Born on February 22, 1896, Dr. Stokes was the fifth descendent of a line of physicians who practiced medicine near the Philadelphia area continuously since the American Revolution. Educated at Haverford College and the School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, he spent the majority of his career (1939-1963) at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. During this time Dr. Stokes was simultaneously the Physician-in-Chief at Children's Hospital, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and Chief of Pediatric Services at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.

An extensive clinical researcher, the major thrust of his work was the prevention of infectious diseases. He collaborated with Drs. Gertrude and Werner Henle to develop the first vaccine against influenza. He demonstrated that the administration of human gamma globulin effectively prevented infectious hepatitis. With Drs. George Hammond and Lewis Coriell, he showed that human gamma globulin would also protect against poliomyelitis, a major step to the development of the vaccination. He also developed, with Dr. John Enders, skin tests and immunization procedures against mumps. Plus, he played a critical role in the development of the measles vaccine.

He was a member of numerous organizations including the American Philosophical Society, the American Pediatric Society (President in 1958), the Society for Pediatric Research, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. A devout Quaker, Dr. Stokes served on many committees of the American Friends Service, and was noted for his early stand on the birth control issue.

His service during World War II includes bringing food to the children of unoccupied France and working on the Army Epidemiological Board. While serving on the Board, Dr. Stokes discovered the value of gamma globulin for the prevention of epidemic hepatitis, later receiving the Medal of Freedom for this effort. After World War II, other work for the Board included commission work on measles, mumps, liver diseases, virus and rickettsia diseases. For the National Research Council, he participated in committees on blood and plasma fractionation.

Many honors were bestowed upon Dr. Stokes for his remarkable discoveries. These include the Gordon Wilson Medal of the American Clinical and Climatological Association (1952), the Shaffrey Medal of St. Joseph's University (1954), the James D. Howland Medal of the American Pediatric Society (1962), and the Medal of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (1968). Haverford College (1952), University of Pennsylvania (1964), and Hahnemann Medical College (1971) all awarded Dr. Stokes honorary degrees.

Upon retirement, Dr. Stokes remained emeritus professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and continued his field studies with new vaccines from offices within the Department of Community Medicine in the Henry Phipps Institute of the University of Pennsylvania. He was on the board of the Woods Schools and the Wistar Institute. In 1966, he was appointed honorary Consul General of Japan in Philadelphia by the Japanese government. Upon his death on March 9, 1972, he was the last remaining member of the first Army Epidemiological Board.

The Joseph Stokes, Jr. Papers (1916-1972) contain correspondence, research files, manuscripts of published and unpublished works by Stokes and others, administrative information on the changes at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, notes on the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Department of Pediatrics, extensive community activist, public health and professional organization documents, spanning the career of this pediatrician.

The papers 252 boxes; 126 lin. ft. are divided into ten series: Series I. Correspondence, 1935-1972, 80 boxes, 40 lin. ft.; Series II. Organizations, Foundations and Conferences, 1931-1972, 47 boxes, 23.5 lin. ft.; Series III. Hospitals, Universities and Institutions, 1932-1972, 39 boxes, 19.5 lin. ft.; Series IV. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 1916-1972, 17 boxes, 8.5 lin. ft.; Series V. University of Pennsylvania, 1911-1972, 12 boxes; 6 lin. ft.; Series VI. Diseases and Treatment, 1930-1972, 33 boxes, 16.5 lin. ft.; Series VII. Works by Stokes, 1923-1972, 7 boxes, 3.5 lin. ft.; Series VIII. Works by Others, 1935-1972, 4 boxes, 2 lin.ft.; Series IX. Printed Material, 1930-1972, 12 boxes, 6 lin. ft.; Series X. Graphics, undated, 1 box, 0.5 lin. ft.

Restrictions

Restrictions on patient records in Children's Hospital folders. Restrictions on student records in Woods School folders. In-house use only, names must be redacted.

Provenance

Presented by Frances Stokes and accessioned, 09/26/1972 (1973 259ms); additional papers presented by Frances Stokes and accessioned, 05/08/1974 (1974 667ms).

Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics Note

Additional Biographical Notes:

Edwin Joseph Cohn established his research program in protein chemistry in 1920 at the department of physical chemistry of Harvard Medical School. Integrating the intellectual approaches of his mentors -- Lawrence J. Henderson, Frank R. Lillie, Thomas B. Osborne, and S. P. L. Sorensen -- and adapting his combined program to the concerns of a medical institution, Cohn addressed a variety of physiological problems of clinical relevance. However, fundamental investigations of the physical chemistry of proteins and amino acids remained a major focus throughout his tenure at Harvard. These studies (in collaboration with John T. Edsall, John Kirkwood, J. L. Oncley, and Jeffries Wyman) led to the discovery of important correlations between the structures of proteins and their physical properties, such as solubilities, ionization, and spectra.

One of Cohn's most important accomplishments, and a major contribution to biomedical knowledge of the Committee on Medical Research, was his blood-fractionation project. An enormous enterprise involving biochemists, physiologists, clinicians, and other life scientists, the project yielded purified serum albumin for treatment of shock, gamma globulins for immunization, and numerous other protein fractions of blood plasma. Cohn's procedures were scaled up for industrial distribution for military and civilian uses. This project also yielded new information about blood chemistry and physiology. The Stokes Papers contain a great deal of material on Cohn's war project. Some of this material may be found in the files dealing with research on gamma globulins, and in the files on the Committee for Blood Fractionation.

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Friends Service Committee
• American Medical Association
• American Pediatric Society
• American Philosophical Society
• Association of American Physicians
• Child Guidance Clinic (Philadelphia, Pa.).
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• College of Physicians of Philadelphia
• Committee of Physicians for the Improvement of Medical Care.
• Communicable Disease Center (U.S.)
• Haverford College
• International Congress of Pediatrics
• National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
• Philadelphia Pediatric Society
• Playtex Park Research Institute.
• Society of American Bacteriologists
• UNICEF
• United States. -- Army Epidemiological Board.
• University College of the West Indies (Mona, Jamaica)
• University of Pennsylvania.
• Woods Schools.

• Barbero, Giulio J., 1923-1997
• Bayne-Jones, Stanhope, 1888-1970
• Benison, Saul
• Bernstein, Yale B.
• Bongiovanni, Alfred M., 1921-1986
• Capps, Richard B.
• Chapple, Charles C.
• Cohn, Edwin Joseph, 1892-1953
• Coriell, Lewis L.
• DeKruif, Paul
• Enders, John F., 1897-1985
• Gellis, Sydney
• Gittings, J. Claxton (John Claxton), 1874-1950
• Gregg, Alan, 1890-1957
• György, Paul
• Hammon, William McD (William McDowell), 1904-1989
• Harris, Susanna
• Harris, Tzvee N.
• Henle, Gertrude
• Henle, Warner, 1910-1987
• Janeway, Charles A.
• Karush, Fred
• Koop, C. Everett (Charles Everett), 1916-2013
• Krogman, Wilton Marion, 1903-1987
• Lee, Henry
• McAllister, Robert M.
• McGuinness, Aims C. (Aims Chamberlain), 1905-1988
• Mudd, Stuart
• Neefe, John R.
• Nelson, Waldo E.
• Noone, Ernest
• Park, Edwards A. (Edwards Albert), 1877-1967
• Paul, John R.
• Rhoads, Jonathan Evans, 1907-2002
• Rivers, Thomas M. (Thomas Milton), 1888-1962
• Rose, Elizabeth Kirk
• Rose, John A.
• Rubin, Mitchell I.
• Salk, Jonas, 1914-1995
• Shope, Richard E. (Richard Edwin)
• Somers, Anne Ramsay
• Stokes, Joseph (1896-1972)
• Talbot, Nathan B. (Nathan Bill), 1909-1994
• Wells, William Firth
• Wolman, Irving Jacob, 1905-1978

• Arthritis.
• Cerebral palsy.
• Cystic fibrosis.
• Epidemiology.
• Family Planning.
• Gamma globulins
• Hepatitis.
• Influenza.
• Japan
• Measles.
• Medicine.
• Metabolic disorders in children.
• Mumps
• Pediatrics.
• Poliomyelitis
• Public health.
• Quakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
• Travel -- Russia