Correspondence, 1814-1827 and undated Digital

The outgoing correspondence to Harvard President John T. Kirkland in this series documents John C. Warren's administration of the Harvard Medical School, including his supervision of the anatomy room and museum. Letters in this series outline Warren's plan for offering a regular course of dissection to members of the senior class, except poor students, for an annual fee of ten dollars, at Holden Chapel in Cambridge; demonstrate the difficulty of providing instruction to students in dissection at the Harvard Medical School when the acquiring of human subjects for anatomical dissection was illegal in Massachusetts; and note Warren's "continual anxiety and apprehension" in trying to comply with the laws against the use of human subjects in medical schools. Additional letters illustrate the unsuccessful attempt by the Harvard Medical School to acquire and preserve the natural history collection of the Linnaean Society of New England after the Society's closure in 1822. The letters also refer to routine administrative matters such as the arrangement of meetings with President John T. Kirkland, the creation of a medical school circular, Warren's lecture schedule and room assignments, the presentation of honorary degrees, private and public examinations, a problem with Warren's salary, and the number of medical degree candidates at the medical school.