Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
David Bruce Dill / Harvard Fatigue Laboratory Reprints
MSS 0517
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Creator:
Dill, David Bruce, 1891-
Title: David Bruce Dill / Harvard Fatigue Laboratory Reprints,
Date (inclusive): 1924 - 1985
Extent:
2.73 linear feet
(7 archives boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Abstract: Reprints (1924-1985) of journal articles by David Bruce Dill, physiologist and informal director (1927-1946) of the Harvard
Fatigue Laboratory, director (1947-1961) of medical research for the U.S. Army Chemical Research and Development Laboratory,
and director of the Laboratory of Patho-Environmental Physiology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Also included are
articles documenting research at the Fatigue Laboratory by other physiologists and visiting researchers, as well as miscellaneous
photographs of physiologists such as L.J. Henderson and Joseph Barcroft. The materials are arranged in three series: 1) HARVARD
FATIGUE LABORATORY REPRINTS, 2) DAVID BRUCE DILL REPRINTS and 3) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS.
Repository:
University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
La Jolla, California 92093-0175
Collection number: MSS 0517
Language of Material:
Collection materials in English
Collection is open for research.
Not Available
David Bruce Dill / Harvard Fatigue Laboratory Reprints, MSS 0517. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, conceived in 1926 by Lawrence J. Henderson, began operation in the fall of 1927 as a laboratory
of human physiology in the Harvard Graduate School of Business. The founding committee included Henderson; Wallace Donham,
dean of the Business School; William Morton Wheeler, professor of entomology at Harvard College; David T. Edsall, dean of
the Medical School; Elton Mayo, professor of industrial research in the Business School; and Arlie Bock, of the Medical School
and the Massachusetts General Hospital. The Fatigue Laboratory sought to study the interrelationship of biophysical and biochemical
activities, the phenomena of fatigue and similar conditions, differences in the physiological pattern, and physiological experiences
as sociological data. Research topics included the physical chemistry of blood, exercise physiology, nutritional interactions,
aging, and the stresses of high altitude and climate.
David Bruce Dill was unofficially appointed to organize and direct the program of the Laboratory and held an assistant professorship
(1927-1936) in biochemistry at the School of Public Health and professorships (1927-1947) in industrial physiology at the
Harvard Business School. He continued at Harvard as a visiting lecturer in physiology until 1961. Dill was the scientific
leader of the International High-Altitude Expedition to Chile in 1935.
The laboratory was equipped with several treadmills, climatic room, cold room, altitude chamber, and animal room. The first
high-altitude study was conducted in 1929 and the first desert study in 1932. Researchers during the early years included
Bill Consolazio, J.H. Talbott, W.H. Forbes, David Bruce Dill, and Steven Horvath. The laboratory attracted numerous foreign
fellows and U.S. physiologists.
During the war, the laboratory carried on research funded by the government, although many staff members took military commissions
and worked in wartime research programs. L.J. Henderson died in 1942 and by that time most of the founding committee members
had retired. After the war, several factors contributed to the closure of the laboratory, including the loss of University
financial support, the University's policy against the use of government support and the departure of senior staff members
to more stable positions. In 1946, the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory was dissolved and its assets turned over to the School
of Public Health.
In 1947, Dill was appointed director (1947-1961) of medical research for the U.S. Army Chemical Research and Development Laboratory.
After his retirement at the age of 70, he was Research Scholar (1961-1966) at Indiana University. From 1966 to 1976, Dill
was research professor at the Desert Research Institute of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. There he directed the Laboratory
of Patho-Environmental Physiology were he replicated the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory with visiting professors and Boulder City
high school science students.
Dill died in 1986.
Scope and Content of Collection
The David Bruce Dill/ Harvard Fatigue Laboratory Reprints collection contains reprints of journal articles and publications
written by Dill during his research career at the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, U.S. Army Chemical Research and Development
Laboratory and the Laboratory of Patho-Environmental Physiology. Also included are journal articles based on research conducted
at the Fatigue Laboratory by other physiologists and visiting researchers. The materials are arranged in three series: 1)
HARVARD FATIGUE LABORATORY REPRINTS, 2) DAVID BRUCE DILL REPRINTS and 3) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS.
SERIES 1: HARVARD FATIGUE LABORATORY REPRINTS
This series, arranged chronologically, begins with bibliographies and summary lists of Fatigue Laboratory publications, as
well as the syllabus of methods employed at the facility. While Dill appears as the author or joint author of most of the
reprints, many represent the work of colleagues and visiting researchers. The article entitled "Harvard Fatigue Laboratory,
" published in the HARVARD ALUMNI BULLETIN in 1935, outlines the founding concepts of the laboratory. Research articles that
grew out of the Fatigue Laboratory's participation in the International High-Altitude Expedition to Chile in 1935 are also
represented.
SERIES 2: DAVID BRUCE DILL REPRINTS
The DAVID BRUCE DILL REPRINTS series, arranged chronologically, contains articles by Dill written either before or after his
participation at the Fatigue Laboratory. The bulk of the materials document Dill's desert research at the Laboratory of Patho-Environmental
Physiology. In addition to his scientific publications, Dill wrote historical and biographical sketches on numerous colleagues
including Wlodzimierz Missiuro (1969), Percy Millard Dawson (1970), F.G. Hall (1971), Carlos Monge M. (1973), Thorne Martin
Carpenter (1975), L.J. Henderson (1977), and Arlie V. Bock (1985). In 1967, he wrote a short history of the Harvard Fatigue
Laboratory entitled "Harvard Fatigue Laboratory: Its Development, Contributions, and Demise." Undated articles are located
at the end of the series.
SERIES 3: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS series contains a biographical sketch of Dill by his daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth and Steven
Horvath. Also included are miscellaneous photographs of physiologists, one of which Dill used to illustrate his 1967 history
of the Fatigue Laboratory.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Dill, David Bruce, 1891- -- Archives
Harvard Fatigue Laboratory -- Archives
Physiology
Altitude, Influence of
Fatigue
Exercise
Acclimatization
Adaptation (Physiology)
Harvard Fatigue Laboratory