Title: Jacques M. May Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1943-1960

Creator:

• May, Jacques M. (Jacques Meyer), b. 1896

Call Number: AGSL Manuscript Collection 3

Quantity: 2.5 cubic ft. (6 boxes)
Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, American Geographical Society Library

Archival Location:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, American Geographical Society Library (Map)

Abstract:

This collection contains professional and personal papers of Jacques M. May when he was the director of the Medical Geography Department at the American Geographical Society. The collection includes research for the Atlas of Disease, which was a series of maps, or plates, published by the American Geographical Society during the 1950s. Medical statistics, preliminary maps, epidemiology of diseases, bibliographies, and academic studies of diseases are included as research for the Atlas of Disease. The Atlas of Disease was originally to contain 25 plates; only 17 were published. Each plate corresponds to a specific disease, or group of diseases. Other professional activities of Jacques M. May are documented in the collection, along with a small amount of personal correspondence and family photographs.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-agsl-agslmss0003

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Jacques M. May was born in Paris, France on January 27, 1896. He had several careers, including physician and surgeon, medical geographer, and nutritionist. He received his medical degree from the University of Paris in 1925. After serving in World War II, May was asked to lead the newly formed Department of Medical Geography at the American Geographical Society in 1948. The main effort made by this department was to publish the Atlas of Disease. May left the society in 1960, and began to focus his attention on global food deficiencies. He wrote a number of books about malnutrition in the years after he left the society. In 1946 May married for the second time and had twin boys. Because of his two sons' condition, May became involved in the League for Emotionally Disturbed Children and founded the May Institute for Autistic Children. He died on July 3, 1975 in an automobile accident in Tunisia.

The collection contains Jacques M. May's professional papers while he was director of the Medical Geography Department at the American Geographical Society, as well as personal papers from 1948 to 1960. The majority of the collection consists of medical statistics, preliminary maps, academic studies, correspondence, and bibliographies for the Atlas of Disease. TheAtlas was a series of plates, published by the American Geographical Society. Seventeen plates were published, and the collection contains material relating to each of them. Each plate corresponds to a specific disease or group of diseases. The 17 plates cover the following diseases:

• Plate 1: World Distribution of Poliomyelitis
• Plate 2: World Distribution of Cholera
• Plate 3: World Distribution of Malaria
• Plate 4: World Distribution of Helminthiases
• Plate 5: World Distribution of Yellow Fever and Dengue
• Plate 6: World Distribution of Plague
• Plate 7: World Distribution of Leprosy
• Plate 8: Study in Human Starvation I (Sources of Selection Food)
• Plate 9: Study in Human Starvation II (Diets and Deficiency Diseases)
• Plate 10: Rickettsial Diseases I (Louse-borne and Flea-borne Typhus)
• Plate 11: Rickettsial Diseases II (Tick-borne and Mite-borne Forms)
• Plate 12: Tick and Mite Vectors
• Plate 13: Arthropod-borne Viral Infections
• Plate 14: World Distribution of Leishmaniases
• Plate 15: World Distribution of Yaws, Pinta, Bejel
• Plate 16: World Distribution of Relapsing Fevers
• Plate 17: World Distribution of Leptospiroses

The collection also contains medical statistics and academic studies done for "Cancer" and "Drug Addiction", neither of which were published. The collection also contains medical data gathered and academic studies conducted by May for publication in medical geography. May wrote many books about medical geography and nutrition. The collection contains incoming correspondence and information about organizations to which May belonged (e.g., the Council on Foreign Relations and the League for Emotionally Disturbed Children). Finally the collection contains professional correspondence, as well as a large amount of correspondence with Erwin Di Cyan, the director of Di Cyan & Brown, Consulting Chemists. There is also personal correspondence between May and his family, along with family photographs.

The collection is divided into professional and personal papers. The professional records include material relating to the Atlas of Disease which is arranged by plate number. The other professional records are arranged alphabetically by subject. The personal papers are also arranged alphabetically by subject.

Citation Guide for Primary Sources

The American Geographical Society Library has cataloged copies of all of the plates in the Atlas of Disease. The call number for the plates is: 050-b/C-var.

• American Geographical Society of New York Records. AGSNY Archival Collection 1.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Custodial History

The American Geographical Society (AGS) acquired this collection from an unknown donor at an unknown date.

Acquisition Information

The American Geographical Society (AGS) donated this collection to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries in 1978 as part of its entire map and library collections.

Processing Information

Amanda Wynne (supervised by Tim Cary) processed the collection in the Archives Department in March 2007.

	Series: 1. Professional Records, 1943-1960
	Atlas of Disease
Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1951-1955
Box   1 Folder   2	Reviews, 1952-1955
	Plate 1: World Distribution of Poliomyelitis
Box   1 Folder   3	Bibliography, undated
	Data and Statistics
Box   1 Folder   4	Africa, undated
Box   1 Folder   5	Asia, 1950
Box   1 Folder   6	Europe, undated
Box   1 Folder   7	General, 1948-1949
Box   1 Folder   8	North America, 1949-1950
Box   1 Folder   9	Pacific Region, 1950-1952
Box   1 Folder   10	South America, undated
Box   1 Folder   11	Draft of Map, undated
Box   1 Folder   12	Reports, 1950
	Plate 2: World Distribution of Cholera
Box   1 Folder   13	Bibliography, undated
Box   1 Folder   14	Correspondence, 1949-1951
Box   1 Folder   15	Data and Statistics, 1946
Box   1 Folder   16	Information from World Health Organization, 1947-1949
Box   1 Folder   17	Maps, 1946
Box   1 Folder   18	Reports, 1949-1951
	Plate 3: World Distribution of Malaria
Box   1 Folder   19	Correspondence, 1951-1952
Box   1 Folder   20	Data and Maps, 1953-1958
Box   1 Folder   21	Plan and Comments, 1953
Box   1 Folder   22	Studies, 1945-1952
	Plate 4: World Distribution of Helminthiases
Box   2 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1951-1954
Box   2 Folder   2	Data and Maps, 1951
Box   2 Folder   3	Mapping Instructions, undated
	Plate 5: World Distribution of Yellow Fever and Dengue
Box   2 Folder   4	Bibliography, undated
Box   2 Folder   5	Correspondence, 1951-1952
Box   2 Folder   6	Data and Maps, 1943, undated
Box   2 Folder   7	Information and Mapping Instructions, 1952
	Plate 6: World Distribution of Plague
Box   2 Folder   8	Bibliography, undated
Box   2 Folder   9	Correspondence, 1952
Box   2 Folder   10	Data and Maps, 1943, undated
Box   2 Folder   11	Information, 1959, undated
	Plate 7: World Distribution of Leprosy
Box   2 Folder   12	Bibliography, undated
Box   2 Folder   13	Correspondence with Data, 1952-1958
Box   2 Folder   14	Correspondence without Data, 1953-1955
Box   2 Folder   15	Data and Statistics, 1952
Box   2 Folder   16	Mapping Instructions, undated
Box   2 Folder   17	Studies, 1949-1952
	Plates 8 and 9: Studies in Human Starvation I (Sources of Selected Foods) and II (Diets and Deficiency Diseases)
Box   3 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1952-1954
Box   3 Folder   2	Data, 1957
Box   3 Folder   3	Reports, 1959
Box   3 Folder   4	Plate 8, Information and Mapping Instructions, 1952-1953
Box   3 Folder   5	Plate 9, Bibliography, undated
Box   3 Folder   6	Plate 9, Information and Mapping Instructions, 1953
	Plate 10: Rickettsial Diseases I (Louse-borne and Flea-borne Typhus)
Box   3 Folder   7	Bibliography, 1953
Box   3 Folder   8	Data and Maps, 1943-1947
Box   3 Folder   9	Studies, 1945-1953
	Plates 11 and 12: Rickettsial Diseases II (Tick-borne and Mite-borne Forms) and Tick and Mite Vectors
Box   3 Folder   10	Correspondence, 1953-1955
Box   3 Folder   11	Data and Studies, 1943-1954
Box   3 Folder   12	Plate 11, Bibliography, 1954
Box   3 Folder   13	Plates 12, Bibliography, 1954
	Plate 13: Arthropod-borne Viral Infections
Box   3 Folder   14	Correspondence, 1954-1957
Box   3 Folder   15	Data and Maps, 1954
Box   3 Folder   16	Information and Mapping Instructions, 1954
Box   3 Folder   17	Studies, 1952-1957
	Plate 14: World Distribution of Leishmaniases
Box   3 Folder   18	Medical Statistics and Description, undated
	Plate 15: World Distribution of Yaws, Pinta, Bejel
Box   4 Folder   1	Bibliography and Epidemiology, 1955
Box   4 Folder   2	Correspondence, 1955
Box   4 Folder   3	Data, undated
Box   4 Folder   4	Studies, 1949-1954
	Plate 16: World Distribution of Relapsing Fevers
Box   4 Folder   5	Bibliography, undated
Box   4 Folder   6	Correspondence, 1954-1955
Box   4 Folder   7	Data, undated
	Plate 17: World Distribution of Leptospiroses
Box   4 Folder   8	Correspondence, 1955
Box   4 Folder   9	Data, undated
Box   4 Folder   10	Studies, 1951-1956
Box   4 Folder   11	Unpublished "Drug Addiction," Correspondence with Data, 1954-1957
	Unpublished "Cancer"
Box   4 Folder   12	Correspondence with Data, 1950-1952
Box   4 Folder   13	Data, undated
Box   4 Folder   14	Studies, 1950-1957
Box   4 Folder   15	Studies by International Cancer Research Commission, 1951-1954
Box   4 Folder   16	Studies by Jacques May, 1950
	Correspondence
Box   5 Folder   1	1949-1953
Box   5 Folder   2	1954
Box   5 Folder   3	1955-1956, 1958-1960
Box   5 Folder   4	undated
Box   5 Folder   5	Correspondence with Erwin Di Cyan, 1954-1956
	Council on Foreign Relations
Box   5 Folder   6	Conference on Climates and Economic Development in the Tropics, 1954
Box   5 Folder   7	Correspondence, 1953-1957
Box   5 Folder   8	Study Group on Climate and Economic Development in the Tropics, 1954
Box   5 Folder   9	Data for Nutrition Books, undated
Box   5 Folder   10	Data on Soil Microbiology, 1954-1955
Box   5 Folder   11	Grant Applications for Medical Geography, 1952
Box   5 Folder   12	Lab Test Results, 1953-1954
Box   5 Folder   13	Miscellaneous Data for Books, 1954-1957
Box   5 Folder   14	Photographs for Disease Studies, undated
Box   6 Folder   1	Population Studies, undated
Box   6 Folder   2	Reports on Medical Geography Projects, 1949-1952
Box   6 Folder   3	Speech, "The Contribution of Medical Geography to the Etiology of Disease," 1954 October 9
	Studies on Diseases
Box   6 Folder   4	Argentina, 1955
Box   6 Folder   5	Belgian Congo, undated
Box   6 Folder   6	Brazil, undated
Box   6 Folder   7	Vietnam, 1956
Box   6 Folder   8	Study on Medical Facilities, Africa, undated
Box   6 Folder   9	World Health Organization, Report on Alcoholism, 1947-1954
	Series: 2. Personal Papers, 1952-1956	⇧
Box   6 Folder   10	Correspondence, 1953-1954
	League for Emotionally Disturbed Children
Box   6 Folder   11	By-Laws, History and Addresses, 1953-1955
Box   6 Folder   12	Correspondence, 1952-1954, 1956
Box   6 Folder   13	Financial Statements, 1952-1956
Box   6 Folder   14	Interviews, 1952-1956
Box   6 Folder   15	Leaflets, 1954, undated
Box   6 Folder   16	Minutes of Meetings, 1952-1956
Box   6 Folder   17	Speakers Manual, undated
Box   6 Folder   18	Family Photographs, 1953-1954, undated