MSS 2/0015-02 Acc. 1989-088 W. OSLER ABBOTT (WILLIAM OSLER), 1902-1943 Papers, 1931-1946 Box 1 1. Abbott, W. Osler (William Osler), 1902-1943. Technique book for small intestinal studies (disbound), 1935-1941. 1 v. Includes outlines of proposed projects, experiments, and procedures and descriptions of gastro intestinal tubes. 2. Miller, T. Grier (Thomas Grier), 1886-1981. Correspondence with W. Osler Abbott, 1931-1946. 3 f. Concerning Abbott's gastro intestinal research with descriptions of projects and experiments; includes obituaries of Abbott and related correspondence. 3. Miller, T. Grier (Thomas Grier), 1886-1981. Medical case file on W. Osler Abbott (no. 4796), 1934-1943. 5 f. Miller's file on Abbott as patient at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Includes correspondence with physicians on case; clinical charts and treatment sheets; case history; autopsy report; and letters from Lucy Waldo Abbott concerning Abbott's physical condition during final days. 4. American Board of Internal Medicine. Correspondence with W. Osler Abbott, 1940-1943. 1 f. Concerns certification examinations; includes lists of publications. 1931-1946 1 box (.4 linear ft.) 8/19/1992 je
MSS 2/0015-02 Acc. 1989-088 W. OSLER ABBOTT (WILLIAM OSLER), 1902-1943 Papers, 1931-1946 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 Lucy Waldo 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 intern at 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 of Philadelphia, 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 of W. Osler Abbott material, 1931-1946, assembled from several sources, documents his work with T. Grier Miller on intestinal intubation and treatment for myelogenous leukemia and death in 1943. The collection includes W. Osler Abbott's technique book, 1935-1941, describing projects, experiments, and intestinal intubation devices from the Gastro Intestinal Section of the Medical Clinic of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; T. Grier Miller's correspondence with Abbott concerning his personal life, research projects, and experiments, 1931-1946; Miller's file on Abbott as a patient at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 1934-1943, documenting the treatment for Abbott's myelogenous leukemia, with clinical charts, correspondence, Abbott's full case history and autopsy report, and letters describing his deteriorating physical condition during the last weeks of his life; and one folder of Abbott's correspondence with the American Board of Internal Medicine concerning certification examinations.
Provenance The W. Osler Abbott technique book and the T. Grier Miller correspondence and medical case files on W. Osler Abbott were given by Miller to Francis C. Wood in 1972. The American Board of Internal Medicine correspondence file was given to Francis C. Wood by authority of the Board. Dr.Wood offered the collection to Lucy Waldo Abbott in 1974, but Mrs. Abbott refused the material. The entire collection was then donated to the Historical Collections of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by Francis C. Wood in conjunction with a gift of his personal and professional papers in 1989. The collection was processed and catalogued in 1992. 1931-1946 1 box (.4 linear ft.) 8/19/1992 je