926-1927 while Guy S. Millberry was on leave.

WF Sharp, Photograph collection, undated

Above, Sharp with dental prostheses, undated.

WF Sharp, Photograph collection, 1906

WF Sharp’s office, operating room, April 18, 1906.