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George Miller Sternberg Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 100

Abstract

Contains correspondence, documents, certificates, and printed matter. Correspondence consists chiefly of congratulatory letters on becoming Surgeon General, acknowledgments for reprints, and letters from senators and congressmen pertaining to promotion to grade of major general. Printed matter consists of book reviews and information relating to inventions of Sternberg.

Dates

  • Creation: 1861-1917

Extent

0.63 Linear Feet (2 boxes + map drawer folders)

Creator

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

Copyright status is unknown. 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

Born at Hartwick Seminary, Otsego County, New York, on June 8, 1838, George Miller Sternberg received a medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1860. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon, United States Army, on May 28, 1861; Captain, May 28, 1866; Major (Surgeon), December 1, 1873; Lieutenant Colonel (Surgeon), January 12, 1891, Brigadier General, Surgeon General, May 30, 1893; and retired from the Army on June 8, 1902.

During the Civil War, he began his service with the Army of the Potomac, later transferring to the Department of the Gulf. At the end of the war, he was in command of the US General Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio. He served throughout the Cholera and Yellow Fever epidemics along with Walter Reed in the United States and was a member of the Yellow Fever Commission, and the National Board of Health. He was widely credited with the development of ambulance services for wounded soldiers in the Civil War. Sternberg also oversaw the establishment of the Army Medical School (1893; now the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research) and of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps (1901). Later he became interested in collecting fossils from the Dakota Sandstone (early Cretaceous) Formation while stationed in Kansas.

He died on November 3, 1915 and was buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery.

Collection Summary

Correspondence, documents, certificates, and printed matter. Correspondence consists chiefly of congratulatory letters on becoming Surgeon General, acknowledgments for reprints, and letters from senators and congressmen pertaining to promotion to grade of major general. Printed matter consists of book reviews and information relating to inventions of Sternberg.

Correspondents include A. C. Abbott, Aristides Agramonte, C. H. Alden, Spencer Baird, John Barrett, J. L. Bartlett, P. Baumgarten, A. N. Bell, John S. Billings, Rupert Blue, Henry L. Bowditch, J. C. Breckinridge, Herman J. Briggs, James B. Bullett, James McKeen Cattell, Sanford E. Chaillé, W. T. Councilman, C. H. Crane, Samuel H. Durgin, Harold C. Ernest, Charles B. Ewing, Livingston Farrand, Austin Flint, C. Fraenkel, Jacob C. Gallinger, H. M. Goodman, Charles R. Greenleaf, John Guitéras, Joseph Henry, J. O. Hirschfelder, Joseph Holt, William Hunt, Robert Koch, Horace Lathrop, Emilio Martinez, S. Weir Mitchell, James D. Morgan, J. S. Newberry, Isaac Norris, Thomas Opie, Sir William Osler, George A. Otis, O. B. Parker, Theophilus Parvin, John C. Peters, Henry Phipps, Enoch Pratt, J. H. Raymond, James E. Reeves, W. J. Reid, Henry A. L. Rohlfing, E. H. Sargent, J. M. Schofield, George F. Shrady, Charles S. Shultz, Charles Smith, A. K. Stone, John S. Thacher, Thomas Ward, William H. Welch, James T. Whittaker.

Signatures on documents and certificates include names of Grover Cleveland, James Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Horace Greeley, Benjamin Harrison, John Hay, Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Edwin M. Stanton, and William Howard Taft.

Additional Description

Abstract

Contains correspondence, documents, certificates, and printed matter. Correspondence consists chiefly of congratulatory letters on becoming Surgeon General, acknowledgments for reprints, and letters from senators and congressmen pertaining to promotion to grade of major general. Printed matter consists of book reviews and information relating to inventions of Sternberg.

Provenance

Unknown provenance.

General

Processed by
HMD Staff; Jim Labosier
Re-Processing Completed
2002
Encoded by
Jim Labosier

Subjects

Related Names

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Finding Aid to the George Miller Sternberg Papers, 1861-1917
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
HMD Staff; Jim Labosier
Date
2002
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latn
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
1.0

Revision Statements

  • July 2004: PUBLIC "-//National Library of Medicine::History of Medicine Division//TEXT (US::DNLM::MS C 100::George Miller Sternberg Papers)//EN" "sternberg100" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).

Collecting Area Details

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)