Resources: Documents
Documents are the tools that allow historians to construct a story. Historians utilize many different types of documents as primary resources, including diaries, journals, newspapers, government reports, speeches and memoirs. Such resources collectively constitute the factual basis for the conclusions historians draw. A solid documentary basis allows for a more accurate, more authoritative, and more analytical description of past events.
Correspondence
- Letters written to Dr. H. Clay Chenault, the Vice President of the University of Arkansas about the admission of Edith Irby. Source statement: All 49 letters are housed in Record group 20JIJON, File 184 in Box 182: UAMS. College of Medicine. Alumni Individual Files Jones, Edith Irby. Records 1948 – present.
- Letter to Dr. Chenault from George Maxwell, the President of the Battle Creek Branch of the NAACP, December 20, 1948. Used with permission of the University of Arkansas Medical School Library Historical Research Center.
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Letter to Dr. Chenault from R. R. de Rougomont, September 5, 1948. Used with permission of the University of Arkansas Medical School Library Historical Research Center.
- Letters between Dr. Herman Barnett, as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Medical Association, to President Johnson about speaking at the National Medical Association meeting in Chicago and Houston.
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Letter to President Johnson from Dr. Herman Barnett, June 1, 1966. Courtesy of the White House Central Files, Name File Barnett, H., the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, National Archives and Records Administration.
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Letter to Dr. Herman Barnett on behalf of President Johnson, December 1967. Courtesy of the White House Central Files, Name File Barnett, H.,. the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, National Archives and Records Administration.
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Letter to Dr. Herman Barnett on behalf of President Johnson, August 30, 1968. Courtesy of the White House Central Files, Name File Barnett, H., the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, National Archives and Records Administration.
- Letter sent to President Johnson from Dr. Earl Belle Smith about the Presidential Meeting on Medicare Implementation, June 23, 1966. Courtesy of the White House Central Files, Insurance Box #4, Folder 1/MC, the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, National Archives and Records Administration.
- Letter to Mr. Joseph S. Cullinan from Dr. J. Edward Perry, the acting Chairman of the National Medical Association, July 15th 1927. Courtesy of Joseph Stephen Cullinan Collection, 1895 1939. Special Collections, M. D. Anderson Library, University of Houston.
- Letter to Joseph Cullinan from the mother of the first baby born at Houston Negro Hospital, May 1929. Courtesy of Special Collections, M. D. Anderson Library, University of Houston.
Newspaper, Journal, and Magazine Articles
- Ebony, January 1949, p. 13, “Arkansas Med. School Opens Its Doors: Brilliant Hot Springs girl is first Negro to attend mixed classes since Reconstruction days.Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.
- Ebony, January 1949, p. 15, “Arkansas Negroes Raise Fund To Put Her Through College.” Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.
- Ebony, January 1949, p. 17, “She Hopes To Be Pediatrician In South.” Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.
- Life, January 29, 1949, p. 33, “Edith Irby Goes To School: University of Arkansas admits first Negro medical student.” Courtesy of Time Inc.
- The Galveston Daily Tribune, 24 August 1949, p. 1 col. 8, “Negro War Vet to Attend Medical School: To Study Here Till Houston College Opens.” Courtesy of Galveston County Daily News.
- Journal of Negro Education, Volume 18, Issue No. 3, Summer 1949, J.L. Johnson, "The Supply of Negro Health Personnel-Physicians." Reprinted here courtesy of the Journal of Negro Education. Interested readers should pursue the complete issue which included numerous related articles under the theme, "The Health Status and Health Education of Negroes in the United States.
Government Documents
- “Public Law 88-352, Civil Rights Act of 1964,” July 2, 1964. Courtesy of the Office of Civil Rights, Supplement Documents, the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, The National Archives and Records Administration.
- “Presidential Meeting on Medicare Implementation,” June 15, 1966. Courtesy of the White House Central Files, the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, The National Archives and Records Administration.
- “HEW and Civil Rights,” Courtesy of the Office of Civil Rights, Supplemental Documents, the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, The National Archives and Records Administration.
- “Coordinated Enforcement Procedures for Medical Facilities Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Courtesy of the Office of Civil Rights, Supplemental Documents, the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, The National Archives and Records Administration.
Pamphlets, Brochures, Programs, Frontage Pieces
- Title page of Child Psychiatry Treatment and Research, edited by Dr. Mae McMillan and Dr. Sergio Henoa, Brunner/Mazel Publishers, 1977. Courtesy of the Taylor and Francis Group
- “Commencement Exercises of Houston’s Colored High School,” June 3, 1920. Courtesy of the Hicks Family Collection, MSS 190, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
Other Documents
- Receipt for the sale of two slaves, Franklin and Ellen Robey. Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. John Stone.
- “A Hospital Study,” Conducted under the auspices of The Texas Medical Center, Inc. by James A. Hamilton and Associates Hospital Consultants, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1946-1947. For information gathered about the Houston Negro Hospital see pages 37-39,43, 70-73, 75, 77, 79-81, 84, 86,88, 90. Access this document on the John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center web site.