Skip to main content

Govt building

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure access Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Society of General Physiologists Archives

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 469

Abstract

The Society of General Physiologists was organized in 1945 under the leadership of R. Chambers, E. N. Harvey, L. V. Heilbrunn and M. H. Jacobs. Its purpose was to promote and advance the subject of general physiology and to provide a structure for general physiologists of different training and backgrounds to meet and exchange ideas. The archives of the Society as found in the National Library of Medicine are an amalgam of several different collections of records.

Dates

  • Creation: 1945-1996

Extent

4.6 Linear Feet (13 boxes)

Creator

Physical Location

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

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

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.

Historical Note

The Society of General Physiologists was organized in 1945 under the leadership of R. Chambers, E. N. Harvey, L. V. Heilbrunn and M. H. Jacobs. Its purpose was to promote and advance the subject of general physiology and to provide a structure for general physiologists of different training and backgrounds to meet and exchange ideas. Forty-nine of the over 100 charter members attended the first annual meeting in September, 1946 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. By removing artificial boundaries between plant and animal physiologists, the society attracted a mixed membership of botanists and zoologists. The list of its early presidents reflects this policy: L. V. Heilbrunn, D. R. Goddard, H. F. Blum, K. V. Thimann, J. H. Bodine, L. R. Blinks and H. B. Steinbach. The Society was incorporated in the State of Massachusetts in 1966.

The Society has focused on three major areas of interest. Beginning in 1946, the Society has sponsored annual symposia, the proceedings of which have been published in a separate volume each year since 1955. The Society has had editorial control of the Journal of General Physiology since 1960. And, in 1977, the Society began sponsoring a Distinguished Lecturer at the International Congresses of Physiology, Biophysics and Biochemistry respectively.

Collection Summary

The archives of the Society as found in the National Library of Medicine are an amalgam of several different collections of records. The oldest material derives from a collection of the society's records which was collected by its officers and stored at the library at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. These have been supplemented with the files of several secretaries and presidents, including Mortimer Civan, Arthur L. Finn, John S. Cook, Paul De Weer, Melvyn Lieberman, Betty M. Twarog, and Tomuo Hoshiko.

The core of the collection is the set of official minutes from the semi-annual council meetings. These minutes cover the decisions of the government council, discussion of the annual symposia, finances and publishing problems. The minutes are supplemented by records with information on elections, membership, annual symposia with their attendant problems, scholarships and awards, Distinguished Lecturer appointments and relationships of the Society with other organizations. Particularly noteworthy is the extensive correspondence and other material relating to the publication of symposia proceedings.

Abstract

The Society of General Physiologists was organized in 1945 under the leadership of R. Chambers, E. N. Harvey, L. V. Heilbrunn and M. H. Jacobs. Its purpose was to promote and advance the subject of general physiology and to provide a structure for general physiologists of different training and backgrounds to meet and exchange ideas. The archives of the Society as found in the National Library of Medicine are an amalgam of several different collections of records.

Physical Location

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

Provenance

Records of the Society were transferred to the National Library of Medicine between May 1988 and April 1989 by the President of the Society. Additions are made periodically to the collection by the Society.

General

Processed by
Judith S. Engelberg
Processing completed
July 1991
Encoded by
Dan Jenkins
Title
Finding Aid to the Society of General Physiologists Archives, 1945-1996
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
Judith S. Engelberg
Date
July 1991; 2000
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
Version 1.0

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)