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Albert Baird Hastings Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 339

Abstract

Albert Baird Hastings was with the U. S. Public Health Service, 1917-21; the Rockefeller Institute, 1921-26; the University of Chicago, 1926-35; and, was Head of the Department of Biochemistry, Harvard University, 1935-59. From 1959-66 he was with the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. Collection has extensive general correspondence from individuals as well as relating to conferences and organizations. Includes a large number of photographs. Contains reports, memoranda, and other data, pertaining to the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation.

Dates

  • Creation: 1858-1987 (bulk 1920-1987)

Extent

44.5 Linear Feet (105 boxes + oversize items)

Creator

Physical Location

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

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Restrictions

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

Copyright and Re-use Information

Donor's copyrights were transferred to the public domain. 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

A. Baird Hastings (1895-1987) was born on Dayton, KY, and raised in Indianapolis, IN. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1971 with a degree in physical chemistry, and received a Ph.D. in physiology in 1921 from Columbia University. Often referred to as the "physician's chemist," Hastings was an active researcher and teacher in the areas of blood acid-balance and its transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide, effects of ions and hormones on intermediary metabolism, and acid-base balances in carbohydrate metabolism.

Hastings joined the U.S. Public Health Service in 1917 as an Assistant Sanitary Chemist working at Columbia University, studying the chemistry of fatigue for the military. He then joined the Rockefeller Institute in 1921, after receiving his Ph.D., as an assistant to Dr. Donald D. Van Slyke who had been directing his research at Columbia. From 1921-1926, he worked with Van Slyke on the physical chemistry of hemoglobin, acid-base balance, and gas-electrolyte equilibria in blood. He spent the years 1926-1935 as research professor of biochemistry at the University of Chicago. There he extended his research of the physicochemical structure of blood to tissues. It was also during this time that he developed his interests in acid-base metabolism. From 1935-1959, Hastings was Hamilton Kuhn Professor and head of the department of biological chemistry at Harvard Medical School. He retired from Harvard in 1959 in order to return to full time laboratory research at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, CA.

Hastings served on several advisory committees throughout his career including: several at the National Institutes of Health; the Committee on Medical Research, Office of Scientific Research and Development (1941-1946); the Atomic Energy Commission (1947-1957); the National Academy of Sciences; the Nutrition Foundation. He also served on the 1971 White House Conference on Aging. He received honorary degrees from the University of Michigan and from Harvard, Oxford, Boston, St. Louis and Columbia universities. His awards include the President's Medal for Merit (1948), Banting Medal of the American Diabetes Association (1962) and a USPHS citation for service for his lifetime contributions (1917-1964).

Collection Summary

Collection has extensive general correspondence from individuals as well as relating to conferences and organizations. Includes a large number of photographs. Contains reports, memoranda, and other data, pertaining to the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation.

Among the many correspondents are C. Sidney Burwell, Vannevar Bush, James B. Conant, George M. Guest, Lawrence J. Henderson, Manfred L. Karnovsky, Bernard R. Landau, Franklin C. McLean, C. Phillip Miller, Francis D. Moore, Irvine H. Page, Alfred N. Richards, Frederick L. Rodkey, Julius Sendroy, Michael B. Shimkin, William H. Sweet, Donald D. Van Slyke, Otto Warburg, and Shields Warren.

Abstract

Albert Baird Hastings was with the U. S. Public Health Service, 1917-21; the Rockefeller Institute, 1921-26; the University of Chicago, 1926-35; and, was Head of the Department of Biochemistry, Harvard University, 1935-59. From 1959-66 he was with the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. Collection has extensive general correspondence from individuals as well as relating to conferences and organizations. Includes a large number of photographs. Contains reports, memoranda, and other data, pertaining to the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation.

Physical Location

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

Provenance

Gift from Albert Baird Hastings, 1976.

General

Processed by
HMD Staff
Re-Processing Completed
2007
Encoded by
Jim Labosier
Title
Finding Aid to the Albert Baird Hastings Papers, 1858-1987 (bulk 1920-1987)
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
HMD Staff
Date
2007
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:
8600 Rockville Pike
Bldg 38/1E-21, MSC 3819
Bethesda MD 20894 US
1-888-FINDNLM (1-888-346-3656)