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William H. Helfand collection
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing [Contact Us]Claire Fagin Hall, 418 Curie Boulevard, Floor 2U, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4217
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
William H. Helfand is a collector of medical ephemera. He is a consultant to the National Library of Medicine, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and other institutions in areas relating to art and medicine. He has degrees in Chemical Engineering (University of Pennsylvania, 1948), Pharmacy (Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, 1952), and was awarded honorary degrees of Doctor of Humane Letters by the Albany College of Pharmacy, Union University in 1981, and Doctor of Science by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science in 1976.
He has written five books, including Pharmacy: An Illustrated History (with David Cowen, Harry N. Abrams, 1990) and The Picture of Health (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1991). He has published a number of articles on the history of pharmacy and on prints, caricatures, posters, and ephemera relating to pharmacy and medicine in Pharmacy in History, Medical History, Revue d'Histoire de la Pharmacie and other journals. Exhibitions of portions of his collection of prints and ephemera in the fields of medicine and pharmacy have been held many places, most recently in exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Library of Medicine. In 1986 he received the Pepys Medal of the Ephemera Society, London, for outstanding contributions in the field of ephemera studies. In 1972 he received the Kremers Award of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, and in 1989, he received the Urdang Medal for distinguished historical writing from the same organization.
In 1987, he retired after more than 33 years as an executive with Merck and Co., the multinational pharmaceutical company.
References: "Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Varieties of Medical Ephemera - William Helfand." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2014
Gift of William H. Helfand.
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Bethany Myers
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is unrestricted.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Center with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.
Collection Inventory
Pamphlet: Florence Nightingale and the Founding of Professional Nursing. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 1959. 24 pp., illustrated.
Allentown Hospital [PA] School of Nursing, 35th Commencement program, May 22, 1936.
Nurses’ Prayer, by Mary Stuart. Compliments of W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, “Publishers to the Nursing Profession.” c. 1930s.
The Nightingale Pledge. Printed leaflet. W. B. Saunders Company, c. 1930s [?]
Pennsylvania Practical Nurses’ Association [Pittsburgh, PA] Leaflet, c. 1950.
Advertising circular: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. “Answering the Call: The Metropolitan Nurse.” c. 1950. 4 pp. leaflet, illustrations.