Search

The Constantine Richard Schaefer papers primarily consist of incoming correspondence to Constantine Richard Schaefer of Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Constantine Schaefer papers (126 consist primarily of Correspondence (119 items) pertaining to Dr. Constantine Richard Schaefer of Indianapolis, Indiana, and to his father, Constantin. Constantin Schaefer wrote the earliest letters (in German) from Indianapolis and New York City. Prior to 1883, most of these were addressed either to "Lieber Anna" or to Constantine ("Richard" or "C. Richard") in Worms, Germany. The bulk of the material relates to the Indianapolis physician rather than to his father, and comprises both personal and professional correspondence. The letters from the mid- to late 1880s are mostly Philadelphia and New York booksellers' responses to Constantine R. Schaefer's inquiries about available titles. His friend Oscar often shared news of his life in Terre Haute, Indiana, and his cousin Henry provided updates on members of Schaefer's extended family. A few letters and postcards are addressed to Anna Schaefer.

Much of the professional correspondence directly concerns Constantine R. Schaefer's medical practice, with content pertaining to medical equipment, publications to which Shaefer subscribed, and medical equipment. The collection also has several receipts for medical supplies and notes from the dean of the University of Indianapolis Department of Medicine. The Documents series (7 items) includes a certificate giving the 1841 birthdate of Constantin "Schöefer," a pamphlet offering "Valuable Pointers" for various medical tonics, Constantine R. Schafer's credentials for the 1890 meeting of the American Medical Association, and a catalogue offering medical supplies.

The Marcus Ahlenfeld papers contain correspondence, documents, notes, and other material related to Ahlenfeld's medical education in Germany and to his medical practice in the United States.

The earliest letters in the Correspondence series date to Ahlenfeld's time in Germany, though the series spans most of his time in the United States. Material in this series is written primarily in German, but also includes items in Hebrew and in English. The correspondence series contains incoming correspondence relating to Ahlenfeld's 1832 journey to America and contains many letters of recommendation from various acquaintances, as well as a letter certifying his graduation from the University of Maryland (April 6, 1835). Later items in the series include several personal letters and a certificate of Ahlenfeld's citizenship (June 13, 1845). Items in the series postdating Ahlenfeld's death are addressed to his wife Esther.

The Documents and Receipts series consists of documents related to Ahlenfeld's education in Germany, as well as several receipts related to his life before emigrating to the United States.

The Manuscript prescriptions series contains 8 undated items.

The Medical notes series includes items in English, German, and Hebrew (much of the German and Hebrew writing is written with Yiddish script). The English language notes consist of 34 pages discussing "...Salubrity, Longevity, Mortality and prevalence of diseases in the principal Countries and cities of the civilized world" (undated).

The Notes, fragments, and miscellaneous series includes material written in both German and Hebrew (again, the German and Hebrew texts are written largely with Yiddish script).

• Rules for official medical examinations in Berlin (December 1825)
• French pamphlet regarding cholera (1831)
• Two reprinted letters of recommendation for Marcus Ahlenfeld ([1835])
• Rules for "die Königliche Bibliothek" in Berlin (undated)
• Pages from a German instructional book, possibly in history (undated)
• Pages from a German medical text (undated)

The German medical textbooks series has 5 items: two books on human anatomy, a medical dictionary, a chemistry encyclopedia, and a Latin dictionary and grammar.