Guide to the Dr. Tatiana Belitsky Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Dr. Tatiana Belitsky Collection
Creator:
Belitsky, Tatiana, 1906-1980
Identifier/Call Number: OCH.DTBC
Extent:
1.96 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1923-1956
Abstract: Dr. Tatiana Belitskty was a dental
surgeon from Russia, who worked in Shanghai from the early 1930s until 1949. The collection
consists of photographs, correspondence, identification documents, and other records that
document Belitsky's career in China and her attempts to gain work in the dental industry
after immigrating to the United States in the early 1950s.
Language of Material: English
Biographical Information:
Tatiana Belitsky, neé Titova, was born in 1906 in Samara, Russia. After attending
university in Russia, she enrolled in medical school in China. She married Benjamin Belitsky
in 1923, and had a daughter, Augusta, in 1926. After her daughter was born, Tatiana decided
to pursue dentistry instead of general medicine and enrolled in dental school in Harbin,
China.
After graduating in 1931, the family moved to Shanghai where Belitsky worked as a dental
surgeon. She divorved her husband in 1935, and after raising her daughter as a single mother
for years, she married Serge Barabash in 1949.
While in Shanghai, in addition to having a private practice Belitsky served as a dental
surgeon for students at the Aurora College for Women and the students and nuns at the
Convent of the Sacred Heart. She even continued to provide dental care for the convent
during World War II, when it was turned into an internment camp for religious persons.
In 1949, after the communist takeover in China, Belitsky began working in an International
Refugee Organization camp for White Russians in the Philippines while waiting for a visa to
emigrate to the United States. In August of 1950, Belitsky traveled to San Francisco, where
she began looking for work in the dental field.
While Belitsky had plenty of experience and letters of recommendation, the Department of
Health would not allow her to use her foreign license or test for an American license unless
she reenrolled in dental school. As a result, Belitsky was forced to take a lesser position
as a dental technician at Pacific Dental Lab in San Francisco, where she worked for 15
years.
Scope and Contents
The
Dr. Tatiana Belitsky Collection consists of the personal
records of Belitsky, a dental surgeon who worked in Shanghai from the early 1930s until
1949. Items in the collection include identification documents, photographs, marriage and
divorce certificates, receipts for dental work performed by Belitsky, travel documents,
letters from patients, letters of recommendation from employers, and other personal
records.
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Augusta Prewett-Gunn, November 12, 2013.
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Jessica Geiser, 2013
Box 1, Folder 1
Marriage and Divorce Certificates,
1923-1949
Box 1, Folder 2
Dental Licenses for French Concession and International Settlement,
1933, 1942
Box 1, Folder 3
Recipe Written on an Envelope,
ca. 1930-ca. 1939
Box 1, Folder 4
Postcards of Shanghai,
ca. 1930-ca. 1939
Box 1, Folder 5
General Dental Bills, Receipts, Business Cards, and Other Dentistry Related
Documents,
1943-1948
Box 1, Folder 6
French Concession Resident's Certificate,
1939
Box 1, Folder 7
Russian Emigrants' Association - Certificate of Registration,
1947
Box 1, Folder 8
Certificate of Reunion with the Roman Catholic Church,
1948
Box 1, Folder 9
Inoculation and Vaccination Records,
1948-1950
Box 1, Folder 10
International Refugee Organization - Tubabao, Philippines,
1949-1950
Box 1, Folder 11
Trip from the Philippines to the United States,
1950
Box 1, Folder 12
Correspondence Regarding Belitsky's Job Search in the United
States,
1949-1951
Box 1, Folder 13
U.S. Social Security Card and Certificate of Naturalization,
1956
Box 2, Folder 1
Photographs,
ca. 1926-ca. 1956
Box 2, Folder 2
Chinese Dental License,
ca. 1931
Box 2, Folder 3
Diploma from Dental School,
1931