Because the patient-related correspondence in Box 1, folders 5-8, includes Confidential Health Information (CHI) as defined by Columbia University policies governing data security and privacy, access is allowed only under the terms of Archives and Special Collections’ Access Policy to Records Containing Confidential Health Information.
The papers document Andersen's professional career, especially her interest in cystic fibrosis, and include newspaper and magazine clippings, correspondence, illustrations, memorabilia, photographs, printed matter, reprints of scientific articles, typescripts, Andersen's Vermont State Board of Medical Registration Certificate, and an obituary.
History and Biography
Dorothy Hansine Andersen was born in Asheville, North Carolina, on May 15, 1901, and was raised in Vermont and New Jersey. She attended Mount Holyoke College (A.B., 1922) and Johns Hopkins Medical School (M.D., 1926).
In 1926-27, she was Assistant in Anatomy at the University of Rochester, and in 1927-28, she was an intern at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York. In 1929, she joined the faculty of Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she served until her death. Between 1929 and 1958, she rose from Instructor to Professor in Pathology. She was also Assistant Attending Pediatrician and Assistant Pathologist at Babies Hospital from 1935 to 1954, and Associate Attending Physician after 1954.
In 1935, she earned a Doctorate in Medical Science from the College of Physicians and Surgeons for her dissertation, "The Relation of the Endocrine Glands to the Female Reproductive Cycle." In 1938, she published a landmark article on "Cystic Fibrosis of the Pancreas and its Relation to Celiac Disease" in the American Journal of Diseases of Children.
In addition to cystic fibrosis, her other major research interests were cardiac malformations and glycogen storage. For her achievements, she received many awards, including the Mead Johnson Award for Pediatric Research (1938), the Borden Award for Research in Nutrition (1948), the Elizabeth Blackwell Award (1954), the Great Heart Award of the Variety Club of Philadelphia (1963), and the Distinguished Service Medal of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (1963, posthumously). She died of lung cancer at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City on March 3, 1963.
Organization
This collection consists of clippings, correspondence, illustrations, memorabilia, photographs, printed matter, reprints of scientific articles, and typescripts, as well as Andersen's Vermont State Board of Medical Registration Certificate and an obituary.
Of particular interest are the correspondence files. Most of the general correspondence is between Dr. Andersen and the administrators of the National Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation (now known as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation), especially President Wynne Sharples. These letters document change, growth, and conflict in the Foundation's early years. The correspondence regarding patients consists of letters, photographs, and cards from mothers of cystic fibrosis patients and patients themselves who were treated by Dr. Andersen. These materials document Dr. Andersen's interest in her patients and their families, and their gratitude to her.
The clippings, illustrations, printed matter, typescripts, and reprints all concern cystic fibrosis. The photographs include a portrait taken by Babies Hospital photographer Grace MacMullen, and images from the Varsity Club of Philadelphia award dinner just weeks before Andersen's death.
| Box | Folder | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Clippings, 1954-66, n.d. |
| 2 | Correspondence, 1955-56 | |
| 3 | Correspondence, 1957-1958 | |
| 4 | Correspondence, 1959-60 | |
| 5 | Correspondence re: patient, P.G., 1947-60 [restricted] | |
| 6 | Correspondence re: patient, J.O., 1941-46, 1956, 196 [restricted] | |
| 7 | Correspondence re patient, J.W., 1948-63 [restricted] | |
| 8 | Correspondence re: patients, miscellaneous, 1948-49, 1959, 1961 [restricted] | |
| 9 | Illustrations of cystic fibrosis, undated | |
| 10 | Medals: Borden award, 1948; Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1949; Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center Distinguished Service Medal, 1963 | |
| 11 | Memorabilia: American Standard Haemacytometer with Levy Counting Chamber, made by Arthur H. Thomas Company, Philadelphia, undated | |
| 12 | Obituary, 1963 | |
| 13 | Photographs: portraits, undated | |
| 14 | Photographs: Waldorf-Astoria, Oct 1961 | |
| 15 | Photographs: Variety Club of Philadelphia dinner, Jan 1963 | |
| 16 | Photograph: Slater's painting of Andersen, 1963 | |
| 17 | Photograph: unidentified commencement, undated | |
| 2 | 1 | Printed matter, 1955, 1960 [see also Oversize] |
| 2 | Reprints, 1938, 1951-65, n.d. | |
| 3 | Typescript "Cystic Fibrosis of the Pancreas and its Relation to Coeliac [sic] Disease", 1938 | |
| 4 | Typescript re: meconium ileus, undated | |
| 5 | Typescript: "The Celiac Syndrome", (with Richard G. Hodges), ca. 1946 | |
| Oversize - Map Case 2:18 | ||
| Vermont State Board of Medical Registration Certificate, 1930 |
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Gift of Carolyn R. Denning and Peter R. Scaglione. Denning was Andersen's research associate at the time of Andersen's death. (Acc. # 2002.04.26, #2004.04.23)
Processed by Bob Vietrogoski, May 2002, revised May 2004