Skip to main content

Edward Francis Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 589

Abstract

Collection contains correspondence, article drafts, and reprints relating to the identification and transmission of tularemia in Japan and Russia during the 1920s and 1930s.

Dates

  • 1925-1945

Extent

0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)

Creator

Physical Location

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

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English. Some printed materials in Japanese and Russian

Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

NLM does not possess copyright to the collection. 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

Edward Francis (1872-1957) was born and educated in Ohio. He received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1897 and began a career in bacteriology with the U.S. Public Health Service in 1900 at the Hygiene Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Dr. Francis studied and wrote on yellow fever, pellagra, tetanus, filariasis, and undulant fever, but is best known for his research on tularemia. His studies during the 1920s proved the connection between deer-fly fever and tularemia, which had been identified in the United States by PHS doctors George McCoy and Charles Chapin. He further identified seven different types of tularemia. In honor of his contributions the name of the tularemia pathogen, Bacterium tularense, was renamed Francisella tularensis. Dr. Francis served as medical director of the Hygiene Laboratory from 1930 until his retirement in 1938.

Collection Summary

The papers focus almost entirely on tularemia in Japan and Russia. The Dr. Hachiro Ohara folders contains correspondence (1925-1943) mostly between this Japanese doctor and Public Health Service officers. The discussions seek to prove that the Yato-Byo (rabbit fever) pathogen was the same as that identified by Dr. Francis as the cause of tularemia. Similarly, the folders Tularemia in Russia (1928-1940) contains correspondence between the Public Health Service and Russian bacteriologists Drs. I. Kritschewski, D. Golov, and Gregory Zarhi concerning the Russian scientists' attempts to identify disease outbreaks as tularemia. Material also documents subsequent information about the status of tularemia in both regions.

Abstract

Collection contains correspondence, article drafts, and reprints relating to the identification and transmission of tularemia in Japan and Russia during the 1920s and 1930s.

Physical Location

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

Provenance

Provenance unknown; found in HMD rare books stacks. July 6, 1989. Acc. #0570.

General

Processed by
Jim Labosier
Processing Completed
Jan. 2013
Encoded by
Jim Labosier
Title
Finding Aid to the Edward Francis Papers, 1925-1945
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
Jim Labosier
Date
Jan. 2013
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
1.0

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collection Collecting Area

Contact:
8600 Rockville Pike
Bldg 38/1E-21, MSC 3819
Bethesda MD 20894 US
1-888-FINDNLM (1-888-346-3656)