Title: Cornelius A. Harper Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1875-1944

Creator:

• Harper, Cornelius A., 1864-1951

Call Number: Wis Mss 7PB

Quantity: 0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Medical papers of Dr. Cornelius Harper, Madison, Wis., a member of the Wisconsin State Board of Health (1901-1951), president of the Dane County Medical Society in 1907, and president of the State Medical Society in 1931. The collection consists primarily of personal and official correspondence and an extensive history of the State Board of Health and Harper's work there prepared by Harper in 1924. The early correspondence, 1875-1891, consists of files of Dr. James T. Reeve, Secretary of the State Board of Health, which give information on the formative years and development of the board.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis007pb

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Cornelius Harper, a Hazel Green, Wisconsin farm boy, one time county school teacher, and former principal at Cassville, Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Wisconsin and Columbia Medical College. In 1901, he married Miss Elizabeth Bowman, and in that same year, Wisconsin Governor Robert La Follette appointed him to the state board of health, where he served in various capacities until his death. In 1904, he was elected secretary of the state board of health; was made president of the Dane County Medical Society in 1907; and held the same office in the state society in 1931.

The collection of Cornelius A. Harper Papers, although covering approximately seventy-five years, is spotty with the bulk falling in three separate periods. The early material, that between 1875 and 1891, are letters to Dr. J. T. Reeve, secretary of the state board of health, and give a good picture of the politics involved in the formative years of the board's existence. The second large group of materials centers around the legislative bill number 704A. This bill, supposedly designed as an economy measure, was to abolish several independent state boards, with their functions to be taken over by the inclusive state board of public welfare. Dr. Harper fought the bill, and solicited letters from doctors throughout the state opposing the bill before the 1915 legislature. The third group of letters centers around the state board project in 1928 to collect pictures and sketches on all past and present board members. Printing these biographical studies became a regular feature, with several sketches being submitted in the 1940's. The final item in the collection is Dr. Harper's history of the State Board of Health.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Dr. Sam Harper, Madison, Wis., August 7, 1951 and by the Wisconsin State Medical Society, Sept. 30, 1953.

	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	1875-1876
Box   1 Folder   2	1877-1891
Box   1 Folder   3	1905-1915 April
Box   1 Folder   4	1915 May-July
Box   1 Folder   5	1922-1928
Box   1 Folder   6	1929
Box   2 Folder   1	1944, undated
Box   2 Folder   2	Biographies, undated
Box   2 Folder   3-9	A History of the Wisconsin State Board of Health, by Cornelius Harper