MSS 2/0076-06                                                                                                                                    Acc. 1998-005   

KEEN, WILLIAM W.,
(1837-1932)

Family Correspondence,
1885-1929

William Williams Keen, surgeon and neurologist, was born on 19 January 1837 in Philadelphia. He was the third son of merchant William W. Keen and Susan (Budd) Keen. Keen married Emma Corinna Borden in 1867; they had four daughters, Corinne, Florence, Dora, and Margaret. William W. Keen died on 7 June 1932.

Keen graduated from Brown University in 1859. He entered Jefferson Medical College in 1860, left in 1861 to become Surgeon to the 5th Massachusetts Regiment, then returned to Jefferson and received his M.D. in 1862. He then became Acting Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Army and worked in a succession of military hospitals, including the Turner's Lane Hospital in Philadelphia, where he studied gunshot wounds and other neurological problems with S. Weir Mitchell and George R. Morehouse.

From 1864-1865, Keen studied medicine in Europe. From 1866 to 1875, he taught pathology at Jefferson Medical College and was the head of the Philadelphia School of Anatomy. He was also Professor of Artistic Anatomy at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1876-1889). From 1884 to 1889, Keen was Professor of Surgery at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. From 1889 to his retirement in 1907, he was Professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College.

In 1887, at St. Mary's Hospital in Philadelphia, Keen performed the first successful removal of a brain tumor in the United States. He was the first physician to perform a decompression ofthe skull and also the first physician in Philadelphia to use Lister's antiseptic surgical practices. Keen was interested infocal epilepsy and microcephaly as well.

William W. Keen edited Gray's Anatomy in 1883 and wrote numerous articles and monographs, including, in conjunction with J. William White, the American Text Book of Surgery (1892). Keenwas the author of A System of Surgery (1906-1921) also.

He was elected to fellowship in the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1867 and was its president (1900-1901). Keen was also a member and president of many other professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Philosophical Society, American Surgical Association, and the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery. In 1920, he was president of the International Society of Surgery and presided over the society's 1923 meeting in Paris.

The collection consists primarily of letters dated from the 1880s and 1890s written by William W. Keen to his daughter, Margaret. There are also some letters from other Keen family members addressed to Ms. Keen as well as newspaper clippings.

The earliest letters (folder 1.1) are addressed to Ms. Keen as a young girl. These brief notes advise Ms. Keen to be careful of her misspellings (among other things) and include two notes written by Dr. Keen in 1886 with his left hand (due to an injury). A letter dated July 10, 1897 (also in folder 1.1) and marked "Private" discusses the death of "your dear mother" upon the first anniversary of her passing.

Folder 1.2 includes letters from Europe (aboard the "Umbria" and from Oxford, Paris, Munich, Interlachen, and Canterbury). Folder 1.4 includes a pocket-sized promotional calendar from The West End Trust and Safe Deposit Company. Letters in Folder 1.4 begin an intermittent but long-term discussion of finances between father and daughter. Folder 1.5 includes a note with a doodle (possibly drawn by Dr. Keen?) Folder 1.5 also includes a letter dated Jan. 18^th, 1897 discussing a "Diplomatic Corps" reception attended by Dr. Keen and "the girls" with President and Mrs. Cleveland at the White House. Folder 1.6 includes a letter dated February 17, 1897 that discussed Dora’s election as "school director." Folder 1.7 includes a document from the "Annual Banquet of the Alumni Association of Jefferson Medical College," dated May 13, 1897.

There is a significant gap in the series of letters between the time of the second to last letter (dated September 27, 1897) and the final letter (dated June 20, 1928).

The remaining series include correspondence from Florence Keen, "Mary", E.D. Gillespie, Dora Keen, and "Aunt Hattie" to Margaret Keen. It also includes letters from Dr. Keen to his daughters Dora and Florence as well as a group of letters to Dr. Keen from assorted individuals.

The newsclippings’ folder includes a feature article on Dr. Keen from The Philadelphia Press, dated July 23, 1899. It also includes a letter to the editor written by Dr. Keen, and a cartoon that features Dr. Keen. [N.B. -- Newspaper clippings included by Dr. Keen in letters to his daughter Margaret have been filed with the letter that they accompanied and not in the newsclippings folder.]

The source of this collection of William W. Keen correspondence is W.W. Keen Butcher (the son of Margaret Keen Butcher). The collection was given to the College, February 12, 1998.

The collection was processed and catalogued in July, 1999.

MSS 2/0076-06                                                                                                                                           Acc. 1998-005

KEEN, WILLIAM W.,
(1837-1932)

Family Correspondence,
1885-1929

1    Correspondence, W. W. Keen to Margaret Keen (Butcher), 1885-1929

                 1.1         (16 items)          1885-1888
                 1.2         (12 items)          1889-1891
                 1.3          (13 items)         1892-1895
                 1.4          (15 items)         1896 June 25 – 1896 Oct. 22
                 1.5          (10 items)         1896 Oct. 25 – 1896 Dec. 12
                 1.6          (16 items)         1897 Jan. 9 – 1897 April 17
                 1.7          (10 items)         1897 April 22 – 1897 May 31
                 1.8          (14 items)         1897 June 4 – 1897 Sep. 18
                 1.9          (1 item)             1928

2    Correspondence, Dora Keen to Margaret Keen (Butcher)               (6 items)             1890-1896

3    Correspondence, Florence Keen to Margaret Keen (Butcher)          (2 items)             1890

4    Correspondence, Charles Keen to Margaret Keen (Butcher)            (1 item)             1897

5    Correspondence, W. W. Keen to Florence Keen                              (1 item)             1894

6    Correspondence, W. W. Keen to Dora Keen                                   (2 items)           1893-1894

7    Correspondence, "La tante E." To Dora Keen                                   (1 item)           1897

8    Miscellaneous Correspondence, To W. W. Keen                              (4 items)           1894-1897 [n.d.]

                        (1 item)                From E. B. Wall                      1894 June 18
                            "                       From George D. B. Darby     1897 May 27
                            "                       From Mary E. Dore                [n.d.] Sept. 1
                            "                       From E. D. Gillespie               [n.d.] Oct. 16

9    Miscellaneous Correspondence, To Margaret Keen (Butcher)        (2 items)          1897

                (1 item)                  From Aunt Hattie                   1897 May 16
                     "                       From R. F. Smith                   1897 July 26

10    Correspondence, W. W. Keen, To "Keens"                                       (1 item)           1929

11    Newsclippings                                                                                    (3 items)         1899-1922 [n.d.]

                (1 item)                     1899 July 23                         "Dr. W. W. Keen, Philadelphia’s Famous Surgeon"
                    "                           1922 March 15                     "Nestor of American Surgery"
                    "                            [n.d.]                                     "Free for All"

1885-1929
1 box (19 folders)

7/22/99
stj