OB Society Archives Update

Mark B. Woodland, MS, MD

September 2010

Part of my pleasure of serving as the 116ht President of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia, was recognizing that I was part of something very historic. The Society rooted in Philadelphia medicine has its origins back to the late 1860’s. We have documents and artifacts from the beginning of the society.

Dr. David Goodner, an active member of the society for over 30 years, sat on counsel as the arbiter of the archives. When he stepped down several years ago, I moved into the position. Along with Dr. Ann Honebrink and Dr. Albert Elroy as well as others, I recognized that the society history needed to be protected.

For years, the counsel had discussed the cost of housing our records at the College of Physicians, not to mention that there were files in people’s garages and basements. In 2009,  with the transition of the administrate assistant of the society and the emphasis on the new web site and digital access, we collected all of the videos and paper and Dr. Albert Elroy converted these into digital copy. As this was happening, we realized we needed to find a permanent home for our archives that would protect and index them as well as maintain them for access of our society members as well as the general public since these are a historical part of Philadelphia medicine.

In my position with Drexel University College of Medicine, I reached out for advice from the head of archives here, Joanne Murray. She graciously gave me advice about how to go about doing the things that needed to be done not only with our hard copy artifacts, but also our digitalized information. To say the least it would be expense and overwhelming. She also volunteered that the collection would be a perfect fit to be donated to the “Archives and Special Collections” at Drexel university Colelge of Medicine to fit into the emphasis on women’s health and that hey indeed had other groups who had donated their archives.

The Archives and Special Collections (web site: http://archives.drexelmed.edu/) moved to a new facility in November 2009 located on the Queen Lane campus of the College of Medicine. It is a state of the art storage, processing, research, and display facility of about 4,000 square feet. The collections are processed and stored in safe, temperature and humidity controlled environment and made accessible for the general public at the discretion of the contributor. Once donated, the artifacts become the property of the Archives and they are responsible for their protection, storage, processing and availability.

This information was presented to the counsel at its November 2009 meeting. At that meeting we decided to host a “hard hat” tour and visit to the new facility at Queen Lane which will not be formally opened until early spring 2010. Additionally, we made a request of other counsel members to offer alternatives for us to pursue if interested at other like facilities in the Philadelphia area. The one such facility recommended was the College of Physicians. Joanne Murray hosted the counsel at the impressive facility on December 10^th, 2009. She not only gave us a tour, but gave us advice and consideration about our dilemma and offered us information about other outside groups that had donated to the Archives and Special Collections. In fact she reported that hey were recently approached by the College of Physicians to take on a special collection that had been donated to them with a sizable grant because they were so limited in their capabilities.

In the spring of 2010, the society confirmed the proposal decided to:

1.            Donate our collection of historical materials to the Archives and Special Collections

2.            Put limitations for public access on the documents that we wish to remain secure or open to society members only.

3.            Support the Archives to allow not only in person access put digital access through links in their website and our website to the archives.

4.            Make a one time donation of $2,500 to jump start the preservation needs of our collection and to secure a position in the Legacy Committee which helps to guide the Archives and Special collections.

5.            Allow the Archives and Special Collections to recognize our contribution and list the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia on their Legacy Wall of Fame.

At the June 2010, change over committee meeting. Dr. Susan Kaufman presented information about historic books of OB Society Proceeding. At that meeting we decided to pursue obtaining copies of these documents to include in our archives.

It is very exciting to think that we may finally have a permanent and considerate home for our historical documents that will not only be safe and secure, but will allow the larger medical and history communities to see what a vibrant past we have enjoyed and the contributions that we have made.