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University of Michigan microbiologist; correspondence, student notebooks, San Francisco Plague Commission records, research files and laboratory notebooks, visual materials

The Frederick G. Novy collection documents the career and research interests of this noted bacteriologist, including information from the period of time when he was a member of the San Francisco Plague Commission (1901).

The collection has been divided into the following series:

1. Biographical/Personal
2. Correspondence
3. University of Michigan Student Notebooks
4. University of Michigan Medical School
5. San Francisco Plague Commission
6. Research Files/Laboratory Notebooks
7. Reprints and Writings
8. Miscellaneous; and Visual Materials.

Professor of homoeopathic medicine at University of Michigan, mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan, dean of the New York Homeopathic Medical College and director of Flower Hospital, New York City Commissioner of Public Health, and Democratic U. S. Senator from New York, 1923-1938. Personal and medical correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks containing food and health articles, photographs, and other papers concerning his medical and political interests. Correspondents include: Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Alfred E. Smith.

The Royal Copeland collection, consisting primarily of correspondence, speeches and writings, scrapbooks, and articles, relates primarily to Copeland's medical career as professor of homeopathic medicine at the University of Michigan, dean of the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Flower Hospital, and New York City Commissioner of Public Health, and as United States Senator.

The Science and Medicine collection consists of miscellaneous items that document various aspects of science and medicine in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Science and Medicine collection contains miscellaneous items that document various aspects of science and medicine in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries. Fields covered include anatomy, astrology, astronomy, botany, dentistry, geography, medicine, paleontology, physics, and physiology.

• Agriculture, plants, and seeds
• Communication and travel
• Collecting specimens for natural history museums
• Epidemics (influenza, cholera, yellow fever)
• Higher education and honorary degrees
• Inoculations
• Land surveying
• Mathematics and navigation
• Medical techniques and treatments for diseases, wounds, and afflictions
• Medicinal recipes
• Mental health
• Quackery
• Scientific and medical texts and lectures
• Technological developments and experiments in machinery, and architectural projects
• Venereal diseases

• April 19, 1788: Description of riot set off by alleged body snatching by medical students in New York
• August 31, 1792: Order for an inoculation
• June 30, 1796: Request to Charles Wilson Peale from members of a Paris museum to exchange specimens, including mastodon and opossums
• January 15, 1826: Thomas Nuttall to a bookseller named Mr. Brown concerning 10 boxes of natural history specimens he is sending from Oahu, Hawaii
• August 7, 1832: Account of the course and spread of Cholera in Albany, and fears that southern slaves will suffer the most from Cholera
• September 13, 1833: Description of bright flashing lights appearing in the sky
• August 24, 1835: Recommendation of a physician of the 'new school' of medicine who does not utilize bleeding, blistering, or calomelization (mercury cure)
• December 15, 1840: Description of eye surgery performed on a patient at the Medical College of Geneva, New York
• January 12, 1842: Discussion of constructing a microscope to view bacillaria
• May 8, 1844: Astrological reading that predicts the recipient will marry a man from the north with light brown hair
• September 19, 1848: Rules and customs of telegraphing
• [1895]: Request for a list of names of locals with eye problems on letterhead for Narcissa Waterman, Eye Doctress

The Thomas Francis Jr. collections consists of the personal and professional papers of one of the developers of the influenza and poliomyelitis vaccinations. Francis taught epidemiology at the School of Public Health and medical school from 1941 to 1969 and greatly influenced the direction of research in his field.

Important certainly for the study of influenza and poliomyelitis research, the Francis papers also document changes in the way scientific research, particularly medical research, was managed. In his correspondence files, the records from his work in combating influenza and poliomyelitis, and his participation in various professional societies, the researcher will find Francis interacting as a member of a scientific community, working with others, soliciting and exchanging views, and administering, when needed, vast programs of testing.

The Thomas Francis, Jr. papers have been arranged into seven series: General; Correspondence; Poliomyelitis Vaccine Evaluation Center; Organizations; University of Michigan; Speeches, Articles, etc.; Topical Files; and Personal/Biographical. Specific topics covered in the collection are mentioned in the descriptions of individual series. In sum, the collection documents more thoroughly Francis' work since coming to the University of Michigan in 1941. Francis' fame rests upon his research and his heading-up of influenza and poliomyelitis testing programs. For some topics, use of the Francis papers will require of the researcher at least a basic level of knowledge of epidemiology or disease control. Other subjects, such as the administration of research projects and the ways in which information is transmitted within the scientific community are less specialized and capable of being understood by the informed layperson.

Parts of the Francis papers have not yet been completely processed. Most of these subseries pertain to Francis' organizational commitments and to his membership on various boards and commissions. Types of records in these unprocessed subseries consist of minutes of meetings and procedural records. These unprocessed records are indicated on the finding aid along with the bulk size of the subseries.