Harvard Libraries: Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Center for the History of Medicine

Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Center for the History of Medicine

Website:	http://www.countway.med.harvard.edu/rarebooks/index.shtml
Hours:	Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm

Alternate Names:

Countway Library of Medicine

Phone Numbers:

Main	(617) 432-2170
Reference	(617) 432-6207
Fax	(617) 432-4737

Email Addresses:

Reference Librarian

countway_rare_books@hms.harvard.edu

Address:

Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
Center for the History of Medicine
10 Shattuck Street
Boston MA 02115

Access Policy:

There is no charge for access to the Countway Library facilities for members of the Harvard University community, the Boston Medical Library, the Massachusetts Medical Society, or members of selected affiliated institutions. All other users may be charged a $35.00 per diem access fee. This fee may be waived for researchers using the Center for the History of Medicine; consult the Reference Librarian for further information.

Extent of Collections:

15-20 million items

Dates:

13th century - current

Holdings Description:

Departmental records of the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Harvard School of Public Health; personal and professional papers, manuscripts, and correspondence of medical practitioners with particular emphasis on New England, Massachusetts, and Boston but also including figures in medicine from the medieval and Renaissance periods through the twentieth century; institutional, scientific, and medical society records. Major subject areas include the history of medicine, dentistry, public health, anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, birth control, surgery, psychiatry, medical education, women in medicine, and other medical specialties. Individual collections include those of Benjamin Waterhouse, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Clarence J. Gamble, Walter Bradford Cannon, Stanley Cobb, James Jackson Putnam, Henry P. Bowditch, Varaztad Kazanjian, Paul Dudley White, and John Collins Warren; organizational records of the Massachusetts Medical Society, New England Rontgen Ray Society, the Dorchester Medical Club, and the collections which form the National Archives of Plastic Surgery; institutional records of various hospitals such as Brigham and Women's Hospital and the New England Hospital for Women and Children.

Formats include manuscripts, printed materials, personal papers, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs.

History:

The Countway Library was formed in 1960 by the alliance of the Boston Medical Library (founded in 1875) and the Harvard Medical School Library (with origins from 1782). Additional information can be found at: http://www.countway.med.harvard.edu/rarebooks/history.shtml.

Printed Guides & Catalogs:

None. Some individual collections have printed finding aids or inventories available.

Online Guides & Catalogs:

A number of records for cataloged collections can be found in the HOLLIS Catalog and the RLIN database. Finding aids for collections will be available through OASIS in the future.

Contact for permission to publish requests:

Reference Librarian (jack_eckert@hms.harvard.edu)

Reproduction services:

Microfilming Services.

Photocopying by staff only.

Photographic reproduction services.

Items allowed in Reading Room:

Refer to Holmes Hall Rules and Regulations (http://countway.med.harvard.edu/rarebooks/holm

Please address comments and updates to archinfo@hulmail.harvard.edu.