Guide to the Forest Grunigen Files on the California Osteopathic Association AS.083

Finding aid prepared by Anne Mar, 2004; machine-readable finding aid created by Audrey Pearson, 2007.
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
(cc) 2007
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu


Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Forest Grunigen files on the California Osteopathic Association
Creator: Grunigen, Forest
Identifier/Call Number: AS.083
Physical Description: 3.7 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1901-1990
Date (bulk): 1941-1963
Abstract: This collection comprises files on the California Osteopathic Association (COA) that were accumulated by Forest Grunigen, a California osteopath who was an active member of the organization and served as its president in the 1940s. Materials include correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs, news clippings and reports. The bulk of the material covers the COA/California Medical Association (CMA) merger, in which Grunigen was a key figure. Also in the collection are the files of Dain Tasker, who served as the Historian of COA in the 1950s. His files include an unpublished manuscript of his history of the osteopathic profession in California.
Language of Material: English .

Access

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Property rights and copyright reside with the University of California. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the University Archivist.

Preferred Citation

Forest Grunigen files on the California Osteopathic Association. AS-083. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Forest and Dolores Grunigen, 1995.

Processing History

Processed by Anne Mar, 2004.

Historical Background

Forest Grunigen served as president of the California Osteopathic Association (COA) in 1943 and played a leading role in establishing the medical school at UC Irvine. COA was established in 1900 as an affiliate of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and, along with the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (COPS), was a figurehead of the osteopathic tradition in California.
Osteopathy, from the Greek osteon (bone) and pathos (to suffer), was coined by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still who, in the late 1800s, sought a more holistic approach to curing disease than the traditional medicine that he and his fellow medical doctors were practicing. He believed that disease interrupted the flow of blood and nervous impulses but, through manipulation of the bones, one can restore that flow and, thus, restore health to the patient.
This non-traditional approach to curing illness was suspect to many in the medical community. Osteopathy struggled to gain credibility. In 1922 California passed State Measure 22, the Osteopathic Initiative Act. It established a board that had jurisdiction over examination and licensure of Doctors of Osteopathy (D.O.) and legally recognized it as a distinct medical profession.
In the mid-1940s, the COA, led by Forest Grunigen and the COA's Fact Finding Committee, began talks to merge with the California Medical Association (CMA), led by Wayne Pollack and CMA's Committee on Other Professions. The terms of the merger included granting D.O.s M.D. degrees, elimination of the osteopathic licensing boards, and conversion of the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons into a medical school.
In 1960, the AOA revoked COA's charter when it defied AOA's request to cease merger talks. This action left California without a licensing board. A splinter group of osteopaths who opposed exchanging their D.O.s for M.D.s, formed in 1960, naming themselves the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (OPSC). In 1961, an agreement between the CMA and COA was reached. The OPSC filed suit alleging that the merger was a conspiracy to destroy the osteopathic profession in California. Two more suits followed, later in 1961 and in 1962, but in all cases, the court found in favor of the defendants.
In the midst of all these events, Dain Tasker, historian of the COA, was working on his history of the profession in California. Tasker had long been involved in osteopathic professional activities in California, having been the president of the first board of osteopathic examiners in 1901. This gave him a unique perspective into the topic. The manuscript was never published but there are extant copies, one of which is included in this collection, another of which is included in AS-027 (California College of Medicine records).
COPS, now renamed the California College of Medicine (CCM), became part of the University of California system in 1963. Forest Grunigen, who was so instrumental in the COA/CMA merger, and Warren Bostick, the new dean of CCM, recognized that CCM would be better served if it were associated with on of the UC campuses. On April 5, 1967, CCM officially became a part of the University of California, Irvine.

Biographical/Historical note

Chronology

1900 California Osteopathic Association established
1940 Negotiations between California Osteopathic Association (COA) and California Medical Association (CMA) begin
1943 Forest Grunigen elected president of the COA
1943 Grunigen appoints Fact Finding Committee to lead merger talks with CMA
1952 Cline Committee report completed
1960 Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (OPSC) is formed in opposition to the merger
1961 COA/CMA merger is successful
1963 California College of Medicine joins the UC system
1968 CCM relocated to UC Irvine campus
1999 Forest Grunigen dies

Collection Scope and Content Summary

This collection comprises Forest Grunigen's files on the California Osteopathic Association of which he was an active member and served as president in the 1940s. Materials include correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs, news clippings and reports. The bulk of the material covers the COA/CMA merger of which Grunigen was a key figure. Also in the collection are the files of Dain Tasker who served as the Historian of COA in the 1950s. His files include his unpublished manuscript of the history of the osteopathic profession in California.

Collection Arrangement

This collection is arranged in five series.
  • Series 1. California Osteopathic Associaiton/California Medical Association merger, 1941-1962. 1.0 linear feet
  • Series 2. California Osteopathic Association, Board of Trustees meeting materials, 1951-1962. 0.3 linear feet
  • Series 3. Dain Tasker writings, correspondence and other materials, 1950s. 0.4 linear feet
  • Series 4. Photographic material, 1901-1989. 1.6 linear feet
  • Series 5. Scrapbooks, 1912-1961. 0.4 linear feet

Related Collections

The following related collections can be found in UC Irvine Special Collections and Archives:
  • AS-018, Warren L. Bostick papers
  • AS-027, California College of Medicine records

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Osteopathic medicine -- Study and teaching -- California
Osteopathic physicians.
Medical research personnel.
Osteopathic physicians -- California -- Photographs.
Osteopathic medicine -- California -- History.
Osteopathic medicine -- Education.
Tasker, Dain L. -- Archives
Forty-First Medical Society (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
Pacific College of Osteopathy (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
University of California, Irvine -- Archives
California Osteopathic Association. Fact Finding Committee
California Osteopathic Association -- Archives
American Osteopathic Association -- Archives
California Medical Association. Committee on Other Professions
Los Angeles County General Hospital -- Archives
California College of Medicine -- Archives
California Medical Association -- Archives
Los Angeles City and County Osteopathic Medical Association -- Archives
Grunigen, Forest -- Archives

 

California Osteopathic Association/California Medical Association merger Series 1. 1941-1990

Physical Description: 1 Linear Feet
General Physical Description note: no content

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series contains correspondence, reports, minutes and other material that reflects the work of the COA, CMA and their respective components related to the merger.

Arrangement

Arranged in 3 subseries:
Fact Finding Committee files
Evaluating Commission files
Topical files
 

Fact Finding Committee records 1941-1962

Scope and Contents note

This subseries documents the work of the Fact Finding Committee which was formed by Forest Grunigen in 1943 to lead COA in merger talks with CMA. The correspondence of especially prolific committee members have been filed under their respective names.

Arrangement note

The files are arranged by type of material. Correspondence is further arranged alphabetically by the writer of the outgoing correspondence, with the exception of three folders in which Grunigen's original thematic arrangement has been preserved.
box 1, folder 1

Agendas 1952-1961

box 1, folder 2

Agreements, contracts and resolutions 1952-1961

box 1, folder 3

Articles and news releases 1952-1958

box 1, folder 4

Brochures and pamphlets 1941-1956

box 1, folder 5-15

Correspondence

box 1, folder 5-8

General 1940-1962

box 1, folder 9-12

Individuals

box 1, folder 9

Caylor, George D. 1948-1960

box 1, folder 10

Grunigen, Forest 1952-1962

box 1, folder 11

Hufstedler, Seth 1950-1961

box 1, folder 12

Pollock, Wayne 1952-1959

box 1, folder 13-15

Thematic 1941-1962

box 1, folder 16

"Declaration of Geneva" 1948

box 1, folder 17

Invitations 1947

box 1, folder 18

Legal documents 1948-1961

box 1, folder 19-20

Meeting minutes 1949-1962

box 1, folder 21

Memoranda 1943-1962

box 1, folder 22

Newsletters and newspapers 1952-1961

box 1, folder 23

Notes 1943-1960

box 1, folder 24

Questionnaires 1951-1952

box 1, folder 25-27

Reports 1947-1961

box 1, folder 27

"Report of the A.O.A. Conference Committee to the House of Delegates" 1954 July

 

Evaluating Commission files 1948-1958

Scope and Contents note

This subseries reflects the work of the Evaluating Commission, appointed by the House of Delegates of the AOA in 1949 to study the awarding of the M.D. degree to osteopathic physicians. Files include correspondence, minutes and other material.

Arrangement note

The subseries is arranged alphabetically.
box 1, folder 28

Articles circa 1948-1949

box 1, folder 29

Bulletins 1955

box 1, folder 30

Correspondence 1948-1949

box 1, folder 31-32

Minutes 1948-1949

box 1, folder 33-34

Reports 1949-1958

box 1, folder 35

Resolutions 1948

 

Topical files 1962-1990

Scope and Contents note

This subseries contains documents relating to the transfer of administration of the Forty-First Medical Society to the California College of Medicine Support Foundation, Inc. The Society was first formed in 1962 as a component within the CMA. It was made up of former D.O.s. Included are budgets, reports and correspondence of the Society related to Proposition 22 of 1962 which amended the Osteopathic Initiative Act of 1922 by removing the power of the Board of Osteopathic Examiners to issue licenses to new applicants.Also included is a draft copy of a case study about the differences between osteopathy and more traditional medicine prepared by Arnold I. Kisch and Arthur J. Viseltear of UCLA's School of Public Health, under contract with the U.S. Public Health Service. It was published in 1967 by the Division of Medical Care Administration.

Arrangement note

This subseries is arranged alphabetically.
box 1, folder 36

"Analysis and report of opinion study among Doctors of Osteopathy in California concerning M.D. degree and name of college for California Osteopathic Association" undated

box 1, folder 37-40

Forty-First Medical Society files 1988-1990

box 1, folder 37

Agreements 1989-1990

box 1, folder 38

Budgets 1988-1990

box 1, folder 39

Correspondence 1990 April 3 - June 7

box 1, folder 40

Proposition no. 22 undated

box 1, folder 41

Kisch, Arnold I. and Arthur J. Viseltear, "Doctors of Medicine and Doctors of Osteopathy in California: Two Separately Legitimized Medical Professions Face the Problem of Providing Medical Care," draft 1966

 

California Osteopathic Association - Board of Trustees meeting material Series 2. 1951-1962

Physical Description: 0.3 Linear Feet
General Physical Description note: no content

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series includes minutes, agendas, budgets and other material of the California Osteopathic Association's Board of Trustees that is not directly related to the merger.

Arrangement

This series has been retained in its original chronological order.
box 2, folder 1-9

Meeting material 1950-1962

 

Dain Tasker writings, correspondence and other materials Series 3. 1950s

Physical Description: 0.4 Linear Feet
General Physical Description note: no content

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series contains the unpublished manuscript of COA Historian, Dain Tasker's history of the osteopathic profession in California. In comparison with the copy in AS-027 (California College of Medicine records), several chapters are missing. Also included are various correspondence, articles and other material from Tasker's files.

Arrangement

The first item in the series is Tasker's manuscript which is further arranged by chapter number. Tasker's Historian files are arranged in chronological order.
box 2, folder 10-19

Tasker, Dain L. "History of osteopathy in California [late 19th century to 1950s], manuscript circa 1954

box 2, folder 10-11

Chapters 1-10

box 2, folder 11-12

Chapters 15, 20, 21, 23

box 2, folder 12-13

Chapters 26-31

box 2, folder 13-17

Chapters 33-62

box 2, folder 17-18

Chapters 64-77

box 2, folder 19

(Unidentified chapter) "History of Osteopathy"

box 2, folder 20

Historian's files 1950-1959

 

Photographic material and realia Series 4. 1901-1989

Physical Description: 1.6 Linear Feet
General Physical Description note: no content

Series Scope and Content Summary

The photographs in this series include images of key figures in California osteopathy such as former presidents of the COA Dorothy Marsh and Forest Grunigen. The bulk of the photographs are unlabeled but seem to be from the 1940s. The slides are from a series titled "Cigarette smoking and your health," published by the California Interagency Council in 1965. There is no indication as to how these might have been used by Grunigen, but perhaps in a lecture. The guest book includes the signatures of Grunigen and Dorothy Marsh among others but there is no indication as to what occasion it represents. The date of the plaque that contains the osteopathic oath is unknown but the oath itself was first used in 1938.

Arrangement

This series is arranged alphabetically.
box 2, folder 21

COA charter awarded to Los Angeles City Osteopathic Society 1939 March 5

box 3

Guest book 1945 December 8

box 2, folder 22

Photographs 1901-1980s

box 4

Framed photograph of first board of osteopathic examiners 1901

box 3

Plaque of the Osteopathic Oath undated

box 2, folder 23

Slides 1965

 

Scrapbooks Series 5. 1912-1961

Physical Description: 0.4 Linear Feet
General Physical Description note: no content

Series Scope and Content Summary

The scrapbook of programs and badges has been taken apart and put into folders arranged by year. A preservation copy has been made of the intact scrapbook. The scrapbook of news clippings is a photocopy; the original clippings have been discarded.

Arrangement

Material is arranged alphabetically. The convention programs and badges are further arranged chronologically. The news clippings are kept in their original order.
 

Convention programs and badges scrapbook

box 2, folder 25-33

Original items, removed from scrapbook 1912-1942

box FB-034, folder 14

Preservation copy of intact scrapbook 1912-1942

 

Loose material

box 2, folder 34

Correspondence and invitations 1960-1961

box 2, folder 35

Newsletters and newspapers 1960-1961

box FB-034, folder 15

Scrapbook of news clippings, photocopy 1960-1961