Often times our work and personal lives overlap. Such was the case for me this past week as I spent some quality time with my beagle at the Veterinary Medical Center's Small Animal Hospital Emergency Care.

While waiting in the examine room to learn about my dog’s test results, I began to wonder about the history of the VMC and the care it provides.

Clinical veterinary work first began at the University in 1888 with the appointment of the University’s first veterinarian, Michael Treacy. For the next 60 years, veterinary medicine was taught and practiced as part of the curriculum of the School of Agriculture. In 1947 the School of Veterinary Medicine was established and later reorganized into the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Veterinary Medical Center grew out of the original veterinary clinics associated with the School of Veterinary Medicine. The clinic on the St Paul campus received state funding to construct new facilities, which opened in 1950. The Veterinary Clinic was to serve as "a hospital for animals just as the University Hospitals on the Minneapolis Campus are devoted to caring for humans. In the hospital, students will be able to observe treatment given by trained University veterinarians to ill animals." You can read more about the 1950 dedication ceremony in the pamphlet below.

The Veterinary Clinic was reorganized as the Veterinary Hospital in 1969. It was renamed the Veterinary Medical Center in 2003 to better reflect the advanced care and outpatient services it provides.

The Lewis Hospital for Companion Animals is a component of the VMC and was dedicated in 1983. It was named after the MN State Senator Robert Lewis, an advocate for promoting health and welfare in various communities and who was also a trained DVM. There is a plaque honoring Senator Lewis behind the check-in desk above the floor scale.

As for my beagle, he was treated aggressively and released. All signs show him to be in good health. Thank you to all the staff that took great care of him!

Posted by Erik Moore at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Veterinary medicine |

Several recent archival acquisitions for the AHC History Project are avian in nature.

The Raptor Center on the St. Paul campus transferred 28 boxes documenting administrative history, research, and outreach activities dating back to the early 1970s. Formally established in 1974, the Raptor Center provides clinical services and release programs to injured birds, public and veterinary education in raptor care and raptor-human relationships, and research and conservation information on raptor populations. A large portion of the archival collection is related to peregrine falcon restoration in the Midwest.

The Veterinary Medical Library recently transferred 124 research notebooks which had belong to the late Dr. Benjamin S. Pomeroy. The notebooks document agricultural turkey populations in the Upper Midwest and incidences of avian flu within the flocks. Dr. Pomeroy began studying avian diseases related to poultry farming in the 1930s and remained active in the field throughout his career. The research notebooks compliment existing archival material from Dr. Pomeroy. This material documents his research, academic career, presentations, and professional activities.

A third acquisition is the digital preservation of AHC documentation on the study of and proposed emergency responses to a pandemic influenza outbreak of the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The workplan, progress report, and supporting documents are stored in the digital archives. This material was organized and produced by the AHC Office of Emergency Response.

With these three collections, the archives is now a great resource for the history of avian health care and disease prevention and the study of the human economic and environmental relationships to bird populations.

Posted by Erik Moore at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Acquisitions | Digital | Veterinary medicine |

The Center to Study Human Animal Relationships and Environments (CENSHARE) recently transfer approximately 6 cubic feet of records to the archives. The transfer was prompted by the Center’s relocation to its new facilities at 717 Delaware.

The Center, an early promoter of companion animal therapies and studies, is situated within the School of Public Health and has historical ties with the College of Veterinary Medicine. CENSHARE’s director, Dr. R. K. Anderson, and long-time supporter, Ruth Foster, are well known for their design of the Gentle Leader.

The records include early correspondence on establishing the Center, information bulletins regarding human-animal relationships, conference planning, material related to pet therapies and animal assistance studies and projects, administrative records, newsletters, and photographs. The material documents the Center’s beginnings in the early 1980s through the 1990s. More recent and active records are still maintained by the Center.

Read an early bulletin published by the Center describing pet therapy:

Posted by Erik Moore at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Acquisitions | Public health | Veterinary medicine |

Today started with a visit to the CENSHARE (Center to Study Human Animal Relationships and Environments) office to discuss their twenty-five plus years worth of records. The center began as a joint venture between the School of Public Health and the College of Veterinary Medicine. It was an early advocate for animal assisted therapy and promoted companion animals as a source of well-being in assisted care facilities. Today it acts as a think tank and granting agency for interdisciplinary studies of human-animal relations.

It is a small office run by a director and a loyal group of volunteers. The primary source of income for CENSHARE has been private contributions and proceeds from the Gentle Leader® head collar for dogs developed by Ruth Foster and Dr. Robert K. Anderson, two founding members of the center.

The center is moving at the end of the year and wanted to make a plan for their records prior to the move.

Posted by Erik Moore at 04:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Donors | Public health | Veterinary medicine |

Last week’s visitors from Seoul National University prompted several conversations with retired faculty either involved with the original partnership or international programs.

First, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Neal Gault, former Dean of the Medical School. Dr. Gault lived in Korea with his family for two years. Dr. Gault and other university faculty acted as program supervisors at SNU during the reconstruction of the medical school and faculty training.

I also had the chance to meet Dr. John Arnold, former Head of Surgery and Radiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Arnold was the only CVM faculty member to stay in Korea during the partnership. He and his family were on site from 1960-1961. He described his work as modernizing the training of graduates and supporting the work of the younger faculty. Dr. Arnold also discussed his role as a faculty consultant in Columbia in 1963.

Although not a participant in the SNU partnership, I also met with Dr. Stanley Diesch, a retired faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Diesch served as director for the CVM’s international programs. In addition to his international work, Dr. Diesch was a founding member and former director of CENSHARE (Center for the Study of Human Animal Relationships and Environments) housed in the School of Public Health. Dr. Diesch also served as the Head of Food Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health.

All of the above conversations were enlightening and acted as a starting point for new collection leads.

Posted by Erik Moore at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Medical school | Partners | Public health | Veterinary medicine |

In the 1950s and 1960s the University of Minnesota partnered with Seoul National University in a cooperative relationship to develop educational and research programs in agriculture, the medical sciences, and engineering. The effort allowed University of Minnesota faculty and civil service staff to learn from their counterparts in Korea and assisted in SNU’s reconstruction after the war as an institution and as a source of intellectual labor to strengthen Korea’s post-war economy.

Recently, a cooperative partnership between the SNU Archives and the U of M Archives has worked to identify materials held by the two institutions documenting the cooperative arrangement. Currently, researchers from SNU are mining the materials at the U of M to locate unique items not known or held by SNU.

This is an opportune time to locate and identify individuals in the AHC that have a connection to the original partnership or departments and offices that may still have material related to the University’s work with SNU. The Medical School, School of Nursing, and Veterinary Medicine were all involved in the cooperative.

I have already noted that the small sampling of John Arnold’s papers have some correspondence resulting from the partnership. The School of Nursing has a binder of related documents as well. Dr. Neal Gault, former dean of the Medical School, was also a participant. We are working to identify additional individuals and I hope the current interest in the SNU partnership will generate collection leads and accessions for the AHC archives project.

Posted by Erik Moore at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Medical school | Nursing | Partners | Veterinary medicine |

Last night I attended the board meeting for the Minnesota Veterinary Historical Museum. The museum is located on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota and contains a range of materials from books, to surgical instruments, to giant petrified hairballs.

It was an opportunity for me to discuss the archives project and connect with the board members, many of whom are former faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine. They invited me to attend future meetings and I offered a tour of the archives in return. Notable board members include Dr. Walter Mackey, a member of the first entering class of 1947, and Dr. Bee Hanlon, one of the first two women to enter the program in 1948. Both later became faculty members at the College.

Ideally, this connection will allow the MVHM and the archives project to help each other. If I locate materials more suited for a museum collection, I will be able to pass them along. In the same manner, I can help them better identify material that is appropriate for the archives to manage and arrange for acquisition or transfer.

Posted by Erik Moore at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Partners | Veterinary medicine |

School of Nursing records, supplement
Eight more boxes have arrived from the Dean's office bringing the total to 14 linear feet. It is all in need of reboxing and some foldering. There are perhaps a few more boxes to go. I've begun looking through the materials and have reboxed the first box and some of the second.

Board of Governors records
I finally had a chance to pull the previously accessioned material. It was half a linear foot and contains only material from 1984-1985. This is the final period of the construction of the hospital and most of the material is related to this event. Now I will be able to go through the recent BoG acquisition to see if these same materials are duplicated or if they are unique.

John Arnold papers
I received a small package containing a few folders of material related to Dr. John Arnold (retired) a former faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine and head of the Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology. Along with materials related to his leadership position in the College there is some information regarding his work with Seoul National University and veterinary programs in Iran during the 1970s.

Posted by Erik Moore at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Acquisitions | Hospitals | Nursing | Veterinary medicine |

Last Friday I got word via a patron at University Archives that a prominent former professor and head of the Department of Surgery and Radiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine was moving out of his home and that several items of interest might be in danger of being discarded. The professor, now in his 90s, was a previous president of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association and a prominent veterinary surgeon who was often consulted for advice both locally and abroad.

I was able to leave a message with the family, but it was late on a Friday afternoon and the only number I had was a work number. The following Monday, a member of the family returned my call and said that they had saved a few items of interest, but unfortunately, a bulk of material had already been disposed of. They offered to send me what they had and would continue to keep an eye out for any other related materials. I thanked them and crossed my fingers for the possibility of more material.

The packages arrived today and sure enough, it was exactly what I thought it would be. A small (two folders) snapshot of his career at the University and his international consulting. It is small, but rich. Any further additions the family can provide will be beneficial, but sometimes we have to come to terms with being just a little too late at getting between the box and the dumpster.

Posted by Erik Moore at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Acquisitions | Donors | Veterinary medicine |