NOVAK, Emil (1844-1957): papers relating to a gavel

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1538 S39
Held at	: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/library-services/archives-and-heritage/archives/ ›
Full title	: NOVAK, Emil (1844-1957): papers relating to a gavel
Date(s)	: 1965-1976
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 folder
Name of creator(s)	: Haines | Douglas M | President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologistst

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Emil Novak (1844-1957), MD 1904, Hon FRCOG 1948, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He qualified at and held internship and resident appointments at Baltimore Medical College, later becoming Associate Professor. In 1915 he joined Cullen's Department at Johns Hopkins where be studied and lectured in gynaecological pathology, which was to become his speciality. He was an active member of the American Gynaecological Society and became its president in 1948. he was made an Honorary Fellow of the RCOG in the same year (bibliography: : see Sir John Peel, Lives of the Fellows, pp.34-35). He presented a gavel to the College as a token of appreciation; the gavel was an exact replica of an original belonging to the American Gynaecological Society.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Letter dated August 24, 1976, from Douglas M Haines to C J Dewhurst, PRCOG, describing how the gavel presented by Emil Novak was made from wood from the house of Ephraim McDowell of Kentucky, USA (McDowell performed the first successful ovariotomy in 1809). Included are facsimiles of papers relating to McDowell, and an explanatory leaflet.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

open 20 years after last date on file.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright in covering letter vested in the College. The McDowell transcripts are out of copyright. Copyright in the leaflet belongs to Mrs E R Denney, Kentucky.

Finding aids:

A general index to the files listed in the catalogue of the Archives of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is maintained in the College Archives; refer to the College Archivist.

Archival Information

Archival history:

The transcripts of papers and leaflet relating to McDowell included in this series were probably forwarded to the College President by D M Haines.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The certificate was presented by a distant relative of Fitzgerald, H A H Melville FRCOG, in 1993.

Allied Materials

Related material:

RCOG Archives holds papers relating to Novak's elevation to the honorary fellowship (Ref: B3/1/5); photographs of Novak (Ref: PH1/4/9-10).

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Sources: Biographical details of the individuals who have presented material to the College and/or comprise the subject of the records, have been compiled using information in administrative files and, where relevant, consulting Sir John Peel's book The Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 1929-1969, Whitefriars Press Ltd, 1975. Compiled by Clare Cowling, Archivist, RCOG.

Rules or conventions:
National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997; ISAD(G), Second Edition, 2000.

Date(s) of descriptions:
September 2000