National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Copyright restrictions. Consult the Archives Center at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Paul Ellington, executor, is represented by:
Richard J.J. Scarola, Scarola Ellis LLP, 888 Seventh Avenue, 45th Floor, New York, New York 10106. Telephone (212) 757-0007 x 235; Fax (212) 757-0469; email: rjjs@selaw.com; www.selaw.com; www.ourlawfirm.com.
Collection Citation:
Duke Ellington Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding partially funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Angle, Edward H. (Edward Hartley), 1855-1930 Search this
Source:
Medical Sciences, Division of (NMAH, SI) Search this
Former owner:
Medical Sciences, Division of (NMAH, SI) Search this
Extent:
3.16 Cubic feet (9 boxes
)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Radiographs
Programs
Photographs
Minutes
Letters (correspondence)
Drawings
Date:
1893-1940.
Scope and Contents note:
Business and professional papers of Dr. Edward H. Angle, relating to his pioneering work in orthodontics. The papers include letters to and from Dr. Angle; photographs, subjects including Angle, his patients, equipment, skulls and jawbones and other demonstration photographs of orthodontic subjects, including some x-ray photographs (radiographs); notes and writings, including a book manuscript with photographs; drawings; printed material including meeting minutes and programs from the Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontics; and several items appearing to have no relation to dentistry or orthodontics.
Arrangement:
Divided into 5 series: 1. Biographical, 1893-1940; 2. Correspondence, 1893-1939; 3. Photographs, 1915-1917; 4. Case Studies, 1906-1933; 5. Publications, 1889-1940.
Biographical/Historical note:
Dr. Angle was an early practitioner and innovator in the field of orthodontics. He is considered the founder of Orthodontics as the first specialization in dentistry.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Dr. Allan Brodie, Head of the Department of Orthodontics, University of Illinois, 1962.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research access on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Medical History, Division of (NMAH, Smithsonian Institution). Search this
Extent:
3 Cubic feet (9 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Drawings
Patents
Blueprints
Advertisements
Date:
1936-1970
Summary:
Blueprints, drawings, patent applications, patents, product photographs, correspondence, bills and receipts, advertising, and published articles related to the Kerns' products. The bulk of the material, 1949-1958, is from George Kern's files. It primarily relates to the development and marketing of the Dentagraph and high speed dental drills before the formation of the Fairfax Manufacturing Company in 1957.
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes blueprints and drawings, patent applications, patents, product photographs, correspondence, bills and receipts, advertising, and published articles related to the Kern's products. The bulk of the material, dating from 1949 to 1958, is from George Kern's files. It primarily relates to the development and marketing of the Dentagraph and high speed dental drills before the formation of the Fairfax Manufacturing Company in 1957. Most of the FMC material document's Kern's role as a stockholder.
However, a large portion of the blueprints and drawings were created by his son or other FMC employees. Several of the patents are George Kern, Jr.'s, and there are copies of other people's patents that relate to the Kerns' patents or inventing activities. The collection has been arranged in chronological order within five series.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into five series.
Series 1: Personal Papers, 1952-1959
Series 2: Product Files, 1945-1968
Series 3: Marketing Records, 1936-1962
Series 4: Client Files, 1949-1958
Series 5: Competitor Files, 1957
Biographical / Historical:
George Robert Kern was born in 1894 and died in 1962. He was an Arlington, Va., area cabinet maker and machinist who went on to invent several pieces of dental equipment that helped revolutionize the field of dentistry in the early 1950s he was joined in these endeavors by his son, George Kern, Jr.
The elder George Kern began working with dental equipment according to his promotional material because of his own experience with poor fitting dentures. As a machinist accustomed to tight tolerances, he knew it must be possible to make dentures fit better. The result of his work was the Dentagraph and his first patent, granted in 1950. In 1948 a company, Kern
laboratory, was incorporated to manufacture the Dentagraph and license the "Dentagraph Tech nic." He also sold dental laboratory benches and dental molding materials under the name Kern Laboratory Equipment Company. Kern's Dentagraph was used by the National Standards Laboratory to test denture materials and the laboratory further improved the device. Apparently Kern received the rights to produce and market this improved tool.
In the early 1950s he began working on high speed dental drills. He developed both a water turbine drill and an air turbine drill. The water turbine drill was manufactured by Bowen Company of Maryland under the trademarked name Turbo Jet. In 1957 the company acquired the rights to this tool and its trademark.
Kern and his son improved on the water turbine drill, and in 1957 formed Fairfax Manufacturing Company (FMC) to produce an air turbine drill and the improved water turbine drill. The senior Kern was a participating stockliolder, receiving stock in return for rights to his inventions. George Kern, Jr., L. W. Hazleton (President of Hazleton Laboratories, a biological
(research and development company), and R. G. Henninger (General Manager of Hazleton Laboratories) were the company officers. The stockholders included dentists who also tested the companies new products. Densco, Inc., a Colorado dental equipment company, marketed Kern's products from around 1954, and in 1957 the company began to market Fairfax Manufacturing Company's products.
George R. Kern, Jr., was born in 1919. He left public school in the tenth but took courses in industrial electricity and industrial engineering. He worked for worked the National Bureau of Standards for two years building and installing laboratory equipment. In 1951 he began working at Hazelton Laboratories as Superintendent of Maintenance. He patented several pieces of
Dental equipment and specialized parts for dental equipment. He died in 1987.
Related Materials:
The Division of Medicine and Science has several examples of the Kerns' dental equipment, including a Dentagraph and a number of hand pieces.
Provenance:
Collection donated by John Kern, 1992, December 22.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Usage or copyright restrictions in effect. Contact the repository for details.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Annamae Barlup Myers & Stephen Harriman Diaries, 1883-1894, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Annamae Barlup Myers & Stephen Harriman Diaries, 1883-1894, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Annamae Barlup Myers & Stephen Harriman Diaries, 1883-1894, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Apex Film Corporation ; director, William J. Thiele. producer, Jack Chertok ; screenplay, William J. Thiele and David Sheppard ; director of photography, Robert Pittach ; Southern California State Dental Association. [195-?] 1 reel (ca. 15min.) : sd., b&w. ; 16mm. positive. Credits: Art director, McClure Capps ; film editor, Jack Ruggiero ; music, David Chudnow ; narrator, Gerald Mohr ; technical advisers, John R. Abel, DOS, Captain Perry M. Shaw, D.C. USNR, Hugo M. Kulstad, DDS, James Robinson.
Summary: Film follows the story of two brothers: Jimmy and Tommy. Jimmy dreams of going to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. However he fails the dental exam and is therefore rejected. He asks the family dentist to teach young children the importance of good nutrition and good dental hygiene.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Medical Sciences Film Collection, circa 1930s-1960s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Encyclopedia Britannica Films, Inc., 1 reel (ca. 11 min.) : sd., b&w ; 16mm. positive. Copyright: MCMXLIX
Credits: Copyright and the Right of Reproduction by Television Reserved under the Supervision of Warren P. Everote, Ph.D., Associate in Research and Production. In collaboration with J. Roy Blayney, D.D.—Director, Walter G. Zoller Memorial Dental Clinic, The University of Chicago.
Summary: An 11-year-old boy has just had his first cavity filled. The dentist gives him advice on brushing, eating habits, and return visits. The use of flouride as a decay deterrent is mentioned.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Medical Sciences Film Collection, circa 1930s-1960s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Produced with the cooperation of Veterans. Administration Audio Visual Service, Veterans Administration Dental
Training Center, Washington, DC. [197-?] 1 reel (400 ft.) : sd., col. ; 16mm. positive. Summary: Film opens at the National Museum of American History, showing many advances in the last two centuries. Dentists are urged to add years to their lives by changing the way they practice—sitting down, using the right equipment, and adjusting the patient's position.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Medical Sciences Film Collection, circa 1930s-1960s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
1 reel (ca. 2 min.) : sd., b&w ; 16mm. positive. Summary: Brushing, eating right, dental examinations, and sodium flouride treatments all add up to good teeth. Slogan: "Join Hands With Your Dentist."
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Medical Sciences Film Collection, circa 1930s-1960s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
The National Film Board of Canada ; produced for the Dental Health Division, Department of National Health and Welfare ;
script, P. K. Page and Jim MacKay ; animation, Jim MacKay, Ray Roy, S. D. Rigolo ; music, Eldon Rathburn ; camera, Lyle Enright. Encyclopedia Britannica Films, Inc., circa 949. 1 reel (ca. 15 min.) : sd, col. ; 16mm. positive. Animated. Copyright: MCMXLIX
Summary: Animated film of young family with three children and dog. The front teeth cut food, the back teeth crush and grind food. The dog keeps his teeth clean by chewing bones. The family keep their teeth healthy by eating the right foods, brushing after meals, avoiding sweets, and seeing a dentist twice a year. Slogan: "Birthday Once a Year—Dentist Twice a Year"
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Medical Sciences Film Collection, circa 1930s-1960s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Producer, Dr. Eduard Georg Friedrich ; photography, Morris Blechman. [196-?] 1 reel (ca. 20 min.) : sd., b&w ; 16mm. positive.
Credits: Sound by Zenith Cinema Service, Inc. ; George W. Colburn Laboratory, Inc. (as a function of the Dental Health Education Committee of the North West Branch Chicago Dental Society). Summary: Film shows the approaches of two mothers at their children's first visits to the dentist. The correct one is relaxed and lets the dentist and his staff handle the child. The incorrect one is overly protective and nervous. Next are the four rules for good dental health: brush after each meal, nourishing foods, visit dentist two times per year, and treatment with sodium flouride.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Medical Sciences Film Collection, circa 1930s-1960s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
The 3-5 Year Old. The three to five-year-old is featured. He will grow taller rapidly and become more slender. His jaw and facial bones will grow. He should be introduced to the dentist. By five years of age he plays with other children, dresses and undresses himself, is toilet-trained, feeds himself, and has a longer attention span. He is very attached to his mother and doesn't like her to leave him; assure him she will come back. It's hard for him to accept a new baby, but let him help in the preparation for it. After four years, the appetite improves and he expresses likes and dislikes of food. Emphasize that dessert comes at the end of the meal and is not the meal. Measles is the most serious illness without an immunization. Recommends gamma globulin if exposed to measles.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Medical Sciences Film Collection, circa 1930s-1960s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Papers and photographs document the careers in show business (traveling medicine shows, vaudeville acts and acting in stage shows) of Mr. Sullivan, members of his family and associates.
Scope and Contents:
These papers and photographs mostly relate to the careers in show business of Mr. Sullivan, members of his family and associates. Their activities included traveling medicine shows, vaudeville acts and acting in stage shows. Most of the photographs are unidentified and undated. The publicity releases, theater handbills and newspaper clippings are often undated as are numerous handwritten scripts, ideas for jokes, and songs. Many diaries and daily account books are included but often do not indicate the identity of the record-keeper or his/her associates.
Some racist materials contained in the comedy acts reflect the prejudices of Oscar Sullivan's time and his Southern background. His reference to black persons in his diaries and his songs concerning blacks were degrading. His comedy routines involving black characters portrayed them with, the usual stereotypes.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1: Publicity, Scripts, Routines, Songs, 1910-1947
Series 2: Photographs, 1912-1960
Series 3: Correspondence, diaries, appointment books, 1909-1956
Series 4: Books, 1863-1942
Series 5: Miscellaneous, 1900-1959
Arranged roughly chronologically within each series.
Biographical / Historical:
The Sullivan collection (1900-1960) consists of advertisements, publicity materials, photographs, letters, appointment calendars, and work papers of W. Oscar Sullivan, his wife, Aline Moore and his daughters, Laverne and Virginia. Sullivan and his family were vaudeville, medicine and tent show performers who entertained in small towns, especially in the Southeast. Their act included monologues, singing, dancing, acrobatics, and comedy, including blackface. The Collection documents their careers as small-time entertainers who managed to eke out a living through their talents.
W. Oscar Sullivan was born in Georgia about October 10, 1891. He left school after the 6th grade. In 1909 he was known as Ruscara Sullie, "the Phenomenal Boy Assistant" to Lee Hubert & Co., "Magic, Mental Telepathy, Spiritualistic Phenomena."
Sullivan was encouraged by his brother, Lee, to stick with show business. Lee often dissuaded Oscar from writing home-sick letters to his mother who evidently wanted him to stay in Savannah, Georgia and get a steady job.
In October 1912, Sullivan became an agent for The Southern Ruralist, a semi-monthly farm journal, soliciting subscriptions. Also in October 1912, he applied to J. Frank Denton & Co., dealers in Lightning Rod and Fixtures in Spread, Georgia, for a salesman's job. He was told that the arrangement would be payment by commission and a horse and rig. The horse would have to be fed out of the commission. The company believed that being paid on commission would spur him on to work.
In November, 1912, Sullivan wrote to Archie Fourneia's Show which advertised that it presented up-to-date vaudeville and moving pictures. Sullivan's brother Robert a dentist, previously managed the Lyric Theater in Macon, Georgia where he met Ollie Hamilton, the stage manager for Fourneia. Fourneia offered Sullivan a job as straight man for Negro acts and to talk about the moving pictures and make announcements. He would receive $12 per week and all expenses. The terms were accepted, but delays followed. Another letter told him that he was expected to do "Nigger act show on type of Over the River Charlie"? and two acts a night. Fourneia cancelled on December 5 because he had previously wired money to another man who had finally arrived.
On December 6, 1912, Sullivan got an offer from Russell Craner to join "The Irish Piper", a play. But Sullivan turned the offer down because he had a contract with the Paul Anderson Stock Co. to handle general business and juvenile parts.
In 1912, Sullivan advertised himself as a "Character Elocutionist" for a twelve minute act. In 1913, he advertised that he could do a fifteen minute show presenting "Mighty Moments from Great Plays". He added he could do light comedy, juvenile leads, low comedy and heavy character roles.
On May 1, 1913, Sullivan was offered $12 per week for two acts a night-a specialty and closing act-by the R.L. Russell Show. He was to cut out the "nigger acts". Evidently he did not take it but went with another show to New England.
Sullivan did plays with the C.F. Haraden Show for the 1913 and 1916 seasons. In the early years, Sullivan wrote songs and poetry. His spelling was very bad. Some of the work was quite racist and nasty. Some of the poetry and writings were rather risqué.
There is no information when Oscar and Aline Moore were married. In 1917, their letterhead stationary announced "Sullivan-Moore" were experienced in drama, vaudeville, musical comedy and that they were "sober and reliable." The collection contains many programs printed in local newspapers showing them acting in plays at the Empire Theatre in Ironton, Ohio in 1918-1919.
In May 1922, the family including two daughters, lived in Savannah, Georgia. Both were members of Actor's Equity. In January, 1924, Sullivan was offered a job at $35 a week for 30 weeks with the Princess Floating Theatre of Beverly, Ohio. There is no indication of whether he took it.
By 1927, the Sullivans were living in Ironton, Ohio again. The children went to school there. Presumably, when Laverne was 11 and Virginia was 7, they had an act called "Sullivans and Their Knick Knack Kids."
In 1931, the Sullivans were looking for work and not eating well. The family in Savannah helped when they could. In 1931, Sullivan's mother died. Through these years, their show people friends offered them a variety of jobs. During the depression years, much unemployment was reported in letters from friends, relatives, neighbors and show people.
On February 16, 1933, Aline Sullivan died at age thirty eight after an operation and influenza. The family had been performing in Knoxville, Tennessee. Laverne was then eighteen and Virginia was fifteen years of age.
After her death, Sullivan and his daughters played in stage shows between movie shows and were known as "Flashes of 1933". After performing in Dallas in 1934, they became the "Dancing Cowgirls" or "Sullivan's Cowgirls with Diving Dog". The diving dog was Buddy who did a high dive before each performance in front of the theatre to draw in crowds. They received $100 for seven shows and a midnight performance.
Their show was a vaudeville act consisting of singing, dancing, acrobatic acts, roller skating, and comedy in blackface. The publicity and letter of reference described the act as culture, refined and usually clean. They toured small Southern towns and CCC camps where the commanders gave them good references. In 1937, they played at the Chicago World's Fair.
By 1941, Nell Brenizer, the pianist for the act, had become Oscar's second wife. On May 1, 1941, Buddy died at the age of seventeen. He was buried in a Pet Cemetery in Atlanta at a cost for the funeral of $55. The family visited his grave whenever they were in Atlanta.
On May, 1941, Virginia Sullivan appeared in Ripley's "Believe It Or Not". The caption under her drawn picture read: "Virginia balances three lighted lamps while bending backward from a standing position - lies flat on floor - and rises again."
During 1941, Sullivan drove around Georgia trying to book the act into schools and other locations. At the time it was considered a "tent" show with a trailer and a company of three performances.
There is no information concerning the family during the war years although in 1945, Virginia Sullivan received thanks from the Savannah Junior Chamber of Commerce for putting on many "Shows for the Boys".
In 1947, the family played as Eddie's Medicine Show with Virginia and Oscar. On occasional weekends, Laverne and her husband, Ken helped out. Nell played the accordion and Eddie lectured on the human body. They played in vaudeville at movie houses and dance halls, at fairs and expositions, at medicine shows and on empty lots. An incomplete 1951 diary shows income from candy and snow cones. The group still traveled frequently noted that his eyes needed an operation.
In 1955, they were still traveling - generally in small Southern towns. Sometimes they would spend $1 to advertise on the local radio.
Provenance:
Collection donated by William Jerry Eagle, October 15, 1980.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
