Robert and Truman Abbe scrapbook on radium
Collection
Identifier: MSS 460
Scope and Contents
The scrapbook in this collection contains correspondence, notes, certificates, clippings, and images related to early sales, experiments, and therapeutic uses of radium. Also included in the collection are folders of supplemental material, likely removed from the scrapbook. These materials include more correspondence, certificates of sale, case notes, printed material, and Robert Abbe’s autopsy report.
Dates
- 1902-1960
Creator
- Abbe, Robert (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Restrictions may apply. Please contact the Archives with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.
Biographical / Historical
Robert Waldo Abbe, New York surgeon, was born on 13 April 1851. He married Catherine Amory Palmer in 1891.
Abbe received an A.B. from the College of the City of New York in 1870 and an M.D. from the College of Physicians and surgeons in New York in 1874. He then served an internship at St. Luke's Hospital, New York. From 1877 to 1884, Abbe was Attending Surgeon in the outpatient Department of New York Hospital. He was also surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital and the Cancer Hospital and Attending Surgeon at New York Babies' Hospital. Abbe held positions as Professor of Didactic Surgery at the woman's medical College of New York, 1878-1880, and Professor of Surgery at the New York Post Graduate Medical School, 1888-1897. In 1898, he became Lecturer in Surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Robert Abbe was known for his work in plastic surgery and his use of radium to treat cancer as the founder of radiation therapy and radiation oncology in the United States. He was a member of the American surgical association, the International Surgical Society, and the New York Surgical Society. In 1911, he became an associate fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
Abbe died of anemia, probably related to his work with radium, on 7 March 1928.
Truman Abbe was born 1 November 1873. He was Robert Abbe’s nephew and the son of meteorologist Cleveland Abbe.
Truman Abbe graduated from Harvard in 1895 and received his medical degree from Columbia in 1899 before pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Berlin. He worked at Georgetown University and George Washington University and researched the uses of radium in medicine.
Truman Abbe died in Washington, DC on 2 May 1955.
Abbe received an A.B. from the College of the City of New York in 1870 and an M.D. from the College of Physicians and surgeons in New York in 1874. He then served an internship at St. Luke's Hospital, New York. From 1877 to 1884, Abbe was Attending Surgeon in the outpatient Department of New York Hospital. He was also surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital and the Cancer Hospital and Attending Surgeon at New York Babies' Hospital. Abbe held positions as Professor of Didactic Surgery at the woman's medical College of New York, 1878-1880, and Professor of Surgery at the New York Post Graduate Medical School, 1888-1897. In 1898, he became Lecturer in Surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Robert Abbe was known for his work in plastic surgery and his use of radium to treat cancer as the founder of radiation therapy and radiation oncology in the United States. He was a member of the American surgical association, the International Surgical Society, and the New York Surgical Society. In 1911, he became an associate fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
Abbe died of anemia, probably related to his work with radium, on 7 March 1928.
Truman Abbe was born 1 November 1873. He was Robert Abbe’s nephew and the son of meteorologist Cleveland Abbe.
Truman Abbe graduated from Harvard in 1895 and received his medical degree from Columbia in 1899 before pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Berlin. He worked at Georgetown University and George Washington University and researched the uses of radium in medicine.
Truman Abbe died in Washington, DC on 2 May 1955.
Extent
0.4 Linear feet (1 oversize document box)
Language of Materials
English
French
German
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This scrapbook was purchased from Frank Minaya, a private collector, on 8 September 2000.
Processing Information
Rayna Andrews processed this collection in 2025. Folders were in no discernable order, so they were grouped by type and arranged chronologically within. The certificate to May Moon was originally in its own folder, but as correspondence directly refers to it, it was placed in the same folder as the correspondence.
Creator
- Abbe, Robert (Person)
- Abbe, Truman, 1873-1955 (Person)
- Author
- Rayna Andrews
- Date
- 2025 February 27
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Repository
Contact:
19 S. 22nd Street
Philadelphia PA 19103 United States
19 S. 22nd Street
Philadelphia PA 19103 United States
