Maurice Lenz papers

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Creator:

Maurice Lenz, 1890-1974

Date [inclusive]:

1902-1977 (bulk, 1917-1970)

Languages:

English, French, Spanish, German.

Physical Description:

8 cubic feet (21 document boxes, 1 card box, 2 flat boxes, 1 folder)

Collections:

Personal Papers and Manuscripts

Access:

The collection is stored off-site. Researchers will need to request this material from Archives & Special Collections at least two business days in advance to use the collection in our reading room. Generally, Archives & Special Collections will not recall more than 12 boxes at a time.

Because the papers include 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.

Call Number:

Lenz papers

Control Number:

5444170

Abstract:

Correspondence, research notes, offprints, lectures and writings, patient records, and photographs chiefly documenting Lenz's professional life. The correspondence is with many of the leaders of the field in North and South America and in Europe. The lectures include both scientific and popular talks. The bulk of the writings comprises the draft of a textbook on clinical radiotherapy, never published, for which Lenz served as editor, c. 1940. There is also a complete set of Lenz's articles and many photographs of him, both formal portraits and informal snapshots.

Correspondents include Ludwig Aschoff, François Baclesse, Franz Buschke, Sir Stanford Cade; Henri Coutard; René Ferroux; Anna Goldfeder; Abraham Hochman; Antoine Lacassagne; Claudius Regaud; Eliezer Robinson; and Norah duV. Tapley. There is also a single letter from the writer Sinclair Lewis

Cite as:

Maurice Lenz Papers, Archives & Special Collections, Columbia University Health Sciences Library.

History and Biography

Historical/Biographical Note:

Maurice Lenz, a US pioneer in the treatment of cancer by radiation, was born March 23, 1890 in Shavli, near Kovno, Russia (now Kaunas, Lithuania), the son of Benjamin Lunz, a physician, and his wife Minna Idelson Lunz, an opera singer (the family name was only later changed to Lenz). Not long after Lenz's birth, the family moved to St. Petersburg where Maurice was educated in local schools.

After immigrating to the US in 1907, Lenz studied medicine for two years at New York University and Bellevue Medical College before transferring to the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons from which he received his medical degree in 1913. After study in Germany and an internship at Lebanon Hospital in New York, Lenz practiced general medicine in New York, followed by service as a Lieutenant in the US Army Medical Corps during World War I.

When in 1921 his mother developed cancer, Lenz brought her to Berlin for radiation treatment and decided to make this still new medical field his specialty. Though his mother died in 1922, Lenz remained in Europe for further education. He studied pathology with Ludwig Aschoff at the University of Freiburg before spending 1923-1924 at the Radium Institute of the Curie Foundation in Paris. There he found the principles that would guide his practice and research and formed life-long friendships with such pioneers in radiotherapy as Claudius Regaud, Antoine Lacassagne, Octave Monod, and François Baclesse.

Returning to the US in 1925, Lenz served as director of radiotherapy at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, 1927-1930, and thereafter as consultant. From 1930 to 1946 he was director of radiotherapy at Presbyterian Hospital and a faculty member of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S). At Columbia-Presbyterian, Lenz worked with pathologist Arthur Purdy Stout and surgeon John Hanford in a Neoplasm Clinic which, uniquely at that time, brought all three specialties together in the clinical care of cancer patients. Lenz also served as director, Division of Cancer of the City of New York; director of radiotherapy (1952-1955) at Francis Delafield Hospital, a municipal cancer hospital whose professional staff was appointed by Columbia; and as consulting radiotherapist at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital.

Lenz's unusual linguistic abilities - besides Russian and English he was fluent in French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish - made him an internationally known figure among radiotherapists. He led the US delegation to the Second Inter-American Congress of Radiology in 1946 and was a member of the Third Congress in 1949. At the request of the US State Dept., he undertook lecture tours in the USSR in 1959 and 1967. In 1971, he represented the US at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Radium Institute of the Curie Foundation.

Though he became an emeritus professor at Columbia in 1955, Lenz maintained an active interest in his field. He undertook a study year at the Curie Foundation in 1956, and spent another year studying ovarian cancer at the Radiumhemmet in Stockholm in 1963.

Lenz married Anna Marie Malmberg in 1917; they had two sons. Maurice Lenz died January 4, 1974 in Englewood, NJ, survived by his wife and children. In his honor, a Maurice Lenz Lectureship is maintained by the Dept. of Radiation Oncology of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Organization

Arrangement:

Organized in eleven series:

I. Biographical material
II. Correspondence & subject files
III. Lectures & talks
IV. Writings
V. Research files
VI. Notebooks, printed material & ephemera
VII. Clinical records
VIII. Reprints
IX. Photographs & certificates
X. Artifacts
XI. Oversize materials.

Scope and Content:

Though there is some family material, the papers largely document Lenz's professional career and bulk between 1917 and 1970.

Series I. Biographical materials.

Curricula vitae, obituaries, genealogical records, war service records, bibliographies, and other biographical data.

Series II. Correspondence & subject files.

The correspondence largely dates from 1923 to 1970 and is principally with fellow radiotherapists both in the United States and abroad. The series is first arranged alphabetically by name of individual or organization and then is followed by a run of more general correspondence organized chronologically. Correspondence with the same person or organization occasionally appears in both groups.

Topics documented here include Lenz's professional trips to Central and South America in the 1940s and 1950s; his official US State Dept. tours of the Soviet Union in 1959 and 1967; his participation in the 50th anniversary of the Radium Institute of the Curie Foundation in 1971; his planned book on clinical radiotherapy; and his work at Montefiore and Francis Delafield Hospitals. The general chronological correspondence contains many letters from Latin American radiotherapists, often in Spanish.

Correspondents include Ludwig Aschoff, François Baclesse, Franz Buschke, Sir Stanford Cade; Henri Coutard; Rene Ferroux; Anna Goldfeder; Abraham Hochman; Antoine Lacassagne; Claudius Regaud; Eliezer Robinson; and Norah duV. Tapley. There is also a single letter from the writer Sinclair Lewis. In addition there are two folders of family letters: one from various overseas relatives in Germany and Israel, and another of letters Lenz wrote to his wife and children while traveling in Europe in 1965.

Series III. Lectures & Talks.

Formal lectures and informal talks given by Lenz, 1930s-1960s. In most cases only the manuscript is present, though for the 1962 Low-Beer Memorial Lecture at the University of California, San Francisco, there is also correspondence. Lenz gave most of these talks to medical groups but there are a few to lay audiences, including some broadcast on radio.

Series IV. Writings.

The bulk of this series consists of chapters of a planned book on clinical radiotherapy to be published by Paul B. Hoeber for which Lenz served as editor (he also contributed several chapters). Lenz began work on the volume about 1941 and had received most of the 28 chapters by the end of 1942 before the US entry into World War II halted publication. The book's contributors were an international group of distinguished radiotherapists and the chapters they contributed (which often included photographs and tables) give an excellent snapshot of the field as it was practiced in the early 1940s. Lenz's correspondence with Hoeber on this project can be found in Series I.

The remainder of the series is an English translation of Jules Soury's Le Systeme Nerveux Central: Structure et Functions (Paris 1899). It is not known if the translation is by Lenz, who was fluent in French. As of Spring 2005, OCLC and RLIN did not show any published English version of this work.

Series V. Research Files.

Miscellaneous notes, reprints, clinical material and photographs. Most of these records are undated and are usually arranged by type of cancer. Among the more interesting material are the responses to the American Radium Society's 1937 survey of radiotherapy techniques used to treat cervical cancer. Included are the responses, correspondence and the final report, written by Lenz.

Series VI. Notebooks, Printed Material, & Ephemera.

Notebooks, usually not with scientific content; newspaper clippings; and programs and memorabilia from scientific meetings.

Series VII. Clinical records.

Records of patients treated by Lenz, largely arranged chronologically. Most of the records are one-sided 17.5 cm. x 22 cm. cards. Besides the usual patient information, the records usually contain notes on symptoms, previous treatment, details of radiation therapy received, and outcome. It is not known why Lenz kept these particular records, though they may have been used in research projects. There are also several folders of patient photographs.

Series VIII. Reprints.

A complete bound set of Lenz's reprints in two volumes, and an incomplete unbound set. In addition, there are reprints of other physicians bearing inscriptions to Lenz.

Series IX. Photographs and Certificates.

Formal and informal photographs of Lenz and others, including many of the radiotherapists who corresponded with him; membership certificates; and awards. Additional photographs and certificates may be found in Series XI Oversize.

Series X. Artifacts.

Three-dimensional objects including an award and many pins, buttons, and ribbons from scientific meetings. There are also US Army Medical Corps insignia from World War I. There are several silver Mexican healing charms and an ivory medical figure from China.