Descriptive Summary
Scope and Content of Collection
Historical Background
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Publication Rights
Descriptive Summary
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Scripps Research Institute Office of Public Affairs Records
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0072
Physical Description:
23.5 Linear feet
(41 archives boxes, 1 card file box, and 9 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1919-1992
Abstract: Records of the Office of Public Affairs of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), a biomedical research, educational and clinical
institution first located on Prospect Street in La Jolla, California, and later moved to Torrey Pines mesa. The collection
contains public relations materials, including photographs, correspondence, brochures, reports, newspaper clippings, and publications.
Scope and Content of Collection
The records of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) Office of Public Affairs document the growth of a nationally known biomedical
facility from its inception in 1924, to its relocation to Torrey Pines mesa in 1976. The collection contains public relations
materials, including correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, publications, and photographs that date from 1919 to 1989,
with the majority of materials dating between 1960 and 1980. The photographs provide a valuable visual history of Scripps
Clinic. Written materials provide insight into the fundraising and publicity efforts that accompanied TSRI's growth, as well
as the image it sought to present to the public.
The materials are arranged in eleven series: 1) SUBJECT FILES; 2) CONSTRUCTION; 3) FUNDRAISING AND DONATIONS; 4) EVENTS AND
PROGRAMS; 5) SPECIAL UNITS AND VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS; 6) HISTORIES, REPORTS AND CORRESPONDENCE; 7) BROCHURES, DIRECTORIES
AND HANDBOOKS; 8) REPORTS; 9) NEWSLETTERS, BULLETINS AND CLIPPINGS; 10) PHOTOGRAPHS-1; and 11) PHOTOGRAPHS-2.
Historical Background
A philanthropic gift by Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924 led to the foundation of the Scripps Metabolic Clinic on Prospect
Street in La Jolla, California. The early clinic was dedicated to research, education and patient treatment in the field of
metabolic diseases, especially diabetes. For the first three decades of its existence, the Clinic grew slowly and remained
largely outside the mainstream of medical and scientific research being conducted on the East Coast.
In 1955 Scripps Metabolic Clinic changed its name to the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation (SCRF) as part of an initiative
that propelled the institution to national prominence as an educational and research facility. The recruitment of Dr. Frank
Dixon along with virtually his entire department at the University of Pittsburgh to found SCRF's first basic science department--
experimental pathology-- boosted the Institute's standing. Under the leadership of Dr. Edmund Keeney, SCRF expanded throughout
the 1960s and 1970s. In 1964, SCRF doubled its size with the completion of the Timkin-Sturgis Research Building behind the
La Jolla Clinic.
In 1976, SCRF relocated to the Torrey Pines facility on land donated by Dow Chemical Company, again doubling the size of
the facility. A year later the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic (RISC) was officially designated as a separate corporate
entity dedicated to scientific and training programs. SCRF quickly outgrew the Torrey Pines facility and, in conjunction with
RISC, sought arrangements with various chemical and pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson and Johnson and PPG Industries
Inc., to finance further development and expansion. Such arrangements enabled The Scripps Research Institute to develop a
host of facilities including the Anderson Outpatient Pavilion, the Immunology Building, the Molecular Biology Building, and
others in the 1980s. Additionally, TSRI now encompasses a network of outpatient clinics throughout San Diego County, with
an additional clinic in Riverside County.
Today TSRI is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit, private medical centers in the United States dedicated to continuing
medical education, biomedical research and patient care. The Institute now specializes in the areas of allergy and immunology,
cardiology, clinical pathology, dermatology, diabetes, endocrinology, gastroenterology, general medicine, hematology, nephrology,
neurology, pulmonary diseases, radiology, and rheumatology.
Preferred Citation
Scripps Research Institute Office of Public Affairs Records. MSS 72. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1994, 1995.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hospitals -- California -- San Diego County
Clinics -- California -- San Diego County
Medical research personnel -- California
Medicine research -- California
Medicine -- California -- San Diego County -- History
Medical laboratories -- California
Photographic prints -- 20th century
Scripps, Ellen Browning, 1836-1932
Burr, Raymond, 1917-1993
Sherrill, James W.
Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation -- History
Keeney, Edmund L.
Hastings, A. Baird (Albert Baird), 1895-1987
Green, Cecil Howard, 1900-2003
Dixon, Frank J. (Frank James), 1920-2008
Copley, James S. (James Strohn)
Scripps Research Institute. Office of Public Affairs -- Archives
Edwards, Charles C.
Scripps Research Institute -- History
Scripps Research Institute -- Planning
Scripps Research Institute -- Publications
Scripps Research Institute -- Employees
Scripps Research Institute -- Buildings
Scripps Research Institute -- Pictorial works