The papers contain information about the rise of professional pharmacy in the United States, the importance and effect of patent and trademark legislation on pharmacy, the origins of scientific departments within major pharmaceutical firms and efforts to increase the level of cooperation between physicians and pharmacists.
The collection is divided into five groups: Correspondence, Employment, Professional Associations, Writings, and Subject File. The CORRESPONDENCE consists of general correspondence to and from Stewart from 1875 to 1938 and includes both business and personal letters. There are a number of specific correspondence files. They contain letters with the American Therapeutic Society during 1916; the Army, Navy and Marine Hospitals and the Smithsonian Institution during 1881; Robert P. Fischelis from 1931 to 1937; Merck Archives' contributors during 1899; James K. Stewart, Honorable Secretary of the Stewart Society, a group interested in tracing the genealogy of members of the Stewart Clan; and Theodore Weicker, vice president of E. R. Squibb & Sons, and W. W. Keen, a Philadelphia physician from 1917.
The EMPLOYMENT series contains records pertaining to the professional positions held by Stewart. There is a patient log book from 1878, and reports dating 1877 to 1880 of the Loan Relief Association. From Parke, Davis and Co., there is correspondence from 1879 to 1890 regarding Stewart's bullock's blood remedy, his work as a commercial agent and traveller, the founding and activities of the Scientific Department, and the Hospital Plan Stewart proposed to test new remedies. Also included are a journal of a trip Stewart took in 1881 to gather information about the nature of Parke, Davis and Company's business, and files containing Stewart's contracts with Parke, Davis,
and Co., and literature about the Hospital Plan, the company's involvement in the nostrum business, and the Scientific Department. In 1902, Stewart became involved in the establishment of the National Bureau of Medicines and Foods (also known as the National Bureau of Materia Medica), which sought to establish standards for pharmaceuticals, and the National Pharmacy Company which was to provide financial support for the Bureau. The records include correspondence from 1902 to 1903, a plan for organization of the company, statements of purpose and goals, a brief history, and literature about the company's “Wordmark” preparations, including a catalog and a collection of the labels and formulas of the pharmaceuticals produced.
Finally, the series contains materials which relate to Stewart's position as director of the Scientific Department at H. K. Mulford. Included is correspondence from 1905 to 1906; insulin literature from 1923 to 1924 dealing with Mulford's attempts to obtain patent rights; and correspondence, plans, and reports pertaining to the Mulford Expedition to South America. The purpose of the expedition, proposed by Stewart and led by William H. Rusby, was to search for plants which had any possible therapeutic value. Publications include The Keystone from December 1918 to December 1920, Mulford's in-house newsletter, as well as other Mulford publications, a small subject file contains a lecture on immunity used in a Mulford educational program, and materials relating to the commercial and botanical sections of the company.
Records relating to Stewart's involvement in the American Medical Editors Association, the American Pharmaceutical Association, and the American Pharmacologic Society are found in the PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS series. Materials from the American Medical Editors Association include correspondence from 1928 to 1935, much of it with H. Lyons Hunt, president of the Association. Reports of the Committee Pharmacology, chaired by Stewart from 1929 to 1930, are also available. The American Pharmaceutical Association files contain a great deal of information on patents and trademarks, the result of Stewart's long tenure as chairman of the Association's Committee on Patents and Trademarks. It includes articles by Stewart written from 1898 to 1934 and data on law and ethics for preparing reports on patent and trademark law. The data consists of articles on patent and trademark legislation in the United States and abroad, and the arguments and decisions on court cases involving patent law including the Aspirin Case of 1918, the Syrup of Figs Case in 1902, and the Mulford Mint Case of 1914. Committee reports from 1917 to 1935 are also available. Stewart served as chairman of the Committee on Reorganization of the American Pharmaceutical Association as well. Materials relating to this committee are articles on reorganization, and correspondence during 1920 and 1921. There is a general correspondence file for 1918 and 1917. Records which pertain to Stewart's involvement in the American Pharmacologic Society are correspondence from 1907 to 190, an historical file containing records from 1904 to 1906 that document the organization of the Society, and Society proceedings from 1906, including an investigation of “Somnos,” a brand of ether marketed by H. K. Mulford.
Stewart's WRITINGS consist of autobiographical materials, manuscripts, and published articles. The autobiographical material includes many unorganized records which Stewart pulled from his files in preparation for an autobiography. It relates to every aspect of his life, though his efforts to increase the credibility of pharmacy, change patent and trademark legislation, and raise the level of cooperation between physicians and pharmacists are emphasized. Stewart wrote a large number of autobiographical fragments about different parts of his career and these are also available. This material is very disorganized, much of it consisting of large numbers of sheets containing short, unrelated scraps of narrative. The scrapbook material is in the same unorganized condition. It contains a wide variety of records, such as college bulletins, programs of association meetings, and wedding invitations, covering the years 1866 to 1937. Stewart's manuscripts include drafts and unpublished articles on food and drug legislation, patents and trademarks, drug standardization and vaccines and vaccination, as well as many other topics. These are arranged by subject and are undated. There is also a collection of articles by Stewart published from 1879 to 1927. One group of articles is in chronological order from 1879 to 1902 and from 1915 to 1924. Another group contains unorganized articles written between 1879 and 1927.
The SUBJECT FILE contains three sections; correspondence with the China Medical Journal during 1909 about a flase bismuth formic iodine formula; materials from 1878 about Henry T. Helmbold, a pharmacist friend of Stewart's who was involuntarily committed to an insane asylum and released after a long struggle; and a collection of articles about pharmacy dating from 1880 to 1936.
