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
- Creation: 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
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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
- Frank R. Winton (8 letters); pump lung kidney, 1937-1940
- J. Murray Luck (7 letters); Annual Review of Physiology, 1939
- M.H. Jacobs (4 letters); Annual Review of Physiology, 1939
- E. Newton Harvey (4 letters); The Renal Excretion of Phenol Red by the Aglomerlaur Fishes, Opsanus tau, and Lophius piscatorius, 1938
- Detlev W. Bronk ( 1 letter); Creatinine in the Dogfish, 1940
- A.J. Goldforb (3 letters); Excretion of Urea and Creatinine, 1935
- A.J. Goldforb (1 letter); Sulfanilamide in the measurement of body water in the dog, 1942
- Donald R. Hooker (1 letter); Inulin/creatinine at low urine vol., 1935
- Dr. Smith (1 letter); Inulin/creatinine at low urine vol., 1935
- A.C. Ivy (1 letter); "The Kinetics of Tubular Excretion", 1937
- J. McKeen Cattell (1 letter); "The Normal Rate of Formation of the Antidiuretic Hormone", 1941
- George A. Carden (1 letter); Malaria work in Cairns, 1945
Creator
Subject
- National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Organization)
- New York University. College of Medicine (Organization)
- Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (Organization)
- 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 Collections Collecting Area
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