Franklin C. Bing Papers

 Collection
Identifier: EBL-0007

  • Staff Only

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Personal papers of nutritionist and chemist Franklin Bing, who was a leading food scientist as well as a poet and member of the Chicago Literary Club. Materials include: correspondence; reprints; manuscripts and speeches; reports; notes; notebooks; diaries; curriculum vitae; correspondence, including extensive communication with his mentor L. B. Mendel concerning his dissertation and subsequent manuscripts; and files relating to the Chicago Literary Club and the First Congregational Church in Evanston, Illinois.

The collection includes Bing's personal notebooks from high school, college, and graduate school, along with early reports by Bing and his dissertation. Manuscripts, speeches, notebooks, reports and other papers document Bing's nutritional work within academia, government, and industry from 1930 through the early 1980s. Also included are reprints of articles and biographical sketches by Bing.

Correspondence in this collection is primarily about nutrition and the history of nutrition. The collection contains letters exchanged by Bing with other eminent nutritionists. Also the correspondence includes letters with the Chicago Literary Club, family letters, and Christmas cards written and designed by Bing. The correspondence in this collection covers a wide time period from the late 1920s to 1987.

Bing's personal diaries from 1936-1976 are also contained in this collection. There are no diaries for the years: 1946, 1947, 1948, 1964, 1965, 1970 and 1974. Photographs in this collection range from pictures of Bing as a young boy to an older man. Also included are photographs of Bing with his contemporaries, and also pictures of other important nutritionists. Collection also contains poems and drawings by Bing.

Dates

  • 1910 - 1988

Creator

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 or is retained by the authors of specific published items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Historical or Biographical Note

Franklin Church Bing (1902-1988) was a food scientist, scholar, and historian. He was a leader in the field of nutrition in the United States. During his career he was able to both further scientific research in the field of nutrition and shape public policy. He also had wide-ranging scholarly interests outside the field of nutrition including history, biography, prose and poetry.

Franklin Bing was born in 1902, in North Wales, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. in from the University of Pennsylvania in 1924. Then after studying under Lafayette B. Mendel, Bing received his PhD in 1930 from Yale University. From 1929 to 1936 he was a faculty member of the Department of Biochemistry at Western Reserve University. Bing left academia in 1936 to join the scientific staff of the American Medical Association in Chicago, where he served as the Executive Secretary of the Council on Foods until 1943. From 1943-1950 he was Director of the American Institute of Baking. He later served as a Consultant to the Delaney Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1950-1952. After this time Bing served as an independent consultant on food and drugs for both private industry and government agencies.

Franklin Bing was also interested in the history of science, biography, and other literary pursuits. He served as an Archivist at the American Institute of Nutrition in 1985. He authored several biographical sketches of nutrition scientists. Also Bing was a contributor to the Chicago Literary Society, and he published historical prose and more than forty poems. He died October 17, 1988 in Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

Extent

14.28 Cubic Feet (35 Hollinger boxes, 7 Half-Hollinger boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Personal papers of nutritionist and chemist Franklin Bing, a leading food scientist as well as a poet and member of the Chicago Literary Club. Materials include: correspondence; reprints; manuscripts and speeches; reports; notes; notebooks; diaries; curricula vitae; correspondence, including extensive communication with his mentor L. B. Mendel concerning his dissertation and subsequent manuscripts; and files relating to the Chicago Literary Club and church.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated in 1988 as reported in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Library Annual Report 1987-1988.

Processing History

processed on Unknown Date

  • Removed 2 series of reprints contained in 5 Hollinger boxes and 1 Half Hollinger. 2.04 Cubic ft.
Title
Franklin C. Bing Papers
Status
Completed
Author
History of Medicine Collections Staff
Date
2004-10-27
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

Contact:
Eskind Biomedical Library
2209 Garland Ave.
Nashville TN 37232


 

About this Site

This site contains collection guides, or finding aids, to the archival collections held by Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives, the History of Medicine Collection, and the Scarritt Bennett Center. Finding aids describe the context, arrangement, and structure of archival materials, allowing users to identify and request materials relevant to their research.

Requesting Materials

Each finding aid contains a link to request materials from the collections. Collections can also be requested by emailing the repository directly through the library website. Each repository has its own location, hours, and contact information. Please consult the repository with questions about using the materials. Collections are non-circulating and must be used in the repository’s reading room. In many cases, the collections are stored off-site and require advance notice for retrieval.