The John M. Dodd Papers are organized in two parts: materials which were presented to the Archives by the Dodd family and were organized under call number Wis Mss 45PB; and additional materials from an unknown source which later were organized under call numbers Mss 123 and PH 4363. Both parts contain similar materials and will be most useful to those interested in the history of the Ashland area.
Part I comprises four boxes and dates 1881-1913. It includes correspondence, 1881-1899, primarily from cousins and friends; applications for nursing training, 1902; 1917-1920 records on the construction of Ashland General Hospital; minutes of the Ashland Medical Society; notes taken at school and during an 1897 visit to Chicago surgical clinics and a 1914 meeting of the American College of Surgeons in London; case books; expense and receipt books, patient account records, and records of ticket sales for an unidentified purpose.
Part II's additions comprise the 13 photographs and just one box, dating 1889-1948, which includes incoming and outgoing correspondence, clippings, articles and speeches by Dodd, and occasionally other types of material. The photographs relate to the career, life, and family of Dodd, including portraits, and interiors and exteriors of residences and hospitals.
Organized in two groups, a medical file and a civic, political and personal file, the box of additions touch on many aspects of Dodd's life. The medical file includes medical correspondence, 1895-1930; articles, notes, and miscellaneous papers, 1892-1927, undated; and papers concerning the State Medical Society of Wisconsin, 1904-1948. The civic, political, and personal file contains general correspondence, 1910, 1926-1940; correspondence pertaining to the improvement of Ashland General Hospital in 1926; miscellaneous papers concerning Dodd's duties as mayor of Ashland, 1911-1913 and 1933-1939; and miscellaneous speeches, clippings, and articles including much biographical information.
