If you are not familiar with ArchivesSpace, the online catalog that contains our archival collections description, you can learn how to use the system using this video created by Northern Colorado University.
The materials housed in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Archives are categorized into four main collecting areas, which are described below.
MH = Memorial Hospital and earlier records, 1884 – 1980
SKI = Sloan Kettering Institute records, 1945 – 1980
MSK = Memorial Sloan Kettering records, 1964 – present
MSS = outside donations; manuscripts, 1884 – present
In 1951, Dr. George T. Pack was flown from New York to Argentina twice to see Eva Perón, the wife of then-President Juan Perón, first to confirm her diagnosis of cervical cancer and then to perform a hysterectomy as part of her treatment. Dr. Pack was brought to Argentina in secret for political reasons, with Perón herself being unaware of her own diagnosis or of Dr. Pack’s role in her treatment, as he arrived and left while she was under anesthesia. Due to metastasis of her disease, Perón died on July 26, 1952. Only a few people were aware of her true illness and cause of death, which Dr. Pack kept confidential until his death in 1969.
The decision of doctors to keep Perón’s true cause of illness from her reflects paternalistic practices that were once popular in medicine, particularly in the treatment of cancer in the 20th century, in which doctors would often withhold information about the extent of a patient’s condition from the patient themselves, perhaps telling a close family member instead, to “shield” the patient from the truth or allow them to maintain hope despite serious or even fatal illness.
Peron Honors American Doctor. (c. 1951). [Clipping from an unidentified newspaper]. Public Affairs Collection (Photo Series 1, Folder 96). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Archives. New York City, New York, United States.
As the MSK Archives aims to grow its collections, we are employing a strategic vision to ensure that we are doing our due diligence in documenting as complete a picture of MSK history as we are capable. These goals have been outlined with careful reflection on previous collecting strategies and what harms may have been done through these omissions.
These goals have been documented in our Collections Policy, which can be accessed in the .pdf linked below.
