MSS 2/0015-01								Acc.1989-045

W. OSLER ABBOTT
(WILLIAM OSLER),
 1902-1943

Papers,
1938-1949

Fol.

 1. Correspondence sent to Catharine G. Leeke
	
						(1 folder)	1938-1943J

 2. Drawings and poetry 			(1 folder)    [n.d.]

 3. Reprints:									
	Abbott, W. Osler, "The problem of the 
		professional guinea pig",
		Proceedings of the Charaka Club,
		Vol. 10								1941
	Abbott, W. Osler, "The differential diagnosis
		of acute abdominal conditions",
		Medical Clinics of North America 			1943
	Miller, T. Grier, "Development of double lumened
		tube for intestinal intubation",
		Journal of the American Medical Association,
		Vol. 140, No.2							1949
								(1 folder)	1941-1949
 

4. Newsclippings ((--2(1 folder)	1943; [n.d.]2P

5. Memorials of W. Osler Abbott by T. Grier Miller
	and William C. Stadie [copies] 	(1 folder)    [1943-1944]





5 folders (1 envelope)
1938-1949

5/8/1989
je

MSS 2/0015-01								Acc. 1989-045

W. OSLER ABBOTT
(WILLIAM OSLER),
 1902-1943

Papers,
1938-1949

Biographical


William Osler Abbott was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on 
July 26, 1902.  He was the son of a biologist, Alexander C. 
Abbott and Georgina Picton Osler, a niece of Sir William Osler. 
W. Osler Abbott, nicknamed "Pete", married LucyWaldo in 1928. 
They had three children, Thomas William Osler, Ann Gatewood, 
and Lucy Featherstone.  On September 10, 1943, Abbott died of 
myelogenous leukemia at Waquoit, Massachusetts.


Abbott received his A.B. in 1925 and his M.D. in 1928 from the 
University of Pennsylvania.  He then served as an internat 
the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and from1931 
to 1934, he had a part time affiliation with the Department 
of Pharmacology.  Abbott then became a member of the Gastro Intestinal 
Clinic at Penn.  At Penn, Abbott rose from Medical Fellow (1930-1931) 
to Instructor (1931-1937), then Associate (1937-1941) and finally, 
in 1941, he became an Assistant Professor of Medicine.  In the 
following year, Abbott entered the U.S. Army with the rank of 
major.  He was diagnosed as suffering from leukemia and then 
discharged. Abbott spent the remaining months of his life in 
leukemia research.


Most of Abbott's professional work and published writings concern 
his work with small intestinal intubation.  He began to work 
with T. Grier Miller at Penn in 1930.  In 1934, they developed 
the Miller Abbott Tube, a double lumen intestinal drainage tube 
for relief of distention.  Abbott also worked with Arthur Joy 
Rawson and created, in 1937, the Abbott Rawson Tube, a double barrelled 
gastroenterostomy tube for use in postoperative care.


Abbott was a member of several professional organizations including 
the Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Clinical 
and Climatological Association, the American Gastroenterological 
Association, the Association of American Physicians, the Pathological 
Society ofPhiladelphia, and the Philadelphia Physiological 
Society. he was elected to fellowship in the College of Physicians 
of Philadelphia in 1934.


Scope and contents

 
This small collection contains personal information about 
W. Osler Abbott and his final years and gives a summary of his professional 
work.


Series 1, the personal letters and notes, 1938-1943, from Abbott 
to Catharine Leeke, concern his health and activities and describe 
his experiences in Walter Reed Army Hospital in 1942.  The drawings, 
undated and mostly unidentified, and the poetry which form Series 
2 hint at Abbott's humorous outlook and illustrate his nautical 
interests.


The reprints in the collection, 1941-1949, in Series 3, were 
retained for association value.  Abbott himself signed and presented 
one to Catharine Leeke, while the other two bear holograph notes 
from Leeke about Abbott.  The T. Grier Miller reprint also contains 
information about the collaborative work of Miller and Abbott. 
The two news clippings in Series 4 both contain photographs 
of W. Osler Abbott and one describes his final work with myelogenous 
leukemia.


The biographical memorials in Series 5 include a memorial 
by William C. Stadie read before the College of Physicians of Philadelphia 
on October 4, 1944 and printed in the College's Transactions 
and studies in December, 1944.

Provenance


This small collection of W. Osler Abbott papers was assembled 
by Catharine G. Leeke, Abbott's secretary at the Gastro Intestinal 
Clinic at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  Leeke 
held this position from February 4, 1934 to May 15, 1942.  On 
June 7, 1972, the collection was donated to the Historical Society 
of Pennsylvania by Thomas A. Urbine, Jr. on behalf of Catharine 
Leeke who was then living in Oxford, Pennsylvania.  The collection 
was then transferred to the College of Physicians sometime after 1972. 
 


The collection was processed and catalogued in 1989.




5 folders (1 envelope)						
1938-1949									

									
5/8/1989
je