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University of Chicago Library

Guide to the James Roy Blayney Papers 1948-1962

© 2009 University of Chicago Library

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Blayney, James Roy. Papers

Dates:

1948-1962

Size:

0.1 linear feet (1 folder)

Repository:

Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

James Roy Blayney, professor and dentist. The Papers consist of one folder, containing correspondence, articles, and manuscripts from 1948-1962.

Information on Use

Access

The collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Blayney, James Roy. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

James Roy Blayney was born on July 28, 1889 in Alexis, Illinois. He attended Knox College and received his D.D.S. in 1913 from Northwestern University Dental School. Blayney received a B.S. from the Lewis Institute (the present Illinois Institute of Technology) in 1924 and an S.M. in Pathology from the University of Chicago in 1928.

From 1913 to 1919 Blayney practiced dentistry in Tallula, Illinois. He became an Instructor at the University of Illinois College of Dentistry, Chicago in 1918. He later became Associate Professor (1923) and Professor (1931).

Blayney was the founding director and Professor Emeritus of the University of Chicago’s Zoller Dental Clinic, which was established in 1936. He conducted the 15-year experiment (1946-61) in the Chicago suburbs of Oak Park and Evanston that demonstrated the cavity-fighting ability of fluoride in drinking water and led to the widespread fluoridation of municipal water supplies. It is believed to be the largest dental study ever attempted, with a total of 38,000 dental examinations.

Blayney retired from the University faculty in 1954.

Blayney was a past president of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) and the Illinois State Dental Society. He received the Howard Ricketts Prize in 1928 and the Callahan Award in 1946. In 1965 he received the H. Trendley Dean Fluoridation award from the IADR. He wrote over 75 articles as well as a textbook, Dental Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1934).

Blayney married Alice E. Crain. She died in 1964.

James Roy Blayney died on November 22, 1980 in Evanston, Illinois.

Scope Note

The J. Roy Blayney Papers consists of one folder. The collection contains correspondence, articles, and manuscripts from 1948-1962. The correspondence consists of two letters from September 1962, representing correspondence between Blayney and Bea Hayton. There are three articles: “Evanston Dental Caries Study: A study of Fluoride Deposition in Bone” by Blayney et al. from 1962; “A Report on Thirteen Years of Water Fluoridation in Evanston, Ill.” by Blayney from 1960; and “The Economy of Water Fluoridation” by Blayney from 1962. There are four manuscripts also related to the topics of the articles, two of which are tentatively dated 1948.

Related Resources

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Subject Headings

INVENTORY

Box 1   Folder 1

Articles, 1948-1962

  • "The Evanston Dental Caries Study: Purpose and Mechanism of the Study," manuscript, c. 1948
  • J. Roy Blayney to Bea Hayton, September 6, 1962
  • "The Evanston Dental Caries Study: A Study of Fluoride Deposition in Bone," offprint, 1962
  • Bea M. Hayton to J. Roy Blayney, n.d.
  • "Study Tooth Decay in Schools," manuscript, n.d.
  • "Water Fluoridation - Proponents and Opponents," speech before Illinois Public Health Association, photocopy of typescript, April 4, 1962
  • "A Report on Thirteen Years of Water Fluoridation in Evanston, IL," photocopy of reprint, 1960