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Collection AbeJ : John Jacob Abel Collection

Description

Key

25313

Reference Code Element

AbeJ

Dates

1880-1940, inclusive

Extent

84 linear ft.

Creator

Personal name, Abel, John Jacob, 1857-1938

Administrative/Biographical History

John Jacob Abel was born near Cleveland, Ohio, in 1857 and received his Ph.B. in 1883 from the University of Michigan. To prepare for a career in scientific medicine, he spent a year at the Johns Hopkins University studying physiology under Henry Newell Martin and then studied for several years at various European universities. In 1888, he received his M.D. from the University of Strasbourg and then returned to the University of Michigan to accept the professorship inmateria medica. In 1893, Abel was recruited to establish the department of pharmacology at the newly founded Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He thus became the first full-time professor of pharmacology in the United States. He changed the course of teaching in the basic sciences by encouraging his students to conduct experiments and become active participants in his laboratory research. One of the early goals of Abel's department was the isolation of pure hormones, and in 1897 he reported the isolation of a derivative of epinephrine. In 1926, he reported the isolation and crystallization of insulin. Abel also investigated the functions of the kidney and devised a vividiffusion apparatus for removing toxins from the blood of living animals, an apparatus that is widely regarded as a forerunner of the artificial kidney. Abel founded the Journal of Biological Chemistry in 1905 and the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics in 1909.

Chronology

Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences, 1884

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1893-1938

Scope and Content

The John Jacob Abel Collection consists primarily of correspondence (1880-1938). Other series include student notebooks, research notebooks, lab and lecture notes, photographs, addresses and talks, honorary degrees, and awards. The collection also contains press clippings (1883-1940), programs and invitations (1889-1937), and calling cards (1880-1930) that Abel saved throughout his career. Biographical material includes remebrances of Abel by friends and colleagues, information on the life and interests of his wife Mary Abel, and accounts of his early education and pharmacology research. The collection is particularly strong in documenting Abel's research on tetanus, including reprints, articles, experimental notes, editorials, and letters. Additional correspondence with Abel can be found in the personal paper collections of Lewellys Barker, Thomas Cullen, Walter Dandy, William Halsted, Howard Kelly, Adolf Meyer, William Welch, and Lewis Weed.

Subjects - Name

Personal name, Abel, John Jacob, 1857-1938

Personal name, Abel, Mary

Subjects

Topic, Tetanus

Topic, Pharmacology

Topic, Insulin

Language

English

Administration

Processing Information

The John Jacon Abel Collection was organized and catalogued by Ruth Anne Becker in 1981 with assistance from Ellen Farina. The project was supported by a grant from the NIH National Library of Medicine (LM 03594). In 2008, Medical Archives student assistants Frank Long and Emma Graf converted the finding aid to the catalog under the direction of Phoebe Evans Letocha.

Accession

2023-073

2014-004

2009-148

2008-014

1988-039

1986-063

1984-005

1981-037

1981-022

1978-014

Composed Of

Found 10 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	58667		Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
2- Student and Research Papers	58696		Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
3- Lab and Lecture Notes	58698		Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
4- Tetanus Lab Notes	58699		Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
5- Insulin and Common Cold Research	58701		Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
6- Reprints, Books, Talks, and Addresses	58702		Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
7- Memorabilia	58704		Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
8- Eugene M. K. Geiling Collection of John Jacob Abel Papers	58708		Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
9- Photographs	48776	1853-1957	Series	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection
121O1-2- John Jacob Abel Papers: Research data and graphs	431978545		Box	CollectionAbeJ- John Jacob Abel Collection

Related Artifacts

Found 2 record(s)

Available Actions	Artifact Numbersort by Artifact Number ascending	Titlesort by Title ascending
	966A	Academic Hood with purple trim
	967A	Academic Hood with yellow trim

Electronic Resources - when selected, electronic resources and additional information will load at the bottom of the grid.

Found 1 record(s)

John Jacob Abel by Griffith B. Coale; oil on canvas, 36 by 42 inches, 1918.

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