Medicine

In Appalachia, folk cures and patent medicines have remained popular. The Archives holds materials that document medicine and health, from first-hand accounts of illness and death to trusted recipes for remedies and cures .

Watkin's Almanac, 1914
Home Doctor & Cook Book
John A. Jones Collection

APPALACHIAN COLLECTIONS

Click titles to view collection inventories.

Robert Bell

Includes a nineteenth century home remedy book of cures for various illnesses and injuries.

Broadside Television

Includes videotaped programs on early health care undertaken by women; gathering of herbs and ginseng for medicinal uses; the symptoms and treatment of high blood pressure; health screening programs for senior citizens; mental health problems and services in the region; water quality and other health issues related to the Bumpass Cove (Tenn.) landfill controversy of the 1970s; and interviews with midwives.

Bumpass Cove-Embreeville

Includes material on health issues related to environmental pollution involving a landfill operation in the Bumpass Cove-Embreeville, Tenn. area in the 1970s.

Thomas G. Burton

Includes transcripts and oral interviews of individuals discussing folk medicine and herbal remedies.

Burton-Manning

This folklore collection includes recordings of Appalachian residents discussing such topics as childbirth and midwives, folk medicine, herb gathering, early physicians, superstitions, and other health issues.

Cass Family Business

Includes records of East Tennessee Medicine Company, a proprietary company founded by Dr. Marie Hendrick Phillip Panhorst in Jonesborough, Tenn. in 1890 and purchased in 1901 by the Cass family of Johnson City, Tenn. Records cover 1891-1925 and include financial papers, correspondence, and advertising materials. Also included are records related to the Ferguson Drug Company, a drug store which operated in Johnson City, also partially owned by the Cass family.

Congress for Appalachian Development

Includes correspondence, reports, articles, and other material related to various aspects of health and health care in Appalachia, including coal industry pollution concerns, cybernetics, black lung disease, and mine health and safety.

Council of Nursing of Upper East Tennessee

The council's goals have been to provide continuing education for area nurses and to foster continuity in nursing care in East Tennessee. The collection includes financial records, correspondence, publications, and other organizational material and relates to such topics as diabetes control, drug therapy, stroke rehabilitation, and the Mid-South Regional Medical Program.

Council on Appalachian Women

Includes correspondence, reports, research files, photographs, and other material related to such topics as abortion, domestic violence, child care, infant mortality, and other health issues, especially as these relate to women in Appalachia.

Edward G. DeVault Family

Includes a physician's 1881 notebook that documents late 19th century medical practices.

Dr. and Mrs. A.S.N. Dobson

Edited autobiography that contains information on Dobson's career as a medical doctor in the Broylesville, Tenn., region in the mid-to-late 19th century.

Charles Gunter, Jr.

This collection of audio recordings includes discussions of such health-related topics as early area physicians, the practice of medicine, and midwifery.

Hilton's Folk Medicine Survey

Consists of a survey on self treatment and home remedies along with oral interviews of individuals from Hiltons, Va. Served as the basis for Anthony P. Cavender's book Folk Medicine in southern Appalachia.

Nat E. Hyder

Includes account books documenting Hyder's career as a Carter Co., Tenn. doctor between 1874-1900. The books include patient names, dates, type of service rendered, fees, and method of payment

Abraham Jobe

This memoir documents Jobe's youth, his medical and surgical practice in western N.C. and northeast Tenn., and his Civil War experiences. It was edited by David C. Hsiung and published in 2009 under the title A mountaineer in motion.

John A. Jones

Consists of 93 almanacs published between 1849-1929 by various companies, primarily patent medicine firms. Almanacs include information on health, medicine, and the advertising of medicines.




SPECIAL COLLECTIONS For further reading, search the Sherrod Library Catalog. Barney, Sandra. Authorized to heal: gender, class, and the transformation of medicine in Appalachia, 1880-1930. R692.B67 2000 Breckinridge, Mary. Wide neighborhoods: a story of the Frontier Nursing Service. RT37.B72 A31 1981 [orig. 1952] Cavender, Anthony. A folk medical lexicon of south central Appalachia. 1990. PE2970.A6 F64 Cavender, Anthony P. Folk medicine in southern Appalachia. GR108.15 .C38 2003 Couto, Richard A. Poverty, politics, and health care: an Appalachian experience . 1975. RA395.A4 K43 Couto, Richard A. Sowing seeds in the mountains. Community-based coalitions for cancer prevention and control . RA645.C3 S69 1994 Finney, Joseph C. Culture change, mental health, and poverty . 1969. RC455.C8 Goan, Melanie Beals. Mary Breckinridge: The Frontier Nursing Service & rural health in Appalachia. RT37.B72 G63 2008 Gunn, John C. Gunn's domestic medicine. 1833. RC81.G9 Hamel, Paul B. Cherokee plants and their uses: a 400 year history. 1975. E99.C5 H224 Hamer, Philip A. The centennial history of the Tennessee State Medical Association, 1830-1930. 1930. R15.T28 H3 Hiscoe, Helen B. Appalachian passage. F217.A65 H57 1991 Hsiung, David C. A mountain in motion: the memoir of Dr. Abraham Jobe, 1817-1906 F444.C26 J63 2009 Keefe, Susan Emley. Appalachian mental health. RC451.4.R87 A67 1988 Larimore, Walter L. Bryson City Tales: stories of a doctor’s first year of practice in the Smoky Mountains. R154.L267 A3 2002 Looff, David H. Appalachia's children: the challenge of mental health. 1971. RJ499.L65 Mathes, A. H. The botanic physician or family medical advisor. 1837. RC8.M37 McCallister, Ronald F. Frontier medicine: practitioners, practices, and remedies on America’s first frontier, Northeast Tennessee. R330 .M33 1999 Minick, Jim. Finding a clear path. QH105 .V8 M53 2005 Platt, Samuel Joseph. Medical men and institutions of Knox County, Tennessee, 1789-1957. 1969. R330.K55 P5 Polansky, Norman A. Roots of futility. 1972. HV741.P58 Rehder, John B. Appalachian folkways. GR108.R48 2004 Stahl, Ray. A beacon to health care. The story of the Johnson City Medical Center Hospital. RA982.N5 J646 1989 Toborg, Mary A. An assessment of tobacco prevention and control materials used in the Appalachian mountain region. HV5767.A6 T62 1997 Verghese, Abraham. My own country. A doctor's story of a town and its people in the age of AIDS. RA644.A25 V47 1994 Waggoner, Tim. The poor man's medicine bag: home remedies and helpful hints. 1984. GN477.W36 Walters, Russell S. A guide to medicinal plants of Appalachia. 1971. S21.A37 no. 400 Wharton, Mary Cravath. Doctor woman of the Cumberlands: the autobiography of May Cravath Wharton, M.D. R154.W356 A3 1972 Wiggginton, Eliot. The Foxfire book . 1972. F291.2.F6