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University Libraries Special Collections

96-87

Medical Alliance to the Medical Society of New Jersey (MC/35)
Records, 1927-1992

Arranged and Described
by Susan Chore

UMDNJ LIBRARIES - SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY OF NEW JERSEY
JULY 1996

INTRODUCTION

The records of the Medical Alliance to the Medical Society of New Jersey date from 1927 to 1992 and total 12.15 cubic feet (13.71 linear feet). They form Manuscript Collection 35 in the New Jersey Medical History Manuscript Collections. The records are open for research without restrictions under the conditions of the Archives' access policy. The records were arranged and described as a result of a grant from the UMDNJ-NJMS Morris H. Saffron Endowment for the History of Medicine.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

The Medical Alliance to the Medical Society of New Jersey (Medical Alliance) was established in 1927 under its original name, the Woman's Auxiliary to The Medical Society of New Jersey. Its membership, comprised of the wives of physician members of the Medical Society of New Jersey (MSNJ), organized to aid the MSNJ in its mission and to promote its program of health education and public welfare.

The Medical Alliance was formed as a state branch of its national parent organization, The Woman's Auxiliary to the American Medical Association (WAAMA), which was established in 1922. The formation of WAAMA was preceded by that of the Woman's Auxiliary to the Texas Medical Association, which had introduced the resolution to form the national woman's auxiliary at the 1922 AMA annual meeting.

The formation of the Medical Alliance was initiated on June 17, 1926, at the annual meeting of the MSNJ, when a resolution to create a New Jersey auxiliary was unanimously approved. A special committee to organize the state auxiliary, headed by Mrs. Samuel Barbash of Atlantic City, was formed. It was decided that auxiliaries to the county medical societies would form first, then join together as a state organization at the next annual meeting of the MSNJ.

The 1927 annual meeting of the MSNJ was attended by the first members of the Medical Alliance. Fourteen county auxiliaries had been organized in the preceding year, and three were in the process. (The remaining four counties would organize county auxiliaries by 1928.) Mrs. A. Haines Lippincott of Camden was elected as the first president, while Mrs. George L. Orton, Mrs. Walt P. Conaway, Mrs. Ephraim R. Mulford, Mrs. Frank Devlin, Mrs. A.J. Stillwell and Mrs. James Hunter were also selected as officers of the organization. Dr. Walt Conaway was chosen by the MSNJ to act as advisor to the Medical Alliance during its first year. Column space for reporting on Medical Alliance activities was set aside in the NJMS journal, New Jersey Medicine.

A handbook that outlined the mission and activities of the Medical Alliance, Primer for the Woman's Auxiliary to The Medical Society of New Jersey, was written by Mrs. James Hunter in 1929 and was sent to every physician in the state for the purpose of recruiting new members. (A copy of the Primer is located in the PUBLICATIONS series.)

A primary activity of the Medical Alliance in its earliest years was the distribution of the AMA publication, Hygeia, through the sale of individual, school, and library subscriptions, and handbooks were provided from WAAMA to emphasize the importance of this duty.

In the 1930s, study groups began meeting to discuss public health issues and hear speakers from the MSNJ. In 1932, the Legislation Committee was formed and the Medical Alliance first became involved in promoting legislation endorsed by the MSNJ.

During World War II, the Committee on Medical Preparedness was formed as a means of participating in the war effort. Data on the special qualifications of each Medical Alliance member was compiled, and emergency nursing and transportation groups were organized. In 1947, the Medical Alliance worked to promote the School Health Plan, which had been developed by the New Jersey Department of Education and the NJMS. The plan proposed physical examinations for N.J. school children and psychological counseling when needed.

The state auxiliary publication, News Notes, which would subsequently change its name to The New Jersey Newsletter, and later to The Shingle in 1967, began publishing in 1948. In 1948, Mrs. David B. Allman of Atlantic County, a former president of the Medical Alliance, was elected president of the national organization, WAAMA.

The 1950s brought involvement in the promotion of homemaker services for the chronically ill, the dissemination of public health information in rural communities, and recruitment of students into the field of nursing through involvement in Future Nurses Clubs and the awarding of scholarships for nursing students. In 1953, the Medical Alliance joined in a national fundraising program of WAAMA to support medical education. In 1955 the Medical Alliance established the Medical Student Loan Fund to provide financial assistance to New Jersey residents attending U.S. or Canadian medical schools.

In the mid-1960s the International Health Activities Committee was established for the purpose of raising money and supplies for foreign clinics and hospitals suffering from severe shortages. Mrs. Asher Yaguda of Essex County, a former Medical Alliance president, was elected WAAMA president in 1965.

Involvement in community service projects continued with the promotion of Eye Health Screening, Meals on Wheels, CPR, nutrition, accident prevention, immunization awareness, mental health, and drunk driving prevention.

In 1976, the organization's name changed from The Woman's Auxiliary to the Medical Society of New Jersey to The Medical Society of New Jersey Alliance; in 1995 the name changed once again, to The Medical Alliance to the Medical Society of New Jersey.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rogers, Fred B. and A. Reasoner Sayre. The Healing Art: A History of the Medical Society of New Jersey. (Trenton, N.J.: The Medical Society of New Jersey), 1966.

PROVENANCE

The records of the Medical Alliance were donated on June 4, 1996 to the UMDNJ-Special Collections Department by The Medical Alliance to The Medical Society of New Jersey.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The records of the Medical Alliance to the Medical Society of New Jersey date from 1927 to 1992. The collection documents the administration and activities of The Medical Alliance. The records represent the organization's involvement in community service and charitable activities, health legislation issues, and the promotion of health education and professional medicine. The organization's administrative structure and procedures are also documented.

Time periods best represented in the collection are the early to mid-1940s, the mid-1950s through the mid-1960s, and 1983-1985. The years most sparsely documented are the early 1930s, the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, and the late 1980s.

The records are grouped into nine series: CONSTITUTION & BY-LAWS, EXECUTIVE BOARD, MINUTES, ANNUAL MEETINGS, PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS, GENERAL FILES, COUNTY AUXILIARIES, PUBLICATIONS, and SCRAPBOOKS. MINUTES are the only series that range across all years of the collection. The series GENERAL FILES and COUNTY AUXILIARIES are arranged in alphabetical order; all other series are arranged chronologically, with the exception of SCRAPBOOKS, which are grouped by general subject matter.

The formation and earliest years of the Medical Alliance are documented in ANNUAL MEETINGS, MINUTES, COUNTY AUXILIARIES and the PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS of Mrs. A. Haines Lippincott (1927-1928). Primer for the Woman's Auxiliary to the New Jersey Medical Society, located in the PUBLICATIONS series, contains a history of the first few years of the Medical Alliance.

The EXECUTIVE BOARD and ANNUAL MEETINGS series provide an overall view and a detailed chronicle of Medical Alliance activities for the time periods they cover. Topics found in these series are often linked to additional records in the GENERAL FILES series.

The collection contains both textual files and photographs. The majority of the documents are typewritten paper records, although printed materials and handwritten notes are also contained in the files. Photographs are scattered throughout the collection; the majority are located in the SCRAPBOOK series.

Document types contained in the collection include: minutes, annual reports, letters, memos, yearbooks, photographs, scrapbooks, meeting programs, newsletters, brochures, constitutions & by-laws, resolutions, financial statements, budgets, expense reports, position papers, speeches, membership rosters, invitations, and newspaper clippings.

The records of the Medical Alliance would interest those researching women's history, medical history, health legislation and lobbying, and community health issues.

SERIES DESCRIPTION

SERIES I. CONSTITUTION & BY-LAWS, 1935-1985, n.d., w/gaps. Arranged chrono- logically, with undated items placed at the end of the series.
Constitutions & By-Laws outline organizational objectives, membership requirements, and policies and procedures regarding meetings, committees, elections, and delegates. This series contains both printed booklets and typewritten copies of the constitution & by-laws. Documents related to the work of the Revisions Committee, which contain memos, drafts, and the by-laws of NJMS and WAAMA, are also included.

Constitutions & by-laws drafts and final copies are also located in the EXECUTIVE BOARD (6/6/1976, 11/8/1976, 3/13/1978, and 5/3/1985), ANNUAL MEETINGS, (1976, 1979, 1984 and 1985) and PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS series (1943/44, 1946/47 and 1947/48).

SERIES II. EXECUTIVE BOARD, 1928-1985, w/gaps. Arranged chronologically.
This series documents the meetings of the Executive Board, including pre- and post-convention meetings, which were held the day before and the day after the annual meeting general session. Included in this series are reports of individual committee and county activities, reports of the president, letters received and, often, minutes of the current and previous meeting. Also included in this series are correspondence pertaining to the planning of the meeting, financial statements, information on annual meetings, proposed changes to the by-laws, reports on national and regional auxiliary meetings, issue position papers, and resolutions.

Minutes in this series are duplicates of those found in the MINUTES series. Those folders in which the Executive Board Meetings are represented by minutes only are marked as such in the container list.

SERIES III. MINUTES, 1927-1992, with gaps. Arranged chronologically.
This series consists primarily of the minutes of Executive Board meetings. Also included are minutes of reorganization meetings, a special meeting for the instruction of the county presidents (5/25/1950), Fellowettes meetings (1985-1988), and regional conference minutes (1944). Some minutes include attachments, such as roll calls, financial reports, by-laws, rosters, and president's reports. Although annual meeting minutes are filed primarily in the ANNUAL MEETINGS series, some duplicate annual meeting minutes are filed in this series.

SERIES IV. ANNUAL MEETINGS, 1927-1992, w/gaps. Arranged chronologically.
This series documents the Medical Alliance annual meetings, as well as the planning of, and follow-up to, the meetings (also referred to within the collection as "conventions"). The series includes minutes, official programs, speeches, annual county and committee reports, expense reports, correspondence, financial reports, auditors reports, citations of merit, attendance lists, invitations, annual programs [yearbooks], election tally sheets, photographs, delegate & alternate lists, resolutions, by-laws revision documentation, and meeting procedures. Some meetings (especially those held prior to 1959) are sparsely documented; later files generally contain more comprehensive records. Annual Meeting materials are also located in the PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS and EXECUTIVE BOARD series.

SERIES V. PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS 1927-1986, w/gaps. Arranged chronologically.
This series documents the activities of individual presidential administrations. The files consist primarily of those documents generated by the office of the president during the course of her administration, although records created both prior to and after the term are sometimes included. In some cases documents related to, but not generated by, the president, are also included; among these documents are articles, biographies and honors. Included in this series are correspondence, budgets, minutes, annual meeting materials, expense and travel reports, financial reports, proposed annual programs, Hygeia handbooks, newsletters, outlines of officers' duties, and photographs. The 1943-44 file contains a WAAMA Handbook for State Auxiliaries. The SCRAPBOOKS series includes individual scrapbooks representing the administrations of Mrs. William E. Dodd (1945-1946) and Mrs. Frederick G. Wandall (1946-1947).

SERIES VI. GENERAL FILES, 1927-1986. Arranged alphabetically by subject, chronologically within each subject.
General files contain alphabetical subject files of various Medical Alliance committees, reports and meetings. Document types include correspondence, internal memos, minutes, speeches, annual reports, brochures, photographs, membership rosters, and newspaper clippings. WAAMA files include letters received and national program directives, including Handbooks for State Auxiliaries for 1931, 1932, 1936 and 1946.

SERIES VII. COUNTY AUXILIARIES, 1927-1959, n.d., w/gaps. Arranged alphabetically by name of county, chronologically within each file. Items not dated are placed at the back of each folder.

This series documents the activities and administration of individual county auxiliaries of the Medical Alliance. Included in this series are county annual programs [yearbooks], county meeting minutes, county by-laws, county newsletters, correspondence, activity reports, rosters, and invitations. Also contained in many of the files are individual county histories chronicling the years 1927-1939.

County auxiliary activities are also documented in the EXECUTIVE BOARD and ANNUAL MEETINGS series, which include monthly and annual county activity reports. Three books in the SCRAPBOOKS series are devoted exclusively to counties: Monmouth, Mercer and Camden. The SCRAPBOOKS series also contains records of county auxiliaries, including newspaper clippings, annual programs [yearbooks], and constitutions & by-laws. The largest concentration of these materials is located in the Historian's Book, 1953-1954.

SERIES VIII. PUBLICATIONS, 1929-1986, w/gaps. Arranged alphabetically by original publication name, and chronologically within each subseries.

This series contains Annual Programs [Yearbooks], organization newsletters (New Jersey News-Note, New Jersey Newsletter, and The Shingle), newsletter working files which include correspondence, draft articles, and photographs, and the Primer for the Woman's Auxiliary to the Medical Society of New Jersey (Blue Book), 1929/1930.

Annual Programs include listings of past presidents (Fellowettes), current officers, committee chairmen, meeting dates, the pledge of loyalty, members of the advisory board, county presidents, calendars, and some descriptions of committee activities and objectives.

Newsletters include reports on auxiliary activities, photographs, messages from the president, biographies on scheduled speakers, poetry, obituaries, and county activities. Copies of several New Jersey News-Notes can be found in the SCRAPBOOKS series (Press & Publicity, 1949-1950, and Historian's Book, 1953-1954).

The Primer includes an early history of the Medical Alliance, by-laws, and organizational objectives. The construction of the booklet is flawed; some pages are duplicated, while others are missing.

SERIES IX. SCRAPBOOKS, 1938-1947, 1948-1959. Grouped generally by subject. Internal arrangement varies: some are chronological, while others first document state activities then continue alphabetically by county name.

Scrapbooks contain documentation of both physician members of the NJMS, and the activities and events of the Medical Alliance.

Medical History Record Books, compiled by the Medical Alliance State Chairman on Medical History, include biographies, obituaries and photographs of New Jersey doctors, as well as news clippings about contemporary medical issues.

Scrapbooks compiled by the Publicity Chairman or the State Historian consist primarily of newspaper clippings concerning Medical Alliance meetings, speakers, elections, special events, and the awarding of nursing scholarships. Also included in the scrapbooks are annual meeting programs, county programs [yearbooks] and calendars, county constitutions & by-laws, invitations, photographs, biographies, newsletters, letters, memos, press releases, and speeches.

Two scrapbooks focus on particular counties: Monmouth, 1958-1959 and Mercer County, 1957-1958.

Scrapbooks on individual presidential administrations (Mrs. Frederick G. Wandall, 1946-1947 and Mrs. William E. Dodd, 1945-1946) include, in addition to newspaper clippings, county auxiliary reports, executive board meeting minutes, event programs, and invitations.

The scrapbook of the Archives Committee includes highlights of State Presidents (up to 1952), archives reports for board meetings, expenses, internal correspondence, duties of the state historian, rosters, meeting notices, and invitations.

Page Revised: 2/28/01

For reference service and information contact:

Robert Vietrogoski
Special Collections
vietrora@umdnj.edu
(973) 972-7830
FAX (973) 972-7474