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Finding Aid for the Barlow Medical Library Records 1899-1951
93
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Title: Barlow Medical Library Records,
Date (inclusive): 1899-1951
Collection number: 93
Creator: Barlow Medical
Library
Extent:
3.5 linear feet (7 document boxes)
1 map folder
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections
Division
Los Angeles, California 90095-1490
Abstract: From 1899 a small medical library existed to serve
the College of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and the
physicians of the city. In 1906 Dr. Walter Jarvis Barlow, a faculty member of
the College of Medicine, deeded to the Los Angeles College Clinical Association
(a non-profit holding corporation of the College of Medicine, USC) a new
building erected to house the growing collection. The Library was named in his
honor, and its governance was entrusted to the Board of Trustees of the Barlow
Medical Library Association. In 1932 the collections of the Barlow Medical
Library were transferred to the Los Angeles County Medical Association, and in
1992 they came to the University of California, Los Angeles. The collection
consists of financial records, correspondence and other documents concerned with
the Library's operations, various printed materials, and photographs, all
concentrating on the period of 1907-1934.
Physical location: History and Special Collections Division,
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, University of California, Los
Angeles
Language of Material: Collection materials in English
The collection is open for research. Contact the History and Special
Collections Division, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, University of
California, Los Angeles, for information.
[Identification of item], Barlow Medical Library Records, 93, Louise M.
Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections Division, University
of California, Los Angeles.
When the Los Angeles County Medical Association dissolved its Library in 1992
and the Barlow collections were transferred to the UCLA Biomedical Library, all
the records concerning the Barlow Medical Library that were still available were
also transferred. This is the material covered in this collection.
| 1880 | The University of Southern California founded. |
| 1885 | The College of Medicine of the University of Southern California founded. Dean of the Faculty: Dr. J. P. Widney. |
| 1895 | The College located on Buena Vista Street (later renamed Broadway) in a 3-story building, the Founders' Building. Original faculty included Doctors M.M. Bovard, J. P. Widney, Joseph Kurtz and A.F. Darling (father of Louise Darling). |
| 1897 | Population of Los Angeles about 86,000; 303 registered physicians in LA County. |
| 1899 | January 6, 1899, Dr. Wilbur A. Hendryx presented to the College of Medicine an "admirably arranged and equipped two-story building, designed by Prof. Stanley P. Black, for the Department of Pathology." The Hendryx Pathological and Bacteriological Laboratory included a room designated for a library. "The Library is designed to hold about 7000 volumes. There is already a nucleus of more than 1000 volumes. It is hoped to throw this room open to the general profession as well as to our own students." |
| 1897-1906 | Dr. Milbank Johnson appointed librarian. He actively acquired materials for the library, buying and donating some himself; others were gifts. |
| 1906 | Dr. Walter Jarvis Barlow, a faculty member of the College of Medicine, had erected a library building on Buena Vista Street, just opposite the Founders' Building, which he deeded to the Los Angeles College Clinical Association (a non-profit holding corporation of the College of Medicine, USC). |
| 1907 | The building was dedicated to the medical profession of Southern California and of the Great Southwest. Dr. Milbank Johnson, President of the Board of Trustees, accepted responsibility for the collection. Control and management of the Library vested in Board of Trustees of the Barlow Medical Library Association, with support coming from subscribing patrons who paid $25.00 per year. In 1907 there were 53 patrons and about 5000 volumes. |
| 1909 | The maintenance of the medical school had become more and more expensive and the University of Southern California was already spending most of its income in support of its College of Liberal Arts. Thus in 1909 the College of Medicine changed it affiliation and became part of the University of California, with the buildings including the Barlow Library building deeded to the University of California. The Barlow Medical Library Associates continued to run the Library and retained ownership of its books and journals. |
| 1909-1932 | The Library grew to over 18,000 volumes. The pattern of mixed support continued. Monies came from: the Barlow Medical Library Association, the Los Angeles Medical Department of the University of California (paid the Librarian's salary), and the Los Angeles County Medical Association. |
| 1932 | On November 7, 1932, the Board of Trustees of the Barlow Medical Library Association adopted resolutions providing for the transfer of the collections of the Barlow Medical Library to the Los Angeles County Medical Association. The Board members were: Dr. George Dock, President; Dr. A. Elmer Belt, vice-president; other Trustees were Dr. W. Jarvis Barlow and Dr. George H. Kress. |
| 1934 | By December the Library was installed in its new quarters at 634 South Westlake, Los Angeles. |
| 1951 | UCLA Medical School opened with a Freshmen class of 25 students. Louise Darling continued building the Biomedical Library collections. |
| 1958 | Sale of Barlow Medical Library building, with proceeds used to create an endowment, the "Walter Jarvis Barlow History of Medicine Collection" fund, for the purchase of materials in the history of medicine by the UCLA Biomedical Library. |
| 1992 | On June 18, 1992 the Barlow Trust was transferred from the Los Angeles County Medical Association to the Regents of the University of California. Non-rare volumes originally from the Barlow Medical Library were moved to the History and Special Collections Division of the UCLA Louise Darling Biomedical Library on September 18, 1992. |
The collection consists of: financial records, correspondence and other
documents concerned with the Library's operations; various printed materials;
photographs documenting the history of the Barlow Medical Library up to its
transfer to the Los Angeles Country Medical Association (LACMA); building
blueprints of the Barlow Library building. Almost all of these records and
ephemera relate to the Library after it moved into its own building on Buena
Vista Street and before it was transferred to LACMA, thus concentrating on the
period of 1907-1934.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Guest Book of Library. , 1907-1938. 1 folder
- Series 2. Financial Records of the Barlow Medical Library., 1905-1935. 16 folders
- Series 3. Library Operations., 1907-1951. 36 folders
- Series 4. Ephemera., 1914-1945. 3 folders
- Series 5. Photographs., n.d.. 1 folder
- Series 6. Miscellaneous Items.. 2 items
- Series 7. Blueprints.. 1 folder
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Barlow Medical
Library (Los Angeles)