Alfred Blalock by I. Hunner Parsons; oil on canvas, 40 by 32 inches, 1945.

Collection Summary 

Creator
Blalock, Alfred

Dates
5 Apr 1899-15 Sep 1964

Institutional Affiliation(s)
Johns Hopkins Hospital
1941-1964

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
1941-1964 

Date Range of Collection
1940-1959

Volume of Collection
60 linear feet

Biography

Alfred Blalock was born in Culloden, Georgia. He received his A.B. in 1918 from the University of Georgia and his M.D. in 1922 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After his internship and residency at Johns Hopkins, Blalock joined the faculty of the Vanderbilt Medical School, where he made important advances in the study of shock. In 1941, he returned to Johns Hopkins as professor and director of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and surgeon-in-chief of the hospital, positions he held until his retirement in 1964. Blalock collaborated with Helen Taussig in 1944 to develop the "blue baby" operation. While at Johns Hopkins, he worked for the establishment of the Children's Medical and Surgical Center. Blalock received numerous awards, including the Lasker Award, for his outstanding surgical contributions. In 1964, the clinical science building was renamed in his honor at the seventy-fifth anniversary celebration of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. 

Scope and Content

The Alfred Blalock Collection concentrates on Blalock's surgical career at Johns Hopkins. It mainly consists of correspondence and medical documentation. The correspondence is with colleagues, students, institutions, and associations from the 1940s and 1950s. The section on medical documentation includes illustrations, photographs, and films. Patient material includes operation card files on 1500 cardiac cases, patient files, and information on professional fees. This collection is a significant resource for studying the early development of cardiac surgery.

Additional Information about the Collection

An unpublished inventory is available for this collection at the Archives. A Web-based exhibit on the "blue baby" operation contains further information about the development of the procedure and Blalock's role.

Policy on Access and Use

This collection may contain some restricted records. Materials pertaining to patients, students, employees, and human research subjects, as well as unprocessed collections and recent administrative records, carry restrictions on access. For more information about the policies and procedures for access, see Policy on Access and Use.

When citing material from this collection, credit The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. For permission to reproduce images, contact the holder of the copyright.

For permissions contact:
archives@jhmi.edu
 

Copyright © 1999

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