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Collection KelH : Howard A. Kelly Collection

Description

Key

42524

Reference Code Element

KelH

Dates

1870-1943, inclusive

Extent

50 linear feet

Creator

Personal name, Kelly, Howard A. (Howard Atwood), 1858-1943.

Administrative/Biographical History

Howard A. Kelly was born in Camden, New Jersey, and reared in nearby Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an A.B. in 1877 and received an M.D. from the same institution in 1882. He interned at Episcopal Hospital (1882-1883) and then entered private practice in Philadelphia. In 1883, he founded Kensington Hospital for Women in Philadelphia. From 1888 to1889, he served as associate professor and professor of obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania. Between 1886 and 1889, he made various trips to Europe to study and visit hospitals. Recruited by William Osler, Kelly came to Johns Hopkins in 1889 as gynecologist and obstetrician and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the school of medicine which was being formed. A few years later, he also joined the staff of a private hospital that his colleague Hunter Robb had established. In 1912, the private hospital was renamed the Howard A. Kelly Hospital. He retained an affiliation with the Kelly Hospital until it closed in 1940. At Johns Hopkins, Kelly rose through the academic ranks. He served as professor of gynecology and obstetrics (1889-1899), professor of gynecology (1899-1919), and emeritus professor of gynecology (1919-1943). Kelly was a highly innovative surgeon. He invented numerous surgical devices, pioneered many new operative procedures for the female sexual organs, kidneys, and ureters, and was an early proponent of the use of radium for the treatment of cancer. Kelly contributed significantly to the establishment of gynecology as a specialty. He was a highly effective teacher who taught mainly by demonstration in small groups. A prolific writer, Kelly published extensively on surgical subjects as well as medical biography, botany, and the natural sciences. He was a deeply religious man who engaged in an active course of civic work throughout his life.

Chronology

Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1889-1943

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Scope and Content

The Howard A. Kelly Collection spans his entire medical career. Series include professional and family correspondence, manuscripts, notes, published material, photographs, scrapbooks, genealogical records, and mementos. In addition, there are personal diaries from 1870 to 1937. Particularly noteworthy are the large numbers of stereographs showing the evolution of surgical procedures in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century gynecology.

Language

English

Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access Element

This collection may contain some restricted records. Materials pertaining to patients, students, employees, and human research subjects, as well as unprocessed collections and recent administrative records, carry restrictions on access. For more information about the policies and procedures for access, see the Archives Policy on Access and Use.

Use/Reproduction Restrictions

When citing material from this collection, credit The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. For permission to reproduce images, contact the holder of the copyright.

Administration

Date(s) of Descriptions

August 13, 1981, revised January 11, 2002, 2013, and 2022-2023

Processing Information

The Howard A. Kelly Collection was processed by Lisa Rosner and Eleanor Denison in 1981. The project was supported by a grant from the NIH National Library of Medicine (LM 03594). Between 1998-2002, Medical Archives volunteer Elizabeth R. Peterson revised the collection inventory and completed descriptions of Howard Kelly's diaries. In 2013 and 2022-2023, Peterson began processing and describing the unprocessed parts of the collection. The diaries series was digitized in 2020-2021 by Backstage Library Works under the direction of Phoebe Evans Letocha. Funding for the digitization was provided by a gift from J. Mario Molina. Transcriptions of the diaries are being completed by Woolcott Kelly, Marion Davis, Victoria Chhang and Juliana Marquez. Medical Archives students assistants Lucas Dean and Niola Etienne also assisted in reviewing the diaries.

Accession

2023-054

2020-012

2018-049

2018-017

2017-008

2016-072

2016-071

2015-040

2014-079

2014-078

2014-038

2013-080

2013-067

2013-051

2011-034

2010-133

2010-102

2009-147

2009-090

2003-111

1991-001

1990-149

1990-084

1987-040

1985-032

1979-103

Custodial History

Much of the material in this collection came to Johns Hopkins in the summer of 1945 when Olga Kelly sold the family home and transferred her father's papers and mementos to the Welch Medical Library. They were transferred to the Chesney Medical Archives in 1979 shortly after it was established. Additional Kelly materials have been added to the collection since it was originally processed. These have primarily come from family members.

Composed Of

Found 21 record(s)

Reference Code and Titlesort by Reference Code and Title ascending	Key (Collection)sort by Key (Collection) ascending	Dates	Record Levelsort by Record Level ascending	Hierarchysort by Hierarchy ascending
1- Correspondence	42525		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
2- Radium	183288		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
3- American Medical Biographies	183289		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
4- Notes	183290		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
5- Notes, Snakebite	183291		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
6- Notes, Religious and Social	183292		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
7- Notes regarding the Florence Nightingale Collection	183293		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
8- Programs and Awards	183294		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
9- Robert P. Harris Papers	183295	1846-1895	Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
10- Joseph Colt Bloodgood Letters	183296		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
11- Scrapbooks	183297		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
12- Diaries	183298	1903-1943, 1876-1883, 1867-1872	Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
13- Stereoclinic	183299		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
14- Illustrations	183300		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
15- Clippings and Mementos	183301		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
16- Reprints	183302		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
17- Kelly Family Materials	201200		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
18- Photographs from the Howard Kelly Papers	48140		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
19- Records of the Howard Kelly Hospital	183312		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
1985-032- Family Photographs	183311		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection
1985-032- Personal Papers	183309		Series	CollectionKelH- Howard A. Kelly Collection

Related Artifacts

Found 6 record(s)

Available Actions	Artifact Numbersort by Artifact Number ascending	Titlesort by Title ascending
	216A	Howard Kelly's Left Hand
	262A	Academic gown for M.D. diploma, doctoral.
	349A	Black and white photograph, portrait.
	2119A	Two Empire Style Stained Wood Bookcases
	4247A	Acoustic Stethoscope
	4869A	Radium Seed

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