Daniel S. Blumenthal Papers
Scope and Contents
The Blumenthal papers are a relatively small, but diverse collection of materials; the papers are divided into two series.
Dates
- 1967-1988
Creator
- Blumenthal, Daniel S., Dr., 1942- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Noncirculating; available for research.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).
Biographical / Historical
Dr. Daniel Blumenthal (b. St. Louis, Missouri, 1942) earned his M.D. at the University of Chicago in 1968. In 1969 he joined Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). VISTA, a domestic counterpart of the internationally oriented Peace Corps, sent Blumenthal to Lee County, Arkansas, where he helped found the Lee County Cooperative Clinic. Still in operation today, the clinic offers high-quality, low-cost medical care to residents of one of the poorest counties in Arkansas’s Mississippi Delta.
In 1970 Blumenthal became a resident at Charity Hospital of New Orleans; for two years he chaired the local chapter of the Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR). An activist organization for physicians, the MCHR had originally been founded in June 1964 to bring qualified doctors into Mississippi for Freedom Summer.
Blumenthal has been a resident of Atlanta, Georgia since 1972, and has served since 1985 as chairman of the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at the Morehouse School of Medicine.
Extent
1 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Series I: VISTA/Lee County Cooperative Clinic
Series one contains resources related to the Lee County Cooperative Clinic, including original brochures and promotional materials, administrative documents, and a substantial collection of news clippings. Folder 4 contains correspondence and legal documents related to Blumenthal’s efforts to gain staff privileges at the local hospital. Series one also includes twenty-one issues of a regional newspaper, Many Voices, aimed at the black community.
Series II: Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR)
Series two contains resources related to the MCHR, and itself is divided into two subseries. Subseries one includes materials related to the national organization, including position papers, contact lists, original publications, materials from national conferences and executive committee meetings, and twelve issues of Health Rights News, the national MCHR newspaper. Subseries two includes materials related to the New Orleans chapter, including a member list, press releases, and program proposals.
Provenance
Dr. Daniel S. Blumenthal, between July 2001 and February 2002.
Sources
“Blumenthal, Daniel Sender.” Who’s Who in the South and Southwest. 20th ed. Wilmette, IL: Marquis, 1986.
Contents of the collection, case file.
Council of Federated Organizations. Communications Section. “Special Report: Medical Committee for Human Rights.” Box 2, Folder 8, Ellin (Joseph and Nancy) Freedom Summer Collection. McCain Library and Archives, University of Southern Mississippi.
Reeves, T. Zane. Politics of the Peace Corps and VISTA. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1988.
- Civil rights. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.). Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Legal case and case notes. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Letter. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Medical Committee for Human Rights (U.S.). Subject Source: Local sources
- Minutes (Records). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Newsletters. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Press releases. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Records (Documents). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Volunteers in Service to America. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Daniel S. Blumenthal Papers
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Historical Manuscripts and Photographs Repository
118 College Drive - 5148
Hattiesburg MS 39406-0001
601.266.4345
