A Guide to the Papers of Dr. Edward Watson Hook, Jr. 1947-1998
Accession Number MS-18
A Collection in
Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library



Contact Information:
Claude Moore Health Sciences Library
1300 Jefferson Park Avenue
P.O. Box 800722
University of Virginia Health System
Charlottesville, Virginia 22908-0722
USA
Phone: (434) 924-5591
Fax: (434) 924-4238
Email: jre@virginia.edu
URL: http://www.med.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/

Processed by: Susan Swasta and Sara Huyser Historical Collections Staff

© 2005 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.

Conditions of Use

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

The Papers of Dr. Edward Watson Hook, Jr., 1947-1998, Accession #MS-18, Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The papers were acquired from the Program of Humanities in Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia
Accession number: MS-18
Title: The Papers of Dr. Edward Watson Hook, Jr. 1947-1998
Physical Characteristics: 22 linear feet containing 43 boxes: 13 cm x 39.5 cm x 26.5 cm, and 1 artifact box: 46 cm x 39.5 cm x 8 cm. Processed materials total 12,305 items.
Language: English

Scope and Content

The Edward Watson Hook materials reflect his wide-ranging professional activities related to heading the Department of Internal Medicine, participating in the larger Health System/University processes, and pursuing his own research and external activities. The documents detail Hook's direct personal participation in professional organizations and also show the wide range of details he coordinated in running the department of internal medicine. A noteworthy aspect of the collection includes an unpublished History of the Department of Medicine written by Byrd Leavell. Hook read and critiqued the manuscript, but Leavell died before completing the book. Also, Hook conducted a series of interviews with Thomas H. Hunter which complement with the Thomas H. Hunter Collection, MS-4, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.

Biographical/Historical Information

Edward Watson Hook, Jr. was born in Sumpter, South Carolina on August 10, 1924. He was the only child of school teacher parents. He obtained a B.S. degree from Wofford College in Spartansburg, South Carolina and then attended Yale University as a participant in the U.S. Army Specialized Training program. He received an M.D. degree from Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia in 1949. He served his internship at University Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was an assistant resident and chief resident in medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1951 to 1953 he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He taught medicine at Emory University and Johns Hopkins University before becoming the Head of the Division of Infectious Disease at Cornell University Medical College in New York in July 1959. In 1966, Hook was a visiting professor at the University of Bahia School of Medicine in Salvador, Brazil. In 1969 he was appointed Henry B. Mulholland Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia and chaired the department for 21 years. In 1996 Hook was presented with the Thomas Jefferson Award, the highest award given at the University of Virginia. Hook married Jessie Dale Thurecht on June 14, 1949. They had four children, Edward W. III, Susan Dale, Margaret Jane, and Robert Randall. Hook died unexpectedly of a coronary blood clot on October 5, 1998 at the age of 74.

Dr. Hook was involved in a great many organizations and endeavors outside of UVA. He took a leading role in several specialty and subspecialty societies and in organizations concerned with physician education and training. Hook was president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America during 1975-76, was chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, was a charter member of the Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was a charter member of the editorial board of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and was a chair of the board of directors of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program from 1978 to 1988. A former president of the Association of Professors of Medicine, Dr. Hook served on the American Board of Internal Medicine from 1979 to 1987 and chaired its committee on the Evaluation of Clinical Competence. Hook authored over 130 publications. He received distinction early in his career for his research on the pathogenesis of salmonella and other intestinal infections.

Administrational duties of running Internal Medicine took up the bulk of Hook's professional time. During his years as chairman, he built up the department of internal medicine, recruited highly trained division leaders, and initiated several programs that benefited the School of Medicine. In 1969 he founded an international health exchange program with the Federal University of Cera in Brazil. He also developed and led UVa's hospital ethics committee. He began a primary care residency program in medicine and started a faculty-teaching practice program in Orange County. During the 1970s and 80s, Hook was a national leader in internal-medicine manpower, clinical skills evaluation, and the fostering of humanitarian attributes among physicians. Hook was keenly interested in teaching medical students.

After retiring from the chair of the department in 1990, Hook founded the humanities in medicine program. This program offered talks, concerts, and short courses for medical students. He also helped lead the Medical Center Hour, a weekly conference covering health issues. Hook was also chair of the Arts program which used art work to beautify the hospital.

Arrangement

Series Description: This collection is organized into five principal series, as follows: 1.) Professional Organizations & Activities (9 boxes). 2.) Lectures & Presentations (1 box). 3.) History of UVa Department of Medicine, by Byrd S. Leavell (2 boxes). 4.) Office Files, alphabetically arranged (28 boxes). 5.) Photographs & Artifacts (4 boxes).

Contents List