Werner and Gertrude Henle Papers

The collection contains correspondence, lab notebooks, and the Henles' unpublished autobiography (separately cataloged as MS C 460). The bulk of material is from the 1970's and 1980's. A smaller portion of the collection dates back to the 1950's and 1960's. The collection's prevalent emphasis is professional research work and correspondence. Little personal correspondence is included. The majority of materials are reflective of the research work Werner and Gertrude Henle conducted at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. While Werner and his wife Gertrude conducted the majority of their research jointly, the correspondence is predominately Werner's. Gertrude's involvement, however, can be more clearly discerned in the lab notebooks in which she appeared to record lab results as frequently as Werner. The collection would be valuable to any scholar researching the history of virology and its practical application to disease prevention as well as such topics in scientific research as procuring funding for research, the necessity for collaboration in scientific studies and the issue of gender in scientific research.

The Henles' correspondence dates from 1955 until Werner's death in 1987. The bulk of the correspondence was Werner's and is professional in nature. A small portion of the correspondence contains personal letters or greeting cards from family, friends, and colleagues. This series also contains research reports and conference presentations that were placed in the original correspondence boxes.