Guide to the Henry T. Bahnson Papers, 1943-2002 UA.90.F82
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Henry T. Bahnson Papers
Creator
Bahnson, Henry T.
Collection Number
UA.90.F82
Extent
9.75 Linear Feet(11 boxes)
Date
1943-2002
Abstract
Henry Theodore Bahnson was the longest serving chairman of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (1963-1987) and a world renowned transplant surgeon. The majority of the collection is made up of correspondence between Dr. Bahnson and his professional colleagues. In addition, the collection contains materials outlining Bahnson's professional and personal achievements, an array of medical slides, and several VHS tapes of surgical procedures.
Language
English
.
Author
Jennifer Cole, Christina Reed, and Charles Stanford.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Biography
Henry Theodore Bahnson was the longest serving chairman of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (1963-1987) and a world renowned transplant surgeon. Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1920, Dr. Bahnson graduated from Davidson College in 1941. He then traveled to Boston to complete his graduate work at the Harvard University Medical School. After graduation in 1944, Bahnson moved with his wife, Louise Porter, to Baltimore Maryland, where he began an internship in surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. While at Johns Hopkins, Bahnson trained with renowned surgeon Dr. Alfred Blalock, one of the pioneers in the field of cardiac surgery. Bahnson spent the early part of his career involved in clinical investigation and introduction of new techniques within vascular and cardiac surgery. Bahnson remained at Johns Hopkins until 1963, eventually achieving the rank of professor within the University.
In 1963 Bahnson accepted the George V. Foster Chairmanship of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. In addition to his personal feats in cardiovascular transplantation – such as performing the first heart transplant in Pennsylvania in 1968 – Bahnson actively recruited leaders within the field of medicine, helping to raise both the University's Medical School and the University's Medical Center to international prominence. Dr. Bahnson is credited with recruiting Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, known by many as the "Father of Transplantation."
While at the University of Pittsburgh, Bahnson served on the surgical staff of UPMC Presbyterian (formerly Presbyterian-University Hospital), Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System. He was president of numerous professional groups during his career: the Society of University Surgeons (1965), the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (1976-1977), the American College of Surgeons (1983-1984), the American Surgical Association (1987-1988) and the Johns Hopkins Medical and Surgical Association (1989-1990). He was also a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the International Society for Heart Transplantation, and the Transplant Recipient International Organization.
Dr. Bahnson and his wife were the parents of five children. Dr. Bahnson died in his Pittsburgh home in April, 2003.
Scope and Content Notes
The collection is organized alphabetically by subject, in keeping with Bahnson's original organizational scheme. The majority of the collection is made up of correspondence between Bahnson and his professional colleagues, including, but not limited to, Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, Dr. Mark Ravitch, and Dr. Alfred Blalock. The largest single component of the collection is made up of materials relating to Dr. Thomas Starzl. This series includes correspondence between Bahnson and Starzl, correspondence between Bahnson and colleagues about Starzl, and correspondence between Starzl and Dr. Alfred Blalock.
In addition to correspondence, the collection contains materials outlining Bahnson's professional and personal achievements. These include papers relating to the first annual conference about FK-506 (an immunosuppressive drug used to treat transplant patients), a conference for which Dr. Bahnson was personally involved in organizing; and records of his involvement with various professional organizations. The collection contains Bahnson's original research for a paper titled "Roles of the Kidneys in the Resistance of Rats to Hemmorhage," as well as copies of speeches and addresses he gave throughout his professional career. Besides the materials relating to his scientific accomplishments, the collection contains extensive information on Bahnson's musical achievements, such as two harmonicas he designed and patented after conducting studies of the physical reactions of the body while playing the harmonica.
Bahnson worked with physicians and professors from Korea and the USSR, and he worked especially closely with physicians from Vietnam, many of whom he met during his work with medical residents in Saigon in the 1970s. The collection contains correspondence relating to sponsorship, employment opportunities, and funding for these associates.
Finally, the collection includes an extensive array of medical slides assembled by Bahnson over the years, and a series of hand-drawn medical illustrations used in several journal articles, and five VHS tapes which were used as animal lab testing instructional videos. The medical slides include a detailed index, which has been organized by subject headings. A complete alphabetic list of subject headings is included with the numbered index in Box 5. The majority of the medical illustrations were drawn by Leon Schlossberg, a charter member of the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI), and the recipient of the AMI's lifetime achievement award in 1990.
Access Restrictions
Several files contain private legal, medical or financial information and are subject to various restrictions. Restricted files are identified in the contents list and are contained in Boxes 1-4, 7 and 8. For questions about access conditions, contact the University Archivist. (Box 2 ff 30, 33, 35)
Acquisition Information
Gift of Alfred Blalock Bahnson, son of Henry T. Bahnson, in April 2003.
Previous Citation
Henry T. Bahnson Papers, 1943-2002, UA.90.F82, University Archives, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Henry T. Bahnson Papers, 1943-2002, UA.90.F82, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jennifer Cole and Christina Reed in March 2005 and Charles Stanford in 2006.
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
Subjects
Corporate Names
American College of Surgeons
American Surgical Association
Central Surgical Association
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
Personal Names
Bahnson, Henry T.
Blalock, Alfred
Ravitch, Mark M.
Schlossberg, Leon
Simmons, Richard L.
Starzl, Thomas E. (Thomas Earl)
Genres
Business correspondence
Medical illustrations
Color slides
Lectures
Speeches
Personal correspondence
Faculty papers
Administrative reports
Other Subjects
University of Pittsburgh
Harmonica
Physicians -- Vietnam
Medical colleges -- Faculty
Academic medical centers -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Heart -- Surgery -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Transplantation of organs, tissues, etc. -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Medicine -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Vietnamese students -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Medical students, Foreign -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
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