Margaret Pittman Papers

Personal material, professional correspondence, laboratory and research notes, subject files, manuscripts, reprints, professional activity material, and photographic media document the professional career of American bacteriologist Margaret Pittman. Her collection of papers (1921-1993; 24.7 linear feet) focuses on her professional career as Chief of the Laboratory of Biological Products, Division of Biologics Standards (DBS), National Institutes of Health (NIH); it also contains material from her retirement period. Her emphasis at NIH and beyond was on the standardization of biological product, especially bacterial vaccines, and the development of general international standards. Pittman also conducted extensive research into Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough), Haemophilus influenzae (meningitis), Haemophilus aegyptius (conjunctivitis), Cholera, and Typhoid.

The Correspondence series consists of domestic and international correspondence from her professional career at NIH and her retirement period. There are four sub-series: Pre-Retirement, Post-Retirement, Alphabetical By Topic, and Loose Leaf. The Pre-Retirement sub-series is further divided into Domestic and International sub-sub-series; each sub-sub-series is arranged alphabetically by folder title. The Post-Retirement sub-series is arranged chronologically by date and contains a few folders from her pre-retirement period. Topics in the Alphabetical By Topic sub-series include specific people (such as Pearl Kendrick and Maria Stronk), bacterial strains, and general institutional correspondence. The Loose Leaf sub-series consists of stray correspondence gathered from the rest of the collection and arranged chronologically by date.

The Research Files series contains papers and notes written by Pittman on her four main research subjects: the Genus Haemophilus (H. aegyptius, H. influenzae, and H. suis), Cholera and Typhoid Vaccines, Bordetella Pertussis, and General Standards. All files are organized alphabetically by sub-series and then chronologically within each sub-series.

The Writings series contains manuscript drafts, notes, outlines, and reprints authored by Pittman and other material related to her publications. The series is divided into two sub-series: Manuscript Drafts, Notes, and Outlines (D/N/O) and Reprints. The Manuscript D/N/O sub-series contains draft material for Pittman's published and unpublished works. Each folder is labeled according to the published title of the manuscript instead of the draft or working title, with the exception of folders that can only be identified by the working or draft title. In these cases the manuscript is marked in the folder title list as unpublished. If the contents of the folder could not be matched up with a published work and a working title is not given, then the folder is labeled as Notes and Drafts from the given year range.