University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

Dr. William S. Huber (1865-1909) was a dentist in Lebanon, Pennsylvania who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical and Dental Schools. This collection contains Huber's student lecture notes recorded between February 1885 and March 1888.

Dr. William Leo Schreiber, Jr., M.D., D.D.S. (1878-1949) was a 1901 graduate of the School of Dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania, studying under Dr. James Truman (1826-1914), a professor of operative dentistry, dental histology, dental pathology, therapeutics, and materia medica, as well as the dean of the Dental Department from 1883 to 1895. This volume contains typewritten and manuscript notes from Dr. James Truman's materia medica lectures.

William Albert Capon (1860-1947) was a dentist, professor, and writer. His papers include student lecture notes from his education at Philadelphia Dental College and dental records from the practice of W. A. Capon, D.D.S., in Philadelphia between 1887 and 1900.

This collection contains some papers of the esteemed American dentist Newell Sill Jenkins (1840-1919) who practiced for most of his career in Dresden, Germany and popularized the use of porcelain tooth enamel. A small booklet with notes on Jenkins’ experiments with dental cement is included in the collection, along with a large album presented to him on his seventieth birthday by a cohort of American dentists. There are also a few miscellaneous photographs and pages of notes in this collection, as well as a menu from a dinner held in Jenkins’ honor.

The father of modern endodontics, an authority on root canal therapy, and a long time professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Louis I. Grossman (1907-1988) was influential in the founding of both the Philadelphia Root Canal Study Club in 1939 and the American Association of Endodontists in 1943. The collection includes correspondence and material documenting the formation of both organizations.

The Joseph W. Catharine papers contain records, correspondence and legal documents dating from 1897 to 1931, which relate to the litigation of the Thomas W. Evans estate. Although Dr. Evans, a wealthy dentist, left a clear last will and testament, it took about sixteen years for his estate to be administered due to a string of legal battles between the heirs, executors and City of Philadelphia (represented by Catharine in his capacity as Assistant City Solicitor). The collection includes professional correspondence, legal notes and memoranda, formal legal documents filed by name of court, the records of the Thomas W. Evans Museum and Institute Society, and the financial records of the estate’s dispensation.

This collection contains three books of lecture notes recorded by John W. Houck at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in 1900 and 1901. The notebooks correspond to courses taught by Dr. Charles Essig, Dr. James Truman, and Dr. Edward Cameron Kirk, each of whom served as the dean of the dental school for some period between 1878 and 1917. Additional files in the collection contain miscellaneous notes and papers that were previously enclosed in the notebooks. Among these papers are six pharmaceutical pamphlets advertising the antiseptic glycol-thymoline, with testimonials from dentists.

This collection contains five notebooks kept by dentist John Havelock Gunter (1888-1949) as well as some pamphlets relating to dentistry and clippings from medical journals. Gunter’s notebooks, probably created while Gunter was working towards his medical degree at Temple University, contain information on pharmacology, physical diagnosis, organic chemistry and a variety of diseases and disorders.

Dr. Edwin Tyler Darby (1845-1929) was a prominent Philadelphia dentist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania Dental School. This collection contains two books of dental records kept by Dr. Edwin Tyler Darby from 1869 to 1887 as well as a bound set of Dr. Darby’s notes for lectures delivered at the Dental School of the University of Pennsylvania (undated).

This collection contains the constitution and bylaws, meetings notes, and members’ lists of the Edwin T. Darby Dental Society of the University of Pennsylvania from 1912 to 1923 in the first volume and 1924 to 1935 in the second volume. It is named after Dr. Edwin T. Darby, one of the founding members of the University of Pennsylvania Dental School.

Dr. James Truman was the editor of the International Dental Journal from 1890 to 1905 as well as a dean of the dental department of the University of Pennsylvania. This collection consists of letters written to Dr. James Truman, notes relating to the International Dental Journal and teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, newspaper clippings, and International Dental Journal scratch (or record) books.

Arthur Bertram Gabel was a professor in the dental school at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the American Textbook of Operative Dentistry. This collection contains Arthur Bertram Gabel’s lecture and research notes. There are four types of notes in this collection; Brazil lecture notes, student lecture notes, professional lecture notes, and research notes, which range in date from 1921 to 1952. The research concerns the “flow of methyl methacrylates” and the lectures cover a wide range of dental topics.