Moody Medical Library

Academic Resources | Blocker History of Medicine Collections

The Digital Collections provide an exciting opportunity for the discovery of audio and visual resources, which document the record of the University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston in addition to the evidence of developments in anatomy and surgery, anesthesiology, immunology, and psychiatry.

• The Ashbel Smith Letters
  Letters written by Dr. Ashbel Smith, an early Texas physician and medical researcher
  
  
• Bubonic Plague Strikes Galveston
  Documents related to the Plague outbreak of 1920
  
  
• The Centennial Oral History Collection
  Interviews conducted by Dr. Chester R. Burns with 85 individuals recorded between 1985 and 1994
  
  
• The Charles A. Berry, M.D. Papers
  Manuscripts, documents, and photographs from the papers of Dr. Charles A. Berry.
  
  
• The Diary of Thomas Sealy
  A digitized diary of Dr. Thomas Richard Sealy.
  
  
• The Doris Appel Papers
  Documents, images, and a recorded lecture from the papers of artist Doris Appel.
  
  
• The Dr. Edith Marguerite Bonnet Papers
  Diary and other documents of Edith Bonnet, M.D., UTMB class of 1926
  
  
• Felix Butte Letters to Elizabeth Kirkpatrick 1922-1923
  Dr. Felix Butte (1901-1962) graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1926. During his freshman year, he corresponded frequently with Miss Elizabeth Kirkpatrick (1899-1989), his future wife. The Truman G. Blocker, Jr. History of Medicine Collections holds a collection of 103 letters written by Felix to Elizabeth during the 1922-1923 school year. The letters detail his study habits, classwork, professors, and student life activities in Galveston, providing insight into the medical education experience in Texas in the 1920s.
  On his first day of classes, Butte wrote to his “Sweetheart Dearest:” “Each one of us freshman brought home an armful of bones, leg bones, which will be the first thing we take up in Anatomy-and believe me there are a hundred little things I never heard of to learn about every bone…” (10/2/1922). Later in the school year, he wrote, “We had one of the hardest exams this morning I ever saw-in histology. [Professor Marie Schaeffer] went way back and asked us some stuff we had last term…” (5/16/1923).
  Dr. Butte was the son of politician George Butte, who famously lost the Texas gubernatorial race in 1924 to Miriam “Ma” Ferguson. Felix and Elizabeth were married in 1924 and had three children. Following his graduation in 1926, Dr. Butte taught anatomy at UTMB until 1933, went to New York to study orthopedics, then spent the entirety of his career at Baylor University Hospital in the department of orthopedics, serving as its chief from 1947-1956.
  
  
• The Greensville S. Dowell, M.D. Journals
  Journals of Greensville S. Dowell M.D., surgeon, teacher, and editor of the first medical periodical in Texas
  
  
• The James Edwin Thompson Surgical Papers
  Documents from Dr. James E. Thompson, the first professor of surgery at UTMB
  
  
• The James. G. Gaume, M.D. Papers
  Manuscripts, documents, and photographs from the papers of Dr. James Gaume
  
  
• The Louis Pasteur Collection
  Items from Pasteur's personal library, including letters and unpublished papers
  
  
• The Meyer Bodansky Pathology and Biochemistry Papers
  Papers detailing Dr. Bodansky’s research activities as a biochemist and pathologist
  
  
• Operation Rebound/Operation Recheck
  Records of a Civil Defense exercise to investigate by field trial the ability provide medical support in the event of a disaster
  
  
• Portraits of History: Key Figures at UTMB
  Celebrating those who have propelled UTMB to the forefront of modern medicine
  
  
• Texas Surgical Society Papers
  Documents from the state's surgical society, established 1915
  
  
• The William E. Thornton, M.D. Papers
  Manuscripts, documents, and photographs from the papers of Dr. William Thornton.
  
  
• The William Keiller, M.D. Department of Anatomy Drawings
  Drawings created by UTMB faculty and students between 1891 and 1981
  
  

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