William Fields, MD papers

Identity elements

Reference code

MS 014

Level of description

Collection

Title

William Fields, MD papers

Date(s)

  • 1930-1987 (Creation)

Extent

3 cubic feet (5 boxes)

Name of creator

(1913-2004)

Biographical history

William Straus Fields was born in Baltimore, Maryland on August 18, 1913. He graduated from Harvard with his A.B. cum laude in 1934 and then with his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1938. He was a recipient of the Mary and Matthew E. Bartlett Scholarship there from 1935-1938. following graduation he was an intern in pathology at Nashville General Hospital and the Department of Pathology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine until 1939. From 1939-1940 he was an intern in medicine at the Children's Memorial Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He then served as the assistant resident in medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal from 1940-1941. He served for five and a half months in neurosurgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute before joining the Royal Canadian Navy.

While serving the Royal Canadian Navy, William Fields held ranks from Surgeon-Lieutenant to Surgeon-Commander. He was part of the Naval Research Division doing wartime research at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Banting Institute at the University of Toronto from 1943-1945. From 1945-1946 he served as the Principal Medical Officer for the Naval Officer in Charge at the Port of Montreal. Following his service in the Royal Canadian Navy, he was the Rockefeller Fellow in Neuropsychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and resident in Neurology at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri from 1946 to 1949.

He was appointed to Associate Professor of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine in 1949 and he served until 1951. In 1951 he was promoted to Professor of Neurology and in 1959, he became Chairman of the Department of Neurology where he served until 1965. we served as a Professor of Neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and then at The University of Texas Medical School in Houston where he ultimately became the Chairman of the Department of Neurology. He also held staff and consulting positions at many Texas and Houston-area hospitals.

During his career he served the Methodist Hospital, Jefferson Davis and Ben Taub Hospitals, Parkland Memorial Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital, St. Luke's Episcopal, and Texas Children's Hospitals and St. Joseph Hospital, St. Anthony Center and Hermann Hospital as a staff member. He also worked as a consultant for Hermann, St. Luke's Texas Children's, M.D. Anderson and Diagnostic Center Hospitals, the Veterans Administration, Wilford Hall AF Hospital, St. Paul Hospital and Baylor University Medical Center, and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The William Fields, MD papers contain scientific meeting booklets, academic books, binders containing case histories, research, symposium notes, and correspondence relating to the publication of his research of materials related to his career in Neurology. The collection consists of five boxes and equals 2.5 cubic feet. The materials are in good condition.

System of arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series.
Series I. Professional Accomplishments
Series II. Neurology Case Studies
Series III. Autopsies
Series IV. Houston Neurology Society
Series V. Other Professional

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce should be secured from the repository. Series III - Autopsies is restricted.

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Finding aids

Generated finding aid

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

Deed-5

Immediate source of acquisition

Source is unknown. Assumed to be the creator, William Fields

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

No accruals are expected for this collection.

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Existence and location of copies

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Related descriptions

Publication notes

Notes element

General note

Specialized notes

  • Citation: William S. Fields; MS 014; 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: Documents removed from binders and maintain order within each series.

Alternative identifier(s)

TARO

00149

Description control element

Rules or conventions

Finding aid based on DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard).

Sources used

Archivist's note

Finding aid prepared by Erin Schlothauer, 2016.

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