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Oswald T. Avery Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 497

Abstract

Artificial collection of primarily secondary research materials and photocopies of originals from the Rockefeller Archive Center assembled by Avery's colleague Joshua Lederberg. Avery's career focused on a "systematic effort to understand the biological activities of pathogenic bacteria through a knowledge of their chemical composition," focusing most of his research on a single species of pneumococcus, Diplococcus pneumoniae. The collection falls roughly into two parts: items related to the discovery of the transforming principle and items related to the discovery's reception by the scientific community.

Dates

  • Creation: 1912-2005

Extent

2.6 Linear Feet (6 boxes)

Creator

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

English

Restrictions

Collection is not restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

NLM does not possess copyright to the collection. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Biographical Note

Oswald Theodore Avery was born on October 21, 1877, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the child of British emigrants. When his father, a Baptist minister, was invited to become the pastor of a New York City church in 1887, the family moved to the Lower East Side. Avery attended both Colgate Academy and Colgate University, where, as a talented cornetist, he became leader of the college band. He received his A.B. in 1900. Upon graduating from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1904, Avery entered general practice. In 1907, however, frustrated by medicine's inability to help some patients, he moved to laboratory work at the Hoagland Laboratory (Brooklyn), the first privately endowed bacteriological research institute in the country. Here Avery established what René J. Dubos has called the pattern of his career - the "systematic effort to understand the biological activities of pathogenic bacteria through a knowledge of their chemical composition."

Avery came to the attention of Rufus Cole, the director of the Hospital of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, through his paper on secondary infections in pulmonary tuberculosis. Founded in 1910, the Hospital aimed to further medical research by enabling researchers to pursue laboratory and clinical investigations of the diseases treated in the hospital's wards. One of Cole's goals was to develop a therapeutic serum--like that which had been developed for diphtheria--for pneumonia, and to this end he asked Avery to join the Hospital's pneumonia research program. Avery moved to the Rockefeller Institute in 1913, where he focused most of his research for the next 35 years on a single species of pneumococcus, Diplococcus pneumoniae.

During World War I, Avery applied for the U.S. Army Medical Corps, but was rejected because he was still a Canadian citizen. He was accepted as a private, which qualified him for naturalization, and eventually commissioned a captain. Avery's wartime duties included instructing Army medical officers in the diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia. The work of his lab also extended during this period to research on respiratory diseases of interest to the military, such as influenza and secondary pneumonic infections.

After becoming a member emeritus at the Rockefeller Institute in 1943, Avery continued his research there until 1948. He then moved to Nashville to be closer to his brother, Roy Avery, a bacteriologist at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. He died in Nashville on 20 February 1955 at the age of 77.

Avery achieved many honors during his career. He served as president of the American Association of Immunologists, the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists, and the Society of American Bacteriologists. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a member of a number of foreign learned societies, including the Royal Society of London. He received honorary degrees from McGill University, New York University, the University of Chicago, and Rutgers University, as well as awards from organizations such as the American Public Health Association, the Royal Society of London, the American College of Physicians, the Association of American Physicians, and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Brief Chronology
  • 1887 Father moves family to New York City
  • 1900 Receives A.B. from Colgate University
  • 1904 Receives M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University practices medicine (general surgery) in New York City
  • 1907-13 Associate Director, Hoagland Laboratory, Brooklyn (works with Benjamin White)
  • 1913-48 Career at Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research [RIMR]
  • 1913 Becomes Assistant, Department of Hospital (October)
  • 1915 Becomes Associate, Department of Hospital (July 1st)
  • 1917 Works with Alphonse R. Dochez; serves in the US Army Medical Corps
  • 1918 Becomes a US citizen
  • 1919 Becomes an Associate Member at RIMR (July 1st)
  • 1923 Becomes a "Member" at RIMR (July 1st); works with Michael Heidelberger
  • 1943 Becomes Emeritus Member (July 1st); remains at RIMR until 1948
  • 1944 Publishes results of research with MacLeod and McCarty on the transforming principle
  • 1945 Receives the Copley Medal from the Royal Society of London
  • 1947 Receives the Lasker Award from the American Public Health Association
  • 1948 Retires to Nashville
  • 1955 Dies in Nashville (February 20th)
  • 1965 Avery Memorial Gateway dedicated at Rockefeller University
  • 1976 René J. Dubos's The Professor, The Institute, and DNA
  • 1985 Maclyn McCarty's The Transforming Principle: Discovering that Genes Are Made of DNA
Selected Awards
  • 1921 Sc.D., Colgate University
  • 1929 American Association of Immunologists, President
  • 1932 John Phillips Memorial Award, American College of Physicians, Paul Ehrlich Gold Medal
  • 1934 American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists, President
  • 1935 LL.D., McGill University; National Academy of Sciences, Member
  • 1942 Society of American Bacteriologists, President
  • 1944 Royal Society of London, Foreign Member; Gold Medal, New York Academy of Medicine
  • 1945 Copley Medal, Royal Society of London; Kober Foundation Medal, Association of American Physicians
  • 1946 Charles Mickle Fellowship, University of Toronto
  • 1947 Sc.D., New York University; Lasker Award, American Public Health Association
  • 1949 Passano Foundation Award
  • 1950 Sc.D., University of Chicago; Pasteur Gold Medal, Swedish Medical Society, Stockholm
  • 1953 Sc.D., Rutgers University

Selected Awards

1921
Sc.D., Colgate University
1929
American Association of Immunologists, President
1932
John Phillips Memorial Award, American College of Physicians, Paul Ehrlich Gold Medal
1934
American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists, President
1935
LL.D., McGill University; National Academy of Sciences, Member
1942
Society of American Bacteriologists, President
1944
Royal Society of London, Foreign Member; Gold Medal, New York Academy of Medicine
1945
Copley Medal, Royal Society of London; Kober Foundation Medal, Association of American Physicians
1946
Charles Mickle Fellowship, University of Toronto
1947
Sc.D., New York University; Lasker Award, American Public Health Association
1949
Passano Foundation Award
1950
Sc.D., University of Chicago; Pasteur Gold Medal, Swedish Medical Society, Stockholm
1953
Sc.D., Rutgers University

Collection Summary

The collection consist of materials collected by Avery colleague Joshua Lederberg that represent the work of Oswald T. Avery. The collection comprises 2.6 linear feet of material including reprints, books, laboratory notes, correspondence, speeches, institutional reports, photographs, and audio cassettes. A significant number of items are photocopies acquired from the Rockefeller Archive Center and the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The collection is arranged chronologically. Material dated later than 1954 reflects articles, correspondence and commentary related to Avery but not generated by him. There are also various antidotal comments made by Lederberg in the 1990s and recently add material from 2005.

The collection is divided into four series centered on two themes: documents related to the discovery of the transforming principle and documents related to the discovery's reception by the scientific community. Obituaries which summarize Avery's life and work can be found in Series 1: Personal and Biographical, 1931-2000.

Series 2: Research and Discovery of the Transforming Principle, 1912-1999, is divided into three subseries: Preliminary Research, Excerpts from the Rockefeller Institute Reports, and Succeeding Research. Materials of particular interest are original lab notebook pages which document experiments in Avery's laboratory and a letter written in 1943 from Avery to his brother addressing Avery's thoughts about the discovery of the transforming principle. Also included is a copy of The Journal of Experimental Medicine's 35th anniversary reprint of Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty's article, "Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types," which was originally published in 1944.

Series 3: Commentary on Avery and His Work, 1944-2005, is divided into five subseries: Chronological, Inquiries on Avery, Lectures, Publications, and Audiovisuals and contains articles, manuscript material, and transcripts of audio recordings documenting how Avery's discovery was received and understood by the biomedical community. In Series 4: Photographs, 1923-1950, there are staff group photographs from the Rockefeller Institute Hospital and several candid snapshots of Avery.

Abstract

Artificial collection of primarily secondary research materials and photocopies of originals from the Rockefeller Archive Center assembled by Avery's colleague Joshua Lederberg. Avery's career focused on a "systematic effort to understand the biological activities of pathogenic bacteria through a knowledge of their chemical composition," focusing most of his research on a single species of pneumococcus, Diplococcus pneumoniae. The collection falls roughly into two parts: items related to the discovery of the transforming principle and items related to the discovery's reception by the scientific community.

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Provenance

Assembled and donated by Joshua Lederberg.

Alternate Forms Available

Portions of the Collection have been digitized and are available at: https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov.

Apppendix A: Associated and Related Materials

  1. Heidelberger, Michael. "Interview with Harlan B. Phillips. New York, 20-22 November 1968." 4 reels, 1/2 track, 3 3/4 ips, 8 hrs. Note: HMD Collection OH 35 Transcript, with index (205 pp.) and catalogue of papers (237 pp.). MH Papers MS C 245
  2. Rockefeller Archive Center (North Tarrytown NY), Rockefeller University Archives, "Oswald T. Avery Papers, 1913-1983."
  3. Tennessee State Library and Archives (Nashville, TN), Manuscript Collections, "Avery, Oswald Theodore, 1877-1955: Papers, 1867-1970 (Accession Numbers 70-128; 72-197)."

Appendix B: Published Materials Mentioned-but not Contained- in the Collection

  1. Avery, Oswald T. "Presentation of the Kober Medal to Dr. Alphonse R. Dochez." Transactions of the Association of American Physicians 62 (1949): 24-29.
  2. Cairns, John, Gunther S. Stent, and James D. Watson, eds. Phage and the Origins of Molecular Biology. [no place], Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of Quantitative Biology, 1966. [sometimes cited as PATOOMB; expanded edition 1992]
  3. Cohen, S[eymour]. S. "Some Contributions of the Princeton Laboratory of the Rockefeller Institute on Proteins, Viruses, Enzymes, and Nucleic Acids." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 325 (31 May 1979): 302-306.
  4. Hotchkiss, Rollin D. "The Identification of Nucleic Acids as Genetic Determinants." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 325 (31 May 1979): 320-342.
  5. Hotchkiss, Rollin D. "DNA in the Decade before the Double Helix." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 758 (30 June 1995): 55-73.
  6. McCarty, Maclyn. "Obituary Notice - Oswald Theodore Avery, 1877-1955." Journal of General Microbiology 17, no. 3 (December 1957): 539-49.
  7. Mirsky, Alfred E. "Discovery of DNA." Scientific American 218, no. 6 (June 1968): 78-88.
  8. Stent, Gunther S. "DNA." Daedalus 99 (Fall 1970): 909-937.
  9. Watson, James D. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA Edited by Gunther S. Stent with text, commentary, reviews, original papers. A Norton Critical Edition. New York, Norton, 1980. [originally published by Atheneum in 1968; portions of the book were first published in the Atlantic Monthly.]
  10. Wyatt, H. V. "How History Has Blended" Nature 249, no. 460 (28 June 1974): 803-806.
  11. Wyatt, H. V. "Knowledge and Prematurity: The Journey from Transformation to DNA." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 18, no. 2 (Winter 1975): 149-156.

General

Processed by
HMD Staff; Kim Dixon
Processing Completed
Oct. 2000
Encoded by
Kim Dixon

General

Glossary of Significant Individuals, Organizations, Events, and Terms

  1. Alloway, James L. - with OTA 1930-1932
  2. APS - American Philosophical Society (Philadelphia, PA)
  3. Austrian, Robert (1916-)
  4. Avery Family - parents: Elizabeth Crowdy Avery (1843-1910) and Joseph Francis Avery (1847-1892), a Baptist minister in Halifax, N.S., and pastor of Mariner's Church, NYC; OTA's brother Roy Crowdy Avery, a bacteriologist at Vanderbilt, married Catherine Berry Pilcher
  5. "Beets" - George W. Beadle [personal communication from Joshua Lederberg]
  6. Bronk, Detlev W. (1897-1975) - 1954-68 RIMR Director
  7. Caspersson, Torbjorn O. (1910-) - 1944-1977 professor at Nobel Institute
  8. Chargraff, Erwin (1905-) - 1935 - Columbia
  9. Coburn, Alvin F. (1899-1975) - undergraduate - Yale; MD - Johns Hopkins; Columbia P & S; New York Medical College (Microbiology)
  10. Cole, Rufus (Ivory) (1872-1966) - first director RIMR Hospital
  11. CSH - Cold Spring Harbor (a laboratory and a symposium)
  12. Davis, Bernard D. (1916- )
  13. Dawson, Martin H(enry). - with OTA 1926-1929; (according to Dubos, he was an English Canadian)
  14. Demerec, Milislav (1895-1966) - 1943 - CSH Director
  15. Do(h) - see Dochez
  16. Doby - see Dobzhansky
  17. Dobzhansky, Theodosius G. (1900-1975) - 1940-62 Columbia (Zoology); 1941 Genetics and the Origin of Species [GATOOS] (1937, based on lectures in 1936; 1941, 2nd ed. rev.); 1962-1971
  18. Dochez, Alphonse R(aymond). (1882-1964) - shared bachelor quarters with OTA (Rockefeller Institute Review, 9-10/64); nicknamed "Doh" (NAS Biographical Memoirsvol. 42); worked with Avery on pneumococcus (ca.1915-1917)
  19. Dubos, René J(ules). (1901-82) - 1927- RIMR (1942-44 Harvard); 1945 The Bacterial Cell in its Relation to Problems of Virulence, Immunity and Chemotherapy; 1960 Passano Award; 1969 Pulitzer for So Human an Animal
  20. Dunn, L.C. (Leslie Clarence) (1893-1974) - 1928-1962 Columbia (Zoology)
  21. Ephrussi, Boris (1901-1979)
  22. Ephrussi-Taylor, Harriett (1918-68) - American Men & Women of Science 11: 1945-46 Columbia, 1946-47 RIMR; 1948-54? France; 1961-68 Western Reserve: resume [ca.1944]: 1938 BA Radcliffe; 1938-40 UCLA; 1942 MA (Zoology) UCLA; 1940 - Columbia; 1943 matriculated for Ph.D.; references include Dunn and Waelsch correspondence: with OTA 9/45-10/47 points out Avery article to Joshua Lederberg in 1/45; student of LC Dunn at Columbia; married Boris Ephrussi 10/5/49
  23. Fess - "[OTA's] lectures at Hoagland won him the appellation "The Professor," by which he was known throughout his career" (Dictionary of Scientific Biography); "fess" "shortening of Professor" chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. (Random House Dict.2, 1987); see also Red Seal Records
  24. GATOOS - see Dobzhansky
  25. Griffith, Fred(erick) (1879 or 81-1941)
  26. Heidelberger, Michael (1888-1991) - 1912-1927 RIMR, 1927-1956 Columbia
  27. Hershey, Alfred D. (1908- ) - 1950- CSH; 1952 with Martha Chase: Independent Functions of Viral Proteins and Nucleic Acid in the Growth of Bacteriophage; 1960- CSH director; 1969 shares Nobel with Max Delbrück and Salvador E. Luria (also founders of the 'phage group')
  28. Hoagland Laboratory for Bacteriological Research - 1887 founded
  29. Horsfall, Frank L(appin). (1906-1971)
  30. Hotchkiss, Rollin D. (1911- ) - with OTA 1935-1942 & 1946-1948; 1935-1982 at RIMR
  31. JCB - Journal of Cell Biology (RUP, 1962 - ); Journal of Biophysical and Biochemical Cytology (1955-1961)
  32. JEM - Journal of Experimental Medicine (RUP, 1896- )
  33. JGP - Journal of General Physiology (RUP, 1918- )
  34. Lederberg, Joshua (5/23/25- ) - 1944 BA Columbia; 1944-46 Columbia P & S; 1947 pH Yale; 1947-59 Wisconsin; 1958 Nobel with Tatum and Beadle; 1959-78 Stanford; 1978-90 President RU
  35. Levene, P(hoebus). A. T. (1869-1940) - 1905-39 RIMR
  36. MacLeod, Colin M(unro). (1909-2/12/72) - with OTA 1937-41, then NYU School of Medicine; [also born in Nova Scotia]
  37. McCarty, Maclyn (1911- ) - with OTA 1941-46; 1940-74 RU
  38. Member - "until 1957, laboratory heads were designated Members of the Institute" (RAC)
  39. Mirsky, Alfred E. (1900-74) - 1927-65 RU biochemist & physiologist; 1965- RU librarian
  40. Mueller, J(ohn). Howard (1891-1954)
  41. PATOOMB - Cairns, John, Gunther S. Stent, and James D. Watson, eds. Phage and the Origins of Molecular Biology. [no place], Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of Quantitative Biology, 1966. (also expanded edition 1992)
  42. Pittendrigh, Colin S. (1918-96)
  43. RAC - Rockefeller Archive Center (North Tarrytown, NY)
  44. "Red Seal Records" - reference to OTA's polished soliloquies / monologues / discourses on research; [from the RCA Victor series of phonograph records?]; see also Fess
  45. RIMR - Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (1901 founded; 1958 becomes Rockefeller Institute; 1965 Rockefeller University); Directors/Presidents: 1903-35 Flexner; 1935-53 Herbert S. Gasser; 1954-68 Bronk, 1969-77 Frederick Seitz, 1978-90 Lederberg
  46. Rivers, Thomas M(ilton). (1888-1962) - 1922-55 RIMR; 1953-55 Vice President of the Institute
  47. Rous, (Francis) Peyton (1879-1970) - 1923-70 a co-editor of JEM; 1909-45 at RIMR; 1966 Nobel Prize (55 years after his original publication)
  48. RU - see RIMR
  49. Ryan, Francis J. (1916-63) - 1937- Columbia (Zoology)
  50. Scientific Reports of the Laboratories to the Board of Scientific Directors - (RG 439), 42 vols. "Starting in 1901, the year the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research was founded, and continuing until the Institute was reorganized in the mid-1950s, every laboratory, research group, and special program submitted annual reports of all research to the corporate body that oversaw the Institute's scientific activities." (RAC)
  51. Sonneborn, Tracy Morton (1905-81) - 1928 Ph.D. Johns Hopkins; 1939-76 Indiana University
  52. Spiegelman, Sol (1914- )
  53. Stanley, Wendell M(eredith). (1904-71) - 1931/2-48 RIMR, Princeton; 1946 shared Nobel prize in Chemistry; 1948- Berkeley
  54. Stent, Gunther S. (1924- ) - 1952- Berkeley
  55. Taylor, Harriett E. - see Ephrussi-Taylor, Harriett
  56. Transforming Principle -- DNA, sometimes referred to as the "transforming substance" or "active principle"
  57. Wilkins, Maurice H. F. (1914- )
  58. Wyatt, H. V. (Harold Vivian, 1926- )
  59. Zinder, Norton D(avid). (1928- ) 1952- RIMR
Title
Finding Aid to the Oswald T. Avery Collection, 1912-2005
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
HMD Staff; Kim Dixon
Date
Oct. 2000
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
1.0

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collections Collecting Area

Contact:
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