2. Philadelphia, Pa., to John H. Gibbon, Philadelphia, Pa., 07 January 1919

File — Box: 1

Scope and Contents

From the Series: A collection of diaries, correspondence, printed materials and photographs, 1869-1932, documenting notable events in the life of William W. Keen. Materials in the collection were probably preserved for a biography.

The collection is divided into six series. The personal papers of William W. Keen, 1883-1929, in Series 1 include two diaries, 1907 and 1913, of trips to Europe. There is also one folder of correspondence which includes a copy of a letter addressed to Woodrow Wilson, 13 October 1918, concerning Keen's views on a proposed armistice to end World War I.

Series 2 contains materials from memorial services for Keen, his wife, Emma Corinna Borden Keen (d. 1887), and father, William Williams Keen (d. 1882). There is also one folder of quotations, 1886-1926, probably assembled by Keen, concerning grief for a dead spouse.

Banquet programs, 1895-1909, from the W. W. Keen Surgical Society of Jefferson Medical College are in Series 3.

Series 4 contains programs, newsclippings, and other printed material, 1869-1927, from notable events in Keen's life. Included is the honorary degree presented by the University of Upsala in 1907. The series also includes an autographed program from a 1913 banquet in honor of polar explorers, Roald Amundsen, R. E. Peary, and Sir Ernest H. Shackleton, and two typescript addresses by Keen.

Photographs of Keen's surgical clinic at Jefferson Medical College Hospital, 1902, and the launching of the first hospital ship, the U.S.S. Relief, in 1922, are preserved in Series 5.

Information on Keen's 1900 presidential badge from the American Medical Association is in Series 6. The badge itself was transferred to the Mutter Museum on 4 May 1990, following processing of the collection.