Finding aid for the John Phillips Family Photographs


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Phillips, John Family
Title: John Phillips Family Photographs
Dates: 1900-1960
Extent: 0.20 linear feet (1 container)
Abstract: John Phillips was a Cleveland, Ohio, physician who helped found the Cleveland Clinic in 1921 and served on the faculty of Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Phillips contributed some 70 articles on subjects relating to internal medicine to various medical journals. He was one of the 124 persons who died in the Cleveland Clinic Disaster of May 15, 1929. His son, John Edward Phillips, was a field engineer for Archer Daniels Midland Company and compiled the family history. The collection consists of individual and group portraits of Phillips family members and others, including Myron T. Herrick. Also include are postcards of various overseas locations, and photographs of U.S. Navy ships, including the USS Oahu and the USS Indianapolis, along with group portraits of naval officers.
PG Number PG 380
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

Biography of John Phillips and John Edward Phillips

John Phillips (1879-1929), was a physician, faculty member of the Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and a founder and director of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Born in Welland, Ontario, Canada, he graduated with his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1903. Until 1906 he served his internship and residency at Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, then joined the faculty of Western Reserve University as an assistant professor of therapeutics. During World War I he served as a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps, then returned to his faculty position and to establish a private practice. In 1921 he and Drs. George Crile, William Lower, and Frank Bunts founded the Cleveland Clinic, dedicating it to better health care of the sick, research, and medical education. Three years later they added the Cleveland Clinic Hospital. Phillips relinquished his private practice to assume a directorship of the Cleveland Clinic until his death in 1929. He was one of 124 people killed in the May 15, 1929 Cleveland Clinic Disaster in which the combustion of X-ray films resulted in fire, explosion, and chemical fumes. Phillips was survived by his wife Cordelia Sudderth Phillips whom he had married in 1907 and his son John Edward Phillips. John Edward Phillips (1908-1983) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, after the Phillips family immigrated to the United States. He graduated from Yale University with a science degree in 1932. After several months of travel through foreign countries, Phillips settled into a job as field engineer for Archer Daniles Midland Company which dealt in vegetable oils and chemicals. From 1939 through World War II he served as a naval officer, then returned to Cleveland where he began compiling genealogical materials for the Phillips, Sudderth and Southard families.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for John Phillips


Scope and Content

The John Phillips Family Photographs, ca. 1900s-1960, consist of individual and group portraits of Phillips family members and others, including Myron T. Herrick. Also include are postcards of various overseas locations, and photographs of U.S. Navy ships, including the USS Oahu and the USS Indianapolis, along with group portraits of naval officers.

The collection includes 61 black and white and color photographs that measure 16 x 20 inches and smaller; 124 black and white and color negatives; and 208 black and white and color postcards.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection has been retained in original order.

Restrictions on Access

None.

Related Material

The researcher should also consult MS 4197 John Phillips and John Edward Phillips Papers.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Herrick, Myron T. (Myron Timothy), 1854-1929 -- Photograph collections.
Phillips family -- Photograph collections.
Phillips, John Edward, 1908-1983 -- Photograph collections.
Phillips, John, 1879-1929 -- Photograph collections.
Physicians -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Photographs.
Ships -- United States -- Photographs
United States. Navy -- Boats -- Photographs.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 380 John Phillips Family Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

These photographs were removed from MS 4197 John Phillips and John Edward Phillips Papers. Gifts of William Gruber, 1981; Robert J. Phillips, 1983; and John E. Phillips, 1983.