Finding aid to the Frederick M. Allen collection MSS.2018.23
Erin Hurley
University of California, San Francisco Archives & Special Collections
2020
530 Parnassus Ave
Room 524
San Francisco, CA 94143-0840
libraryarchives@ucsf.edu
Contributing Institution:
University of California, San Francisco Archives & Special Collections
Title: Frederick M. Allen collection
Creator:
Allen, Frederick M. (Frederick Madison)
source:
Henderson, Alfred
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2018.23
Physical Description:
2.5 Linear Feet
(2 cartons)
Date (inclusive): 1893-1960
Abstract: Frederick M. Allen was a pioneer in the study of diabetes mellitus (now called "diabetes") and its treatment. This collection
consists of personal and professional materials belonging to Allen, including unpublished manuscripts,newspaper clippings,
pamphlets, correspondence, and a diary.
Condition Description: Many of the papers and photographs in the collection are in somewhat fragile condition, including disbound books and papers
showing evidence of foxing and inactive mold, some of which were mended with tape (now quite brittle). Several black-and-white
photographs have silvering on surface and should be handled with gloves. Many of the manuscripts have brittle paper with torn
edges, and should be handled with care. Allen's handwritten diary and the Columbia Exposition handbook are both in fragile
condition.
A water-damaged manuscript with evidence of rust and mold ("The Response of Human Brain Tissue to Local Refrigeration" by
Fay Temple) received conservation treatment by Erika Lindensmith of UC Berkeley's Conservation Treatment Division in September
of 2018. Collection contains some photocopies of correspondence and previously published articles.
The 16mm film smells slightly of vinegar.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
Container: 1
Container: 2
Frederick M. Allen collection, MSS 2018-23. Archives and Special Collections, University of California, San Francisco.
Collection is unprocessed and open for research, but contains one folder of restricted materials, which are in an envelope
stamped "RESTRICTED." Folder contains photographs of patients, which is restricted due to HIPAA. The UCSF Archives and Special
Collections policy places access restrictions on material with privacy issues for a specific time period from the date of
creation. Access to records that contain personal and confidential information about an individual or individuals is restricted
for 75 years from date of creation or until the death of the individual mentioned in the records, whichever is longer. Access
to medical records is restricted for 100 years from the latest date of the materials
in those files.
Copyright has not been assigned to UCSF Archives and Special Collections. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from material must be submitted in writing to the Head of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is
given on behalf of UCSF Archives and Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Also donated were one carton of books (several written by Allen), journals, and pamphlets, mostly about diabetes mellitus,
which have been separated from the collection. Duplicates have been weeded.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection was donated by Alfred Henderson in 2018.
No further additions to the collection are expected.
Collection is unprocessed, but was accessioned and minimally arranged by Erin Hurley in 2020.
Frederick M. Allen was an authority of the treatment of diabetes and other metabolic disorders, and was born in 1879 in Des
Moines, Iowa. He studied medicine in California, and eventually received a fellowship at Harvard University to study sugar
consumption. He died in Boston in 1964. He is best known for developing a carbohydrate-restricted, low-calorie diet (called
the "starvation diet") for sufferers of diabetes mellitus, and, in 1921, he opened the Psychiatric Institute in Morristown,
NJ - the world's first clinic for sufferers of diabetes mellitus. The "starvation diet" posited that restricted calorie intake
and engaging in regular exercise would prolong the life of insulin-producing beta cells. His treatment methods were, at the
time, the most successful treatment of diabetes, prior to the availability of insulin in 1923, and he is considered a pioneer
in the field of diabetes study and treatment.
This collection is comprised of personal and professional materials belonging to Frederick M. Allen, an authority of the treatment
of diabetes and other metabolic disorders. It includes a folder of materials about Allen's Psychiatric Institute in Morristown,
including photographs. It also includes several unpublished manuscripts, some scientific and some nonscientific, including
a biographical memoir. There is correspondence, some of which relates to his work as the personal physician to Thomas A.
Edison. The collection includes several pamphlets published by the Rockefeller Institute, where Allen was appointed to a junior
position in 1914, and several folders of newspaper clippings and articles published by Allen, as well as some original periodicals
featuring Allen's work. There is also an undated silent 16mm film, mailed to Dr. Allen, of a leg amputation under the use
of ice as anesthesia.
There are also personal materials, including Allen's diary from 1893, describing a trip to the Columbia Exposition in 1893.
It also includes a handbook that he bought at the Exposition. The collection also includes both black-and-white and color
photographs of Allen's family, as well as photos from his time as a Hospital Staff Captain during World War I.
Collection is unprocessed, and has been minimally arranged by the archivist.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Diabetes
Diabetes clinics
Henderson, Alfred