Theodor Rosebury Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 634

Abstract

Dates

1919-2006

Extent

13.6 Linear Feet (14 boxes + 1 oversize folder)

Creator

Rosebury, Theodor, 1904- (Person)

Physical Location

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

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Access Restrictions

Collection contains restricted material. Portions of the collection are restricted according to HMD's Access to Health Information of Individuals policy. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access. For access to the policy and application form, please visit https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/manuscripts/phi.pdf.

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

Dr. Theodor Rosebury was an American bacteriologist who devoted his career primarily to oral microbiology. Born in London in 1904, Rosebury's family moved to the United States in 1910 and he became a naturalized citizen in 1916.

He earned his D.D.S. degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1928 and embarked on a career in dental research and teaching focused on the biochemical and nutritional aspects of dental caries. Understanding the relationship of nutrition and immunological stress on indigenous members of the microflora to health and disease became a central focus of his career. Dr. Rosebury spent the 1930s at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons as an instructor in the Department of Bacteriology. From 1924-1939, Rosebury and Leuman Waugh studied the epidemiology of dental caries in Eskimos in Alaska. Among his other noteworthy studies during this era were investigations into the relationship of fusospirochetal infections to Acute Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis.

During World War II Dr. Rosebury interrupted his teaching to serve as Director of the Air-Borne Infection Unit of the Biological Warfare Program, which was based at Fort (then Camp) Detrick, Maryland. His co-authorship of a 1947 paper based on this work, "Biological Warfare," sparked a political backlash against him as some felt the paper revealed information that might ultimately be used to harm the United States. Rosebury later became involved in the Pugwash Conferences during the Cold War era, where he helped define rules limiting the development and use of biological warfare weapons. After the war he returned to his position at Columbia University. In 1951 he became chairman of the Washington University's (St. Louis, Mo.) Bacteriology Department where he remained until his retirement in 1966.

He published his two most popularly noteworthy publications after his retirement. Life on Man (1969) described the variety of microbes that live on all parts of the human body. Microbes and Morals; the Strange Story of Venereal Disease (1971) examined how interconnected venereal disease is to an entire range of seemingly non-related human social problems.

Collection Summary

Professional and personal correspondence, lecture notes and examinations, writings and drafts, subject files and clippings, and documentation of his involvement with the Pugwash Conferences on Science & World Affairs illuminate Theodor Rosebury's professional life as a professor of dentistry, bacteriologist, author of popular books relating to medicine, and conscientious citizen.

Series 1, Personal and Biographical, contains correspondence, lecture notes, writings, photographs, and awards generated and received during Dr. Rosebury's lifetime. Notes and writings illustrate interests and studies both in high school and at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry. A research trip to Alaska to study dental aspects of native Alaskans (1936) is described through correspondence and itineraries. Correspondence and orders give context to Rosebury's research into bacterial warfare for the U.S. Army at Fort Detrick during World War II. Other correspondence sheds light on Rosebury's family, their interests and activities.

Series 2, Correspondence, is almost entirely devoted to Dr. Rosebury's professional work both as a professor of dentistry and his involvement with national dental associations. William J. Gies, Samuel M. Gordon, John B. MacDonald, and Isaac Schaur are prominently represented. Substantial files detail his interactions with publishers McGraw-Hill and the Viking Press while preparing works for publication.

Series 3, Subject files, largely represent information gathered in support of his writing interests and include some articles, outlines, notes, and drafts by Dr. Rosebury. Correspondence with Cyrus Eaton, drafts of speeches, and conference schedules and proceedings describe Rosebury’s involvement (1957-1976) with the Pugwash Conferences.

Series 4, Lectures and Notebooks, consist of lecture notes, laboratory manuals, and examinations for courses Dr. Rosebury taught on general and oral bacteriology as they relate to dentistry. This material covers his tenures at Columbia University (1936-1951) and Washington University (1951-1965).

Series 5, Writings, contains outlines, notes, drafts, and correspondence relating to both Dr. Rosebury's articles about bacterial and biological warfare and his post-retirement books on microbes and venereal disease written for a popular audience. The former includes published editions of Peace or Pestilence (1949). The latter extensively details the production and publication of Life on Man (1969) and Microbes and Morals (1971). Included are book reviews, clippings, and information about book promotion tours. Lastly are drafts of apparently unpublished works, "Five Morbid Pieces" and "The Primal Prejudice."

Additional Description

Abstract

Physical Location

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

Custodial History

The Theodor Rosebury papers were acquired as part of deaccessioning activities by the American Heritage Center in 2009. The collection was originally donated to the Center in 1982 by Rosebury's widow Amy Rosebury without deed of gift. The Rosebury Estate made an additional donation to the Center in 2009 through a deed of gift transferring all rights to the Center. The Center by deed of gift to NLM transferred its rights, and therefore Rosebury's, to the public domain.

Provenance

Gift, University of Wyoming American Heritage Center, January 14, 2011, Acc. 2011-005.

General

Processed by: Jim Labosier
Encoded by: Jim Labosier
Processing completed: November 2019

Processing Information

The Theodor Rosebury papers were rehoused from original containers into archival folders and boxes and described at folder level upon their receipt at the Library in 2011. The collection remains largely in-tact as originally received; few files were weeded during final processing.