Dr. Tatiana Belitsky Collection, 1923-1956

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Summary

Creators:
Belitsky, Tatiana, 1906-1980
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.
Extent:
1.96 linear feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materialsguide.

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Acquisition information:
Augusta Prewett-Gunn, November 12, 2013.
Processing information:

Jessica Geiser, 2013

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materialsguide.

Location of this collection:
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330, US
Contact:
(818) 677-4594
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