Collections

The records consist of student, subject, course, and seminar files documenting the activities and operations of the Yale Department of the History of Science and Medicine. Included are files of department chairmen Derek de Solla Price and Asger Aaboe.

The Richard Aaron Collection of Ira Cohen contains correspondence, writings, artwork, photographs, production files, and other papers by, to, or relating to Ira Cohen's life and work.

Poems written in response to the war and collected by Aaron.

The Edwin Hale Abbot Family papers contain correspondence, letterpress copybooks, legal and financial documents, diaries, maps, blueprints, and photographs, the bulk of which documents the personal life, law and business careers of Edwin Hale Abbot.

Papers and photographs relating to the Ensign, Woodruff, Kenney, and Abbot families, including Jane Teressa Kenney Abbot, Abigail Ensign Woodruff Kenney, Caroline Elizabeth Meyers, William Michael Meyers, Carrie Jane Abbot Meyers, and Grace Langdon Meyers Erikson.

The George Jacob Abbot Papers consist mainly of correspondence, drafts of speeches, unfinished drafts of U.S. State Department papers, newspaper clippings and other materials related to Abbot's employment as secretary to Daniel Webster and to his diplomatic service. There are some Abbot family materials among the papers as well.

The almanacs in this collection were issued annually by American and a few Canadian companies to promote the sale of their proprietary remedies. The remedies were secret rather than actually patented, and exaggerated claims were made for what they could cure. Almanacs were distributed free to customers by drug stores. Typically the back cover of the almanac carried an advertisement for an individual pharmacy. Often the almanacs had a hole at the top left, through which a string was tied so that they could be hung on a nail on the wall. Two almanacs are in miniature format.

The materials consist of sound recordings and edited transcripts of oral history interviews conducted by Florence Minnis with women faculty, administrators, and staff affiliated with Yale University. The edited transcripts, produced for readability, do not closely match the audiorecordings. Dates were taken from the original interview date.

This collection documents the life and work of Bradford E. Ableson, distinguished Yale Divinity School alumnus and prominent U.S. military chaplain. First a Presbyterian minister and later an Episcopal priest, Ableson was decorated for his service during the Persian Gulf War and served as Command Chaplain aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, one of the largest warships in the world. From 1996 to 1999 Ableson served as chaplain at Camp David during the Clinton administration, providing pastoral care to the President, his family, and support staff at the Maryland retreat. Correspondence, writings, sermons, and subject files provide detailed documentation of Ableson's thought, leadership skills, and dedication to his work. From early on in his career as a Navy chaplain, Ableson recognized the profound disconnect between Christians from the West and citizens in the Muslim world, and in the 1980s he emerged as an expert on preparing service members with knowledge and understanding that would make them respectful visitors in Muslim countries. Ableson's journal written during operation Desert Storm (1991) provides valuable documentation about the work of a chaplain in a combat setting.