Commemorating UCSF Dental Alumni WWI Veterans

In honor of Veterans’ Day this year, we bring you a scrapbook from our collection, titled Dental College Alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919. The scrapbook is filled with letters written to Dr. Guy S. Millberry by both former and on-leave students during their military service. Millberry began working at UCSF in 1906, was appointed Professor in 1910, and became Dean of Dentistry in 1914– a role he continued in for twenty-five years.

The collected letters were written from a variety of places– Camp Greenleaf, GA; Camp Fremont, CA; Vancouver, WA; Royat, France; Oakland, CA; Camp MacArthur, TX; San Pedro, CA; Camp Lewis, WA; Khabarovsk, Siberia; New York, NY; Fort D.A. Russell, WY; Camp Greene, NC; Camp Shelby, MS; Camp Lee, VA; La Ferte, France. They were sent from forts, camps, ships, submarines, and hospitals. Most of the the letters are handwritten, a few are typewritten.

Dental College alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

Dental College Alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

 

The soldiers ask Dr. Millberry for letters of recommendation, job advice, proof of graduation, if their leave of absence will be honored or extended to allow them return to school after the war ends, and give updates on their lives. One soldier, who wrote on September 21, 1918, included a copy his records detailing the dental work he did in one week.

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Dental College Alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

A graduate of the 1917 UC College of Dentistry class, Edwin Busse, wrote a letter on October 18, 1918 from his station in Paimboeuf, France that included several photographs (the letter is transcribed in full at the end of this post). Busse is pictured in the 1917 Blue and Gold UC yearbook as a member of the Psi Omega dentistry fraternity. Below, a photograph of the Arch de Triumph in Paris, France. The caption reads: “Note how French have protected statue on right with sandbags.”

Dental College alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

Dental College Alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

Included with same letter, a photograph of a “portable dental outfit.”

Dental College alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

Dental College Alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

As well as a photograph of a “dental office at Paimboeuf.”

Dental College alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

Dental College Alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

 

Clark R. Giles received his Degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery from UC in 1914 and had been an instructor in Prosthetic Dentistry here before serving in World War I. He wrote a detailed letter to Millbery on on October 7, 1918 from Royat, France describing the work that goes on at Base Hospital 30, the war, his recent leave, and even mentions Busse.

 

Dental College alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

Dental College Alumni Serving in the First World War, 1917-1919 scrapbook

Royat France
Oct 7, 1918

My dear Dr. Millberry:

I have been a long time in writing to you but rest assured it is not because I have not thought many times of you and of the University.

We are located in Royat near Claremont-Ferrand a city of 60 thousand. We have the hospital well established in 17 or 18 summer hotels and at present have a little more than 1700 patients and within a few months expect to be able to care for 3 thousand if necessary.

Our department is very comfortably (not lavishly, naturally) equipped and just at present we are five dentists and six assistants. However we expect to lose our extra help ere long but in all probabilities they will be replaced by men from incoming organizations. We are kept very busy for example last month we saw some 650 patients and we try to have each man who comes in, go out with his mouth in a completed condition. We naturally have a great amount of routine work to do but mixed with it are also numerous very interesting wound and fracture cases from which we learn a great deal in the surgical and fracture line. All cases involving facial or other structures than the jaws or teeth are as you probably know handled in conjunction with the surgical department.

Click through to read the rest of the letter written by Giles followed by the letter from Busse that included the photographs, written to Millberry a week later than Giles’, also from France.  Continue reading

History Exhibit at UCSF’s 150th Anniversary Block Party 8

We had a great time at UCSF’s Block Party, held October 8th on the Mission Bay campus. The event celebrated the university’s growth over the past 150 years and featured live music, food, and entertainment.

The archives team in a Wells Fargo stagecoach at the Block Party. UCSF founder Hugh Toland reportedly used the company’s services in the mid-nineteenth century to transport pharmaceuticals to patients throughout California.

The archives team in a Wells Fargo stagecoach at the Block Party. UCSF founder Hugh Toland reportedly used the company’s services in the mid-nineteenth century to transport pharmaceuticals to patients throughout California.

We organized an exhibit for the event that highlighted key moments and individuals from UCSF’s rich history. The displays featured artifacts and photos from the Archives and Special Collections, including Hugh Toland’s surgical instruments, a student nurse’s uniform, Guy Millberry’s dental equipment, and pharmacist William Searby’s brand-name medications.

School of Medicine artifacts

School of Medicine artifacts. UCSF founders Richard Cole and Hugh Toland are pictured along with Lucy Wanzer, UCSF’s first female graduate.

We also brought duplicate copies of UCSF’s student yearbooks and invited visitors to flip through them. One woman found a wild picture of her dentist from when he was a student in 1985!

School of Nursing artifacts

School of Nursing artifacts. Margaret Tracy and nursing students are pictured. Tracy served as director and dean of the UCSF School of Nursing from 1934-1956

School of Pharmacy artifacts

School of Pharmacy and School of Dentistry artifacts. William Searby and Guy Millberry are pictured. Searby helped found the California College of Pharmacy in 1872 and later served as dean of the School of Pharmacy. Millberry served as Dean of Dentistry from 1914-1939.

It was a lot of fun to share our collections. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the exhibit.

Dentistry demonstration photograph series, circa 1900

Walter French Lillard, Anna Christina, and Frank Wagner, 1901. UCSF Hsitoric Photograph Collection, GO-GZ.

Walter French Lillard, Anna Christina Frank Wagner, and Maurice Louis Green, 1901. UCSF Historic Photograph Collection, GO-GZ.

This photograph is comprised of four images of what appears to be a dentistry school demonstration– there seems to be too much smiling going on for a real procedure. Walter French Lillard (mustachioed) of Dixon, California; Maurice Louis Green of Alameda, California; and Anna Christina Frank Wagner of Austin, Nevada graduated from the College of Dentistry in the class of 1901.

See more of UCSF’s Historic Photographs here.

Additions to the Catalog

As always, we’ve been working to make more and more collections accessible for research. The following are additions to the catalog over the past few months. Subject highlights include UCSF history, neurology, tobacco control, and stem cell research.

Contact us if you have any questions or would like to learn more. Don’t hesitate to use the calendar on the right to make an appointment to use collections!

AR 2002-18 University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine — Office of the Dean videotape collection, 1991-2003: Videotapes of lecture series, including Dean’s Research Seminar Series (DRSS), Galante lectures, and other special lectures/symposia. Also includes State of the School addresses, faculty meetings, academic senate meetings, award ceremonies.

AR 2012-12 University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry records, 1952-1982: The papers of the UCSF School of Dentistry include: Newsletters of the Alumni Association of the University of California College of Dentistry, 1952-1980; Programs of the annual meeting of the Alumni Association of the University of California College of Dentistry, 1956-1977; Alumni Association of the University of California College of Dentistry by-laws and directory, 1974, 1981; CSEA UCSF Newsletter, 1956-1958; UCSF Alumni Association newsletter, 1982; UCSF magazine, 1982 Medi-Cal yearbooks; 2 photographs of School of Dentistry faculty and employees.

MSS 2010-16 Guenter B. Risse papers, 1987-2009: Papers relate to Risse’s research for his book “Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals” (Oxford, 1999). Materials include one binder with the original illustrations collected for the book, two folders with information about the origins of the illustrations and permissions to publish them, and one folder with correspondence and book reviews.

AR 2011-13 University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, Master’s Entry Program in Nursing records, 1988-1991: The collection contains materials relating to the UCSF School of Nursing Master’s Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN) dated from 1988-1991. Papers include grants, clippings, promotional materials, various records from the program ranging from development to accreditation.

MSS 2011-18 Rheba Fradkin (de Tornyay) papers, 1946-1954: Collection includes photographs, nursing school application, reference letters, and clippings pertaining to Mount Zion School of Nursing graduate Rheba Fradkin (de Tornyay), the nursing school yearbooks, issues of NOIZ and Bib & Apron (1953-1954), announcements, pamphlets and recruitment brochures.

AR 2013-02 University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine Office of the Dean records, 1999-2012: Records include photographs, negatives, slides, contact sheets, CDs, and DVDs from the School of Medicine Dean’s office.

MSS 2012-29 Marilyn Reed Lucia film, 2012: The collection contains the film “Steadfast Purpose: the Life of Marilyn Reed Lucia, MD,” produced by Arc Light Digital Media in association with UCSF in 2012. The film chronicles the life of Dr. Lucia, graduate of UCSF Medical School– first in medicine, then in psychiatry– who taught and practiced at UCSF as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry for more than forty years. The film begins in the 1950s and continues throughout Lucia’s life.

AR 2011-04 UCSF School of Medicine, Class of 1963 Alumni collection, 2009-2013: Collection includes the newsletter founded and edited by UCSF School of Medicine alumnus Robert Sherins, M.D. issues 2009-1013, and the 50th Reunion Memory Book for his class of 1963.

AR 2007-09 Renee Reijo Pera laboratory notebooks, 1996-2007: Collection contains the papers of Dr. Renee Reijo Pera’s laboratory. Materials include laboratory notebooks and research data. Dr. Renee Reijo Pera performed embryonic stem cell research and established UCSF’s embryonic stem cell program in 2003. She was the UCSF co-director of the human embryonic stem cell research center, and director of the training program funded through the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

AR 2003-23 Dorothy Bainton papers, 1970-2012: Records from the UCSF Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs office relate to the tenure of Dr. Dorothy Bainton. Materials include records from the Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (CACSW); files from the UCSF League of Women; other materials related to the status of women at UCSF; a copy of “Report on Ishi’s treatment at the University of California, 1911-1916;” materials related to the Distinguished Alumnus Lecture presented by Dr. Bainton at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry in 2012.

AR 2013-23 University of California, San Francisco. Metabolic Research Unit collection, 1966: Collection contains materials that relate to the UCSF Metabolic Research Unit (MRU) and includes four photograph prints depicting employees and researchers of the MRU and the inauguration ceremony and a 1966 School of Medicine Alumni-Faculty Association bulletin with an article about the history of the MRU from 1950-1966.

MSS 2013-20 Melvin M. Belli Tobacco Control papers, 1950-1999: Professional papers of Melvin M. Belli (1907-1996), a high-profile attorney in San Francisco, California, relate to actual and potential litigation matters pursued by Mr. Belli and colleagues against tobacco companies. Materials consist of various court filings, media clippings, correspondence, memoranda, publications, and others.

AR 2003-13 Department of Neurological Surgery records, 1958-2000: Records from the UCSF Department of Neurological Surgery include: publications, reports, correspondence, pamphlets, brochures, photographs, videotapes, and films.

MSS 97-04 Howard C. Naffziger papers, 1907-1983: The personal and professional papers of Howard Naffziger include correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, ephemera, certificates, military orders, notes, diaries, and artifacts. Subjects matters include Dr. Naffziger’s military experience in World War I and II, biographical information, his experiences at UCSF and his instrumental role in neurological surgery, and other work-related information.