The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Howard Taylor Ricketts Papers 1891-1977
© 2011 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Ricketts, Howard Taylor. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1891-1977 |
| Size: | 16.5 linear feet (27 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Howard Taylor Ricketts, pathologist. The papers include personal and professional correspondence, research notes and manuscripts relating to his work with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and typhus, and assorted memorabilia. |
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Howard Taylor Ricketts. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Howard T. Ricketts was born in Findlay, Ohio and educated at the University of Nebraska (B.S., 1894) and Northwestern University Medical School (M.D., 1897). After serving his internship at Cook County Hospital, he was appointed research fellow in pathology at Rush Medical College (1898-1900). In 1900, Ricketts married a former classmate, Myra Tubbs; their nine year courtship is amply documented in Ricketts personal correspondence.
Following his marriage, Ricketts spent a year in Europe studying immunology at hospitals and laboratories in Vienna, Paris, and Berlin. (See notebooks, 6:2-3) In 1902, he became an associate in the Department of Pathology and Bacteriology at the University of Chicago and was promoted to assistant professor in 1904. Just prior to his death in 1910, Ricketts accepted an appointment as Professor of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ricketts’ research in pathology began at Rush Medical College, where he began a series of experiments on blastomycosis-a skin disease-which resulted in an important monograph: Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis) of the Skin and its Fungi (Box 7). His most noted medical research, however, was his discovery of the cause of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Starting in 1906, he ran a series of experiments-in Chicago and Montana-which proved that the disease was transmitted by wood ticks. Eventually, this led to the discovery of a suspicious bacillus in the blood of both victims and infected ticks. When the bacillus was finally isolated in 1916, it was named "Rickettsia" in honor of the man who first noted its presence.
Ricketts never completed his work on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, being drawn instead to the study of a related disease, typhus. In 1909, he was given a one-year leave of absence from Chicago to investigate a typhus epidemic in Mexico City. In a matter of months, using protocols developed in the spotted fever research, Ricketts was able to isolate the louse as the carrier of Mexican typhus, and on April 23, 1910 he announced discovery of a micro-organism-apparently a bacillus-in the blood of body lice and typhus patients. The confirmation of this discovery, however, was left to others, for ten days later Howard Ricketts died, a victim of the disease.
Series I: Correspondence. The personal correspondence is arranged chronologically and consists almost exclusively of Ricketts’ letters to Myra Tubbs during their extended courtship and engagement (1891-1900). His letters are both intimate and informal, containing detailed information on medical school, his early research in pathology, and the numerous odd-jobs which financed his education. Later letters describe living and working conditions in Montana and Mexico.
The professional correspondence consists primarily of job offers from various universities as well as Ricketts’ correspondence with President Judson regarding research funds, promotions, and departmental business.
Series II: Research Notes. This series contains notes and correspondence relating to Ricketts’ research in blastomycosis, typhus, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, as well as the data and protocols from this work, arranged chronologically under research subject headings. Also, included here are a series of notebooks compiled at Northwestern, Chicago, and during his European tour.
Series III: Writings. Consisting mainly of manuscripts, drafts and off-prints of articles, arranged chronologically, this series also contains an annotated copy of Ricketts’ Infection, Immunity and Serum Therapy (Chicago, 1906), based on his research at Chicago from 1902 to 1906.
Series IV: Memorabilia. In 1941, on the occasion of the dedication of the Museum of Rochester Academy of Science, Mrs. Ricketts and Elisabeth Ricketts Palmer assembled a scrapbook documenting Ricketts’ life and work. This volume, now disbound and housed in Boxes 15-17, includes family photographs, correspondence, and research materials, as well as awards honoring Ricketts. Owing to interest in Ricketts’ work, photostatic copies of this scrapbook were distributed to several libraries, and in 1965 Mrs. Palmer prepared a "second edition" containing supplemental materials. Mrs. Palmer also compiled a clipping scrapbook; a photostatic copy is located in Box 14. In addition, this series includes commemorative medals, photographs and material relating to the Howard T. Ricketts Museum in Hamilton, Montana.
Series V: Visual Materials. This series contains a set of lantern slides with photographs and charts, probably used for a lecture on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Also included are many anatomical slides. Most are unidentified and undated, but a small number bear labels from Chicago laboratories and hospitals, and dates from the late 1890s to the early 1900s. Among the labeled slides are samples of blood and tissue from humans and animals, including typhus-infected blood and lice. None of the slides are believed to be related to Ricketts' studies of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html
Series I: Correspondence |
Subseries 1: Personal Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | 1891-92 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | 1893 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | January-May, 1894 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | June-August, 1894 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | September-October, 1894 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | November-December, 1894 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | January-February, 1895 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | March-April, 1895 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | May-July, 1895 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | August-September, 1895 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | October-December, 1895 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | January-April, 1896 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | May-June, 1896 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | July-August, 1896 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | September, 1896 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | October, 1896 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | November-December, 1896 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | January-February, 1897 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | March-June, 1897 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | July-August, 1897 |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | September-October 1897 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | November, 1897 |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | December, 1897 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | January-February, 1898 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | March-April, 1898 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | May-June, 1898 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | July-August, 1898 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | September-October, 1898 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | November-December, 1898 |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | January-February, 1899 |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | March-April, 1899 |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | May, 1899 |
| Box 3 Folder 10 | June, 1899 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | July-September, 1899 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | October, 1899 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | November-December, 1899 |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | January, 1900 |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | February-April, 1900 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | 1901-1909 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | 1910 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | undated fragments |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | expense account, European tour, 1901 |
Subseries 2: Professional Correspondence |
| Box 4 Folder 10 | Job offers, 1904-1910 |
| Box 4 Folder 11 | Illinois State Pellagra Commission, 1909 |
| Box 4 Folder 12 | University of Montana, 1909 |
| Box 4 Folder 13 | Lectures, 1909 |
| Box 4 Folder 14 | University of Pennsylvania, 1910 |
| Box 4 Folder 15 | University of Chicago, 1907-1910 |
Subseries 3: Biographical Materials |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | Letters concerning final illness |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | Official resolutions of sympathy |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Letters of condolence, Mexican tributes |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Letters of condolence, colleagues |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Letters of condolence, personal |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | University of Chicago memorial service |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | Biographical materials by Myra Ricketts and T.W. Goodspeed |
| Box 5 Folder 8 | Biographies by Henry Ricketts, Myra Ricketts and H. Gideon Wells |
| Box 5 Folder 9 | Biographical notes |
| Box 5 Folder 10 | Published biographies |
Series II: Research Materials and Notes |
Subseries 1: General notes |
| Box 5 Folder 11 | Shewey’s Cycle Road Map of South Eastern Wisconsin, 1896; Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Medical Staff of the Cook County Hospital, 1897 |
| Box 5 Folder 12 | Zoology notebooks; Northwestern U., 1891-92 |
| Box 5 Folder 13 | Botany notebook; Northwestern U., 1891 |
| Box 5 Folder 14 | Comparative anatomy, ca. 1893 |
| Box 5 Folder 15 | Osteology of the Dog, 1895 |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | Pathology; cultures of blastomyces; neurotoxins; lecithin and tetanolysin; two notebooks, 1901-03 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Notes taken in Germany under Kovaks, Turk, and Hirschel; 1901-02 |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Analysis of Ehrlich paper on hemolysis; protocols of experiments carried out in Vienna; two notebooks, 1902 |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | Organic Chemistry, Professor Stieglitz, Autumn 1903 |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | Quantitative Analysis, Stieglitz, Autumn, 1904 |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | Laboratory instructions, Immunity, 1909 |
Subseries 2: Blastomycosis |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Correspondence, 1902-1909 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | Case reports |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | "Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis) of the Skin and its Organisms," paper for the Chicago Pathological Society, April 1901 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis) of the Skin and its Fungi, annotated typescript. Introduction and Chapters I and II |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis) of the Skin and its Fungi, annotated typescript. Chapters III and IV |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis) of the Skin and its Fungi, annotated typescript. Chapters drafts |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis) of the Skin and its Fungi, annotated typescript. illustrations |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis) of the Skin and its Fungi, annotated typescript. bibliography |
| Box 7 Folder 9 | Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis) of the Skin and its Fungi, annotated typescript. bibliographic cards and research notes |
| Box 7 Folder 10 | Ricketts’ unpublished reply to Hyde-Montgomery charge of plagiarism in JAMA, June 1902 |
Subseries 3: Typhus |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Correspondence, 1909-1910 |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | Typhus slide index |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | Human blood examinations |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | Blood examinations |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | Pediculus vestamente |
| Box 8 Folder 6 | Clinical and autopsy notes |
| Box 8 Folder 7 | Protocols of experiments |
| Box 8 Folder 8 | Correspondence regarding typhus slide, ca. 1940 |
Subseries 4: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever |
| Box 8 Folder 9 | Correspondence, 1906 |
| Box 8 Folder 10 | Correspondence. 1907 |
| Box 8 Folder 11 | Correspondence. 1908 |
| Box 8 Folder 12 | Correspondence. 1909 |
| Box 8 Folder 13 | Correspondence. 1910-11 |
| Box 8 Folder 14 | Bacteriology of original cases, 1906 |
| Box 8 Folder 15 | Unsuccessful rabbit inoculations; successful guinea pig inoculations; 1906 |
| Box 8 Folder 16 | Monkey experiments, Autumn, 1906; minimum intravenous pathogenic dose; comparative infectiousness of subcutaneous and peritoneal inoculations, 1906 |
| Box 8 Folder 17 | Protocols of clinical histories; misc. notes, 1906 |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | Clinical histories; plasmolysis experiments with Heneman, 1907 |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | Protocols of 76 passages of the Eddy strain of the virus, May 7, 1907-August 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 3 | Protocols of experiments showing transmission of spotted fever by female tick from guinea pig to guinea pig, 1907 |
| Box 9 Folder 4 | Histologic study of infected and non-infected ticks; routes of infection; skin, stomach, infectivity of bile and of urine; infectivity of salivary glands and gut in male tick 15; miscellaneous immunity tests, 1907 |
| Box 9 Folder 5 | Diagrams and measurements of Idaho and Montana ticks; protocols of tests of ticks, 1907 |
| Box 9 Folder 6 | Protocols of experiments of infectiveness of male and female ticks, 1907 |
| Box 9 Folder 7 | Heredity experiments |
| Box 9 Folder 8 | Larval infections 1 & 2, 1907 |
| Box 9 Folder 9 | Deviation of complement as test for spotted fever, autumn, 1907 |
| Box 9 Folder 10 | Charts sent to AMA exhibit, June, 1908; Protocols dated February-March, 1907 |
| Box 9 Folder 11 | Outline and charts for AMA exhibit |
| Box 9 Folder 12 | Notes and index on gophers, 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 13 | Charts 1-10 on gopher research concerning transmission of spotted fever. |
| Box 9 Folder 14 | Ticks in Nature (LoLo Valley), August 12, 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 15 | Experiments with wild animals other than gophers, Summer, 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 16 | Experiments with domesticated rabbits; notes on experiments with Gomez, 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 17 | Index of rabbits and guinea pigs; infection of Idaho and Montana ticks with Spotted Fever; tests of normal Montana ticks, 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 18 | Clinical records, 1908 (Peter Thompson, Milton Savage, et al.); use of serum therapeutically. |
| Box 9 Folder 19 | Microscopic studies of infected guinea pigs and peritoneal exudate, 1908. |
| Box 9 Folder 20 | McKinney strain; guinea pig passages |
| Box 9 Folder 21 | Protocols of guinea pig experiments of virus with fever |
| Box 9 Folder 22 | Influence of incubator temperature on immune serum, 1907; desiccation experiment, 1906; centrifugation, 1908; filtration, 1909; minimum pathogenic doses, 1909 |
| Box 9 Folder 23 | Index of Montana ticks, 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 24 | Cultivation of Montana ticks; hereditary tick infection experiments; tests of "Old Infected ticks," Montana; heredity tests of Idaho and Montana ticks, 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 25 | Hereditary tick infection experiments; records of tick transmission from male to female, 1908 |
| Box 9 Folder 26 | Tick records on hereditary immunity, 1907-09 |
| Box 10 Folder 1 | Protocols of tick experiments, 1908-09 |
| Box 10 Folder 2 | Instructions for Dr. Maver; protocols of experiments with antigens and antibodies; notes on fixation and embedding of ticks |
| Box 10 Folder 3 | Notes on bacillus of Spotted Fever; descriptions of organisms in tick eggs, 1909 |
| Box 10 Folder 4 | Effect of glycerin on virus, 1906-08; effect of light on the virus in ticks ‘eggs, 1908-09 |
| Box 10 Folder 5 | Records of Idaho, Montana and Woods Hole ticks including the source of "natural tick strain" of Spotted Fever |
| Box 10 Folder 6 | Studies of Montana ticks, 1909 |
| Box 10 Folder 7 | Tick eggs and tissues, 1909 |
| Box 10 Folder 8 | Dr. Maver’s tick records from Wood’s Hole, Mass. and Missouri, 1909 |
| Box 10 Folder 9 | Index of Idaho tick records, 1909 |
| Box 10 Folder 10 | Tick Records, 1909-10 |
| Box 10 Folder 11 | Notes on Montana and Idaho ticks, 1909 |
| Box 10 Folder 12 | Protocols of tick experiments, including natural infection |
| Box 10 Folder 13 | Agglutination experiments with the bacillus using eggs of infected ticks as source |
| Box 10 Folder 14 | Questions of the extension; hereditary transmission of; infectivity of tick in the nature of Spotted Fever |
| Box 10 Folder 15 | Correspondence with Dr. Hektoen (copies), 1906-10 |
| Box 10 Folder 16 | Personal expense accounts; Spotted Fever and Typhus problems (two notebooks), 1909-10 |
Subseries 5: General Research Materials |
| Box 11 Folder 1 | Gradebook, "Junior Skin and Venereal, Group B," undated |
| Box 11 Folder 2 | Notebook, "Urine Specimens; Blood and Stomach Analyses," 1897-1898 |
| Box 11 Folder 3 | Notebook, "Medical Records," February, 1898 |
| Box 11 Folder 4 | Notebook, "Morgue and Medical,"1898 |
| Box 11 Folder 5 | Notebook, "Ward 14, Case Book," 1898 |
| Box 11 Folder 6 | Notebook, " Post Mortem and Medical Records for [illegible]," 1897-1898 |
| Box 11 Folder 7 | Notebook, "Surgery Quiz," undated |
| Box 11 Folder 8 | Pamphlet, "Subjects of Research Being Pursued by Members of the Chicago Chapter of the Society of the Sigma XI," 1904 |
Series III: Publications |
| Box 12 Folder 1 | Infection, Immunity, and Serum Therapy, annotated first edition |
| Box 12 Folder 2 | Infection, Immunity, and Serum Therapy, annotated first edition, Holograph manuscript, Chap. I-XXIII |
| Box 12 Folder 3 | Infection, Immunity, and Serum Therapy, annotated first edition, Holograph manuscript, Chap. XXIV-Appendices |
| Box 12 Folder 4 | Infection, Immunity, and Serum Therapy, annotated first edition, Notes and preliminary drafts |
| Box 12 Folder 5 | Infection, Immunity, and Serum Therapy, annotated first edition. Correspondence concerning a second edition, 1907-10 |
| Box 13 Folder 1 | "Oidiomycosis (Blastomycosis of the Skin and its Fungi" |
| Box 13 Folder 2 | Writings
|
| Box 13 Folder 3 | "Lymphatotoxic Serum; notes on its constitution; Preliminary experiments bearing on its influence on experimental infections," typescript, 1902 |
| Box 13 Folder 4 | "Preliminary report on the action of neurotoxic serum," by T. Rothstein and HTR (annotated draft), 1903 |
| Box 13 Folder 5 | "A case of diplococcemia, characterized by repeated attacks of fever, muscular pains, and erythematous eruption," by Llewellys Barker and HTR (annotated draft), 1903 |
| Box 13 Folder 6 | Writings
|
| Box 13 Folder 7 | Writings
|
| Box 13 Folder 8 | "The reduction of methylene blue by nervous tissue", 1904 |
| Box 13 Folder 9 | Writings
|
| Box 13 Folder 10 | "Our Serotherapeutic measures," 1904 |
| Box 13 Folder 11 | "The effect of tetanolysin on sensitized erythrocytes" 1905 |
| Box 13 Folder 12 | "Fundamental principles of immunity," 1905 |
| Box 13 Folder 13 | "Concerning the possibility of an antibody for the tetanophile receptor of orythrocytes; a receptor study," 1905 |
| Box 13 Folder 14 | "The adjuvant action of serum, egg-albumin, and broth on tetanus intoxication," by HTR and E.J. Kirk, 1906 |
| Box 13 Folder 15 | Writings
|
| Box 13 Folder 16 | "Further experiments with the wood-tick in relation to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever," manuscript and offprint, 1907 |
| Box 13 Folder 17 | Writings
|
| Box 13 Folder 18 | "Studies on immunity in Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever" by HTR and L. Gomez, 1manuscript and offprint, 1908 |
| Box 13 Folder 19 | "Spotted Fever Report No. One; General report of an investigation of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever carried on during 1906-07" 1908 |
| Box 13 Folder 20 | "Recent studies of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in Montana and Idaho," 1908 |
| Box 13 Folder 21 | "Spotted Fever Report no. Two," December 1908 |
| Box 13 Folder 22 | Offprints on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, 1906-10 |
| Box 13 Folder 23 | JAMA article by HTR and Russell Wilder, 1910 |
| Box 13 Folder 24 | "Vaccination in surgical infections," n.d |
Series IV: Memorabilia |
| Box 14 Folder 1 | Photographs and description of the Ricketts’ Museum in Hamilton, Montana |
| Box 14 Folder 2 | Clippings scrapbook (photostat); Part I-obituaries and Tributes to Ricketts’ Research |
| Box 14 Folder 3 | Clippings scrapbook (photostat). Part II; Journal articles on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Typhus |
| Box 14 Folder 4 | Clippings scrapbook (photostat). Part III; Tributes to Ricketts’ research |
| Box 14 Folder 5 | Clippings scrapbook (photostat). Part IV; Articles from Mexican journals |
| Box 14 Folder 6 | Clippings scrapbook (photostat). Part V; Posthumous honors and awards |
| Box 14 Folder 7 | Clippings scrapbook (photostat). Part VI; Biographical articles; Ricketts Award recipients |
| Box 14 Folder 8 | Clippings scrapbook (photostat). Part VII. Posthumous honors; articles from Mexican journals |
| Box 14 Folder 9 | Clippings scrapbook (photostat). Part VIII. Oversize newspaper articles |
| Box 14 Folder 10 | Correspondence to Elisabeth Ricketts Palmer, 1977 |
| Box 14 | Microfilm of clipping scrapbook |
| Box 14 | Ribbon from Ricketts’ casket |
| Box 14A | Primera Reunion Interamericana del Tifo; Mexico, D.F. 1945; two silver medals |
| Box 14A | University of Chicago, Howard T. Ricketts Award Medal; |
| Box 14A | U.S. Typhus Commission Medal for Meritorious Service |
| Box 14A | La Sienta Asamblea Medica de Occidente in Memoria del Dr. H.T. Ricketts, November, 1963; Presented to Elisabeth Ricketts Palmer |
| Box 15 | Howard T. Ricketts Clipping scrapbook |
| Box 16 Folder 1 | Negatives of photographs in 1965 Ricketts scrapbook |
| Box 16 Folder 2 | "Mock-up" notebook of the Ricketts scrapbook |
| Box 16 Folder 3-18 | Howard Taylor Ricketts Scrapbook (unbound), Table of Contents-Page 27 |
| Box 17 Folder 1-34 | Howard Taylor Ricketts Scrapbook (unbound), Page 28-177 |
| Box 18 | Bound photostatic copy of the HTR Scrapbook, 1965 |
| Box 18 | Bound photostatic copy of the HTR Scrapbook, 1941 |
| Box 19 Folder 1 | Photostatic negatives of the scrapbook, 1965 |
| Box 19 Folder 2 | Photostatic negatives of the scrapbook, 1965 |
| Box 20 | Plaster cast of the Howard Taylor Ricketts Award Medal. |
Series V: Visual Material |
| Box 21 | Lantern slides, for lecture on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, undated |
| Box 22 | Anatomical slides, circa 1890s-1900s |
| Box 23 | Anatomical slides, circa 1890s-1900s |
| Box 24 | Anatomical slides, circa 1890s-1900s |
| Box 25 | Anatomical slides, circa 1890s-1900s |
| Box 26 | Wooden slide cases, empty |