Letters document several generations of the Henkel family of Virginia, four members of which were physicians, three of whom participated in the Civil War.

Dr. Middleton was Dean of the University of Wisconsin Medical School, 1935-55; Chief Consultant in medicine to the European Theater of Operations, 1942-45; Special Advisor to the Surgeon General of the Army during the Korean conflict; and, Chief Medical Officer of the Veterans Administration, 1955-63.