The collection consists of photos of Thom and George Bender looking at a canvas from a series entitled, "A Pictorial History of Pharmacy." Also includes photos of Thom with F. Clever Bald.
Robert A. Thom was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 4, 1915. He later moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where he spent most of his youth, and briefly lived in Columbus, Ohio. Thom enrolled in the Columbus School of Fine Arts and also studied under Ukrainian-American artist Robert Brackman. After working in Port Huron, Mich., he moved to Detroit, in circa 1939-1940. Thom was employed by both the Detroit Edison Company as well as the Chevrolet Division of General Motors. By 1945, Thom was working as an independent artist.
In circa 1948, pharmaceutical firm Parke, Davis & Company commissioned Thom to create a series of paintings on select moments from the history of pharmacy. The series, referred to in the literature by various names but apparently entitled A History of Pharmacy in Pictures, was a collaborative effort between several individuals, including Dr. George Urdang (of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy) and George A. Bender, a pharmacist and amateur historian at Parke-Davis. Thom ultimately created 40 oil paintings in this series that depicted select figures and moments from the history of pharmacy, including Dean Alford Benjamin Prescott of the University of Michigan's School of Pharmacy. Bender assisted with the research and creation of the narrative explanations behind each work. Parke-Davis then commissioned Thom to create a similar series that focused on the history of medicine. This additional series, also referred to in the literature by various names but apparently entitled A History of Medicine in Pictures, consisted of 45 oil paintings and was completed in circa 1964. Bender once again provided explanatory text for each painting.
The two series proved to be popular and Parke-Davis distributed reproductions of these paintings to doctors' offices and pharmacies throughout the United States and Canada. The paintings also appeared in numerous printed works, including Great Moments in Pharmacy and Great Moments in Medicine. These books were authored by Bender and Parke-Davis and included reproductions of the series' paintings. In 2007, Pfizer, Inc.—which had acquired the A History of Medicine in Pictures series—donated the paintings to the University of Michigan.
Thom created several other paintings and painting series during his career. These included A History of Michigan in Paintings, a series of 25 paintings commissioned by the Michigan Bell Telephone Company. The director of the Michigan Historical Collections (later Bentley Historical Library), Frederick Clever Bald, collaborated with Thom on this project. Thom's other series focused on several topics, including the history of Illinois, American technology, and wildlife. Other notable works produced by Thom include Day of Bread, a painting commissioned by the American Bakers Association and presented to President Richard Nixon, and another painting residing in the Baseball Hall of Fame (as of 2020) that shows Babe Ruth's "Called Shot" in the World Series of 1932.
In addition to his artistic endeavors, Thom contributed to the development of the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Association and served as its first president. He was a member of the New York Society of Illustrators and Detroit's Scarab Club, an artist's club, gallery, and studio.
After maintaining a gallery in Birmingham in the early 1970s, Thom moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then Texas. He died in 1979 in Alma, Michigan.
