Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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 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.