University of Virginia Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library

1940s

University of Virginia Health System Scrapbook: The 1940s

1940

  • Library Books and Journals: 19,433
  • Current Library Periodicals: n/a
  • Medical School Tuition: Virginia, $310, Other $360
  • Number of Medical Students: 253
  • War conditions begin to affect operation of the University of Virginia Library.
  • Emphasis on the needs of the Medical Library is a major objective of the Alumni Fund Drive.
  • Lack of space in the Library is a critical problem, and many medical journals and books are transferred to the two-year-old Alderman Library.
School of Medicine Class of 1940

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1940

School of Nursing Class of 1940

Blue Ridge Hospital Nursing Class of 1940

President Roosevelt addressing the UVa community

President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressing the University of Virginia community

lab students

Lab students

UVa Hospital, West Wing

University of Virginia Hospital, West Wing

1941

  • Library Books and Journals: 19,433
  • Current Library Periodicals: n/a
  • Medical School Tuition: Virginia $310, Other $360
  • Number of Medical Students: 253
Medical School Class of 1941

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1941

Ms. Virginia H. Walke, Director of Nurses

Virginia H. Walker, Director of Nurses

Students' Lounge is Gift of 1941 Class

Students’ Lounge is gift of 1941 Class

Fourteen graduates of the Class of 1941 take the oath of office as first lieutenants in the Medical Corps Reserve of the United States Army

Fourteen graduates of the Class of 1941 take the oath of office as first lieutenants in the Medical Corps Reserve of the United States Army

New Three-Story Building For Interns

New three-story building for interns

New Hosptial Wing... has a total of 169 beds for ward patients

New Hospital Wing… has a total of 169 beds for ward patients

1942

  • Library Books and Journals: 19,433
  • Current Library Periodicals: n/a
  • Medical School Tuition: Virginia $310, Other $360
  • Number of Medical Students: 253
Medical School Class of 1942

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1942

New X-Ray Room

New X-Ray Room

UVa 8th Evacuation Unit

University of Virginia’s 8th Evacuation Unit—“The Medical School of Jefferson’s University has become fully geared to work the forces moving toward victory for the United Nation’s cause.”—H. E. Jordan, Dean School of Medicine

Occupational Therapy Room opened at Rucker Convalescent Home

Occupational Therapy Room opens at Rucker Convalescent Home

Rucker Convalescent Home - Caring for Children

Caring for children at the UVA Hospital.

1943

  • Library Books and Journals: 19,433
  • Current Library Periodicals: n/a
  • Medical School Tuition: Virginia $310, Other $360
  • Number of Medical Students: 253
  • From 1943-1945, the Quacks: won three Intramural softball crowns, and spread discontent throughout the University of Virginia with a string of seventy-eight consecutive victories.
  • As part of a year-round schooling effort to aid the war effort, there were two classes coming out of the University in 1943.
First Medical School Class of 1943

First School of Medicine Class of 1943

Second Medical School Class of 1943

Second School of Medicine Class of 1943

Volleyball on the roof above the recently opened John Staige Davis Psychiatric Ward

Volleyball on the roof above the recently opened John Staige Davis Psychiatric Ward

Rucker Home Opens!

Opening of the Rucker Home

1944

  • Library Books and Journals: 20,000
  • Current Library Periodicals: 300
  • Medical School Tuition: Virginia $310, Other $360
  • Medical Students: 265
  • The 8th Evacuation Hospital moved frequently in 1944. By the end of 1944 it was the only hospital north of the Futa Pass, and it needed to be winterized. Floors and side walls were built in the tents. Prefabricated huts were used for some wards. Shortly after these preparations were begun, a severe wind and rain storm blew lumber around as if it were paper, flattened the mess hall, and smashed the wards. By the time the winterizing was finished the snow was about a foot deep.
Medical School Class of 1944

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1944

Dudley Crofford Smith, Chair, Department of Dermatology

Dudley Crofford Smith, Chair, Department of Dermatology

Edwin Partridge Lehman, Professor of Surgery and Gynecology

Edwin Partridge Lehman, Professor of Surgery and Gynecology

The 8th Evacuation Hospital Staff

The staff of the 8th Evacuation Hospital

The 8th Evac on the Move

The 8th Evacuation Hospital on the move

1945

  • Library Books and Journals: 20,000
  • Current Library Periodicals: 300
  • Medical School Tuition: Virginia, $310, Other $360
  • Number of Medical Students: 265
  • The 8th Evacuation Hospital officially dissolved as a unit on September 29, 1945, after caring for more than 71,000 patients.
  • The Nursing School Library’s collection of 1300 volumes is cataloged.
  • Anne Morris is named the Medical Librarian.
  • The 1945-46 Report of the Medical Library states that Dr. Stephen Watts donated a collection of 87 rare medical books including editions of Avicenna, Fallopium, Galen, Vesalius, and William Harvey.
Medical School class of 1945

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1945

Blue Ridge Hospital Nursing Class of 1945

Blue Ridge Hospital Nursing Class of 1945

Major Byrd Leavell

Major Byrd Leavell, the 8th Evacuation Hospital

Colonel Staige Blackford

Colonel Staige Blackford, Professor of Internal Medicine and organizer of UVa’s 8th Evacuation Hospital Unit

Winterized tents of the 8th Evacuation Hospital, Pietramala, Italy

Winterized tents of the 8th Evacuation Hospital, Pietramala, Italy

8th Evacuation Hospital reunion shortly after the War

8th Evacuation Hospital reunion shortly after the War

1946

  • Library Books and Journals: c. 23,000
  • Current Library Periodicals: c. 400
  • Medical School Tuition: n/a
  • Number of Medical Students: n/a
Medical School Class of 1946

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1946

The Corner District

The Corner District, Charlottesville

The Barringer Wing of UVa Hospital

The Barringer Wing of the University of Virginia Hospital

Replicas of ancient surgical instruments donated to the University Library's Special Collections

Replicas of ancient surgical instruments donated to the University Library’s Special Collections by the 8th Evacuation Hospital

McKim Hall

McKim Hall

Surgical tools

Replicas of ancient surgical tools donated to the University Library’s Special Collections

8th Evacuation Hospital

8th Evacuation Hospital—Byrd Leavell singing up a storm

1947

  • Library Books and Journals: n/a
  • Current Library Periodicals: n/a
  • Medical School Tuition: n/a
  • Number of Medical Students: n/a
Medical Class of 1947

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1947

Harvey E. Jordan, Dean of the School of Medicine, 1940-1949

Harvey E. Jordan, Dean of the School of Medicine, 1940-1949 “… in this school the point has been reached that further progress seems definitely and sharply restricted unless new construction be secured.”

Class of 1947… ten years after graduation

School of Medicine Class of 1947 … ten years after graduation

Nursing students, time for study...

Nursing students, time for study …

Nursing students, time for play...

Nursing students, time for play …

1948

  • Library Books and Journals: 25,000
  • Current Library Periodicals: 446
  • Medical School Tuition: n/a
  • Number of Medical Students: n/a
  • University of Virginia Faculty Wives’ Club is established.
  • The first state appropriation of $1,500 is allocated to the University for medical books and journals.
  • There are 498 beds in the University of Virginia Hospital, 375 of which are for clinical instruction.
  • 64,310 visits are made to the Outpatient Department.
Medical School Class of 1948

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1948

Nursing School Class of February, 1948

University of Virginia School of Nursing Class of February, 1948

Nursing School Class of August, 1948

University of Virginia School of Nursing Class of August, 1948

Harvey E. Jordan

Harvey E. Jordan—“His door was open to us before we became students of medicine, was open to us as students of medicine, and we feel that the door of his heart will always be open to us.”

1949

  • Library Books and Journals: 27,800
  • Current Library Periodicals: 300
  • Medical School Tuition: Virginia: $350; other: $600
  • Number of Medical Students: 265
  • Vincent Archer develops lead-glass gown to protect wearer from Roentgen rays.
  • Staige Davis Blackford Memorial Lectures are planned.
  • First listing of Department of Surgery (previously the Department of Surgery and Gynecology).
  • Vernon W. Lippard becomes Dean of the Department of Medicine, replacing Harvey Jordan.
Medical School Class of 1949

University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1949

Roy Beazley, the Director of the School of Nursing and the Nursing Service

Roy Beazley, the Director of the School of Nursing and the Nursing Service

Capping Ceremony for the Nursing Class of 1949

Capping Ceremony for the Nursing Class of 1949

Vernon W. Lippard becomes Dean of the School of Medicine

Vernon W. Lippard, Dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine

Excavation for the new Cancer Research Building begins

Excavation for the new Cancer Research Building begins

Henry Bearden Mulholland

Henry Bearden Mulholland

Cars parked infront of the portico entrance to the Medical School

Cars parked in front of the portico entrance to the University of Virginia Medical School

War maneuvers at Fort Sam Houston

War maneuvers at Fort Sam Houston

Physiology students doing  experiments

Physiology students doing experiments

Anatomy lab students at work

“The stench of the cadaver, a greasy, dog-eared GRAY’S, and dirty, once white lab coats mark the basic training course of the embryo doctor. Though the days are long and the nights even longer, anatomy is a must—to be learned so well, and then so soon forgotten”