Joseph L. Belsky, MD papers

Identity elements

Reference code

MS 112

Level of description

Collection

Title

Joseph L. Belsky, MD papers

Date(s)

  • 1947-1996 (Creation)

Extent

8 cubic feet (6 boxes)

Name of creator

(1927-)

Biographical history

Dr. Joseph Lewis Belsky was born March 14, 1927. He earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Drew University in New Jersey in 1949, followed by a master’s in chemistry fro Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, in 1951 and, finally, an M.D. in 1955 from Albany Medical College in Albany, New York. He became board certified in internal medicine in 1963. He worked for a short time in private practice but spent the majority of his career as an endocrinologist in hospitals in Boston and in Connecticut. He was also a lecturer at Yale University School of Medicine.

Dr. Belsky was Chief of Medicine for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), a committee formed to study the long-term effects of radiation exposure on the residents of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan, from 1969-1972 (the organization is now known as the Radiation Effects Research Foundation or RERF).

In 1999, Dr. Belsky was awarded a Mastership by the American College of Physicians.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

This collection consists of six boxes. Three are of technical reports from the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) dating from 1959 through 1975 and a few RERF reports from the 1980s and early 1990s. Box VI is an oversized box containing two large photographs and two large certificates. The reports have been organized in chronological order and all materials have been interleaved with archival bond. The rest of the material consists primarily of professional correspondence between Dr. Belsky and various other doctors regarding ABCC research or, occasionally, individual patients. There are some drafts of ABCC technical reports and a few articles copied from other publications. Correspondences, etc., are arranged in general chronological order in Boxes IV and V.

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Language and script notes

The records are in English.

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Custodial history

Deed-3

Immediate source of acquisition

Donated by Joseph L. Belsky, MD.

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Notes element

Specialized notes

  • Citation: Joseph L. Belsky Papers, MS 112, John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center, Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library

Alternative identifier(s)

TARO

00112

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