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Finding aid prepared by RP, 1986; MH, 2005
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
Title: | Jordan, Edwin Oakes. Papers |
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Dates: | 1888-1936 |
Size: | 2.5 linear ft. (5 boxes) |
Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center |
Abstract: | Edwin Oakes Jordan, bacteriologist. The papers contain correspondence, manuscripts, minutes, research reports, and student notes. The Papers document Jordan's career as a bacteriologist at the University of Chicago, contacts with professional colleagues and organizations, consulting work with public health boards and private companies. Major correspondents include Henry H. Donaldson, Isidore S. Falk, Ludvig Hektoen, William H. Welch, and W.M. Wheeler. Topics covered include food poisoning, milk-borne diseases, the American Red Cross and public health issues. |
No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Jordan, Edwin Oakes. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Edwin Oakes Jordan was born July 28, 1866, in Thomaston, Maine. His interest in bacteriology grew from his studies with William Thompson Sedgwick at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a B.S. degree in 1888. Although the work of Pasteur and Koch was well known in America by the time Jordan entered college, he was still among the first generation of students trained in the new science. Sedgwick, who became one of the foremost trainers of public health workers in the nation, had himself begun teaching the subject only a few years earlier. Jordan worked as chief assistant biologist for the Massachusetts State Board of Health from 1888 until 1890, when he received a fellowship at Clark University. Jordan studied zoology with Charles O. Whitman, and received a Ph.D. degree in 1892.
When Whitman left Clark for a professorship at the newly founded University of Chicago several of his students followed him there, including Jordan. Jordan began as an Instructor in Zoology. The courses he taught included general zoology as well as more specialized offerings such as "Sanitary Biology." As the department grew he was able to concentrate on his field of bacteriology. He was made an Assistant Professor in 1895, Associate Professor in 1900, and Professor of Bacteriology in 1907.
The increasing importance of the work of Jordan and others in his field is evidenced by the rapid growth of the department. In 1900, the Department of Pathology and Bacteriology was separated from Zoology, and in 1912 these two disciplines also split, Jordan becoming chairman of the new Department of Hygiene and Bacteriology. Jordan's department received its own quarters in Ricketts Laboratory in 1915. Much of Jordan's work in the 1890s and early 1900s focused on sewage and water treatment systems. His testimony in support of the Chicago drainage canal figured heavily in the lawsuits and controversy that surrounded its construction. He completed reports for several mid-western cities on related problems such as typhoid and milk-borne diseases. His studies in these areas extended beyond public health issues to "pure" bacteriological research. During World War I, he directed the American Red Cross railroad laboratory car "Lister," which traveled to various army camps in order to train technicians and control epidemics. Later Jordan became interested in food poisoning, and was hired as a consultant by several companies such as Swift and H. J. Heinz.
Jordan served as an editor of the Journal of Infectious Diseases and the Journal of Preventive Medicine. He wrote many books and articles, although he was probably most widely known for his textbook, General Bacteriology. First printed in 1908, it went through many editions in his lifetime, and after being updated by William Burrows continued to be published, reaching its 20th edition in 1973.
International health issues also received Jordan's attention. He was a member of the International Health Board of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1920 to 1927, and traveled abroad to study conditions in several countries including Argentina, Puerto Rico, Panama, and Jamaica.
Jordan married Elsie Fay Pratt in 1893, and they had three children.
Jordan retired from active teaching at the University of Chicago in 1933. He died September 2, 1936, in Lewiston, Maine.
The Edwin Oakes Jordan Papers contain correspondence, manuscripts, minutes, research reports, and student notes. The materials in the collection document Jordan's career as a bacteriologist at the University of Chicago, contacts with professional colleagues and organizations, consulting work with public health boards and private companies. Major correspondents include Henry H. Donaldson, Isidore S. Falk, Ludvig Hektoen, William H. Welch, and W.M. Wheeler. Topics covered include food poisoning, milk-borne diseases, the American Red Cross and public health issues.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html
Hektoen, Ludvig, 1863-1951
Welch, William Henry, 1850-1934
Wheeler, William Morton, 1865-1937
Donaldson, Henry Herbert, 1857-1938
Falk, I. S. (Isidore Sydney), 1899-1984
Jordan, Edwin Oakes, 1866-1936
Public health
Bacteriologists
Box 1
Folder 1
General correspondence, A-B
Box 1
Folder 2
General correspondence, C-D
Box 1
Folder 3
General correspondence, E-F
Box 1
Folder 4
General correspondence, G
Box 1
Folder 5
General correspondence, H
Box 1
Folder 6
General correspondence, I-K
Box 1
Folder 7
General correspondence, L-M
Box 1
Folder 8
General correspondence, N-O
Box 1
Folder 9
General correspondence, P-R
Box 1
Folder 10
General correspondence, S
Box 1
Folder 11
General correspondence, T-V
Box 1
Folder 12
General correspondence, W-Z
Box 1
Folder 13
General correspondence, unidentified
Box 2
Folder 1
American Epidemiological Society
Box 2
Folder 2
American Public Health Association, general
Box 2
Folder 3
American Public Health Association, Committee on Standard Methods
Box 2
Folder 4
American Red Cross, general
Box 2
Folder 5
American Red Cross, Commission to Russia
Box 2
Folder 6
American Red Cross, log of laboratory car "Lister"
Box 2
Folder 7
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
Box 2
Folder 8
Bacteriology, history
Box 2
Folder 9
Board on Excreta Disposal
Box 2
Folder 10
Canal Zone
Box 2
Folder 11
Chicago Board of Health (Herman R. Bundesen)
Box 2
Folder 12
Chicago Drainage Canal
Box 2
Folder 13
City Club of Chicago, Public Health Committee, report of 1936
Box 2
Folder 14
Conference of Epidemiologists, Johns Hopkins University, 1927
Box 3
Folder 1
Food poisoning
Box 3
Folder 2
General Bacteriology, notices, reviews, correspondence
Box 3
Folder 3
Heinz, H. J., Company
Box 3
Folder 4
Influenza
Box 3
Folder 5
Influenza Commission, 1919-1921
Box 3
Folder 6
Jamaica
Box 3
Folder 7
Journal of Preventive Medicine
Box 3
Folder 8
Laboratory notes from class by Dr. Prudden, 1888
Box 3
Folder 9
Lecture notices
Box 3
Folder 10
McCormick Institute for Infectious Diseases
Box 3
Folder 11
Milk pasteurization
Box 3
Folder 12-13
Milk-sickness
Box 3
Folder 14-15
National Canners Association, correspondence
Box 4
Folder 1
National Canners Association, food poisoning cases
Box 4
Folder 2
The Newer Knowledge of Bacteriology and Immunology
Box 4
Folder 3
Writings, 1889-1894
Box 4
Folder 4
Writings, 1912-1925
Box 4
Folder 5
Ozone
Box 4
Folder 6
Pioneer in Public Health, notices, correspondence with Mary Sedgwick
Box 4
Folder 7
Puerto Rico
Box 4
Folder 8
Rockefeller Foundation, International Health Board
Box 4
Folder 9
Rush Medical College
Box 4
Folder 10
School diseases
Box 4
Folder 11
School of Public Health (proposed)
Box 4
Folder 12
Sedgwick, William T., biographical materials
Box 4
Folder 13
Sedgwick, correspondence
Box 5
Folder 1-3
Sedgwick, offprints
Box 5
Folder 4
Sedgwick Memorial Lectures, correspondence, 1926-1928
Box 5
Folder 5
Sedgwick Memorial Lectures, printed copies, 1924-1928
Box 5
Folder 6
Sedgwick Memorial Medal
Box 5
Folder 7
Society of American Bacteriologists
Box 5
Folder 8
Swift and Company
Box 5
Folder 9
University Club food poisoning, 1916
Box 5
Folder 10
University of Chicago, Committee on Hygiene and Sanitation
Box 5
Folder 11
University of Chicago, Department of Hygiene and Bacteriology, correspondence
Box 5
Folder 12
University of Chicago, Department of Hygiene and Bacteriology, history
Box 5
Folder 13
University of Chicago, Department of Hygiene and Bacteriology, proposal for establishment
Box 5
Folder 14
University of Chicago, miscellaneous
Box 5
Folder 15
Water purification, lecture notes
Box 5
Folder 16
Water supply, articles and notes
Box 5
Folder 17
Waterworks in Europe, notes on visits, 1896
Box 5
Folder 18
Winter cholera