Materials in this collection were donated in 1970 to the library of the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio by the Bexar County Medical Society.
Witten Booth Russ was born in Kingston, Louisiana, on September 18, 1874. He was the oldest of seven children and moved with his family to San Antonio in 1890. He was educated by private tutors, attended the Old San Antonio Academy and then took pre-med training at the University of Texas. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1898.
Russ began his medical practice in San Antonio in 1901 starting as a general practitioner. He later limited his practice to surgery and became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. During World War I, Dr. Russ was a major in the Army Medical Reserve Corp assigned as medical aide to the Texas governor and later serving on active duty as chief of the surgical service of Camp Wheeler, GA. He served in World War II as senior public health officer and regional medical director of the Civilian Defense Office.
Dr. Russ was widely known for his wit and pungent remarks and gave talks to over 100 Rotary Clubs. He was the author of many medical articles, preparing and presenting 27 medical papers and speeches between 1901 and 1944. He published one book in 1952, “A Doctor Looks at Life,” a collection of his essays, letters, and speeches on politics, religion, and many phases of the medical profession.
In 1903 he was one of the principals in founding the Old Physicians and Surgeons Hospital, which became part of the Baptist Memorial Hospital. He was one of the organizers of the International Medical Assembly of Southwest Texas, and he was also one of the organizers of the Texas State Medical Association and served as its president in 1909. He also served as president of the Bexar County Medical Society in 1904.
He was largely responsible for enactment of state laws creating a State Board of Medical Examiners and setting up a State Board of Health, of which he was later a member. He was also instrumental in the adoption of the Medical Practice Act, the Anatomical Law, the Tuberculosis Sanitorium Law and the Pure Food and Drug Act.
Dr. Russ was one of San Antonio’s oldest practicing physicians at the age of 90. In a 1963 article in the San Antonio Express newspaper, he is quoted as saying his key philosophy through the decades could be summed up as “obstacles develop character and happiness is service to others.” He died November 1964.
The Witten Booth Russ Papers span the years 1906 to 1965 and include biographical materials, including articles published in the Texas State Journal of Medicine and San Antonio newspapers and a photograph. Correspondence includes letters regarding Dr. Russ' review article on appendicostomy, his opposition to the policies of the New Deal, and miscellaneous other correspondence. Writings include articles published in medical journals or delivered at medical meetings, essays, and speeches to other groups.
Records are organized in 1 box in 3 series as follows:
The collection is open for research use. Materials may be viewed in the reading room of the P. I. Nixon Medical Historical Library, located on the 5th floor of the Briscoe Library at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Some materials are very brittle or torn on the edges and may require an electronic copy or photocopy for use.
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Received as part of a donation of manuscripts and historical books from the Bexar County Medical Society Library in 1970.
[Identification of item], in the Witten Booth Russ Papers, MS 4, University Archives, UTHSC Libraries, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Finding aid created by: Anne Comeaux, October 2011.
This material was added during creation of finding aid for papers in October 2011.
Contains chart showing rates from 1912 to 1948.