The W. Bruce Fye Center for the History of Medicine is responsible for acquiring, organizing, preserving, and promoting the recorded memory of individuals and organizations which have shaped Mayo Clinic’s unique culture and history, and for providing research tools and services to make such materials accessible to users.
It serves as the official repository for historical materials relating to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The resources of its archives are open to all members of the Mayo community, and upon approval, to others interested in the history of the Mayo Clinic.
Collections Related to the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine that have been recently acquired:
MHU-0951: David O. Warner Papers
- This collection contains materials related to Dr. David Warner’s time working at Mayo Clinic, his research, and the Anesthesiology Department at Mayo Clinic. Materials in this collection include completed studies, correspondence, department photographs, department reports, grant proposals/applications, notebooks, presentation notes, presentation slides, printed materials, and prints.
MHU-0953: Roger D. White Papers
- This collection contains scanned images of two scrapbooks and a folder of printed materials that focus on Dr. Roger White’s work, research, and contributions to Emergency Cardiovascular Care and emergency medical services.
MHU-0954: Nurse Anesthesia Education Program
- This collection contains materials from and related to the Nurse Anesthesia Education Program at Mayo Clinic. Materials in this collection include program records, meeting minutes, exam scores, grades, orientation materials, correspondence, notes, newsletters, training materials, accreditation materials, seminar materials, photographs, papers, and printed materials.
SMA-9018: Saint Marys Hospital CRNA Records
- This collection contains materials related to the CRNA Staff at Saint Marys Hospital at Mayo Clinic. Materials in this collection include CRNA staffing records, CRNA staff reports, Anesthesiology Department records, Anesthesiology Department staff photographs, Mayo Clinic Reports, scrapbooks that include bios of Anesthetists at Saint Marys and Mayo Clinic, printed materials related to Anesthesia procedures and equipment, and lantern slides of Anesthesia presentations and equipment.
Collections within the holdings of the W. Bruce Fye Center for the History of Medicine that are being reprocessed include:
MHU-0250: Department of Anesthesiology Records
- The Department of Anesthesiology Records contains minutes of the Department of Anesthesiology staff meetings (c.1939-1959), Critical Care Service and Respiratory Care annual reports (1980s-1990), and the Department of Anesthesiology Alumni Newsletters from 2002-2008. Collection also contains a born digital interview from the Anesthesiology History Project in which Mark Warner, M.D., is interviewing Carol Wallace on May 15, 2008.
MHU-0616: John Silas Lundy Papers
- This collection contains primarily personal and professional correspondence of Dr. John Lundy. Major correspondents and subjects include: Abbott Laboratories, Academy of Anesthesiology, American Board of Anesthesiology, American Medical Association, American Society of Anesthesiologists, Minnesota State Medical Association, E. R. Squibb and Sons, Eli Lilly and Co., Frederick Stearns and Co., Heidbrink Company, Ohio Chemical Company, William S. Merrell Chemical Company, W. B. Saunders Co., Dr. Charles McCuskey, Dr. Helen L. Button, Florence A. McQuillen, Dr. Edward B. Tuohy, Ralph Waters, and the Anesthetists Travel Club. Also included are diaries, expense ledgers, photographs, miscellaneous correspondence, and biographical information.
MHU-0817: Alan D. Sessler Papers
- This collection includes materials relative to Dr. Alan Sessler’s personal and professional life. A large portion of the collection is correspondence, both personal and professional. Dr. Sessler served as chair of the Department of Anesthesia and was active on Mayo Clinic administrative committees, as a member of Mayo Clinic Board of Governors, and as a member and officer of professional organizations. Some files include material related to his administrative positions, while other files include correspondence and materials related to his work as a member of the American Board of Anesthesiology, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and other anesthesia-related organizations. Also of interest are files related to the history of anesthesia at Mayo and in general, and to the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology. Reprints, addresses, trip material, and articles relating to anesthesia make up the remainder of the collection.
MHU-0838: Charles John Restall Papers
- This collection contains materials that mainly focus on Dr. Charles Restall and Anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic. The collection includes Continuing Medical Education Schedules, correspondence, manuscripts, monographs, papers, personal materials, printed materials, reference materials, reports, research, seminar materials, slide photocopies, and speeches.
MHU-0855: Thomas Harry Seldon Papers
- This collection contains three bound volumes of reprints and unpublished manuscripts.
MHU-0857: Peter Allan Southorn Papers
- The collection contains several manuscripts of talks given by Dr. Southorn to Mayo Clinic alumni. The bulk of the collection is research material used in writing the Department of Anesthesiology history book. Materials include correspondence, notes, selected manuscripts, nurse anesthesia articles, interviews, statistics, information regarding the Massa Needle (aka Rochester Plastic Needle), images used in the book, and other miscellaneous materials.
MHU-0867: Richard Albert Theye Papers
- This collection contains two of Dr. Theye’s research grant applications and copies of a report made to Mayo Clinic Board of Governors regarding the Department of Anesthesia’s research activities in 1971 and a copy of the department’s research budget for 1972, along with attached memos.
MHU-0876: Albert Faulconer Jr. Collection
- This small collection contains letters written by Dr. Faulconer to his wife between January and March 1946 while he was a resident at Mayo Clinic and letters to and from his parents written between 1934 and 1946. It also includes patent information for three of Dr. Faulconer’s inventions, an article about his contributions to electroencephalography and anesthesia, several photographs of Dr. Faulconer and one of his certificates, a family history written by his father, and a small amount of miscellaneous material.
Donating Materials to the Archives
This LEROY Lettering Set and Van Sluke Volumetric Glass Apparatus were recently donated by Dr. David Warner upon his retirement in January of 2023
The W. Bruce Fye Center for the History of Medicine Archives collects materials that help tell the Mayo story from its founding period to its present mission and activities. The Archives, in conjunction with the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, aims to collect, preserve, and showcase materials that tell the history of the department.
Keep in mind that contemporary records will one day be of historic interest and today’s innovations are tomorrow’s artifacts! Donating to the Archives ensures that Mayo Clinic’s legacy carries on for future generations.
The Archives would like to continue to acquire materials and artifacts that tell the story of the department. When considering donating, we ask that the materials be related to Mayo Clinic, it’s staff, and that any artifacts have been used or made by Mayo Clinic. The materials and artifacts the Archives are in search of include but are not limited to:
- Anesthesiology Department histories, reports, minutes, newsletters, accomplishments
- Anesthesiology Committee minutes and reports
- Correspondence (including significant email)
- Candid photographs of people and activities taking place around Mayo campuses (please identify people and activity)
- Project materials, records
- Moving Images of staff and department activities (including social functions such as picnics and recreation)
- Research notes
- Surgical and medical practice instruments
- Instrument prototypes
- Unique pieces of Mayo Clinic Department of Anesthesiology memorabilia and related artifacts.
If you or your division/section would like to donate records and/or artifacts to the W. Bruce Fye Center for the History of Medicine in relation to Mayo Clinic Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, please contact Alec Thicke, Anesthesiology Project Archivist, for a donation. He can be reached by email at thicke.alec@mayo.edu or by phone at 507-284-3240.
Records selected for permanent retention should be transferred to the archives using the procedures listed here.