Lister Hill Health Related Papers Microfilm Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS Film 22

Abstract

Health related material selected out of the larger Lister Hill collection, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The bulk of the material (76 reels) pertains to Hill's last 22 years in the Senate (1946-68). Topics include the Hill-Burton Act, Medicare, and assistance to hospitals serving minorities, the poor, and other underserved populations.

Dates

Creation: 1923-1968

Extent

77 Microfilm Reels

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Copyright status is unknown. Archival materials often contain mixed copyright ownership. While the 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

Lister Hill represented Alabama in the United States Congress for 45 years ranging from the administrations of Calvin Coolidge to Lyndon B. Johnson. He was an important political leader during a time in which Alabama grew politically, economically, and culturally. In his fourteen years in the House of Representatives (1923-1937), Senator Hill established himself as a leader in the Democratic Party, being called upon to campaign around the country in the 1930's for Franklin D. Roosevelt and supporters of the New Deal. While in the House he was especially active in military affairs, becoming chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee in his last term, and in the establishment and support of the Tennessee Valley Authority, for which he was one of the principal sponsors. In his first ten years in the United States Senate, he continued his active role in the Democratic Party becoming majority whip in 1941. He also continued to be involved in military affairs and was a sponsor of the bill in the late 1940's which unified the services creating the Department of Defense. In the late 1940's Hill began a long tenure on the Appropriations Committee. In 1955 he became chairman of the Labor and Public Welfare Committee and of the Health Education and Welfare subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee where he became known as "Mr. Health" in the Senate. During this period he pushed for legislation and increased appropriations in the areas of public health, medical research, training of medical personnel, and mental health.

Senator Hill received almost a hundred citations and awards from groups such as the Albert Lasker Foundation, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation, Association of American Medical Colleges (Albert Flexner Award), and the American Cancer Society. He also received honorary degrees from Columbia University, the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the Ohio State University, and Doctor of Science degrees from Hahneman Medical College, Jefferson Medical College and New York Medical College.

Collection Summary

The processing of Senator Hill’s papers was a joint project between the National Library of Medicine and the Lister-Hill Library of the Health Sciences at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. The National Library of Medicine funded the project under contract no. NO1-LH-6-4703 as well as providing the consulting services of Manfred Wasserman. The project director was Dr. Virginia V. Hamilton. Project bibliographer James A. Thompson, Jr. handled the initial project planning and most of the administrative activities. Michael R. Kronenfeld, project processor, was in charge of the arrangement, processing, and microfilming of the collection.

The total collection is processed into approximately 820 linear feet. Pursuant to the agreement made between the National Library of Medicine and the University of Alabama in Birmingham, approximately 112,300 pieces, or 6 per cent of the collection relating to Hill’s health affair work were microfilmed.

The bulk of the material (76 of the 77 rolls) relate to the last 22 years Hill was in the Senate (1946-1963). During this period Hill used a topical filing system with 73 different topics. Those topics relating to health were the ones pulled and filmed. Folder headings were filmed as an aid in the descriptive control of the material.