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George H. Bishop Papers

Historical Note

George H. Bishop (1889-1973) received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1919 and joined the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine in 1921. He held a variety of appointments, among them research associate and associate professor in the Department of Physiology (1921-1930), professor of applied physiology in the Department of Ophthalmology (1930-1932), professor of biophysics in the Neurophysiology Laboratory (1932-1947) and professor of neurophysiology in the Department of Neuropsychiatry (1947-1954). Dr. Bishop is remembered for his collaboration with Joseph Erlanger and Herbert S. Gasser in research on the properties of nerve fibers, for which the latter two received the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Bishop is also well-known for his work in the development of electroencephalography as a diagnostic tool in the understanding of epilepsy.

Provenance

The collection is a gift of Louise H. Marshall and the Washington University Department of Neurology in 1980. The principal provenance number is 80-022. Other accessions include 83-072, 84-027, and 88-024.

Access and Use

The collection is open and accessible for research. Certain categories of documentation, however, may carry restrictions on access. For detailed information, contact the Archives and Rare Book Department of the Becker Medical Library (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).

Scope and Content

Much of this collection was assembled by Louise H. Marshall, formerly of Washington University and later of the University of California, Los Angeles. Mrs. Marshall used materials related to Dr. Bishop that she had personally collected, as well as items supplied by her husband, Wade Marshall, and by Dr. Bishop’s brother, Frederick Bishop. All of these materials were placed together with items that had been kept in the Department of Neurology after Dr. Bishop’s death.  Included in the collection are correspondence, manuscripts, notes, diagrams, and various ephemera. All photographs and many of the drawings in this collection were separated from the written documents and placed in a visual collection (VC034). The resulting arrangement reflects the mixed provenance and the many hands that have contributed to the collection. It is important to underscore that although Dr. Bishop himself never saw these collections as bibliographic entities, they were assembled in good faith that the effort would help to preserve the memory of this important scientist.

Preferred Citation

George H. Bishop Papers, Washington University School of Medicine.

Related Material

Also in the Bernard Becker Medical Library are visual collections and an oral history interview with Dr. Bishop. The visual collections consist of photographs, drawings and certificates (VC034) and examples of laboratory apparatus used by Dr. Bishop (VC242), including a microscope. An oral history with Dr. Bishop taken in 1969 is available online at http://beckerexhibits.wustl.edu/oral/interviews/bishop.html. Other archival collections at the Becker Library that include correspondence with Dr. Bishop are the Records of the Office of the Dean, the E. V. Cowdry Papers, and the James L. O’Leary Papers.

Additionally, a separate collection containing materials relating to Dr. Bishop is the Karl Spencer Lashley Papers, which is housed at the University of Florida.

Organization of the Collection (Series List)

Total Boxes: 5

Total Volumes: 2

Series 1: Manuscripts, Correspondence, and Publications. 1915-1978. Boxes 1-5.

Series 2: Collected Reprints. 1917-1936. Volumes 1-2.

Container List

Series 1: Manuscripts, Correspondence, and Publications. 1915-1978. Boxes 1-5.

This series was compiled by Dr. Bishop’s family, friends, and associates. Included is an assortment of correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera.

Box 1 of 5

1.	Manuscripts for Annual Review of Physiology and correspondence to V.E. Hall, 1962-1965.
2.	Bee research, baswood honey correspondence, 1963.
3.	Paper: “The action of tap water on dendrites,” undated.
4.	Paper: “Excitable functions of neurons,” undated.
5.	Paper: “The form of the potential record as predicted by the membrane theory of excitation,” includes French reprint, 1937.
6.	Paper: “Growth rates in the honey bee larva,” 1961.
7.	Neurophysiology for fellows (“Excitable functions of neurons”), undated.
8.	Basic neurology guide, James L. O’Leary and George Bishop, 1947.
9.	Dr. Bishop’s bibliography, 1917-1971.
10.	Frederick Bishop’s letter to James O’Leary, 1973.
11.	Correspondence, Frederick Bishop with William M. Landau; brochures from Michigan library collections, 1974-1978.
12.	Biophysics course, 1949.
13.	“Bishopiana,” correspondence regarding reconstituting Dr. Bishop’s files, 1974.

Box 2 of 5

1.	“Early Bishopiana,” compiled by Frederick Bishop, 1915-1919.
2.	Cartoons, undated.
3.	Cat optic nerve reference list (from Ann Childs), 1966.
4.	Cathode ray tube experiments by Gasser and Erlanger, 1966.
5.	Circuit diagram of electronic respirator, Marshall modification, undated.
6.	Controversies: (a) Bishop-Erlanger correspondence re article; Erlanger-Graham correspondence. (b) Correspondence re Dr. Bishop’s stomach operation, 1929-1962.
7.	Mary Brazier, 1947-1951.
8.	T.H. Bullock, 1954-1962.
9.	William F. Collins, 1954-1962.
10.	Irving Diamond, 1967-1971.
11.	Irving Diamond, copies sent from Diamond, 1961-1972.
12.	Duke University lecture, 1960-1961.
13.	Bishop family, 1962-1972.
14.	Walter Freygang, 1956.
15.	Victor Hall, 1955.
16.	William C. Hall, 1970.
17.	D.O. Hebb, 1950-57.
18.	D.O. Hebb, copies sent from Hebb, 1950-1974.
19.	C.J. Herrick, March 1936-December 1950.
20.	C.J. Herrick, January 1951-June 1955.
21.	C.J. Herrick, May 1956-March 1957.
22.	C.J. Herrick, April 1957-December 1959.
23.	Herbert Jasper, copies sent from Jasper, 1956-1958.
24.	Harvey Karten, 1963.
25.	Heinrich Kluver, 1967.

Box 3 of 5

1.	Stephen Kuffler, copies sent from Kuffler, 1949-1967.
2.	Rafael Lorente de No, 1941.
3.	Vernon Mountcastle, 1964.
4.	Jerzy Rose, 1954-1958.
5.	Friedrich Sanides, including reprint of Sanides’ article, notes by Dr. Bishop, 1967.
6.	Clinton Woolsey, 1959-1970.
7.	Letter to Samuel Trufant regarding experiments on the philosophical inversion of motor behavior, 1948.
8.	Miscellaneous correspondence, poems, reprints by various authors, copies from Frederick Bishop, 1918-1925.
9.	Miscellaneous correspondence, 1958-1962.
10.	Miscellaneous correspondence, 1963.
11.	Miscellaneous correspondence, 1964-1973.
12.	Critique of Frank Atencio’s dissertation, 1971-1972.
13.	Dr. Bishop’s curriculum vitae, 1967.
14.	EEG, drawings, notes, undated.
15.	Electrodes, typescript of “Analysis of the vagus and cervical sympathetic nerves of the turtle and of the cat by means of the cathode ray oscillograph,” 1929.
16.	The evolution of the nerve impulse, undated.
17.	Excitability manual, original drawings, undated.

Box 4 of 5

1.	Finances and taxes, 1931.
2.	Finances and taxes, 1932.
3.	Finances and taxes, 1933.
4.	Finances and taxes, 1934.
5.	Finances and taxes, 1935.
6.	Finances and taxes, 1936.
7.	Finances and taxes, Ethel Ronzoni federal tax return, 1937.
8.	Recommendation for Samuel Gelfan to receive research award, 1962.
9.	Viktor Hamburger, “Changing concepts in developmental neurobiology,” Bishop Lecture, 1974.
10.	C.J. Herrick, correspondence regarding Herrick’s manuscript, 1950-1951.
11.	“Herrick Lecture:” letter from Ingle to Bishop regarding Herrick’s biography; original notes, typescripts for “Simple life of the cortex,” 1966.
12.	C.J. Herrick, memorial, correspondence with Ingle regarding essay, 1966.
13.	C.J. Herrick, “Neuropil and optical systems,” undated.
14.	Inflammation, turpentine, protocols of experiments, undated.
15.	International symposium on brain development, 1962.
16.	Itch, correspondence regarding experiments, 1957-1958.
17.	William Landau, 1972-1974.
18.	Karl Lashley, 1955.
19.	Lashley Award to Dr. Bishop, 1966-1967.
20.	Lectures, 1956-1964.
21.	Letters to Bill, Willie, Maggie, and Fritz, 1952-1965.
22.	Lorente de No, poems, undated.
23.	Maps to home, undated.
24.	Memorial, Dr. Bishop and Ethel Ronzoni, Bishop Lecture, 1974.
25.	Memorial and lecture, continued, 1974.
26.	Memorial and lecture, continued, remarks by William Landau and Frederick Bishop, 1974.

Box 5 of 5

1.	Miscellaneous items including newspaper clippings, Christmas cards, programs, note to Dean Carl V. Moore, 1961-1974.
2.	National Academy of Sciences, 1967.
3.	Newspaper clippings of executions, 1930.
4.	“Now let us get back to brainwaves,” undated.
5.	Obituaries, reprint of article by James O’Leary in Journal of Neurophysiology, 1973-1974.
6.	“Old experiments,” Bishop and Heinbecker, 1929.
7.	James O’Leary, curriculum vitae, undated.
8.	Pain dinner, Washington D.C., 1958.
9.	Patient record, notes by Dr. Bishop, 1948.
10.	Personal notes, 1953-1954.
11.	Philosophical inversion of motor behavior, 1948-1951.
12.	Protocol, 1946.
13.	Recommendation letters for Stephen Londe, 1962.
14.	Reconstruction; correspondence with Peter Bishop, 1967.
15.	“The relation between nerve fiber size and sensory modality,” by George Bishop in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 1959.
16.	“Relation of pain sensory threshold to the form of the mechanical stimulator,” by George Bishop, Rockefeller Foundation Grant, undated.
17.	Reprints: Scheibel & Scheibel, Roitbak, Diamond, and other authors, 1962-1971.
18.	Ethel Ronzoni, regarding the “hiker dress,” undated.
19.	Ethel Ronzoni, reprints, 1926.
20.	Rotating interrupter, undated.
21.	Walter Rothenbuhler letter regarding bee research, 1957.
22.	Science (journal), reviews of articles, 1963-1966.
23.	“Some observations and influences on the nature of dendrites,” from Wade Marshall’s files, 1958.
24.	Ralph Sonnenschein, reprint of Sonnenschein article and letter from Bishop to Margaret Jones, 1958.
25.	Staining procedures, 1953.
26.	Thalamus, from notes on Herrick’s Foundations, 1953.
27.	Notes and photographs, undated.
28.	Weight chart, undated.
29.	Dr. Bishop’s announcement of injury from fall from ladder, 1970.
30.	“One way to control dandelions,” from Missouri Botanical Garden Bulletin, June 1957.

Back to Series List

Series 2: Collected Reprints. 1917-1936. Volumes 1-2.

This series contains the 1917-1936 publications of Dr. Bishop. These volumes were arranged chronologically and have been bound in buckram.

Volume 1 of 2

Collected reprints of Dr. Bishop, 1917-1929.

Volume 2 of 2

Collected reprints of Dr. Bishop, 1930-1936.

Back to Series List