Florence Rena Sabin Papers
1916-1973
(13.5 linear feet)

B Sa12

© American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street * Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386
Table of contents Abstract
Correspondence, reports, etc., relating principally to medical research (tuberculosis, cancer, lymphatic system, pernicious anemia), writings and publications. There is material of note on the following organizations: American Assoc. of Anatomists, American Assoc. of University Women, American Woman's Assoc., Henry Strong Denison Medical Foundation, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (re. fellowships), Hall of Fame for Great Americans, Institute for Advanced Study, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Medical Aid to China, Medical Aid to Spain, Naples Table Association (this existed to promote laboratory research by women: there are folders of correspondence, 1919-1931; applications; General Committee minutes, 1915-1932), National Academy of Sciences, National Tuberculosis Assoc., Peking Union Medical College, Rockefeller Institute, Ellen Richards Prize (awarded by the Assoc. to Aid Scientific Research by Women), Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, University in Exile (i.e. New School for Social Research), White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, and the World Center for Women's Archives. There are abstracts and notes of unpublished scientific papers, and also materials for her biography of Franklin Paine Mall, 1934.
Background note
Born in the mining town of Central City, Colorado, as the daughter of an engineer, Florence Rena Sabin was raised in New England and carved out a career of firsts in developmental biology and anatomy.

Receiving a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1893, Sabin entered the three year old medical school at Johns Hopkins University in 1896, becoming the first woman graduate from the school with the class of 1900. At Hopkins, Sabin became the protégé of Franklin P. Mall, who encouraged her research interests in anatomy. By any reckoning, her talent for medical investigation was enormous, earning her an internship at Hopkins Hospital, followed by a special fellowship in the Department of Anatomy from the Baltimore Association for the Advancement of University Education of Women. By 1917, Sabin was made a member of the faculty in the Department of Histology, the first woman at the University to be promoted to the status of full professor.

Her early research centered on the embryological origins of the lymphatic system, and she later worked on the origins of blood, blood cells, and blood vessels, on the histology of the brain, and on the pathology and immunology of tuberculosis.

In September, 1925, Sabin accepted the invitation to head the Department of Cellular Studies at the Rockefeller Institute, becoming the first woman faculty member there, and continuing her work on tuberculosis. She retired to Colorado in 1938, but emerged six years later at the request of the governor to chair a subcommittee on public health and help reform and modernize the state's public health system. She retired a second time in 1951 and died October 3, 1953.

Honors accrued to Sabin throughout her career, including a number of firsts. In addition to being the first female graduate of Hopkins medical school, the first full professor there, and the first at Rockefeller, she was the first president of the American Association of Anatomists (1924) and the first woman member of the National Academy of Sciences (1925). She was selected as one of two representatives for the state of Colorado in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.


Scope and content
The Papers of Florence Rena Sabin, a pioneer in women's role in medical research, consist of 13.5 linear feet of correspondence, notes, and publications pertaining to her research in anatomy and embryology. The collection is rich in detail on her work on tuberculosis, cancer, the origins of the lymphatic system, and pernicious anemia, as well as her involvement with a number of professional organizations.

Administrative information
Restrictions
None.

Provenance
Gift of the Rockefeller Institute, 1964.

Preferred citation
Cite as: Florence Rena Sabin Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Additional information
Related material
Additional Sabin material is located in the Alan Mason Chesney Papers at Johns Hopkins University, at Smith College, and the archives of the Rockefeller Institute in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Added entries
Subjects
  • American Association of Anatomists
  • American Association of University Women
  • American Woman's Association
  • Anatomy
  • Cancer--Research
  • Ellen Richards Prize
  • Embryology
  • John Hopkins University. School of Medicine--Faculty
  • John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  • Lymphatics
  • Mall, Franklin P. (Franklin Paine), 1862-1917
  • Naples Table Association
  • National Academy of Sciences
  • National Tuberculosis Association
  • New School for Social Research
  • Peking Union Medical College
  • Physiology
  • Rockefeller Institute
  • Society for Experimental Biology
  • Tuberculosis--Research
  • University in Exile (see New School for Social Research)
  • White House Conference on Child Health and Protection
  • Women anatomists
  • Women physicians
  • Women physiologists
  • World Center for Women's Archives
  • Contributors
  • Sabin, Florence Rena, 1871-1953
  • Contact information
    American Philosophical Society
    105 South Fifth Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386
    [http://www.amphilsoc.org/]

    ©9/2000

      Sponsor:Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
    Detailed inventory
    Notes
    The following is a list of papers of Florence Rena Sabin, presented to the American Philosophical Society by the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

    As far as possible, these are arranged under the headings which Dr. Sabin used. 1964 43ms.


    Series I. Correspondence



    A 1930 - 38


    Aagard, Otto 1922 - 23


    Abbott, Maude E. 1917 - 28


    Abel, John Jacob 1932 - 39


    Abels, Jules C. 1939 - 41


    Abstracts - Unpublished Papers n.d.


    Academy of Political Science 1937


    Adams, Emma M. 1931


    Adams, Frances 1934 - 35


    Adams, Roger 1931


    Addis, T. 1930, 1939


    Addresses: Invitations to Speak n.d.


    Adelhelm, C. Edgar 1938


    Adler, Eleanor L. 1932


    Alber, Mrs. Karl 1936


    Albert-Weil, Jean 1932


    Allen, Esther C. 1926


    Alpha Springs Company 1936


    Altschul, F. J. 1932


    Amberson, James Burns, Jr. 1925 - 42


    American Association for the Advancement of Science 1927 - 44


    American Association for the Advancement of Science - Elections 1907 - 09


    American Association of Anatomists 1923 - 38


    American Association of University Women 1923 - 39


    American Chemical Society 1934 - 37


    American Eugenics Society 1926 - 36


    American Friends of Spanish Democracy 1937


    American Geographical Society 1933 - 37


    American Journal of Physiology 1936


    American Library in Honor of Pasteur 1931 - 32


    American Men of Science 1931 - 32


    American Museum of Natural History 1927 - 26


    American Scholar 1934


    American Society for the Control of Cancer 1938 - 45


    American Society of Medical Technologists 1937


    American University Club 1931 - 32


    American Woman's Association 1926 - 39


    American - Soviet Friendship, Inc. 1944


    Ames, J. S. 1933


    Amoss, Harold L. 1927, 1938


    Anatomy and Physiology - Demonstrations n.d.


    Anderson, D. H. 1928


    Anderson, James H. 1931


    Anderson, L. E. 1936


    Anderson, Rudolph J. 1927-42


    Andrus, William DeWitt 1940


    Anselmo, Charles 1935


    Anslow, Gladys A. 1936


    Antibody Paper 1939


    Apparatus 1928-30, n.d.


    Armour, Alexander W. 1934


    Arneill, James R. 1931


    Arvanian, V. 1933


    Ascoli, Alberto 1937-38


    Associated Hospital Service of New York 1936-40


    Association of Hospital and Medical Employees of Greater New York 1937


    Association of Hospital and Medical Professionals 1937


    Atlantic Monthly 1932


    Atlas of the Medulla and Midbrain (Letters Pertaining to) 1900-45


    Atwood, Wallace W. 1934


    Austrian, Charles R. 1923-28


    Avery, Oswald T. 1944, n.d.


    Avian Tuberculosis 1923-29


    Aycock, W. Lloyd 1936


    Aydelotte, Frank 1933-43


    B 1919-40


    Babcock, Heath 1938


    Bachrach, Inc. 1936


    Baggett, Iva L. 1935


    Baird, L. S. Hillegas 1935


    Baker, Newton D. 1929


    Baker, S. Josephine 1936


    Baldwin, Edward R. 1929-31


    Baldwin, James H. 1933


    Bales, John, Sons & Danielsson, Ltd. 1932


    Baley, James 1931


    Ball, Eric G. 1934


    Bang, Bernard 1927


    Banting, F. G. 1936


    Bardeen, C. R. 1930-34


    Barker, Grace 1940


    Barker, Lewellys F. 1901, 1934


    Barnard, W. G. 1929


    Barondes, R De R 1936


    Bartelmez, George W. 1917-22


    Bartlett, Frederic H. 1935


    Bartlett, Katherine C. 1934


    Barlett, Robert W. 1933


    Bass, Elizabeth 1939-40


    Bauer, Walter 1930


    Baumann, Frieda 1932


    Baxter, Josephine A. 1938


    Baylis, Adelaide B. 1927


    Bayne-Jones, S. 1932


    Beall, K. H. 1923


    Beals, Rose F. 1926-35


    Beard, Mary R. 1935-44


    Beck, Regina C. 1937-38


    Bedson, S. Phillips 1923-24


    Bell, W. B. 1944


    Bellamy, Freddie 1935, n.d.


    Benedict, Ralph C. 1937-38


    Bensley, Robert Russell 1932-42


    Benton, Mary L. 1922


    Berle, Adolf A., Jr. 1935-38


    Bernhard, W. G. 1934


    Bernheim, Alice R. 1938


    Berry, Martha 1935


    Berst, Myrabell K. 1937


    Bibb, Eugene Sharp 1940


    Bibliography of Florence Rena Sabin n.d.


    Biblioteca Femina n.d.


    Bickford, James V 1930-35


    Biely, Jacob 1933


    Bigelow, George H. 1930


    Biographical Data n.d.


    Biographical Material of Florence Rena Sabin n.d.


    Birch, Carroll L. 1929


    Birkhaus, Konrad E. 1931


    Birth Control Movement 1934-35


    Black, Davidson 1921-22


    Blackfan, Kenneth D. 1928-33


    Blake, Francis G. 1933-35


    Blake, James K. 1937-38


    Blood, Correspondence Concerning 1927-35


    Bloom, William 1936-39


    Boas, Franz 1933-38


    Bohoel, Emil 1931-38


    Boissevain, C. H. 1931,1937


    Bolton, Thaddeus L. 1938


    Book Plate - Sketch 1941


    Boos, Margaret 1935-36


    Boretz, Mary E. 1942


    Boty, James M. 1930


    Bousios, Basil Nicholas Hellenagoras 1934


    Bowcock, Harold M. 1929-30


    Bowman, J. 1929


    Boy Conservation Bureau 1937


    Boyce, Addisone 1932, 1943


    Boycott, A. E. 1936


    Boyle, Emma H. 1937


    Brainerd, Heloise 1934


    Brandt, Joseph A. 1942-43


    Branscomb, Louise 1930


    Brayton, Nancy L. 1938


    Bremer, J. L. 1931


    Brigham, Carl C. 1934


    Broady, Mrs. J. H. 1933


    Brõdel, Max 1934


    Brown, Adelaide 1932-34


    Brown, David H. 1941


    Brown, Lawrason 1933


    Brown, Louise 1930


    Brown, Madeline R. 1936-37


    Brown, Virginia S. 1934


    Brown, Warren Wilmer 1936-37


    Browning, Charles C. 1932


    Browning, William 1900


    Bruetsch, Walter W. 1932-33


    Bryn Mawr College 1917,1946


    Buck, Albert W. 1933-34


    Buck, Lemuel F. 1937


    Budget 1933-36


    Buell, George 1939-40


    Bunker, John W. M. 1938


    Bunin, Simon S. 1930


    Bunting, Charles H. 1919-1926


    Burrows, M. T. 1926,1938


    Bush, William M. 1939-40


    Business and Professional Women's Clubs 1937


    C 1920-41


    Calendar Reform 1936


    Callander, C. Latimer 1922


    Calliess, Charlotte 1930


    Campbell, Edith 1927


    Campbell, Editha C. 1931-33


    Campbell, Nell K. 1936


    Campbell, W. W. 1932


    Campen, Laura E. 1927


    Cancer Committee 1946


    Cancer Research Committee 1928-29


    Candidates 1928-31


    Cann, Jessie Y. 1938


    Cannon, Walter Bradford 1945


    Carrel, Alexis 1929-36


    Cary, W. P. 1937


    Case School of Applied Science 1934-36


    Casey, Albert E. 1934-37


    Cash, James R. 1928-35


    Castle, W. B. 1930-37


    Catt, Carrie Chapman 1940


    Cattell, James McKeen 1925-37


    Cavins, A. W. 1931


    Chalfant, Ruth Jean n.d.


    Chambers, Robert 1923-33


    Channel Bookshop 1931, n.d,


    Chapman, Edward N 1934


    Chapman, Ross McC 1932


    Chase National Bank 1932-40


    Chediak, Alejandro 1937


    Chemical Fraction Tests - Correspondence 1929


    Chidester, F. E. 1930


    Child, Dorothy 1932


    Chinese Medical Association 1933


    Choucroun, Nina 1942


    Churchman, John W. 1930-32


    Citizen's Charter Campaign Committee [New York City] 1936


    Clark, Ada R. 1933


    Clark, Axton 1941-42, n.d.


    Clark, Eliot 1920-37


    Clark, George A. 1936


    Clark, Janet Howell 1921-39


    Clark, L. T. 1934


    Clark University 1933-34


    Clarke, Miriam 1930


    Cline, May 1931


    Co Tui, Frank W. 1935


    Cobb, Stanley 1936, n.d.


    Coburn, Alvin F. 1933-39


    Cohen, Florence 1931


    Cohn, Alfred Ezra 1920-41


    Cohn, Earl 1940


    Cohn, Edwin Joseph 1927-28


    Cole, Julia 1931


    Cole, Rufus Ivory 1931


    Coleman, Anne 1937


    Collins, Mary Love 1934-36


    Colonial Dames of America n.d.


    Colorado - Governor's Committee 1945


    Colorado Foundation 1937-38


    Coombs, Mrs. Marvin B. 1937


    Condit, Virginia 1932


    Conklin, Edwin Grant 1932, 1938


    Cooke, Mary A. 1935


    Cooper, H. J. (National Jewish Hospital, Denver, Colorado) 1931-34


    Cooper, Linn F. 1929


    Cordier, Victor 1929


    Cordova, Frank 1937


    Corn Exchange Bank 1931-33


    Cornell University Medical College 1928, 1936-37


    Corner, George Washington 1925-38


    Corwin, Margaret T. 1936


    Cosmopolitan Club 1932-37


    Cotton, W. E. 1930-32


    Courant, R. 1937


    Cournand, André 1936-37


    Cowdry, E. V. 1921-36


    Craighill, Margaret D. 1941-43


    Crawford, Rena 1916-19


    Creviston, Maxine 1932


    Crocker, Walter J. 1931-35


    Crowe, S. J. 1924


    Crowell, Mrs. Chester T. 1938


    Cruiskshank, E. W. H. 19226


    Cullen, Thomas S. 1924, 1933


    Cummings, H. S. 1928


    Cunningham, Robert S. 1920-43


    Curie-Joliot, Mme. Marie 1921


    Curtiss, E. Fred 1924


    Cushing, Harvey 1925-35


    Custer, R. P. 1930


    Cuthbert, Margaret 1936-37


    Cutler, Elliott C. 1926-36


    Cutler, Max 1925


    D 1919-39


    Dameshek, William 1934-36


    Danchakoff, Vera 1922-27


    Danforth, C. H. 1926


    Danzinger, Max 1930


    Darracott, W. H. 1932


    Davenport, Charles B. 1938


    Davidson, Wilburt C. 1927


    Davies, Betty G. 1924, 1941


    Davies, John A. V. 1936


    Day, Dorothy 1940


    DeAberle, Sophie 1927


    Dean, Mrs. Vera Michaelis 1936-37


    Dearholt Lectures 1942


    DeGeris, C. F. 1942-43


    De La Porta, Rita 1934


    Delaunay, A. 1940


    Deming, Clinton D. 1934


    DePrune, Franqois Jehin 1934-37


    DeSavitsch, Eugene 1932-33, 1941


    Detwiler, S. R. 1933


    Development of Knowledge of the Lymphatic System n.d.


    Diamond, Louis K. 1927


    Dickinson, C. R. 1930


    Dickinson, Mrs. Florence 1926


    Dickinson, Robert L. 1922


    Dittus, C. W. 1934-37


    Doan, Charles A. 1920-46


    Doan, Robert A. 1922-24


    Dochez, A. R. 1931-33


    Dodge, Eva F. 1934


    Dolgopol, Vera B. 1929-30


    Donaldson, Henry H. 1932-36


    Downey, Hal 1917-39>


    Doyle, Ann 1927


    Draper, George 1925


    Drinker, Cecil Kent 1920-33


    Drinker, Cecil K. (Review on Book) 1942


    Du Bois, Arthur 1929


    Du Bois, Eugene Floyd 1931-37


    Duckworth, W. L. H. 1917


    Dudley, Harold M. 1933


    Duesberg, Jules 1920-24


    Duffus, Katherine Balfour 1926-27


    Duke, W. W. 1928


    Dunham, Ethel C. 1926-27


    Dunn, Marshall 1922-26, 1945


    DuPlaix, Jeanne 1937


    Duran-Reynals, F. 1941


    E 1921-39


    Eagle Chemical Co. 1936


    Earhart, Amelia, Foundation 1938


    Earle, Edward M. 1931-38


    Eaton, Jeanette 1938


    Eaton, Paul 1934


    Eberbach & Sons Company, Incorporated 1931-32


    Eckstein, Gustav 1935


    Edgar, Mrs. A. K. 1930


    Egbert, Dan S. 1934


    Eggleston, Margery K. 1925-30


    Ehrlick, Laura E. 1936-39


    Eichel, Mrs. Mabel Jacques 1936


    Einstein, Albert 1935-38


    Eliot, Martha M. 1936


    Ellenberg, Samuel L. 1930


    Eller, Joseph Jordan 1935


    Elliman, Douglas L. & Co. 1925


    Elscott, Mrs. O. J. 1939


    Emerson, Kendall 1930-42


    Encyclopaedia Britannica 1925


    Erdmann, Rhoda 1925


    Essenberg, Christine A. 1924


    Evans, Alice C. 1938-39


    Evans, Herbert Mclean 1909-38


    Evans, James Rittenhouse 1910


    Everts, Mrs. W. E. 1931


    F 1919-41


    Farrington, Wallace R. 1927


    Fay, Anna 1930


    Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 1934-35


    Feldman, William H. 1926, 1939


    Felton, Lloyd D. 1933, 1939


    Fenimore, Edward P. 1932


    Fenton, Ralph A. 1932


    Ferguson, J. Howard 1934


    Ferrell, John A. 1938


    Fichtelberg, Sidney 1938


    Field, Philip M. 1938


    Field, Rudolph 1938-39


    Fieschi, Aminta 1939


    Finley, John H. 1933-36


    Finney-Howell Research Foundation 1937-45


    Firket, Jean 1924, 1934, n.d.


    Fisk, Gladys 1936


    Fitz, Reginald 1935


    Flexner, Abraham 1925-44


    Flexner, Bernard 1932-40


    Flexner, Simon 1917-43


    Flexner, Simon, Dinner and Medal - Correspondence 1935-36


    Flinn, Frederick B. 1927-34


    Flinn, John W. 1929-30


    Flinn, Waldo R. 1930-38


    Flint, Charles W. 1934


    Flint, Edith Foster 1932


    Flint, Joseph M. 1932-35


    Flipse, M. Jay 1936


    Florence, Laura 1926-27, 1938


    Flynn, Lulu V. 1936


    Foley, Edna L. 1932-36


    Fontana, Luigi 1926


    Foreign Policy Association 1934-38


    Forkner, Claude E. 1925-39, n.d.


    Foster, Mary Louise 1930


    Fougera and Company 1932


    Fowle, Hubert W. 1937


    Fowler, Charlotte 1940


    Fox, Herbert 1927-29


    Frankfurter, Felix 1934-36


    Franklin, Kenneth 1934


    Frantz, Virginia Kneeland 1926, 1933


    Frazer, M. Ethel V. 1925


    Fredericks, G. T. 1928