Society of Medical History of Chicago Records

The Society of Medical History of Chicago was founded in 1909 "to secure and preserve
matters pertaining to the history of medical institutions,
organizations and individuals particularly of Chicago and the adjacent country; and to stimulate
interest in medical history
in general."  The records of the Society of Medical History of Chicago are held at SCRC, and
include the organization's administrative documents and collections of historic material on the history
of medicine. SCRC staff recently completed a finding aid for
the collection.

The
Society's historical collections date from the mid- to late-nineteenth century,
and consist of personal papers, organizational records, biographical files, publications
and photographs. Included are photographs taken at Cook County
Hospital and Rush Medical College;
records of the medical community's response to the Great Chicago Fire; an
1847-1851 casebook from the Chicago Retreat for the Insane; and many other
items that provide a complex representation of the practice of medicine in the
nineteenth century.