Found 3 collections related to Dewey, Melvil, 1851-1931

John Shaw Billings (1838-1913) was an American surgeon, hospital planner and librarian. He served as a U.S. Army surgeon and was responsible for creating the nation's foremost medical library, now the National Library of Medicine. He served as special advisor to the trustees of Johns Hopkins Hospital in planning and organizing that institution. After retiring from the Army in 1895, Billings was named the first Director of the New York Public Library. He helped create the NYPL by combining the Astor and Lenox Libraries into a public research library and building a branch library system for three of the boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx). He also planned and oversaw the construction of the Central Library building which was opened to the public in 1911. Collection consists of correspondence and papers relating to Billings' work with the United States Army Medical Department, 1861-1895; Johns Hopkins Hospital (especially building plans), 1873-1890; National Board of Health, 1879-1881; the 10th and 11th censuses, University of Pennsylvania Hospital and Laboratory of Hygiene, 1890-1895; The New York Public Library, 1895-1913; Committee of Fifty on the Liquor Problem, 1893-1904; Carnegie Institute, 1902-1913; National Academy of Science, 1875-1911; and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Other papers are family correspondence, including letters from Billings to his wife regarding his Civil War experiences; texts of lectures and addresses; notes; and miscellaneous papers. Also, scrapbooks about the Civil War, National Board of Health and health issues, 1861-1903; diaries; photographs and travel notebooks; and material about infectious diseases and epidemics. Correspondents include Alexander Agassiz, Alexander G. Bell, John Bigelow, Henry P. Bowditch, Henry C. Burdett, John L. Cadwalader, Andrew Carnegie, Melvil Dewey, Robert Fletcher, Francis Galton, Daniel C. Gilman, Silas W. Mitchell, William Pepper, Stephen Smith, and George Sternberg. less

Records consist of general and family correspondence, personal papers, subject papers, writings and speeches, diaries and travel journals, financial records, papers of Bowker's father, Daniel Rogers Bowker, scrapbooks, photographs, printed matter, and memorabilia. General correspondence reflects R.R. Bowker's business affairs as well as his interest in tariff reform, free trade, copyright law, library science, civil service, and political reform. Other materials include family correspondence, 1857-1932; personal papers containing items such as childhood letters, school reports, family records, and letters of condolence; and subject papers relating to copyright, the Edison Electric Illuminating Co., free trade and tariff reform, and his biography. Also, letterbooks for the period from 1875 to 1913; Bowker's writings and speeches; diaries, 1859-1932; and travel journals from the 1860s to 1926 for trips in the United States, the West Indies, Europe, the Near East, and around the world in 1898. Financial records include accounts for personal and some business expenses, bank books, cancelled checks, and personal ledgers, 1893-1910. less