October 5, 2021
The PACSCL Board of Directors recently accepted the membership application of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Archives (PCOM), welcoming the organization as its thirty-sixth Member.
“PACSCL is delighted that PCOM is joining the consortium. Their collections only work to amplify the history of science and medicine in the greater Philadelphia area,” noted PACSCL board chair Will Noel (Princeton University), in announcing the Board’s decision.
P.J. Grier, Interim Chief Library Services Officer, is the designated Representative to PACSCL. Mitzi Sorrells is the Cataloger & Special Collections Librarian.
The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Archives was established in January 1996 in preparation for the institution’s Centennial celebration. It is a permanent branch of the College’s O.J. Snyder Memorial Library. Through its historical collections, the Archives chronicles and preserves PCOM’s past.
The Archives serves the PCOM community— staff, faculty, alumni, students as well as other qualified researchers. Inherent in the Archives’ mission is a proactive plan to collect and preserve materials that will document the future history of the institution.
The primary formats collected include documents, photographs, manuscripts, institutional records, school publications, oral histories, memorabilia and artifacts which document and reveal the history of the College and to a lesser extent, that of the osteopathic profession. The time period of the collection ranges from the late 1800s to the present.
The Archives also supports an exhibit program for display cases and other designated areas throughout the College. To this end, the collection includes objects that may help illustrate or enrich various topics about PCOM’s history.
Some of PCOM’s more renowned alumni include Meta L. Christy, DO (1921) the first African American osteopathic physician; Beryl E. Arbuckle, DO (1928) for her studies of the osteopathic cranial concept; and Ethel D. Allen, DO (1963) the first African American Philadelphia councilwoman. Dr. Allen was also Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking black woman when she served as Secretary of the Commonwealth. These renowned alumni, as well as the importance of osteopathy in the history of medicine, have attracted researchers from around the world.
The PCOM Archives makes many collections accessible 24/7 through its digital repository, DigitalCommons@PCOM, including yearbooks, oral histories, class photographs, and PCOM publications. The physical archives are accessible by appointment only.
To learn more please visit our PCOM Archives and Special Collections guide: https://libguides.pcom.edu/archives/digital_archives