Collection Summary
John W. Colbert Papers
1895-1966
1903-1944
1895-1966
1903-1944
MSS16345
Colbert, John W. (John William), 1880-1965
400 items
3 containers plus 1 oversize
1.9 linear feet
English
Collection material in English
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Pathologist and
physician. Correspondence, diaries, speeches and lectures, articles, research
materials, and artwork pertaining to Colbert's experiences researching tropical
diseases, providing medical care to the French and American armies during World
War I, accompanying the American Expeditionary Forces to Russia, working as a
physician in China, founding the Woman's Ambulance and Defense Corps of
America, and serving as a U.S. Army officer during World War II.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Colbert, John W. (John William), 1880-1965.
Organizations
France. Armée--Medical personnel.
United States. Army--Medical personnel.
United States. Army--Officers.
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces.
Woman's Ambulance and Defense Corps of America.
Subjects
Earthquakes--Japan--Yokohama-shi.
Fires--California--San Francisco.
Fires--Japan--Yokohama-shi.
Medical care--Afghanistan.
Nursing--Study and teaching--Puerto Rico.
Physicians, Foreign--China.
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906.
Tropical medicine--Panama.
Tropical medicine--Puerto Rico.
World War, 1914-1918--Medical care--Belgium.
World War, 1914-1918--Medical care--France.
World War, 1914-1918--Medical care--Turkey.
World War, 1939-1945--Alaska.
World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Female.
World War, 1939-1945--South Pacific.
World War, 1939-1945--Women.
Places
China--Politics and government--1912-1949.
China--Social conditions.
Gallipoli Peninsula (Turkey)--History.
Soviet Union--History--Allied intervention, 1918-1920.
Tianjin (China)--History.
Titles
John William Colbert papers
Occupations
Pathologists.
Physicians.
Acquisition Information
The papers of John W. Colbert, pathologist and physician, were given
to the Library of Congress by his daughter, Helen G. Yates, in 1978.
Processing History
The papers of John W. Colbert were arranged and described by Bradley E. Gernand in 1992. The
register was revised in 2008. The finding aid was updated in 2023 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
Transfers
Photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photograph
Division where they are identified as part of the John W. Colbert Papers.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of John W. Colbert
is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The papers of John W. Colbert are open to research. Researchers are
advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many
collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these
items for research use.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, John W. Colbert Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1880, Jun. 9
Born, Fairfield, Mo.
1898
1899
Student, Maryville College, Maryville, Tenn.
1899
Student, Mackenzie College, São Paulo, Brazil
1903
Graduate, Marion-Sims-Beaumont College of Medicine, St. Louis
University, St. Louis, Mo.
1904
Resident physician, Maplewood Sanatorium, Jacksonville,
Ill.
Medical intern, Bellevue Hospital, New York, N.Y.
Emergency medical service in New York, N.Y., following the
sinking of the General Slocum (steamboat)
1904
1905
Medical superintendent of hospital and tropical pathologist,
Puerto Rico
1906
Emergency medical service in San Francisco, Calif., following
earthquake and fire
circa 1906
Tropical pathologist in Panama and in the Canal Zone
1906
1913
Chief surgeon, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, Los
Angeles, Calif., and Albuquerque, N. Mex.
1913
1914
Medical superintendent, United Fruit Co., Colombia
1914
1917
Surgeon and physician for the French Army in Europe during
World War I
circa 1915
Married Fritzi Cutts (divorced circa 1944)
1916
Recreational travel around the world with wife
1917
1919
Surgeon and physician for the United States Army in Europe
during and following World War I
1918
Wounded by phosgene gas in the Battle of the Argonne, Argonne,
France
1919
Wounded in ambulance accident, La Ferté-Bernard,
France
1920
1937
Medical practice in Tientsin, China
1923
Led first medical relief expedition to Yokohama-shi, Japan,
following earthquake and fire; directed relief program of the United States
Navy's Asiatic Fleet
1938
Returned to United States
Awarded Military Order of the Purple Heart
1940
Founded the Woman's Ambulance and Defense Corps of
America
1941
1945
United States Army officer in South Pacific and Alaska during
World War II
1945
1946
Director, Marin Medical Center, Marin, Calif.
1946
1951
Physician and surgeon, Morrison-Knudsen Construction Co.,
Afghanistan
1947
Married Helen Grace Davis in Karachi, India (now
Pakistan)
1953
1954
Physician, Owens-Corning Glass Co., Los Angeles,
Calif.
1954
1961
Physician, Coast Federal Savings and Loan Association, Los
Angeles, Calif.
1961
Retired
1965, Oct.
Died, New Mexico
Scope and Content Note
The papers of John William Colbert (1880-1965), tropical pathologist
and physician, span the years 1895-1966, with the bulk of the material dating
from 1903 to 1944. The papers include articles, artwork, correspondence,
diaries, research materials, and speeches and lectures and are organized into
the following series:
[Correspondence](corr),
[Writings](wri),
[Miscellany](misc),
and
[Oversize](ov).
Known to friends and family as "Doc," Colbert led a distinguished life
and career in various world locales. He contributed substantially to research
on tropical diseases; trained the first group of nurses in Puerto Rico;
assisted in relief efforts following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and
firestorm; accompanied American Expeditionary Forces to Russia in 1918 in
support of that country's short-lived republican regime; led the first
international relief expedition to reach Yokohama-shi, Japan, following the
disastrous earthquake and fire of 1923; lived in China during the severe
political and social disorder of the 1920s and 1930s; and pioneered modern
medical techniques in Afghanistan following World War II.
Colbert's papers document his experiences in World War I, in China
during the interwar years, and in World War II. Serving dual commissions in the
French and American armies during the First World War, Colbert was one of few
Americans to participate in the conflict from beginning to end. He witnessed
battles in France, Belgium, and the Dardanelles. After the war, Colbert began a
medical practice in Tientsin (now Tianjin), China, where many foreign nationals
lived and where he had connections through his first wife, Fritzi Cutts, an Englishwoman born
in China. His papers record the debilitating social and political disorder in
that country and the activities of American and European nationals living in
Tientsin. Prior to World War II, Colbert founded and led the Woman's Ambulance
and Defense Corps of America (WADCA), a forerunner of later government efforts
to involve women in wartime activities.
Arrangement of the Papers
This collection is arranged in four series:
-
[Correspondence,
1903-1966](corr)
-
[Writings,
1895-1964](wri)
-
[Miscellany,
1903-1965](misc)
-
[Oversize,
1903-1941](ov)
Catalog Record: [https://lccn.loc.gov/mm81016345]
Container List
Container
Contents
1
Correspondence,
1903-1966
1903-1966
Letters to and from Colbert and his wives, Fritzi Cutts and Helen Grace Davis.
Arranged chronologically by year, month, and day.
1
1903-1966, undated
1903-1966, undated
1-3
Writings,
1895-1964
1895-1964
Diaries, manuscripts of articles and short stories, printed
matter, research materials, and speeches and lectures.
Organized alphabetically by type of material and therein by topic
or subject.
1
Diaries,
1917-1922, 1946
1917-1922, 1946
1
Manuscripts and drafts
1
Afghanistan,
undated
undated
1
Brazil,
undated
undated
2
China,
undated
undated
2
Dominican Republic,
undated
undated
2
Japanese earthquake of 1923,
1963
1963
2
Japanese culture and the origin
of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, 1940,
1962
1962
2
Mexico,
undated
undated
2
Miscellaneous,
1940-1964, undated
1940-1964, undated
2
Sinking of the
General Slocum in East River, New York, N.Y.,
circa 1960
circa 1960
2
Surgery
2
Conservative method,
circa 1960
circa 1960
2
World War I,
undated
undated
2
Tennis in Tientsin, China,
undated
undated
2
Woman's Ambulance and Defense
Corps of America (WADCA),
undated
undated
2
Printed materials,
1895, 1908-1938
1895, 1908-1938
(2
folders)
2
Research materials
2
Japanese earthquake of 1923,
1923-1946
1923-1946
3
Woman's Ambulance and Defense
Corps of America,
1940-1942
1940-1942
3
Speeches and lectures
3
Scrapbook (includes some
published writings),
1910-1935
1910-1935
3
Typescripts and handwritten
manuscripts,
1898-1944
1898-1944
3
Miscellany,
1903-1965
1903-1965
Cloth headband worn by relief officials in Yokohama-shi, Japan, in
1923, charcoal and pen-and-ink drawings and sketches by Colbert, and licenses,
certificates, and membership cards.
Arranged by type of material.
3
Artifact, cloth headband with
Chinese and English characters reading, "American Red Cross--Shanghai Unit,"
worn during relief efforts following the Japanese earthquake of 1923,
1923
1923
3
Artwork, charcoal and pen-and-ink
drawings,
1934-1946, undated
1934-1946, undated
3
Certificates, licenses, and
membership cards,
1915-1965, undated
[
See Oversize
](ov1)
1915-1965, undated
OV 1
Oversize,
1903-1941
1903-1941
Certificates, licenses, and membership cards.
Arranged and described according to the series, container, and
folder from which the items were removed.
OV 1
Miscellany
OV 1
Certificates,
licenses, and membership cards,
1903-1941, undated
1903-1941, undated
(Container
3)