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James A. Shannon Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 363

Abstract

Correspondence, talks, articles, reports and documents, photographs, certificates and diplomas. Dr. Shannon was on the faculty of the New York University College of Medicine from 1929-46. In 1946 he joined the National Institutes of Health, and from 1955-68 Dr. Shannon was Director of the NIH. In 1970 he became Professor and Special Assistant to the President of the Rockefeller University.

Dates

  • 1924-1975

Extent

13.75 Linear Feet (33 boxes + oversize)

Creator

Physical Location

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

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Access Restrictions

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

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Biographical Note

James Augustine Shannon (1904-1994) was born in New York City. He graduated from College of the Holy Cross in 1925, and received his M.D. (1929) and Ph.D. (1935) from New York University. From 1935 to 1941, he worked primarily in the Physiological Laboratories at NYU, while also working at Bellevue Hospital. He then moved to Goldwater Hospital as director of medical research, and then to Squibb Institute for Medical Research in 1946. Shannon began his public health service in 1949 when he became Associate Director of the newly formed National Heart Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Three years later he was appointed Associate Director for Intramural Affairs at NIH, finally becoming NIH Director in 1955, a post he held until 1968. He spent the next two years with the National Academy of Sciences. In 1970 he became Professor and Special Assistant to the President of the Rockefeller University. Shannon retired to Portland, OR. in 1975.

Shannon's contributions to scientific research were in the field of kidney physiology. Between 1931-1941, he was the primary figure in the transformation of renal physiology from a qualitative observational science to a highly precise quantitative one. Shannon's experiments produced a number of fundamental chemical procedures to quantitatively measure exogenous compounds in both blood and urine. His research techniques and methodology also had a much broader impact, finding their way into other areas of basic and clinical physiology. During World War II, Shannon played a large role in the military's malaria research activities, working with the National Research Council and as a consultant on tropical diseases for the Secretary of War. Atabrine was administered in a dosage program developed by Shannon that successfully suppressed malaria in millions of troops throughout the South Pacific, becoming a more effective drug than quinine.

Shannon's administrative career began as director of the Squibb Institute for Medical Research, where he developed strong research programs in pharmacology, neuro-muscular physiology, and in the chemistry of proteins and amino acids. He then moved to start a research program for the newly formed National Heart Institute, where after three years he had established a balanced basic and clinical research program covering a spectrum of activities, ranging from studies of mechanisms of protein synthesis to clinical investigations of surgical treatments for congenital heart problems. Shannon's personal leadership played a significant role in the enormous expansion of NIH's operating expenditures, personnel and laboratory space during the 1950s and 1960s. In his various NIH leadership positions, he exerted a dominant influence on the orientation and shaping of all NIH program areas, while at the same time insisting that NIH support and solidify its relationship with academic institutions. During Shannon's tenure as NIH Director, often referred to as NIH's "golden years," the Institutes expanded the Federal government's role, and ability, to be the largest supporter of independent medical research in the country.

Collection Summary

Correspondence, talks, articles, reports and documents, photographs, certificates and diplomas primarily document Shannon's career after leaving the NIH's Directorship, although portions also reflect his teaching career at the New York Academy of Medicine and his early NIH research days. A sizable portion of the collection relates to Dr. Shannon's work with organizations and committees.

Abstract

Correspondence, talks, articles, reports and documents, photographs, certificates and diplomas. Dr. Shannon was on the faculty of the New York University College of Medicine from 1929-46. In 1946 he joined the National Institutes of Health, and from 1955-68 Dr. Shannon was Director of the NIH. In 1970 he became Professor and Special Assistant to the President of the Rockefeller University.

Physical Location

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

Provenance

Gift, Dr. Shannon, 1975, 1977. Transfer, NIH History Office, 1999, 2015. Accession #209, 240, 241, 1999-035, 2015-036.

General

Processed by
HMD Staff; John P. Rees
Processing Completed
1977; Aug. 2015
Encoded by
Dan Jenkins; John P. Rees

Index to correspondence in Box 18

  1. Frank R. Winton (8 letters); pump lung kidney, 1937-1940
  2. J. Murray Luck (7 letters); Annual Review of Physiology, 1939
  3. M.H. Jacobs (4 letters); Annual Review of Physiology, 1939
  4. E. Newton Harvey (4 letters); The Renal Excretion of Phenol Red by the Aglomerlaur Fishes, Opsanus tau, and Lophius piscatorius, 1938
  5. Detlev W. Bronk ( 1 letter); Creatinine in the Dogfish, 1940
  6. A.J. Goldforb (3 letters); Excretion of Urea and Creatinine, 1935
  7. A.J. Goldforb (1 letter); Sulfanilamide in the measurement of body water in the dog, 1942
  8. Donald R. Hooker (1 letter); Inulin/creatinine at low urine vol., 1935
  9. Dr. Smith (1 letter); Inulin/creatinine at low urine vol., 1935
  10. A.C. Ivy (1 letter); "The Kinetics of Tubular Excretion", 1937
  11. J. McKeen Cattell (1 letter); "The Normal Rate of Formation of the Antidiuretic Hormone", 1941
  12. George A. Carden (1 letter); Malaria work in Cairns, 1945
Title
Finding Aid to the James A. Shannon Papers, 1924-1975
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
HMD Staff; John P. Rees
Date
1977; 2002; Aug. 2015
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
2.0

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collection Collecting Area

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