Amerian College of Physicians, undated; 1971; 1973-1974

File — Box: 3, Folder: 1

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: The Truman G. Schnabel, Jr., Papers date from 1908 to 2007 and represent Schnabel’s career at Philadelphia General Hospital and in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Medicine, as well as the numerous professional medical organizations in which he was involved. The collection is divided into eight series: Boards, Committees, and Groups; Correspondence; Foundations; Lectures, Speeches, and Talks; Personal Files; Philadelphia General Hospital; Published Articles; and Truman G. Schnabel, Sr.

Series I: Boards, Committees, and Groups consists of files dating from 1948 to 1987 and are related to the various boards, committees, and groups that Schnabel served on or was a part of. Series I includes the Report of the [University of Pennsylvania Curriculum] Subcommittee to Review the Clinical Curriculum and files related to the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Series II: Correspondence is arranged by decade, ranging from the 1940s until the early 2000s, with an additional folder pertaining to marathon running. The recipients included in this series are his father, Truman G. Schnabel, Sr., Senator Vance Hartke, and fellow professionals, such as David M. Worthen, M.D. and Professor Robert F. Schiling, M.D. The letters cover subjects like his appointment to president of the American College of Physicians; becoming an emeritus professor at University of Pennsylvania; award nominations; and publications he wrote, like his article “Is Medicine Still an Art?”, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine in November 1983.

Series III: Foundations contains information about multiple foundations that Schnabel was a part of and spans the years 1952 through 2006. The Benjamin and Marry Siddons Measey Foundation, which allocates grants and scholarships to medical schools and organizations primarily found within Pennsylvania, is represented within this series, and materials related to their annual meetings, operations, and event programs are included. Materials from the John and Mary Markle Foundation include correspondence, files pertaining to Schnabel’s appointment as a Markle Scholar, and information packets.

Series IV: Lectures, Speeches, and Talks, span the years 1959 through 1997 and covers numerous lectures, speeches, and talks given by Schnabel. As a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Schnabel gave numerous speeches pertaining to the organization and copies of those can be found in this series. The series also contains a speech entitled “Challenge of Change”, a talk about the future of medicine; and remarks on a presentation given to Dr. William Middleton.

Series V: Personal Files, dating from 1937 to 2000, contains a wide range of materials, such as appointment offers, Schnabel’s curriculum vitae, and multiple photographs of people and events.

Series VI: Philadelphia General Hospital holds files dating from 1908 to 1982 about the hospital’s background and history, the decline and closure of the hospital, and photographs of the Old Blockley section of the hospital. The Philadelphia General Hospital, where Schnabel was the first full-time member of Penn’s Medical School assigned there, was a Philadelphia hospital established in the early 1730s and closed in 1977. The closure of the hospital was personal for Schnabel as he held a position there and foresaw the closure as the hospital declined.

Series VII: Published Articles encompasses files that span from the years 1943 until 2001. Many of Schnabel’s published articles were about the heart and the cardiovascular system, like his article “Cardiac Catheterization in Heart Disease”. This series has articles published throughout his career, such as “Pitfalls in the Diagnosis of Bacterial Endocarditis”, “Mortimer’s Malady: A Baffling Disease”, and memoirs of deceased colleagues and medical professionals. Researchers should note that not all of the articles were written by him, but featured him or were related to his work in some way.

Series VIII: Truman G. Schnabel, Sr., is comprised of papers related to Truman G. Schnabel, Jr.’s father, who was also a medical professional. It covers the years 1911, starting with his 1911 University of Pennsylvania Yearbook, to 1964, ending with a memoir about Martin Rehfuss. Some of the other items in this series include Schnabel, Sr.’s own published articles and his personal notes and corrections.