Frederick Irving retirement celebration records
Scope and Contents
Collection consists of letters written to Frederick C. Irving by alumni of the Boston Lying-In Hospital, including Irving's trainees and colleagues, on the occasion of his retirement from the hospital in 1946. Most of the letters are bound into a volume titled Letters to Frederick C. Irving, M.D. from The Medical Alumni of Boston Lying-In Hospital, December 6, 1946. Some letters are typed, but most are handwritten. Several address Irving by the nickname "Fritz." The volume is introduced with a brief letter by Arthur Hertig. There is also one file of loose letters.
Collection also includes a Wallace Rose Point Sterling silver platter engraved with Irving's initials and the signatures of his colleagues.
Dates
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1946
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Access requires advance notice. Contact Public Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in the collection. Researchers are responsible for identifying and contacting any third-party copyright holders for permission to reproduce or publish. For more information on the Center's use, publication, and reproduction policies, view our Reproductions and Use Policy.
Extent
.75 cubic feet (1 records center carton)Biographical / Historical
Frederick Carpenter Irving (1883-1957) was an obstetrical specialist at the Boston Lying-In Hospital in Massachusetts, and he led the obstetrics department at the Boston Lying-In Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Frederick Carpenter Irving was born on 30 May 1883 in Gouverneur, New York. He was identified as white on the 1920 US Census. Irving attended Harvard College and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1910. He trained at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and at the Boston Lying-In Hospital. He served in the US Army Medical Corps during World War I. From 1931 to 1947, he was Obstetrician in Chief at the Boston Lying-In Hospital, and from 1933 to 1948 he was the William Lambert Richardson Professor of Obstetrics and chair of the Obstetrics Department at Harvard Medical School. His publications on obstetrics include A Textbook of Obstetrics, The Expectant Mother's Handbook, and Safe Deliverance, as well as journal articles.
Irving married Mary Chapman, and the couple had five children: Frederick Jr., Colin, Frances, Mary, and Rebecca. Irving retired to Florida in 1951. He died in 1957.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gifted to the Harvard Medical Library by Rebecca B. Irving, 2010 (Accession #2012-079).
Processing Information
Processed by Charlotte Lellman in January 2024. Collection was processed according to Level 1 protocol.
Genre / Form
Occupation
Topical
Creator
- Title
- Irving, Frederick C. (Frederick Carpenter), 1883-1957. Records of retirement celebration, 1946 (bulk): Finding Aid
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Charlotte Lellman
- Date
- 2024-01-19
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- med01062
Repository Details
Part of the Center for the History of Medicine (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine) Repository
The Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine is one of the world's leading resources for the study of the history of health and medicine. Our mission is to enable the history of medicine and public health to inform healthcare, the health sciences, and the societies in which they are embedded.