Texas Medical Center (TMC) Photograph Collection

John H. Freeman George H. Hermann Dr. Michael DeBakey Dr. Murdina M. Desmond Doctor with EKG Ben Taub General Hospital Emergency Room Houston Academy of Medicine Library Building architectural drawing Texas Heart Institute surgical ICU nursing station Dr. Denton Cooley performs a coronary bypass Texas Heart Institute surgical ICU nursing station Texas Heart Institute surgical ICU nursing station Arabia Temple Crippled Children Clinic E. W. Bertner and Texas Children's Foundation Trustees Texas Children's Hospital, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Dental College UT School of Nursing Faculty UT School of Nursing Faculty M. D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research Ben Taub General Hospital Hermann Hospital Personnel John S. Dunn Helistop Dedication at Hermann Hospital University of Texas School of Nursing Students Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Medical Center aerial R. Lee Clark Hermann Hospital Baylor College of Medicine students University of Houston College of Nursing students and doll University of Houston College of Nursing students Methodist Hospital construction Southwestern Polio-myelitis Respiratory Center at Jefferson Davis Hospital St. Luke's Hospital construction Texas Children's Hospital construction Texas Children's Hospital Texas Children's Hospital Texas Children's Hospital M. D. Anderson Hospital construction M. D. Anderson Hospital construction M. D. Anderson Hospital University of Texas Dental Branch M. D. Anderson Hospital M.D. Anderson Hospital electron microscope M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute Texas Children's Hospital expansion Texas Heart Institute surgery Jesse H. Jones Library Building addition construction TMC Common Computer Service Facilities and staff Ben Taub General Hospital Jesse H. Jones Library Building addition first floor Hermann Hospital addition construction Hermann Hospital Mirtha G. Dunn Chapel Hermann Hospital Dunn Helistop UT Nursing student viewing video-tape about veneral diseases UT Nursing student listening to a recording UT Nursing students in small study group UT Nursing students in class Ben Taub Hospital Emergency Room Dr. Cooley and Dr. Norman with heart model Prudential Swimming Pool in the Texas Medical Center TMC Library interiors TMC Library interiors Methodist Hospital Blood Mobile Hermann Medical Intensive Care Unit University of Texas Computer Center flooding University of Texas Computer Center flooding Prudential Building Flooding in the Texas Medical Center Dr. Denton Cooley and group Dr. Cooley and Dr. Norman with heart model Groundbreaking ceremony for the High School for Health Professions Holcombe House, Harris Gully, Brays Bayou, and Hermann Park Texas Medical Center aerial Texas Medical Center and Rice Stadium aerial Blood bypass Baylor University College of Medicine construction Baylor University College of Medicine construction Baylor University College of Medicine construction Baylor University College of Medicine construction Baylor University College of Medicine construction Baylor University College of Medicine construction Hermann Hospital entrance Monroe D. Anderson William B. Bates Josie M. Roberts Hermann Hospital and nurses' residence Hermann Professional Building Hermann Hospital Texas Medical Center aerial Jesse H. Jones Library Building TMC Library Rare Book Room TMC Library Auditorium TMC Library Rare Book Room
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Identity elements

Reference code

IC 104

Level of description

Collection

Title

Texas Medical Center (TMC) Photograph Collection

Date(s)

  • 1938-1982 (Creation)

Extent

3.5 cubic feet (7 boxes)

Name of creator

(1946-)

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

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The Texas Medical Center (TMC) Photograph Collection contains photographic materials that document the growth and development of the TMC from the 1930s to 1980s. The collection consists of 2525 items and includes photographic prints, aerial photographs, negatives, transparencies and printed materials. The materials depict the institutions of the TMC, their staff, facilities, services, and patient care. Images show buildings and their construction as well as some photographic copies of architectural renderings. Aerial photographs from the 1940s to 1980s show the TMC grow from marshland to an urban center. The collection provides images of the leaders and historical figures that shaped the TMC from concept to reality. The collection totals 7 boxes, equaling 3.5 cubic feet. The materials are in good condition.

System of arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:
Series I: Photographs, 1938-1982
Series II: Oversize and Framed Photographs, 1939-1980

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

Unrestricted. Material is open for research.

Physical access

Materials are in good condition.

Technical access

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

Yes.

Generated finding aid

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

Deed-1

Immediate source of acquisition

Texas Medical Center, Inc. donated the photographs in 1980.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

No accurals are expected for this collection.

Related materials elements

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

IC 002 Texas Medical Center records; IC 098 TMC Library Historical Photograph Collection;

Notes element

Specialized notes

  • Citation: Texas Medical Center (TMC) Photograph Collection; IC 104; 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: The collection materials were pulled from IC 098 TMC Library Historical Photograph Collection to create this collection based on the donor, Texas Medical Center, Inc. The images were previously cataloged and housed in acid-free envelopes. At that time, a photo identification number (P-### for prints or N-### for negatives) was assigned to each photograph or group of photographs. In 2018-2019 the collection was processed as a new collection and inventoried by Archives Assistant, Gagina Leonard. The items were kept in the acid-free envelops from the previous processing. The descriptions provided on the catalog cards were written on the envelope and inventoried, noting the description, dimensions, and quantity. The descriptive information was encoded for each envelope along with the color and quantity of photographs ([in square brackets]) in each envelope. When available, the photographer, agency, studio, or department is credited within the item description. For items without catalog cards, descriptions were created from either annotations available on the item or summarizing visual content.
  • Processing information: Materials were arranged in ascending order according to catalog number (P-###). Oversize materials were stored in appropriate oversize boxes and placed in the oversize (OV) section. Oversize materials were separated by size between two oversize boxes. Framed images were placed in the Garment, Artifacts, and Framed (GAF) section. These items were photographed, inventoried and assigned identification numbers (GAF-####). Separation sheets were placed within the main collection boxes to help locate specific items in OV and GAF storage locations.

Alternative identifier(s)

TARO

00322

Description control element

Rules or conventions

Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Sources used

Archivist's note

Processed by Gagina Leonard and Sandra Yates, 2019. Encoded by Sandra Yates, 2019.

Access points

Place access points

Accession area