Eileen Roach Cunningham Papers

Collection Scope and Content Summary
Personal papers of medical librarian Eileen Roach Cunningham, who was best known for developing the Cunningham Classification for Medical Literature in 1929. Ms. Cunningham was librarian at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine from 1929-1956 and was elected president of the Medical Library Association in 1947. The collection is arranged by subject, including various professional organizations, particularly the MLA. Other organizations include: American Library Association, Council of National Library Associations, and UNESCO. Also there are several files on Cunningham's involvement in various international programs, conferences, and research projects on medical librarianship. Collection contains correspondence (both professional and personal), pamphlets, articles, photographs, reports, programs, and other materials.
Dates
- 1915 - 1965
Creator
- Cunningham, Eileen R. (Eileen Roach) (Person)
Notes about Access to this Collection
All collections are subject to applicable Vanderbilt University privacy and confidentiality policies. Collection specific restrictions: No Restrictions.
Reproduction Rights
Copyright is retained by History of Medicine Collections, Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University
Historical or Biographical Note
Eileen Roach Cunningham (1894-1965) was a Vanderbilt Medical librarian, author and international leader in medical librarianship. She developed and published the Cunningham Classification for Medical Literature. She also served as President of the Medical Library Association in 1947.
Eileen Roach Cunningham was born in 1894. Before coming to Vanderbilt, she worked as a research assistant in the anatomy department at Johns Hopkins. She joined the staff of Vanderbilt's medical library in 1926, and she developed a new scheme of classifying medical literature by anatomical system. Eventually, the Cunningham Classification for Medical Literature went through four published editions and was adopted by medical libraries throughout the world. It was later used as the basis for both the Army Medical Library and the National Library of Medicine's classification plans.
Mrs. Cunningham was appointed Associate Librarian at Vanderbilt School of Medicine in 1928 and Head Librarian in 1929. Mrs. Cunningham was an active member of the Medical Library Association, and chaired the MLA committee charged with obtaining foreign medical and scientific literature. In 1935, she attended the first conference of the International Federation of Library Associations. Mrs. Cunningham's interest in international cooperation played an important part in the rest of her career. In 1947, she became only the third woman president in the Medical Library Association's history; and in 1949, she was honored with the first Marcia C. Noyes Award for medical librarianship.
After she formally "retired" in 1956 from Vanderbilt, she continued her work in the Medical Library community. Within two years, she had gone off to organize the Basic Medical Sciences Institute in Karachi, Pakistan. Thereafter, she continued her travels, attendance at library functions, and public service work.
Extent
7.04 Cubic Feet (19 Hollinger Boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Personal papers of medical librarian Eileen Roach Cunningham, who was best known for developing the Cunningham Classification for Medical Literature in 1929. Ms. Cunningham was librarian at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine from 1929-1956 and was elected president of the Medical Library Association in 1947. The collection is arranged by subject, including various professional organizations, particularly the MLA. Other organizations include: American Library Association, Council of National Library Associations, and UNESCO. Also there are several files on Cunningham's involvement in various international programs, conferences, and research projects on medical librarianship.
Physical Location
EBL Vault
Acquisition Information
THe first part of the collection was donated in 1977, the second in 1982 by Mildred Crowe Langner former librarian of the University of Miami Library and to whom Mrs. Cunningham left her papers.
Processing History
processed on Unknown Date
- Title
- Eileen Roach Cunningham Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- History of Medicine Collections Staff
- Date
- 2004-10-28
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Eskind Biomedical Library Manuscripts Collection Repository
Eskind Biomedical Library
2209 Garland Ave.
Nashville TN 37232
historyofmedicine@vanderbilt.edu