The following items may be of interest to scholars of physiology, biochemistry, or biophysics:
Additional Sabin material is located in the Alan Mason Chesney Papers at Johns Hopkins University, at Smith College, and the archives of the Rockefeller Institute in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Gift of the Rockefeller Institute, 1964.
Cite as: Florence Rena Sabin Papers, American Philosophical Society.
The Papers of Florence Rena Sabin, a pioneer in women's role in medical research, consist of 19.5 linear feet of correspondence, notes, and publications pertaining to her research in anatomy and embryology. The collection is rich in detail on her work on tuberculosis, cancer, the origins of the lymphatic system, and pernicious anemia, as well as her involvement with a number of professional organizations.
Born in the mining town of Central City, Colorado, as the daughter of an engineer, Florence Rena Sabin was raised in New England and carved out a career of firsts in developmental biology and anatomy.
Receiving a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1893, Sabin entered the three year old medical school at Johns Hopkins University in 1896 and graduated with the class of 1900. At Hopkins, Sabin became the protégé of Franklin P. Mall, who encouraged her research interests in anatomy. By any reckoning, her talent for medical investigation was enormous, earning her an internship at Hopkins Hospital, followed by a special fellowship in the Department of Anatomy from the Baltimore Association for the Advancement of University Education of Women. By 1917, Sabin was made a member of the faculty in the Department of Histology, the first woman at the University to be promoted to the status of full professor.
Her early research centered on the embryological origins of the lymphatic system, and she later worked on the origins of blood, blood cells, and blood vessels, on the histology of the brain, and on the pathology and immunology of tuberculosis.
In September, 1925, Sabin accepted the invitation to head the Department of Cellular Studies at the Rockefeller Institute, becoming the first woman faculty member there, and continuing her work on tuberculosis. She retired to Colorado in 1938, but emerged six years later at the request of the governor to chair a subcommittee on public health and help reform and modernize the state's public health system. She retired a second time in 1951 and died October 3, 1953.
Honors accrued to Sabin throughout her career, including a number of firsts. In addition to being the the first female full professor at the John Hopkins Medical School and the first at Rockefeller, she was the first president of the American Association of Anatomists (1924) and the first woman member of the National Academy of Sciences (1925). She was selected as one of two representatives for the state of Colorado in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.
The Florence Rena Sabin Papers were photocopied as part of the Save America's Treasures Project (2004-2006). A new arrangement was implemented for the photocopies, or reader copies, to improve access. The inventory in this finding aid reflects the arrangement of the reader copies.
D.H. Andersen - Correspondence, 1928
Contains some works by Anderson
Robert S. Cunningham - Correspondence, 1920 January-1925 September
Robert S. Cunningham - Correspondence, 1925 September-1925 December
Contains some works by Doan
Charles A. Doan - Correspondence, 1925
Robert A. Doan - Correspondence, 1922-1924
Hal Downey - Correspondence, 1917-1927
Doyle, Ann - 1927
Cecil K. Drinker - Correspondence, 1920-1933
DuPlaix, Jeanne - 1937
E - Correspondence, 1921-1939
See Albert Einstein Manuscripts Collection, SMs.Coll.12, Vault, Level E.
Herbert Mclean Evans - Correspondence, 1909-1938
James Rittenhouse Evans - Correspondence, 1910
Simon Flexner - Correspondence, 1917-1924
Simon Flexner - Correspondence, 1925-1926
Florence, Laura - 1926-27, 1938
Gasser, Herbert - 1936-39
Good Housekeeping Award - Folder 1, 1930-July 1931
Good Housekeeping Award - Folder 2, Sept.- Dec. 1931
Good Housekeeping Award - Folder 3, 1932-42
Hines, Marion - 1919-22
Holman, Anna E. - 1936
Howell, William H. - 1921-41
Jacqua, Ernest J. - 1932-35
L. - 1920-37, n.d.
Man, Evelyn B. - 1934
McHale, Kathryn - 1934
Contains Ann Morgan (zoologist) and Anne Morgan (socialite/philanthropist).
Maine
Wilson College
Sherwood, Mary - 1924, 1935
Lewis H. Weed - Correspondence, 1924-1926
William Henry Welch - Correspondence, 1932-1934
Clifford H. Wells - Correspondence, 1921-1926
William Charles White - Correspondence, Folder 1, 1924-1925
Women in Science - n.d.
Wrinch, Dorothy - 1941
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1907-1909
American Association of Anatomists, 1923-1933
American Women's Association - Folder 2, 1932
Naples Table Association - Correspondence, 1920
Naples Table Association - Correspondence, March-May 1928
Naples Table Association - Correspondence, April-Dec 1931
Naples Table Association - Correspondence, 1932-33
Alphabetical.
Bibliography of F.R. Sabin, n.d.
Biographical Data #1
Biographical Data #2
Biographical Data #3
Biographical Data #4
Biographical Material of F.R. Sabin #1
Biographical Material of F.R. Sabin #2
Biographical Material of F.R. Sabin #3
Alphabetical
Previously these scientific figures were housed with the American Philosophical photograph collection. 1/25/2017
Rockefeller Institute Reports, 1926
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research-Reports, 1927
Rockefeller Institute Reports, 1928
Rockefeller Institute Reports, 1929
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research-Staff lists
Technique
End to end anastomosis of the intestine by presection sutures
Georg Deycke, Ernst Alstaedt
United States Department of Agriculture
Degradation of mycobacteria into non-acid-fast forms
Education and democracy; Utility of history
Bibliography; Skin as an organ of experimental tuberculosis infection.
Clinical investigations; Acute or chronic tuberculous lesions as produced by colonial variants of tubercle bacilli; Bibliography. With some correspondence.
Coleman & Bell Compnay; H.J. Conn, Commission on standardization of biological stains; Ehrlich-Wright.
Development of the blood-cells in the vascular area of chick embryos.
Florence Sabin, half length, formal, standing
Women scientists and educators at Barnard College, including Florence Sabin.
Florence Sabin, bust, formal.
Florence Sabin, full length, informal, standing.
Florence Sabin, with two unidentified men, full length, informal, standing.
Dr. N. M. Stevens, bust, profile, seated looking at microscope.
E. B. Wilson, Edward Mussey Hartwell, and six other men, full length, formal, seated and standing.
Autographed Photograph of Carlos Chagas [?]
There is an inscription on the photograph which appears to be in Portuguese, as well as a date: "Baltimore, June [?], 15, [1]919."
This notebook of scientific figures moved to Series III, Works by Sabin.
Florence Sabin Seated at Desk with Five Unidentified Men
Florence Sabin Portrait Bust
H. J. Cooper and F. G. Novy
Inscription on back of photograph: Dr. H.J. Cooper, Director, Research Department, N.J.H.; Dr. F.G. Novy, Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology and Hygiene, and Dean of University of Michigan. June 25, 1937, N.J.H., A.A.A.S.
M. H. Soule, H. J. Cooper and F. G. Novy
Inscription on back of photograph: Dr. Malcolm H. Soule; Dr. H.J. Cooper; Dr. F.G. Novy. June 25, 1937, N. J. H., A. A. A. S.
Sabin, Levy, Burgess and Long, Full Length Group Portrait
Inscription on back of photograph: "Dr. Sabin, Dr. Levy, Mr. Burgess, Dr. Long. June 24, 1937, N. J. H., A. A. A. S."
Florence Sabin, bust, formal.