John Howland Collection

Biography

John Howland was born in New York City. He received his B.A. in 1894 from Yale University, his M.D. in 1897 from the Medical School of New York University, and a second M.D. in 1899 from Cornell University. Howland interned at the New York Foundling Hospital from 1899 until 1900, and after two years of study in Europe, he entered private practice and began teaching pediatrics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He left New York to become professor of pediatrics at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, but left there in 1912 to become professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and pediatrician-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. At Johns Hopkins he began research that resulted in new modes of treatment and prevention of rickets in children. Later, his group identified a new fat-soluble vitamin, which they named Vitamin D. Howland also made contributions to the understanding of calcium metabolism in tetany, pyloric stenosis, and acidosis resulting from diarrhea.

Scope and Content

The John Howland Collection spans his lifetime and includes some posthumous material. It contains scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, certificates, photographs, correspondence, and reprints. The 4 scrapbooks include photographs, clippings, correspondence, programs, invitations, and notebooks documenting Howland’s education and early career in medicine. Also noteworthy are transcripts of eulogies written in memory of Howland by Janos Bokay, Ader Bosahyi, and Graham Lusk.

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