Benjamin S. Carson Collection

Biography

Benjamin Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1951. He attended Yale University beginning in 1969, receiving his B.A. in Psychology in 1973. Carson attended the University of Michigan School of Medicine, receiving his M.D. in 1977. Carson then moved to Baltimore to intern on the Halsted Surgical Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, while simultaneously carrying out a Fellowship in General Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. From 1978-1983, Carson had a Fellowship in Neurosurgery at the School of Medicine. During the same time (1978-1982), Carson was an Assistant Resident in Neurosurgical Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also had various Senior Neurosurgical Resident positions at local hospitals. From 1982-1983, Carson was the Chief Resident and Fellow in Neurological Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1983, Carson spent a year as the Senior Registrar in Neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Western Australia. After returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson received the positions of Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, and was an Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery and of Oncology, and Co-Director of the Section of Neurosurgical Oncology. In 1987, Carson added the appointment of Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. In 1991, Carson was promoted to Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery, Oncology, Plastic Surgery, and Pediatrics, and received the position of Co-Director of the Cleft and Craniofacial Center at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1999, he was promoted to Professor. Carson retired from Johns Hopkins in 2013. Throughout his career, Carson has performed some notable surgeries, including the separation of conjoined twins and the revitalization of hemispherectomies to reduce or eliminate seizures in children with seizure disorders. Carson has received numerous honorary doctorate degrees, and has sat on the Board of Directors for the Kellogg Company, America’s Promise and Costco Wholesale Corporation. He is also a member of many societies, including the American Academy of Achievement, the Yale Corporation and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Scope and Content

The Benjamin S. Carson Collection spans his career at Johns Hopkins, focusing primarily on his notable surgeries. The collection contains newspaper and magazine clippings, personal interviews, information about the Carson Scholars Fund, magazines and photographs. The majority of the collection relates to the surgeries that separated the Binder twins, the Makwaeba twins and Maranda Francisco’s hemispherectomy. Along with the information and articles about the surgeries, the collection also contains interviews and articles about Carson as a person. The collection is a strong resource for the revival of hemispherectomies, and successful conjoined twin separations.

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