About the Alan Mason Chesney Medical ArchivesHistorical Information
Alan Mason Chesney, M.D.
(1888 - 1964)Born in Baltimore, Alan Mason Chesney spent a large part of his life in association with the Johns Hopkins University. He received both a bachelor's degree (1908) and a medical degree (1912) from the university. Chesney spent nearly his entire career on the faculty of the School of Medicine, where he served as Dean for twenty-four years (1929 - 1953). During his deanship Chesney began work on a three-volume history, The Johns Hopkins Hospital and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: A Chronicle. While conducting research for this book, he located many early records of the hospital and the medical school. Intending that these documents be preserved, he initiated efforts to establish an archives for the medical institutions. Later, when trustees of the hospital and the university formalized plans for an archival repository for the medical institutions, they designated that the repository be named in honor of Alan Mason Chesney (1978).
Establishment of the Medical Archives (1978)
The dedication of the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives was held on 17 May 1978 in conjunction with a special meeting of the Johns Hopkins Medical History Club. Funding from the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the health divisions of the Johns Hopkins University, and a grant from the Commonwealth Fund of New York enabled the development of the initial archival facility in the Turner Auditorium. Grants from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the National Library of Medicine, and the National Endowment for the Humanities provided funds for processing institutional records and personal papers of the faculty and staff.
Current Program
Scope of Archival ProgramThe Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives is the official archival repository of the Johns Hopkins Medical Instititutions. Holdings include materials from the Johns Hopkins Hospital and from the health divisions of the Johns Hopkins University (Bloomberg School of Public Health, School of Medicine, and School of Nursing). Dates of documentation in the holdings range from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present.
Contact Information
The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives
5801 Smith Avenue, Suite 235
Baltimore, MD 21209Tel. 410-735-6800
Fax. 410-735-6770
archives@jhmi.edu
