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 His files include an unpublished manuscript of his history of the osteopathic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 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 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 16
"Declaration of Geneva"
1948
box 1, folder 18
Legal documents
1948-1961
box 1, folder 19-20
Meeting minutes
1949-1962
box 1, folder 22
Newsletters and newspapers
1952-1961
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.
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 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 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 4
Framed photograph of first board of osteopathic examiners
1901
box 3
Plaque of the Osteopathic Oath
undated
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
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