Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Texas Medical Center records
Date(s)
- 1907-2019 (Creation)
Extent
40.75 cubic feet (94 boxes)
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Texas Medical Center is a comprehensive medical community located south of downtown Houston. It comprises 54 institutions, including four medical and seven nursing schools, 21 hospitals, three level-I trauma centers [8], eight specialty institutions, and academic and research institutions for many other health-related disciplines[9]. The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is among the top-ranked cancer hospitals in the country[10]. As of 2017, it is one of the largest medical centers in the world[7].
The Texas Medical Center was proposed by Horace Wilkins, Col. William Bates, and John H. Freeman, the trustees of the M.D. Anderson Foundation. Established by cotton magnate Monroe Dunaway Anderson in 1936[1], the Foundation supported a variety of small causes until Anderson’s death in 1939, at which point the trustees, with the encouragement of Ernst Bertner, M.D., and Frederick Elliott, D.D.S., decided the funds should be used to build a medical center on par with Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic[2]. When, in 1941, the state legislature approved an act to create a cancer hospital[3], the Anderson Foundation trustees secured Houston as the location for the M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital, which would become first component of the medical center. The Texas Medical Center would be located on a site adjacent to Hermann Hospital, which had opened south of downtown in 1925.
The Texas Medical Center was officially incorporated in 1946 and Bertner was appointed president, replaced at the Cancer Hospital by R. Lee Clark, M.D. The Cancer Hospital was quickly joined by the Dental College, by then affiliated with the University of Texas[16], and Baylor University College of Medicine, which moved from Waco. The Anderson Foundation made grants to Methodist Hospital, Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, a new building for Hermann Hospital, and for a library[15].
The Texas Medical Center grew quickly and has provided a home for innovators such as heart surgeons Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley; William Spencer and his work on rehabilitation of paralysis patients; trauma surgeon and medevac pioneer James “Red” Duke; and Nobel Prize-winning pharmacology researcher Ferid Murad[17].
SOURCES:
[1-5] TMC History 1971
[6] Handbook of Texas Online, Ernst W. Bertner.
[7] Facts and Figures, About Houston, City of Houston, 2017 July 24, www.houstontx.gov/abouthouston/houstonfacts.html
[8] Texas Trauma Facilities, Texas Health and Human Services, Texas Department of Health and Human Services, 2017 July 24, https://www.dshs.texas.gov/emstraumasystems/etrahosp.shtm.
[9] “Texas Medical Center: Houston is where the world comes for treatment”, About Houston, Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2017 July 24, https://www.visithoustontexas.com/about-houston/texas-medical-center/
[10] Institutional profile, Facts and History, 2017 July 24, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, https://www.mdanderson.org/about-md-anderson/facts-history/institutional-profile.html.
[12] Handbook of Texas Online
[13] New York Times, 1994 May 05, online.
[11] Mary Schiflett obituary, Houston Chronicle online, January 19, 2007.
[14] Bryant Boutwell, Ph.D, Bout Time blog, 2014 January 31
[15] TMC History 1971, p178
[16] Handbook of Texas Online, University of Texas Dental Branch
[17] TMC News, 2014 August 19
Name of creator
Biographical history
Mary Schiflett (1925-2007) became Associate Director of Planning for the Medical Center in 1984 and was Vice President of Public Affairs by the time she retired in 1998, and then returned as a consultant from 1999 through 2006. The materials in Series I are from her office[1].
SOURCES:
[1] Mary Schiflett obituary, Houston Chronicle online, January 19, 2007.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Texas Medical Center records include TMC charter material, correspondence, committee minutes, interviews and transcripts, photographs and slides, budgetary information, newspapers and clippings, research material for books, surveys, materials related to TMC events and visitors, films and audiocassettes, brochures, architectural renderings, guidebooks and directories, and maps. The materials date from the 1900s to the present. The collection also includes the papers of Mary Schiflett who held leadership positions in the TMC from 1970-2009. The collection has been processed at box and folder level. The material is generally in good condition and consists of 39 cubic feet totaling 93 boxes.
System of arrangement
Collection is arranged in the following series:
Series I: Mary Schiflett papers
Series II: Texas Medical Center News
Series III: Historical materials
Series IV: TMC administrative records
Series V: Photographs
Series VI: Audiovisual materials
Series VII: Oversized materials
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted. Material is open for research.
Physical access
Materials are in good condition.
Technical access
Audiovisual materials require equipment for viewing.
Conditions governing reproduction
Permission to publish from this material must be facilitated through the repository, McGovern Historical Center.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Finding aid is available, processed at box and folder level.
Generated finding aid
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Deed-1
Immediate source of acquisition
Various donors contributed to this collection, including Mary Schiflett and Texas Medical Center.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Accurals are expected for this collection.
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
IC 104 Texas Medical Center (TMC) Photograph Collection; MS 002 Ernst W. Bertner, MD papers; MS 071 Frederick C. Elliott, DDS papers; MS 070 R. Lee Clark, MD papers; MS 202 Richard E. Wainerdi, Ph.D papers
Notes element
General note
The Texas Medical Center (TMC) records contains administrative records, photographs, printed materials, audiovisual materials, architectural documents, promotional materials, research materials, and maps that document the history and development of the TMC. The majority of the materials date within the record-keeping activity of the TMC from 1946 to present. Administrative records include TMC charter materials, correspondence, committee minutes, budgetary information, and directories. Photographic and audiovisual materials are promotional in nature and include prints, aerial photographs, slides, audio, video, and film. Printed materials include brochures, guidebooks, newspapers, and clippings. Architectural documents include drawings, blueprints, and maps. Collection also contains interviews, transcripts, surveys, and materials related to TMC events and visitors. The collection also includes the papers of Mary Schiflett who held leadership positions in the TMC from 1970-2009. Incorporated in 1946, the TMC is a comprehensive medical community located south of downtown Houston. It comprises 54 institutions, including four medical and seven nursing schools, 21 hospitals, three level-I trauma centers, eight specialty institutions, and academic and research institutions for many other health-related disciplines. The collection consists of 94 boxes, equaling 40.75 cubic feet. The materials are in good condition.
Specialized notes
- Citation: Texas Medical Center records; IC 002; John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center, Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library. Please cite the box and folder numbers where appropriate.
- Processing information: Materials were rehoused in archival folders and boxes. Oversize materials were stored in appropriate oversize boxes and placed in the oversize (OV) section. Larger sized materials were placed in a map drawer (MD). Audiovisual materials were inventoried and placed in appropriate sections according to format, audio, video, or film. Each AV item was assigned an identification number according to format: AVA.IC002.### for audio, AVV.IC002.### for video, and AVF.IC002.### for film. Some films and videos have been digitized and are available in the Digital Collection Drive (DCD). Filenames correspond to item identification numbers list in collection inventory below.
- Processing information: The Mary Schiflett papers were rehoused in archival folders and boxes. The original order as received from the creator was haphazard, and an arrangement was imposed to improve accessibility. The materials are grouped according to material type, general subjects, specific projects, and various roles performed by Schiflett in the course of fulfilling her job responsibilities for the TMC.
- Processing information: The TMC News series are arranged in chronological order. Oversize issues have been stored in oversize boxes and placed in the oversize (OV) section. New issues are added to the collection and published monthly as TMC Pulse. As boxes become full, new OV boxes are created and added to the collection.
- Processing information: Photographs were rehoused in archival folders and boxes. When necessary, items were housed in PAT photographic preservers or polyester sleeves. The materials were generally arranged in the order as found. A large portion of the series pertains to the Photo Contest 2006. These materials were grouped together.
- Processing information: In 2022 the South Central Academic Medical Libraries Consortium (SCAMeL) Speedy Startup funds facilitated the digitization of four videotapes, four films, and one audio reel-to-reel from this collection. These were described and posted online in fall 2022. -Matt Richardson
Alternative identifier(s)
TARO
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sources used
Archivist's note
Processed by Alethea Drexler, 2017. Encoded by Sandra Yates, 2019.
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Marchiafava, Louis J. (Subject)
- Macon, N. Don (Subject)
- Bertner, Ernst William (Subject)
- Clark, Randolph Lee, 1906- (Subject)
- Elliott, Frederick C. (Subject)
- Texas Medical Center (Subject)
- Wainerdi, Richard E., 1931- (Subject)