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Albert Whiteley of Columbia County, Maryland, compiled these two notebooks while a student at Jefferson Medical College between 1837 and 1839. He recorded detailed lecture notes from numerous physicians on topics such as surgery, anatomy, obstetrics, general medicine, and chemistry.

Albert Whiteley of Columbia County, Maryland, compiled these two notebooks while a student at Jefferson Medical College between 1837 and 1839. He recorded detailed lecture notes from numerous physicians on topics such as surgery, anatomy, obstetrics, general medicine, and chemistry.

The first volume (6"x3.5", approximately 115 pages) contains notes on lectures that Dr. George McClellan, one of the founders of Jefferson Medical College, delivered between January 1838 and June 1839, concerning surgical methods. The second volume (7.75"x6", approximately 275 pages) contains notes on lectures by numerous instructors, including Samuel Colhoun, Samuel McClellan, John Revere, Granville Sharp Pattison, Jacob Green, Robley Dunglison, and George McClellan.

Each notebook covers a variety of medical topics, with discussions on specific diseases, ailments, and treatments, as well as general information about medicine and related topics. Treatments are frequently described in detail, and the notebooks record instructions for bloodletting, amputation, and other contemporary medical procedures. Medicinal treatments are occasionally mentioned, though the material concentrates primarily on physicians' practices. The second volume also contains lengthy discussions of human anatomy and physiology, a section on obstetrics, and information about general chemistry.

This collection consists of 186 letters and documents concerning Heman H. Gillett's participation in the Civil War as a surgeon for the 8th Vermont Volunteers.

Heman H. Gillett papers consist of 186 letters and documents concerning Gillett's participation as a surgeon in the Civil War. The items are primarily incoming general and regimental orders, circulars, and administrative letters addressed to Gillett. Throughout the collection are records, receipts, invoices, and copies of returns; these track medical expenditures, resources, and finances, as well as the maladies of the troops. For example, a document dated December 31, 1862, records the types of illnesses and numbers of persons affected for that month and lists the names of dead for his regiment that month. A June 14, 1863, report logs the sick and wounded for that week. Other documents list the supplies needed for the hospital or brigade. Gillett signed off on the prices and invoices for medicines, hospital stores, bedding, etc. and submitted them to various suppliers and departments. The reports show that Gillett was stationed in Louisiana (Algiers, New Iberia, and New Orleans) in 1863 and 1864. In 1864, he requested supplies from James A. Holmes at the General Hospital at Brashear, Louisiana, which was the primary receiving depot for sick Union soldiers in the area. In 1865, Gillett was stationed at Summit Point, Virginia (January-April 1865), Munson Hill, Virginia (June 1865), and back at Camp Babcock in Summit Point, Virginia, by June 1865.

Throughout the collection are general and personal orders and circulars, including many letters from the Surgeon General's office in Washington. Some reports are assessments of the conditions of the facilities of Gillett's division (December 1864), while others are accounts of how coordinating hospitals are accommodating the wounded. One long circular from September 1864 lays out new policies for how the regiment will account for the sick, including updates of required types of personnel and their new paperwork responsibilities. This circular also details the accoutrements and personnel for each medical wagon. The provisions are very carefully measured out and regulated.

The collection's sole personal letter is from Heman’s brother, S.H. Gillett, but even this letter focuses mainly on medical issues, while touching on .H. Gillett's political opinions (August 5, [1865?]).

Fourteen undated items and fragments document the need for or use of supplies for medical units during the war. One undated item is a list of fallen soldiers. The three post-war documents are all testimonials for solders that were wounded in battle who were petitioning for pensions. The collection's oversized items include 15 reports of sick and wounded and inventories and invoices for medical supplies.

In general, this collection provides much evidence for the management, supplying, and policies of Union hospitals in the South during the Civil War. The Gillett papers demonstrate the high level of administration and infrastructure used by Union medical troops, which, in policy if not practice, relied on organization, accountability, and reports.

This collection consists of letters written by James K. Hale sent to his brother George Hale while serving in the 106th New York Volunteers during the Civil War. The letters document the movements and viewpoints of a soldier in this regiment.

This collection consists of 28 letters written by James K. Hale, which he sent to his brother George Hale while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. The letters cover the entire existence of the 106th New York Volunteers and document the movements and viewpoints of a soldier in this regiment. Little personal information was offered outside of discussions of health and comments that he had received letters from Rosina.

In the letters, Hale openly discussed his superior officers, his interactions with other regiments, daily troop movements and battles, army life, and life in a field hospital. In a letter from October 1862, he mentioned that "Mulligan’s regiment are a hard lot of men." In December 1862, he described secondhand reports of a skirmish at Winchester, resulting in 7 prisoners and 12 Union deaths. In a particularly interesting letter from February 2, 1863, Hale expressed a bleak outlook for the outcome of the war, based on the Union's failures in the major battles thus far. Another item from August 1863 contains a vivid description of skirmishing at Manassas in late July 1863.

Hale wrote letters from November 22, 1863, and after from the Central Park Hospital in New York City, after he was shot with a musket ball in the ankle. He remained, however, in good spirits and health: "It is nothing but a flesh wound." While letters from this period record typical life in an army hospital, Hale noted some interesting details. For instance, in a December 28, 1863, letter, he described surgeons "putting on an artificial jaw on a man which is a great thing if they can make it work." He returned to his regiment in late March 1864. In his letter of June 19, 1863, Hale briefly commented on the siege of Petersburg happening in the background and ruminated on the merits of McClellan versus those of Grant. He praised the new Union leadership:

"…the men have great confidence in both Grant and Mead[.] They both keep close along in the front. I do not think Gen Butler has shown himself to be the greatest Gen. that ever was[.] I think he will do better for military Gov than he will for Gen. We have had three Brigade commanders wounded in our Brigade and our corps commander was killed[.] there has been a great many officers killed and wounded which is done by the sharpshooters in trees and other places" (June 19, 1864).

Hale wrote about other Union generals and discussed the merits and drawbacks of their battle strategies. In later letters, he described the progress of the 106th New York toward Richmond and looked forward to the end of the war. The last dated letter of May 21 [1865], briefly describes the reactions of soldiers to Lincoln’s assassination. "Even a greater portion of the South consider it an act beneath the dignity of any true man..."