Exploring the Archives for 150: UCSF Black Caucus

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Kelsi Evans

In preparation for UCSF’s 150^th anniversary celebration exhibits, we’ve been doing a bit of exploring in the vaults. For the next several months, I’ll be posting some of the treasures we’ve discovered!

In honor of Black History Month, we’re highlighting the UCSF Black Caucus, 1968-1982. The Black Caucus was formed at UCSF in May 1968, a month after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. As stated in the organization’s bylaws, the caucus was “a forum open to all black men and women on campus. Here they may openly express themselves regarding matters of race as they affect life on the campus and the community.”

Flyer for a Black Caucus event commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr., 1981. MSS 85-38, box 2, folder 45

The caucus engaged in a variety of civil rights initiatives and social justice projects. Members fought to increase minority student admissions, supported custodial and technical staff in labor disputes, and campaigned for more diverse hiring at all levels of the university. They shared personal stories, event updates, and project achievements in a newsletter named the Black Bulletin.

June 1971 edition of the Black Bulletin, created by the Black Caucus. MSS 85-38, box 2, folder 41b

Draft of the cover of the June 1971 edition of the Black Bulletin, created by members of the Black Caucus. MSS 85-38, box 2, folder 41b

Notable UCSF figures helped found and lead the Black Caucus. For instance, UCSF Medal winner Joanne Lewis served as one of the organization’s first chairpersons and organized the publication of the Black Bulletin. Lewis became the first Affirmative Action Coordinator at UCSF and was later named Assistant Vice Chancellor for Capital Projects and Facilities Management. Lewis mentored students throughout her career and advocated for the advancement of women of color at UCSF.

Joanne Lewis

Black Caucus efforts supported a legacy of public service and community involvement at the university. For example, following the death of civil rights activist and UCSF pharmacology professor Dr. Thomas Burbridge in 1972, the caucus proposed that one of the Chancellor’s Public Service Awards be named in his honor. Chancellor Philip Lee approved the proposal and today the Burbridge Award recognizes university individuals whose activities promote social justice and enable equal access to education and employment.

A memorial to Dr. Thomas Burbridge on the back cover of the October 1972 edition of the Black Bulletin, created by members of the Black Caucus. MSS 85-38, carton 1, folder 41a

The passion and dedication of Black Caucus members helped shape UCSF’s commitment to diversity and equal opportunity. To learn more about the organization, register to see the Black Caucus records, MSS 85-38. You can also check out the papers of Dr. Thomas Burbridge, MSS 79-4.

Through the Eyes of an Intern

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

Hi everyone, my name is Armani Fontanilla and I am an undergraduate student at the University of San Francisco interning at the UCSF Archives & Special Collections.

At the archives, I am currently tasked with the processing of small box collections, or the creation of box level inventories and the digitizing, and creation of, metadata for the archives that have yet to be placed into the virtual catalog. Other projects that I am potentially tasked with are research for the upcoming 150^th Anniversary of UCSF on the level of researching stories, scanning images, and looking for documents, as well as helping with the vast inventory of the Medical Artifacts collection.

It’s restricted for a reason. We can’t reveal why. All you need to know is Maggie has the really cool “restricted” stamp. It’s actually really cool.

And wow is our inventory big… Get it? Because the texts are big?

Even though the potential projects are only potential projects, my senior co-workers, Maggie and Kelsi have both taught me a lot in the projects that I am currently working on. For example, Kelsi has taught me about her work with the Medical Artifacts collection: How the UCSF catalogs have changed from one form to another, and that cross-referencing catalogs with each new edition that has come through the library archives since 1864, one also has to decipher the writings and annotations of previous archivists, as well as come up with new ways to reorganize the collections in our possession.

Maggie, on the other hand, has taught me how to do the projects that I am currently doing, as opposed to the potential projects that Kelsi lets me shadow every so often. She has taught me proper labeling procedure, and storage techniques, as well as projects that mirror the one that Kelsi is currently doing, which would be creating catalogs for documents in storage.

Cataloging kind of like this, but more modern.

Finally, the first project (that I am still working on when I’m not being taught by Maggie or Kelsi, is the creation of a digital inventory of UCSF affiliates and members. Fortunately, most of the physical inventory is in English, and it is all on-site. Unfortunately, the physical inventory itself is not backed up – folders that are not archival standard need to be replaced, labels need to be printed out because of the inconsistent handwriting of previous archivists (and this intern’s), and more files need to be created for the ever expanding role of UCSF affiliated persons who are recognized in the news worldwide – from China, to America, to Brazil, to the Philippines, UCSF’s impact on the world is growing. And my first, and current job, is to help sort the files so that we can keep track of them for people to use and peruse in the future.

Before this data can hit the internet, I need make sure they’re all in order.

Within these jumbled folders, however, lie treasures that I am so excited to find. While often the files just contain one or two articles, some contain as many as ten plus! And these articles are often varied – they come in the form of obituaries, photocopied documents, magazine clippings, newspaper articles, biographies, and more! But instead of letting me describe them, let me show you some examples.

A button with 1989 Nobel Prize Winners Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus.

Brown, Leatha. School of Nursing, Class of 1928.

Holt A. Cheng, 1904. He was the first Chinese to be licensed to practice medicine in California after graduating from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco. After returning to China, he established the Guang Hua Medical Society, the first medical college of western medicine established by the Chinese, for the Chinese, and the first medical school to accept female applicants.

And finally, the UCSF archives are not only home to just Western schools of thought in medicine, but include Eastern Thought as well. On site and in a state-of-the art archival room, various Eastern texts in Chinese and Japanese are stored, either purchased by the Head Archivist, donated to UCSF, or willed by their owners.

Chinese medical texts in the archival room.

Japanese medical texts.

Armani Fontanilla

Armani is currently a senior majoring in History with an emphasis on European and Asian Studies in the University of San Francisco (USF) public history program. After he graduates, he hopes to be able to earn a teaching position at his old high school, Bellarmine College Preparatory, and eventually pursue a Masters. In choosing the UCSF archives through the USF internship program, he hopes to not only practice skills that can only be found through working at an established institution but to also enhance his ability to do archival work and explore history of Western medicine at the archives.

Dentistry demonstration photograph series, circa 1900

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

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.

1920’s Medical Crossword Puzzle Answers

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

No spoilers here. Click through to see the answers.

If you haven’t seen the crossword puzzles, yet, check out the previous post on the Children’s Hospital of San Francisco Alumnae Association collection.

Continue reading →

Recent Accession: Children’s Hospital, San Francisco Nursing School

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

We’ve recently acquired a collection from the Children’s Hospital of San Francisco Nurses’ Alumnae Association, MSS 2006-17. Let’s break that down.

Children’s Hospital of San Francisco Training School for Nurses Little Jim yearbook, 1925, page 45, MSS 2006-17.

The California Pacific Medical Center’s historical timeline and UCSF History site prove quite useful for untangling this history. In 1875 the Pacific Dispensary for Women and Children was founded in San Francisco. It underwent a name change and became, more recognizably, the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Under the leadership of the pioneering Dr. Charlotte Blake Brown (1846-1904) in 1882, the hospital began offering a two-year training program for nurses– the first official of its kind on the West Coast. And in 1887, it finds a new home at the intersection of California & Maple streets. At this point, “the two-story hospital has 25 private rooms, open wards, a cow barn, chicken yard, and laundry. Total cost, with furniture and equipment: $26,000.” The University of California Medical School (that’s us– UCSF!) begins partnering with Children’s Hospital in 1915 to teach medical students.

Group of nursing students, circa 1925, MSS 2006-17.

Which brings us just to about the time period of this collection. Donated by the granddaughter of Ruth Steuben, an alumna of the Children’s Hospital Training School for Nurses, the material covers the education of Steuben, roughly 1925-1929, and includes class notes, yearbooks, photographs, and a uniform apron. Digital copies of Steuben’s school records as well as photographs and letters from the mothers of children nursed by Steuben soon after her graduation are also included. Below, a photograph of Ruth with her graduating class, December 1927, from the Little Jim yearbook.

Class of December 1927, including Ruth Steuben. Children’s Hospital of San Francisco Training School for Nurses Little Jim yearbook, 1926, page 22, MSS 2006-17.

And a photograph of many of the same students at a nursing school reunion event in May 1948.

Reunion of nursing school graduates, May 1948, MSS 2006-17.

And now, for your further enjoyment: crossword puzzles! The 1948 Little Jim yearbook includes not one, but two crossword puzzles. The first was created by Adelaide Brown, M.D. (1868-1933) who was the daughter of Dr. Charlotte Blake Brown– both were longtime activists for women and children’s health.

Crossword puzzle by Adelaide Brown, M.D. Children’s Hospital of San Francisco Training School for Nurses Little Jim yearbook, 1925, page 48, MSS 2006-17.

Crossword puzzle. Children’s Hospital of San Francisco Training School for Nurses Little Jim yearbook, 1925, page 50, MSS 2006-17.

Please see our other collections regarding the Children’s Hospital of San Francisco Nursing School Alumnae Association, MSS 89-20 and MSS 91-101. Read more about Dr. Charlotte Blake Brown in this fascinating article, The San Francisco Experiment: Female Medical Practitioners Caring for Women and Children, 1875-1932, by Meredith Eliassen and published online in Gender Forum.

Moving Mementos, 1930-1938

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

Take a quick 7 minute break to watch this newly digitized and previously rarely seen footage we presented at last night’s Bay Area Video Coalition’s (BAVC) program– Video Capsule: Treasures from Bay Area Archives! UCSF’s contribution was this amalgamation of clips from “moving memento” films of the 1930s. For a time the UCSF School of Medicine had a tradition of creating these dynamic mementos of each class of students of staff. The films are comprised of faculty and staff introductions and a variety of candid scenes around campus and in the hospitals.

[iframe src=”https://archive.org/embed/UCSFMovingMementos” width=”640″ height=”480″ frameborder=”0″ webkitallowfullscreen=”true” mozallowfullscreen=”true” allowfullscreen]

Or watch the video on the Internet Archive.

May 27th VIDEO CAPSULE: Treasures from Bay Area Archives

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

Join us next Tuesday, May 27th, at the Exploratorium at 7pm to take in some rarely seen audiovisual treasures from local archives– including some of our own! UCSF’s contribution is an amalgamation of clips from “moving memento” films of the 1930s. For a time the UCSF School of Medicine began a tradition of creating these dynamic mementos of each class of students of staff. The films are comprised of faculty and staff introductions and a variety of candid scenes around campus and in the hospitals.

Here is more information from the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), and do note that while the program is free there is a link to RSVP:

WHAT: Video Capsule: Treasures from Bay Area Archives
WHERE: Exploratorium, Pier 15: Kanbar Forum. Please enter the Exploratorium through the historic Pier 15 Bulkhead located directly on the Embarcadero.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 27 at 7PM
ADMISSION: Free

Join Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) Preservation program staff for an evening of video preservation revelry. Anchored by recent selections from BAVC’s Preservation Access Program*, tonight’s program includes archivist favorites, unexpected gems, and rarely seen treats from artists and arts organization participants from the program as well as friends from other Bay Area preservation organizations– including Stanford Media Preservation Lab, San Francisco Media Archive, UCSF Archives, the GLBT Historical Society and California Audiovisual Preservation Project. We invite you to join us as we share recent, prized work, making for a congenial celebration of archival craft and our media legacy.

Co-presented with BAVC by the Exploratorium Cinema Arts.

Let us know you’re coming. RSVP here.

Please note: there will be no Museum access during this program. Join the Exploratorium during adult evening hours on May 29th, 6-10pm, which will include a film screening co-curated by Walter Forsberg and Exploratorium Cinema Arts.

*The Preservation Access Program is made possible through the generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Celebrating National Nurses’ Day (May 6) and National Nurses’ Week (May 6-12)

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

Happy National Nurses’ Day! Here’s a selection of a few of our favorite images of nurses from the UCSF Historic Photograph Collection. For more images, check out our Digital Collections.

Moffitt Hospital Nurses’ Station, circa 1970s

UC Nurses, World War I, Base Hospital # 30

Nurses at the 30th General Hospital, June 1943

Tuberculosis service, circa 1930s

Three UC Nurses-- Rigney, Dubois, and Catton-- in the nursery with infants an unidentified man in 1912.

Three UC Nurses– Rigney, Dubois, and Catton– in the nursery with infants an unidentified man, 1912

UCSF School Of Nursing students watching TV in the Nursing Dorm, circa 1955

UCSF School of Nursing students in the Nursing Dorm archway, circa 1950s

UCSF School of Nursing class in Toland Hall, 1941

Women’s History Month: The first female graduates of UCSF

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

March is Women’s History Month and, in keeping with the spirit, we’d like to honor a few of the trailblazing women in UCSF’s history.

Portrait of Lucy Field Wanzer

Lucy Field Wanzer became the first woman to graduate from UCSF, then officially known as the Medical Department of the University of California, in 1876. Lucy grew up in Wisconsin and cared for her mother who had tuberculosis during her childhood. This early and significant exposure to the field of medicine convinced Wanzer that she wanted to become a doctor. The family later moved to California, where Lucy fought for the right to realize her dream– her initial application to the University of California program was rejected based on gender. After a lengthy appeals process, she was accepted and the regents adopted a resolution stating that “young women offering themselves for admission and passing the required examination must be received to all the privileges of the Medical Department.”

Medical Department of the University of California, Class of 1876

At the time, a few medical schools on the East Coast had admitted and graduated female students, but none in the West. For the fifty years following Wanzer’s graduation, female students comprised approximately 10% of UCSF medical graduates in the midst of a 4% national average.

Much more has been written about Wanzer elsewhere. For more information, check out the History of UCSF website, this article by a current School of Medicine student, or this extensive paper by a UCSF School of Medicine alumnus.

Blue and Gold, 1890, page 33

The next woman to breakdown gender barriers in a UCSF school was Maria Angelina Burch who graduated from the College of Dentistry in 1883. Maria grew up in nearby Pescadero, CA. Burch passed away at the age of 27, just five years after receiving her dental degree. Her obituary, on right, published in the 1890 Blue and Gold, the annual for all of the University of California, refers to Burch as the Dental Department’s ambitious and intelligent “pioneer lady graduate.” Burch established a private practice in San Francisco in 1884 which prospered quickly. She was described as “fast climbing the hill to fame and fortune” at the time of her death.

The Graduate, 1912, page 60

Following closely on Burch’s heels was Josephine Eugenia Barbat in the College of Pharmacy class of 1884. Barbat was a native San Franciscan. University records in the 1890’s show that after graduation, Josephine became an instructor of Botany within the College of Pharmacy– no doubt one of the first women to teach the subject, as well. Not quite satisfied, Barbat went on to graduate from the College of Medicine in 1903. She’s listed in the 1904 Directory of Physicians and Surgeons as having a practice at 1310 Folsom St. The 1912 issue of The Graduate, the College of Pharmacy’s annual at the time, features a photograph of Josephine as the President of W.P.A.P.C. (the Women’s Pharmaceutical Association of the Pacific Coast).

The creation of the Training School for Nurses within the University of California in 1907 also served to up the number of women in the field of medicine. Two years later, the school produced its first graduate, Lillian Cohen, pictured below in the unique white mortarboard cap and square blue and gold pin.

Lillian Cohen, 1909

A three-year nursing degree was standard at the time in the Nursing program, and the following year the University of California graduated its first full class.

Training School for Nurses, Class of 1910

Training School for Nurses of the University of California, Class of 1910

Today, UCSF celebrates the diversity of its students, staff, and community in many different ways. In 2012, 54% of all incoming students were female. Do you have a favorite woman in UCSF history? Let us know!

Nursing students in the 1920s: Clara & Vivian Edmonston

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Maggie Hughes

Clara Edmonston and Vivian Coats met as nursing students at UCSF in the 1920s. We have small collections from both women– MSS 2011-14 Vivian Coats (Edmonston) papers and MSS 2013-9 Clara Edmonston papers. The collections are full of insights into the lives of the two women in nursing school and as working nurses in the 1920s. Much of the collections is correspondence and documentation of their work, allowing the reader to hear Clara and Vivian’s voices and get to know them a bit.

Clara Edmonston, 1924.

Vivian Coats (Edmonston), 1923.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Frances Edmonston, daughter of Vivian and niece of Clara, and she elaborated on their stories. Clara and Vivian were friends in nursing school and Clara had the idea to introduce Vivian (nee Coats) to her brother, Charles Edmonston. The match was a success– Vivian and Charles later married. Vivian finished her BS in Nursing in 1923, Clara in 1924. Vivian later went on to graduate in 1927 with a certificate in Public Health Nursing and continued to work in public health-related nursing roles in the Bay Area.

Vivian took care to save items that she felt represented her nursing career. She saved notes, newspaper clippings, official forms, correspondence, reports, and other memorabilia.

Vivian’s notes for making Poison Oak Lotion.

Vivian’s notes on the incubation period of infectious diseases.

She worked in a number of nursing capacities to help underserved populations. In 1929 Vivian was employed by the Red Cross in Willows, CA to provide Itinerant Nurse Service. Newspaper clippings collected by Vivian document the work that she accomplished and positive effect she had on the town.

In an April 30, 1929 report to the Red Cross on her work’s progress, Vivian wrote that “in the Willows Grammar School [she] examined 555 children and found 876 defects. These defects included faulty vision, carious teeth, throat abnormalities, skin eruptions, enlarged lymph nodes or glands in the necks, and those more than 10% underweight or 20% overweight.” Furthermore, she goes on to say that she “visited 19 rural schools examining a total of 392 children and found 837 abnormalities. Notice the greater number of defects in proportion to the number of children. If statistics are of any value as an indicator and guide, they surely point to the rural districts as needing prevention and correction of defects and health education.” A number of students were found to be in need of tonsillectomies and candidly she says, “I know many of the teachers will be relieved, next Fall, to see fewer mouth breathers and more nose breathers.”

Page 1 of newspaper clippings from Willows from February 16-May 1, 1929.

Vivian is very clear about the services that must be improved in the schools and the communities to have a positive impact on the health of the residents. Her recommendations include follow-up home visits, new outhouses at schools, bacteriological examination of drinking water, and updated health and anatomy curriculum in schools.

During my conversation with Frances she called my attention to the work Vivian did with vaccinations, which serves to illuminate some of the larger public issues of the early 20th century. For one position Vivian was loaned a model T Ford and hired to investigate cases of diphtheria. In the event that the presence of the disease was confirmed, Vivian had to put a quarantine sign on door of the home. Other duties included vaccinating children for diphtheria and small pox in the San Leandro area– which, it seems, were controversial among the parents. Vivian saved many of the notes from parents concerning the vaccinations.

Page 1 of a letter from a parent to the school teacher concerning vaccinations, circa 1934.

Page 2 of the letter from a parent to the school teacher concerning vaccinations, circa 1934.

A close-up of the portion of the letter discussing the diphtheria vaccination, circa 1934.

This History of Vaccines timeline provides a bit of context for Vivian’s work. Around 1922, many schools began requiring the students to be vaccinated for smallpox before they could attend. Similarly new diphtheria immunizations were introduced in the 1920s (and are credited with virtually wiping the disease out of the United States). Furthermore, it notes that in 1926 opposition to mandatory vaccinations was growing among the public. The same argument is echoing in many communities today.

Page of parents requesting that their children not be vaccinated at school, 1933-1934.

Brought to Light

Stories from UCSF Archives & Special Collections

Tag Archives: UCSF history