History of the College
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) was established in Chicago in 1913 at the initiative of Franklin Martin, MD, FACS. The College is a surgical society dedicated to promoting the highest standards of surgical care through education of, and advocacy, for its Fellows and their patients, and to safeguarding standards of care in an optimal and ethical practice environment.
The College was an outgrowth of the highly successful Clinical Congresses of Surgeons of North America, which took place annually from 1910 in various large surgical centers throughout North America as a means for continuing education of practicing surgeons. The Clinical Congresses were, themselves, an outgrowth of the journal Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, another initiative of ACS founder Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS. SG&O began publishing in 1905 as a vehicle for practicing surgeons to edit their own journal, unlike most other scientific medical journals of the day, with the exception of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which were published by non-medical commercial firms for profit. From the time of its origin, the College has been involved in surgical education and research, patient welfare, hospital standardization, ethics of practice, and collaboration with other medical associations.
For more information, see:
Davis, Loyal, Fellowship of Surgeons: a History of the American College of Surgeons. Chicago: ACS, c1960. Available for viewing in the Archives.
Stephenson, George W. American College of Surgeons at 75 Chicago: ACS, 1990, c1994. Available on request from the Archives.
Martin, Franklin H., The Joy of Living: An autobiography (2 vols.), Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., 1933. A history of the founding and earliest years of the College, available for viewing in the Archives.
Overview of the Archives Collection
ACS archival records include the minutes, agendas, correspondence and other meeting materials of its Board of Regents, Board of Governors and all other existing entities of the College. The Archives contains the periodical and monograph publications produced by the College as well as any other historically valuable material produced by and unique to the College in the performance of its mission. Although papers of its members (called Fellows) and even its Presidents are generally not found here, one major exception is the papers of ACS Founder Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS.
The papers of Franklin H. and Isabelle H. Martin consist of a set of “Memoirs,” (1899-1936) which are 48 three-ring binders of scrapbook materials, such as news clippings, photos, diary entries, travel souvenirs, programs related both to ACS functions and Chicago social life, and Martin’s documentation of his service on President Woodrow Wilson’s wartime civilian body known as the Council of National Defense and specifically the minutes of the General Medical Board.
Besides the “Memoirs,” Martin’s papers include original records such as minutes of boards of various Chicago hospital and postgraduate medical schools with which he and his father-in-law were connected (1872-1910); his obstetric/gynecology case books (1891-1917); and his diaries, journals, personal files, correspondence, and tributes about him.
Another rich resource found in the ACS Archives is Eleanor K. Grimm’s compilation of the history of the American College of Surgeons, from 1913 to the 1950s, which is contained in 26 three-ring binders. Miss Grimm was the private secretary of Dr. Franklin Martin from 1913 until his death in 1935, and then chief administrative officer of the College until her retirement in 1951. Her compilation, besides including tear sheets from ACS publications, is comprised of typed transcripts of her narration as spoken and read onto wire recording devices. Interspersed with her finely documented notes are her own views expressed and labeled as such. She created a very detailed index to accompany this “ACS History.”
Because the College began in 1913, its Archives is a unique repository for the study of the history of medicine in North America in the twentieth century. This was a period of increasing government involvement in medical practice, of patient awareness, and interest in care given, and of conflict and collaboration among the various medical societies. Its international membership base also makes available material on surgery throughout the world in the last century. The ACS was a leader in hospital standardization practices, and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals finds its origins in the American College of Surgeons. In addition, ACS was a pioneer in instituting medical motion pictures as an educational technique for surgeons-in-training. It played a major role in the development of the Residency Review Commission for Surgery. Its administration of research and promotion of education in treatment of cancer and traumatic injury set the standards under which all subsequent research has been administered and surgical education promoted.
Having its headquarters in Chicago since its inception has meant that the College has been an integral part of the history of medicine in Chicago, with its early members well known surgeon educators, researchers, clinicians, and administrators at the primary medical institutions in the city and country.Revised April 15, 2011