Our Society Heritage

Shortly after the Health Physics Society (HPS) reached its 40th anniversary in 1996, Dr. J. Newell Stannard, HPS historian, developed a document that he called "Our Heritage" to provide HPS members with information on the availability of historical documents and whom to contact for further information. The Society's History Committee is charged with the task of documenting and preserving our heritage. To honor Dr. Stannard, who passed away on 19 September 2005, we significantly updated the information for "Our Society Heritage" in September 2009, followed by periodic updates since that time. In particular, we have added many links to sources of historical information.

50th Anniversary

The HPS celebrated its 50th anniversary year beginning with special events at the annual meeting in Spokane, Washington, 1014 July 2005. Fifty-year charter members were also honored with a special award at the Society's annual meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, 2529 June 2006. This anniversary year was an occasion to look back at our beginnings and the evolution of the Society over the past half-century.

Our first 50 years are captured in the following references (Note: Articles in the Health Physics Journal and Health Physics News can be viewed after signing in to the Members Only Area of the HPS website):

  • "A DVD and a Whole Lot More - HPS Special Publications," Health Physics News, July 2007.
  • "Not Just Boxes on the Shelf - HPS Archives Bring the Past to the Present," Health Physics News, May 2007.
  • A special 50th Anniversary History Session was held at the annual meeting of the HPS in Providence, Rhode Island, 2529 June 2006. This four-hour session was recorded on DVD and included presentations by Ray Johnson, Joel Lubenau, Ken Krieger, Jeff Chapman, and Art Lucas. The program also included a panel of charter members who recalled highlights of the past 50 years with Herman Cember, Bob Gallaghar, Bryce Rich, Allen Brodsky, Dick Curtis, and Chuck Roessler. This DVD will be posted on the HPS website along with photos and interviews of senior Society members.
  • "The Birth of the HPS: A Look Back," a monthly series in Health Physics News, June 2005, July 2005, August 2005, September 2005, October 2005, November 2005, December 2005, January 2006, February 2006, March 2006, April 2006, May 2006, June 2006.
  • Alex Boerner, "Highlights of the First 50 Years of the Health Physics Society," presentation at the annual meeting in Spokane, Washington, 13 July 2005.
  • Alex Boerner and Ron Kathren, "The Health Physics Society: A 50-Year Chronology," Health Physics Journal, Vol. 88, No. 3, pp. 193213, March 2005.
  • Ronald Kathren and Natalie Tarr, "The Origins of the Health Physics Society," Health Physics Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 419428; November 1974.
  • Ronald Kathren and Paul Ziemer (editors), "Health Physics: A Backward Glance," Pergamon Press, 1980.
  • Ronald Kathren, "History of the Health Physics Society," submitted to the HPS Board of Directors 11 June 1972.

Health Physics Society Collections

The Archival Center for Radiation Science
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee

This endowed center holds the official archives of the HPS organized by the Society, but managed by the Archival Center. The Archival Center was relocated in 2009 from the James D. Hoskins Library to the John C. Hodges Library on the main campus of the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville; however, the HPS archives will continue to be stored at the Hoskins Library for the time being. These archives contain the following partial records:

  1. The Membership Directory and Handbooks. These include yearly rosters for officers, committee members, affiliates, chapters, and members.
  2. Annual and topical (midyear) meeting programs and the Summer School (now known as the Professional Development School).
  3. Board of Directors and committee meeting minutes and correspondence.
  4. Presidential papers.
  5. The beginning of a collection of chapter and section records.

An outline of the archive holdings is available on the Society's The Archival Center for Radiation Science web page. To access the collection, contact HPS Archivist Martha DeMarre by phone at 702-794-5106 or by email at demarre_me@msn.com. Due to his closer proximity to the official archives, the previous archivist, Alex Boerner, may also be contacted for assistance by phone at 865-574-0951 or by email at alex.boerner@orau.org.

A concerted effort is needed to improve the "partial" nature of the holdings at UT. The History Committee continues to solicit the support of members, the Secretariat, and others to provide national HPS and chapter information. Please refer to the May 2007 Health Physics News article "Not Just Boxes on the Shelf - HPS Archives Bring the Past to the Present" for additional information on the archives.

To improve availability of archival materials to the membership, the HPS History Committee initiated a program in 2010 to digitize the entire archives, including hardcopy, magnetic tapes, and videos. The intention is to make all of these materials available electronically. Archivist Martha DeMarre visited the archives at UT-Knoxville in the spring of 2009 to examine the collection and offer recommendations to accomplish this task. Preservation of videotapes and other magnetic materials was identified as the highest immediate priority. They will be the first materials to be digitized. Scanning and digitizing of other documents proceeded in 20102011. The ultimate objective will be to allow interested persons to access electronic copies of these materials as they become available.

Secretariat, Health Physics Society (hps@BurkInc.com)

The HPS Secretariat has extensive files of financial and administrative information, most of which is not contained in the archives. However, the Secretariat remains geared primarily for current operations rather than archival research. "Early days" information is stored off-site near Society headquarters in McLean, Virginia. This information is not easily accessed and the files are not presently catalogued, but the Secretariat will do its best to accommodate specific requests for information about Society business given sufficient notice and need.

The Secretariat also has a large collection of slides and photographs taken by various photographers (e.g., Joe Sayeg, Don Collins, Gail Magenis, Casper Sun, and other helpers) at meetings over the years. History Committee member John Taschner began scanning and digitizing photos about 10 years ago. This daunting task was picked up by Martha DeMarre in 2006, and she has since scanned over 15,000 photos by hand. Much remains to be done, however, including identification of those photographed! The History Committee is still determining how best to make these photos available electronically.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities

Historical Instrument and Artifacts Collection

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) houses an incredible collection of early instruments and artifacts related to the radiological sciences at its training facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Although this collection is owned by the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Foundation, it is regarded as the Society's official location for gathering instruments and historical items. Portions of the collection can be seen online at ORAU's Professional Training Programs (PTP) website at www.orau.org/ptp/ptp.htm (select the link to the "Historical Collection") or at www.orau.org/ptp/museumdirectory.htm.

For additional information, contact the Society's Instruments Archive manager:

Dr. Paul Frame
c/o ORAU PTP
PO Box 117, MS-19
Oak Ridge TN 37831-0117
865-576-3388
paul.frame@orau.org

Professional Enrichment Program and Continuing Education Lectures

Ensuring that Professional Enrichment Program (PEP) and Continuing Education Lectures (CEL) training materials are available to the membership is another ongoing effort. The initial collection of training materials was housed at San Diego State University and then relocated to the University of Cincinnati (UC). UC maintained the HPS Reference Library (as it was known) for several years through the committed efforts of the late Dr. Ellen Hochheiser. She originated and maintained the library and arranged the first PEP-session videotapes. In addition, Dr. Henry Spitz provided significant support from his knowledge of the library and past involvement in the HPS Continuing Education Committee (CEC). The UC student branch also provided support. Several years ago, however, the entire collection of videos and PEP/CEL training materials was moved to ORAU, where it currently exists.

Recent improvements in the library include the digitization of videotapes into DVDs, including "Vignettes of Early Radiation Workers." In addition, some handouts developed for the PEP and CELs at both annual meetings and midyear topical symposia are now available on CDs. Costs are currently either $30 or $60 for midyear or annual meeting materials, respectively. Each CD contains all available PEP/CEL handouts from that particular meeting, rather than individual handouts/presentations. CDs are currently available beginning with the midyear meeting in Augusta, Georgia, in 2004 through 2006. CDs for meetings since 2007 require further efforts by the CEC prior to announcing their availability for purchase. PEP and CEL handouts prior to 2004 are not available through the CEC.

Further details regarding PEP/CEL materials can be obtained by contacting current HPS/CEC member Tonya Bernhardt (865-241-6620) or past Society Archival Liaison Alex Boerner (865-574-0951). Tonya and Alex are ORAU employees with access to these materials. 

Teaching materials and audiovisuals from the summer schools, now called Professional Development Schools (PDS), are archived primarily by the HPS CEC and partially at the UT archives. Several textbooks have resulted from these summer school courses and are available from Medical Physics Publishing at https://www.medicalphysics.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe/0377.1.1091724295700020897. Contact the Secretariat (hps@burkinc.org), the current chair of the CEC (brthomas@iem-inc.com), or the HPS archivist (demarre_me@msn.com) for additional details. The HPS archivist would sincerely appreciate filling in the gap in the archives regarding summer school proceedings and related materials.

Photographs

As noted previously, through the diligence of our official photographers over the years, a valuable photo history exists, particularly of the Society's meetings. However, these photographs exist in multiple locations, including the archival collection at UT and at Society headquarters (e.g., slides taken by Joe Sayeg many years ago). In addition, a collection developed by Don Collins over the years currently remains a private collection. All of the available hard-copy photos have now been scanned and digitized by Society Archivist Martha DeMarre. An ongoing effort is still needed to identify people in the photos.

The intent of the History Committee is to make the photos available online and to invite members to assist in identifying individuals in the photos. For information you can send an email to the History Committee at hpshistory@burkinc.com.

General Purpose Collections Not Directly Under HPS Auspices

National Radiobiology Archives

The United States National Radiobiology Archives were sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) (and predecessor agencies) primarily to house the data, specimens, microscope slides, and publications developed from many long-term animal experiments that extended over several decades. These archives include materials from Argonne National Laboratory, Colorado State University, Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), University of California at Davis, University of Rochester, University of Utah, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The archives were transferred in 1996 from PNNL to Washington State University Tri-Cities, Richland, Washington. Further information is available at www.ustur.wsu.edu/NRA/radioarchive.html

For current information contact:

United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries
Washington State University
1845 Terminal Dr. Suite 201
Richland, WA 99354-4959, USA

US Transuranium and Uranium Registries

The US Transuranium and Uranium Registries (USTUR) has a rich history dating back to its origins in 1949 when ". . . a modest program of postmortem tissue sampling . . ." was initiated at the Hanford site. The program quickly evolved into a series of registries for the accumulation and analysis of tissues and other information from workers using plutonium, uranium, and transuranium elements. The USTUR continues to solicit and compile a definitive reference collection in radiobiology, radiochemistry, health physics, pathology, and related fields.

These, in addition to the materials from the National Radiobiology Archives (described above), make the USTUR collection especially valuable for research on health effects (including cancer) and for comparison of animal and human responses.

The USTUR also developed a special facility called the National Human Radiobiological Tissue Repository (NHRTR). This repository houses tissue samples, histopathology slides, tissue blocks, and other materials, not only from the registry but from the collection of tissue samples from the radium dial paintersat both Massachussetts Institute of Technology and Argonne-housed at Argonne National Laboratory.

These collections are housed on the Richland, Washington, Campus of Washington State University (WSU). Dr. Ronald Kathren, HPS Historian and former director of the NHRTR, compiled an extensive personal collection of early publications in the field of radiobiology. Dr. Kathren's collection has been donated to WSU and is housed along with the Argonne Radium Dial Painter Collection and some other smaller contributions largely on the WSU campus. Collectively, this is known as the Radiological and Affiliated Sciences Collection (RASC). For current information, contact:

USTUR (http://www.ustur.wsu.edu/)

Washington State University
1845 Terminal Dr. Suite 201
Richland, Washington 99354-4959
Phone: 509-946-6870 or 800-375-9317

Other US Government Sources

The Washington, DC, Headquarters of the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies consistently had a resident historian and frequently also an archivist. The collections of the early days were the basis for several publications, but very sizable collections remain in federal repositories including the Library of Congress. The Washington collections lean more toward financial and administrative than technical aspects. Information on accessing government sources of archival information including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is available in the 2008–2009 Radiation Safety Professional's Membership Handbook and Directory of the HPS under "Sources of Information and Publications (page 213)." HPS members can also access this information at https://hps.org/membersonly/interact/links.cfm.

Outside of Washington, DC, sources such as the National Technical Information Center (NTIS, Springfield, Virginia), the Office of Science and Technical Information (OSTI, Oak Ridge), and the various national laboratories should be consulted.

Each of the national laboratories has and keeps extensive records. These records tend to be the responsibility of a historian or an archivist or both. Many of the collections contain sufficient classified material to make access often quite restricted. However, the laboratories also have extensive libraries. Significant information is contained in annual reports that are extremely useful for examining the activities of the past and frequently contain notes on items or details not present in published materials. See the HPS Membership Directory (referenced above) for access to government and other agencies or https://hps.org/membersonly/interact/links.cfm.

International Sources (General)

International sources include:

In general, these are not functioning archival collections. The access directives are mostly for publications. Nevertheless, the publications of many of these organizations are voluminous and provide full bibliographical backup. This is especially true of the several United Nations operations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), http://www.iaea.org/, and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), http://www.unscear.org/

Other broad-based radiobiology collections exist in Belgium and Japan. The Japanese effort resides under the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI).

Specialized Collections

Though frequently quite large, the collections listed in this section are focused on a limited subject or research area. They were developed around specific radiation topics and have tended to remain that way.

Department of Energy

Readers of this section are encouraged to use the following website as a portal to DOE's extensive Historical Records contained within the Office of History and Heritage Resources: http://www.doe.gov/about/history.htm. Highlight the "Research and Records" link or obtain direct access at http://www.energy.gov/about/research_records.htm. This website contains information on the DOE Historical Research Center (Germantown, MD), the Nuclear Testing Archive (Las Vegas), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and other quick reference, research facilities, research tools, and national archives resources.

Historical Research Center

The Department of Energy Historical Research Center contains over 3,000 cubic feet of headquarters historic records that have not yet been turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration. The Historical Research Center primarily houses records of predecessor agencies such as the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA). Although some materials are still classified for security purposes, many records collections are accessible to the public by appointment.

Further information about the Historical Research Center can be obtained by accessing the following URL: http://www.energy.gov/about/research_center.htm

The mailing address is:

Office of History and Heritage Resources, MA-75
F-031, GTN
Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20585-1290
Phone: 301-903-5431
Email: HistoryDivision@hq.doe.gov

Nuclear Testing Archive

Formerly known as the DOE Coordination and Information Center (CIC) when it was established in 1979 (and opened to the public in 1981), the Nuclear Testing Archive (NTA) collects, consolidates, and makes available for public use records and data dealing with off-site radioactive fallout from the US testing of nuclear devices. An article about the NTA, "Nuclear Testing Archive Offers a Wealth of Information," appeared in the May 2006 Health Physics News. See http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/ for more information.

Over 370,000 documents have been collected and organized. Included in the collection are references used by Dr. Newell Stannard. This facility maintains more than 40,000 documents from the Atomic Energy Commission relating to Human Radiation Experiments as well as over 270,000 unclassified documents relating to the US Nuclear Weapons Testing Program.

In that regard, the NTA has references and information regarding health effects, including an article from 1896! In addition, there are Biological Effects of Atomic Radiation (BEAR) reports (before the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation or "BEIR" reports began), Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) reports, Tri-partite conferences, and other early reports from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The NTA has close-in, off-site, and world-wide monitoring data from the weapons-testing era. These include various weapons-testing reports and planning documents as well as redacted unpublished documents including laboratory notebooks from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and the Los Alamos Laboratory. Other items of note include a copy of the Einstein letter to President Roosevelt (1939) and a copy of President Truman's authorization for the Nevada Test Site (18 December 1950).

The NTA has an extensive collection of the data and medical follow-ups of the Marshallese following the Bravo Event (1 March 1954), documents relating to the Japanese fisherman incident associated with the same event, and information about the cleanup efforts in the Marshall Islands.

The NTA is also the repository for both the DOE and Department of Defense (DOD) Human Radiation Experiments record collections (collected by both agencies in the 1990s). Bibliographic information is located on the OpenNet data system: http://www.osti.gov/opennet.

The NTA is currently located in the same facility as the Atomic Testing Museum.

Those who want to contact the NTA should contact Martha DeMarre, who has been extensively involved with these archives since 1979, at:

Martha DeMarre, Manager
Nuclear Testing Archive
National Security Technologies, LLC
PO Box 98521
Las Vegas, NV 89193-8521
Phone 702-794-5106
Email: demarrme@nv.doe.gov

A public reading room is available where visitors can view declassified weapons testing related videos; read reports of interest regarding specific test operations, or view informational (Microsoft PowerPoint) shows.

National Archives and Records Administration

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the government agency responsible for overseeing the management of federal records. Much of the permanent records from the Department of Energy's predecessor agencies, such as the Manhattan Engineer District and the Atomic Energy Commission, are located at NARA. Information about conducting research at NARA repositories, including contact information, is available through the NARA home page.

National Security Archive and the President's Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE)

The Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE), under the aegis of the Human Radiation Interagency Group, assembled and analyzed a prodigious amount of information concerning the US Human Radiation Experiments conducted from 1944 to 1974. This effort involved nearly every institution using federal funds in the biomedical field as well as for environmental studies. The ACHRE was created by President Bill Clinton on 15 January 1994 to investigate and report on the use of human beings as subjects of federally funded research using ionizing radiation. Created by Executive Order and subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the ACHRE was obligated to provide public access to its activities, processes, and papers. The advisory committee believed, however, that the nature of the subject it investigated and the human stories that comprised it placed on the committee a special responsibility to disseminate as broadly as possible the results of its investigations, the implications of that history for our own time, and its best judgment concerning the rights and responsibilities of those involved.

The National Security Archives at George Washington University in Washington, DC, hold complete records of the ACHRE actions, primary and secondary research materials, reports, etc. The National Security Archives obtained the data from the ACHRE when the advisory committee was dissolved in October of 1995. The collection is measured in millions of cubic feet. Many of the original documents presumably remain at their original sites and have only been catalogued by ACHRE.

In addition to the Nuclear Testing Archive as a resource, please visit the following websites for further information on human radiation experiments:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/radiation/

http://www.hss.energy.gov/healthsafety/ohre/

Further questions about ACHRE and documents collected by the Committee should be directed to the National Archives and Records Administration, where the documents have been deposited (http://www.archives.gov/).

The Archival Center for Radiation Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee

This center, described previously, has in addition to the HPS Archives over 40 collections from the lives and work of prominent radiation scientists. Included among the older collections are those of Antoine Lacassagne, Louis H. (LH) Gray, Alexander Hollaender, Lauriston S. Taylor, Douglas E. (DE) Lea, Charles Congdon, George Hevesy, Arnold Sparrow, Farrington Daniels, Otto Hahn, and Richard Setlow. Recent (though partial) additions include those of Newell Stannard and Ronald Kathren.

The center has a composite guide to the radiation research collection that lists all items folder by folder. For further information, contact:

William Eigelsbach, Archivist
University of Tennessee
1015 Volunteer Boulevard
Knoxville, TN 37996-1000

Eigelsbach may be reached at 865-974-4480 or weigelsb@utk.edu. The Special Collections Library within the Hodges Library may be accessed remotely at www.lib.utk.edu/spcoll/.

The Special Collections Library also maintains over 200 boxes containing the collection of Dr. K.Z. Morgan. Several years ago, the East Tennessee Chapter of the HPS (ETCHPS) spearheaded the documenting and transporting of these materials to the UT archives. Roger Cloutier, president emeritus of the HPS and ETCHPS, spent several months prior to the move capturing each document in the collection in a database. Please note that Dr. Morgan's collection is not an official part of the HPS archives.

Center for Devices and Radiological Health, US Public Health Service

As stated by Dr. Stannard in his original "Our Heritage" document, the US Public Health Service had major involvement with research, education, and administration in our field. According to information noted on a DOE website, in January 1979, the US Public Health Service initiated a search of its agencies for documents on the effects of fallout from US nuclear testing. That effort originated with a December 1978 request from the governor of Utah about 1953 test fallout and subsequent Utah sheep deaths. By the end of March 1979, the Public Health Service completed its collection and established an archive with more than 11,000 unclassified documents. Information on this archive and a finding aid to it appear in a three-volume work published in 1979 by the US Public Health Service, "Effects of Nuclear Weapons Testing on Health." Microfilm copies of this collection are available at the Nuclear Testing Archive (described previously) and at the Food and Drug Administration Library.

It is not currently known where additional (older) records are located. According to Dr. Stannard, the earlier period, 1946–1969, was surveyed by James Terrill ("The Role of the US Public Health Service in Radiological Health, 1946–1969," HHS Publication FDA82-8198, September 1982). More recent collections are presumed to be stored at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), which operates as a part of the Food and Drug Administration.

The CDRH library maintains a collection of historic Bureau of Radiological Health (BRH) materials, such as BRH (and some earlier Division of Radiological Health and National Center for Radiological Health) reports, and some Public Health Service (PHS) reports on various radiological health topics. The library also has a collection of the "Radiological Health Data and Reports" series.

Several years ago, the CDRH moved from its location in Rockville, Maryland, to Silver Spring. With that move and other changes involving CDRH libraries, their holdings, and the point of contact, the current status of information of interest to HPS members is uncertain. The History Committee will update this section in the future and welcomes any feedback from the membership. For now, please visit the CDRH website at http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/.

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements

The headquarters of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) has a small but informative library housing essentially complete records of its committees and all of its publications. There is also a complete set of publications of its long-time president, Lauriston S. Taylor.

Because of close relationships between NCRP and counterpart international organizations, the collection includes considerable information on international operations. In fact, the headquarters and files of the ICRU are housed under the same roof with the NCRP.

For further information, visit the NCRP's website at http://www.ncrponline.org/ or contact:

David A. Smith, Executive Director
NCRP
7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 400
Bethesda, MD 20814-3095
Phone: 301-657-2652 (x20)

American Institute of Physics

The American Institute of Physics (AIP) Center for History of Physics, Niels Bohr Library, and Archives, works to preserve and make known the historical record of modern physics and allied sciences. Through documentation, archival collections and educational initiatives, the center ensures that the heritage of modern physics is safeguarded and its story accurately told. Information on other well-known physicists is included along with the Niels Bohr Library. "Some" radiological physics information exists, such as archival records (including photographs) of meetings of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

The AIP, located originally in New York City, is now housed within the American Center for Physics (ACP) along with the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. The ACP/AIP is located at:

One Physics Ellipse
College Park, Maryland 20740-3843
Phone: 301-209-3100
Website: http://www.aip.org/aip/

To get a sense of the various materials available, access the Center for History of Physics at http://www.aip.org/history/ and click on the link to the Niels Bohr Library and Archives. At the top of the page, access the link to the "International Catalog of Sources."

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) houses the collection of Dr. Robley D. Evans and many other notable physicists. Information on the archives can be found by accessing the MIT Libraries Institute Archives and Special Collections for Physics Sources at http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/research/collections/coll-physics.html. Dr. Evans was assigned Manuscript Collection Number 80 (MC80).

American College of Radiology

The 30,000 members of the American College of Radiology (ACR) include radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, interventional radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians. For over three quarters of a century, the ACR has devoted its resources to making imaging safe, effective, and accessible to those who need it.

In addition to records of the college and files of its journals, its headquarters houses a museum of early radiological equipment and some other organizations. Refer to the ACR's website (http://www.acr.org/) for further information and particularly to http://www.acr.org/MainMenuCategories/about_us/ACRandRadiologyHistory.aspx for a history of the ACR and the celebration in 1995 of 100 years of radiology.

The ACR possesses correspondence from several notable figures including Madame Curie and E. Dale Trout, a pioneer radiological physicist, and his collection of profession-related x-ray and photographic images. Included in the Trout collection are nearly 4,300 glass slides of x rays, diagrams and photographs of patients and treatments, and film and glass plate x rays from the 1920s to approximately 1960s. Dr. Trout's collection is located here and specifically catalogued under "Subgroup 5.21: E. Dale Trout Collection."

Countway Library, Harvard University

According to the library's home page, the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, one of the largest medical libraries in the world, serves the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston Medical Library, and Massachusetts Medical Society. The Countway Library holds more than 630,000 volumes, subscribes to 3,500 current journal titles and houses over 10,000 noncurrent biomedical journal titles. The library also houses one of the world's leading medical history collections and provides access to many electronic information resources.

The Countway Library also hosts the Center for the History of Medicine which includes the Archives and Records Management Program for the schools of the Harvard medical area and the Warren Anatomical Museum.

Materials from Dr. Lauriston S. Taylor that are not housed at the NCRP are maintained here, in addition to papers of Dale Trout, the noted physicist acknowledged above under the ACR information summary. Per correspondence with Dr. Ronald Kathren, many instruments were also sent to the Countway Library by Dr. Taylor.

The library's website at https://www.countway.harvard.edu/index.html has multiple contact numbers for assistance including 617-432-2147 and 617-432-2134 for information resources and research questions, respectively.

Washington State University Tri-Cities

Washington State University (WSU) is increasingly becoming known for its radiological sciences archives and the historical Radiological and Affiliated Sciences Collection (RASC). The WSU RASC notably includes the donation of about 3,400 items from HPS President Emeritus Ron Kathren from his personal historical collection. The RASC also contains the radium dial painter collection of books and monographs formerly held at Argonne National Laboratory and started by Robley Evans and the papers of Barkev Sanders (dealing with the Mancuso studies), Jack Corley, and Mel Sikov. The RASC collection is located in the WSU Library and the point of contact is Mr. Harvey Gover. He may be reached at 509-372-7204.

The May 2006 Health Physics News contained the article "Washington State University Acquires Papers of Sidney Marks." It discussed the Herbert M. Parker Fund—a specific entity within the WSU Foundation "established to further education in the radiological sciences and preserve the history of health physics and related sciences." Parker, a physicist specializing in medical physics, came to Hanford in 1944 to work with the operational radiation protection program. Later, he managed the General Electric Hanford Laboratories, worked as a consultant to Battelle Memorial Institute, and founded HMP Associates, a health and medical physics consulting firm. The Parker collection includes videotapes, committee records, and correspondence and speeches. It also contains information relevant to the health and mortality study of Hanford workers conducted by Thomas Mancuso. In 1971, Parker began serving on a scientific advisory committee to the AEC Health and Mortality Study, then under the direction of Mancuso. His papers include material, dated 1971–1978, concerning the study and the controversy concerning Mancuso's dismissal.

In addition to the Herbert Parker collection, the archives include scientific papers of several well-known health physicists and researchers. Dr. Sidney Marks' collection is the most recent addition to the Herbert M. Parker Fund, comprising approximately 50 cubic feet of health physics information from his days at the AEC and what is now the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

While the Parker Foundation supports the above endeavors, it is a separate entity. It actively engages in oral history and has a collection of more than 100 video tapes, many of HPS members made at annual meetings.

Further information on the Parker Fund Foundation may be obtained by contacting:

LoAnn Ayers
WSU at Tri-Cities
Phone: 509-372-7252
Ayers@tricity.WSU.edu

National Technical Information Service

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS), an agency of the US Department of Commerce, provides a wide range of US-government-sponsored research, development, and engineering reports to the public. Copies of these reports are available for purchase.

The NTIS is located at:

5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 703-605-6000 or 1-800-553-6847
Website: http://www.ntis.gov/

Summary

The History Committee has endeavored to provide the membership and interested readers of this document with an update to Dr. J. Newell Stannard's original "Our Heritage," which he prepared shortly after the HPS turned 40 years old in 1996. It is apparent that the HPS archives located at the University of Tennessee are small in relation to many of the other sources and collections of archival information described herein. While storage space is limited, the History Committee is committed to adding to the archives—especially to fill in gaps identified earlier in this document. We are also committed to increased electronic scanning and digitization to improve preservation and accessibility of archival materials.

Each of the collections identified in this document involves widely different institutions and purposes. Some are organized and prepared for easy public access; other collections require considerable logistical arrangements. The ability and interest that each collection has in acquiring new materials is also variable. In most cases, any serious research effort or donations of a major collection will require arranging for a visit to the site. The History Committee welcomes feedback on the content of this document and improvements that can be made to assist the membership.

As continues to be the case, essentially none of the archival centers desire journal collections since the journals are very likely to be in an adjacent library. Nevertheless, the History Committee repeats Dr. Stannard's original recommendation to avoid destroying your journal collections! There are institutions that want them, including many in third world countries.

Jim Willison, History Committee Chair (2012–present)
Raymond H. Johnson, Jr., Historian (2012–present)
Ronald Kathren, Historian Emeritus (2006–present)
Martha DeMarre, Archivist and Archival Liaison to the History Committee (2009–present)
Alex Boerner, Lead, Our Heritage Webpage Task Force (2008–present)