Charles Loomis Dana Papers, 1876-1932

Biographical Note

Biographical Statement

Dr. Charles Loomis Dana was a New York physician specializing in neurology. He was born in Woodstock, Vermont, in 1852. He got his BA at Dartmouth in 1872. He then served as secretary for Senator Morrill of Vermont in Washington, DC. While there, he studied medicine and received his MD from the National Medical College (Columbian University) in 1876. For a year, he also worked as the private secretary of Spencer F. Baird, head of the Smithsonian. He continued his medical studies at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, receiving another MD in 1877, and spent 2 years at Bellevue Hospital training with Austin Flint and Edward Janeway.

He then established a private practice in New York City. His connections with the neurologists Drs. Édouard Séquin, William Alexander Hammond, and George M. Beard sparked his interest in neurology; Dr. Dana maintained Dr. Beard’s practice for two summers. He remained involved with Bellevue throughout his life, developing the neurological service there.

He began his teaching career as the Professor of Physiology at the New York Women’s Medical College. From 1884-1895, he was the Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System at the Post Graduate Hospital. In 1898, he became the Professor of Diseases of the Nervous System at the Cornell University Medical College, a post he had until his retirement. He contributed to periodicals and wrote the “Text Book of Nervous Diseases,” which was first published in 1892 and went through ten editions.

Dr. Dana was very active in professional organizations, serving as president for the New York Academy of Medicine, New York Neurological Society, and American Neurological Association. He was also a founding member of the Charaka Club, a group of doctors formed to explore the historical, literary and artistic aspects of medicine. He had a deep interest in the history of medicine and wrote the “Peaks of Medical History,” published in 1926.

Dr. Dana died on December 12, 1935.

Note: Reference sources differ on many of the dates associated with Dr. Dana.

Denny-Brown, D., Rose, A. S., and Sahs, A. L. (Eds.) (1975). Centennial anniversary volume of the American Neurological Association: 1875-1975. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Peterson, F. (1936). Obituary of Dr. Charles Loomis Dana. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 12(1), 27–30.

Collection Description

Scope and Content

This collection documents Dr. Charles Loomis Dana’s medical career and professional life. His professional papers include published articles and reprints, manuscripts for speeches and books, handwritten notes, and research materials. Topics documented include: handwriting, telepathy, insanity, psychiatry, alcohol, medical history, early physicians, and printing. These records include reproductions of anatomical illustrations, frontispieces, etc., many taken from sources such as bookseller’s catalogs, as well as photographs. There are also preservation photocopies of some materials; these copies were made before the collection was acquired by the Academy and the original documents are not present.

The case records and correspondence document Dr. Dana’s medical practice from 1918-1929. They include patient histories, along with correspondence and other records related to his patients. Some of the more common conditions found in Dana's cases include depression, anxiety, paranoia, insomnia, dementia praecox, migraines, neurasthenia, psychasthenia, epilepsy, lateral sclerosis, tinnitus, encephalitis, and encephalitis lethargica.

Additional Description

Administrative Info

Requests for permission to quote from or publish any materials should be directed to the reference librarian or curator in writing.

Preferred Citation

Charles Loomis Dana Papers, 1876-1932. The Drs. Barry and Bobbi Coller Rare Book Reading Room, New York Academy of Medicine.

Provenance

The professional papers were donated by the Woodstock Historical Society in 1996. They previously formed Series II of the Woodstock Historical Society's Charles Loomis Dana Papers. The case reports were a gift of Dr. Dana's estate.

Collection Contents

Find Similar Resources

The Woodstock Historical Society has a collection of Dr. Dana's papers, which includes personal papers and materials related to his non-medical writing.

Dana materials can be found in some of the Academy's other archival collections, including its own institutional archives and the Charaka Club Records. The Academy also has an oil portrait of Dr. Dana.

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of The New York Academy of Medicine Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.