Harold W. Jones
Encyclopedia
Colonel
Harold W. Jones, M.D. (1877–1958), is noted as the Director of the U.S. Army Medical Library from 1936 through 1945, who made signal contributions to military medicine and to the evolution of the United States National Library of Medicine
(NLM).
from 1894 to 1897, he enrolled in Harvard Medical School
, receiving an M.D. in 1901. After two years as a resident and house physician at the Boston Children's Hospital, he entered the field of orthopedics in St. Louis, Missouri, and worked with Dr. Nathaniel Allison, who became one of his best friends. In 1904, Dr. Jones was named Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine (renamed the Washington University School of Medicine
in 1918). The same year saw his first medical publications, including two articles written in collaboration with Allison.
In September 1905, he decided on an army career and entered the Army Medical School
in Washington D.C., whose specialized library he would eventually be asked to direct. In June 1906, he graduated with honors and was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps
(MC). Early in his career he served two tours of duty in the Philippines
with a small unit operating in Samar
and Leyte
against native insurgents. In 1916 he was in command of an ambulance train with General John J. Pershing
in Mexico. During World War I
, Jones commanded the Beau Désert Hospital Center (5 miles from Bordeaux
), which had more than 12,500 patients at the war's end.
Jones later taught as a professor in the Army Medical School. He was subsequently (1927–33) chief of surgery at the station hospital at Fort Sam Houston
, Texas, later to become the Brooke Army Medical Center
. From 1933 to 1936 he commanded the Tripler Army Medical Center
in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 1936, Colonel Jones was appointed head of the Army Medical Library (AML) in Washington, D.C., now the United States National Library of Medicine
(NLM). His tenure would include a critical period in its history. With the outbreak of World War II
, appropriations for the Library were increased; the demands for its services trebled and quadrupled within the space of a few months in 1940.
In July 1942, he arranged for the Cleveland Medical Library Association (CMLA), in Ohio, to store some 75 tons worth of the AML’s rare books and incunabula for safekeeping and restoration. The "Cleveland Branch of the Army Medical Library" took over most of the third floor of the CMLA's Allen Memorial Medical Library
, where it remained until the early 1960s.
Jones also led an ambitious project there to edit and update the old George M. Gould
Medical Dictionary, whose results were published in 1949 as "Blakiston's New Gould Medical Dictionary."
In 1943, Jones commissioned a detailed survey of the Army Medical Library led by Keyes D. Metcalf
, then director of the Harvard University Libraries, with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation
under the auspices of the American Library Association
. Completed in 1944, the Survey urgently recommended the construction of a new building, as well as the reorganizing, expansion and updating of the book collections, Library staff and policies, respectively, to reflect current standards in library science. Coordination with the Library of Congress
was a separate side-effect of the survey.
With the exception of the new building (not approved until 1958), Jones managed to effect many of the survey's recommendations within a year. During the war years, he also formed a temporary consulting group of top physicians and librarians to advise on the operation and future development of the AML, to significant effect.
Colonel Jones had reached retirement age in November 1941, but was asked by the Surgeon General to remain on wartime duty as Director of the Army Medical Library. Finally, at the height of all these developments, he was compelled to retire at the end of 1945. In a unique twist, he ended his military career in the same building he had entered as a young lieutenant.
(1939), Romania
(1941), and Mexico
. In 1937, Jones was Chief U.S. Delegate to the 9th International Congress of Military Medicine (later the International Committee of Military Medicine
) in Bucharest
, as well as delegate to the Geneva Convention of International Red Cross Societies in the Hague. In 1939, he was Secretary General of the 10th International Congress of Military Medicine. From 1936 to 1946, he was Honorary Curator of the Osler Library in Montreal
. In 1945, he received the U. S. Legion of Merit
, as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Western Reserve University. In June 1956, the Medical Library Association
(MLA) presented him with an award for his outstanding work as its President (1940 and 1941), Publication Committee chairman (1941–45), Editor of the Bulletin (now Journal) of the Association (1941–43), and as its long-time Finance Committee chairman.
In illustrating his personality, an adjutant said on meeting him in 1942 "It was easy to like Colonel Jones. He was [then] about 64 and in excellent health...handsome and erect and about six feet, six inches tall. His eyes were merry, mischievous, and bright, and his clipped white moustache made one think of a colonel from Esquire, except that he was not at all heavy for his height."
Jones and his second wife, Mary, (née Mary Winifred Morrisey, m. May 1, 1937) had an attractive home in Silver Spring, Maryland, where they liked to entertain guests, often high-ranking military friends and their wives. (Note: Jones' first marriage was to Eva Ewing Munn on January 1, 1910. She died in 1936.)
Colonel Jones died at his retirement home in Orlando, Florida, on April 5, 1958. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery
.
Library of the Surgeon General's Office
United States National Library of Medicine
(NLM)
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Medical Library Association
(MLA)
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Harold W. Jones, M.D. (1877–1958), is noted as the Director of the U.S. Army Medical Library from 1936 through 1945, who made signal contributions to military medicine and to the evolution of the United States National Library of Medicine
United States National Library of Medicine
The United States National Library of Medicine , operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is a division of the National Institutes of Health...
(NLM).
Medical and military career
Harold Wellington Jones was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and after attending the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
from 1894 to 1897, he enrolled in Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, receiving an M.D. in 1901. After two years as a resident and house physician at the Boston Children's Hospital, he entered the field of orthopedics in St. Louis, Missouri, and worked with Dr. Nathaniel Allison, who became one of his best friends. In 1904, Dr. Jones was named Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine (renamed the Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine , located in St. Louis, Missouri, is one of the graduate schools of Washington University in St. Louis. One of the top medical schools in the United States, it is currently ranked 4th for research according to U.S. News and World Report and has been listed...
in 1918). The same year saw his first medical publications, including two articles written in collaboration with Allison.
In September 1905, he decided on an army career and entered the Army Medical School
Army Medical School
Founded by U.S. Army Brigadier General George Miller Sternberg, MD in 1893, the Army Medical School was by some reckonings the world's first school of public health and preventive medicine...
in Washington D.C., whose specialized library he would eventually be asked to direct. In June 1906, he graduated with honors and was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps
Medical Corps (United States Army)
The Medical Corps of the U.S. Army is a staff corps of the U.S. Army Medical Department consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an MD or a DO degree, at least one year of post-graduate clinical training, and a state medical license.The MC traces its earliest origins...
(MC). Early in his career he served two tours of duty in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
with a small unit operating in Samar
Samar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...
and Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
against native insurgents. In 1916 he was in command of an ambulance train with General John J. Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
in Mexico. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Jones commanded the Beau Désert Hospital Center (5 miles from Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
), which had more than 12,500 patients at the war's end.
Jones later taught as a professor in the Army Medical School. He was subsequently (1927–33) chief of surgery at the station hospital at Fort Sam Houston
Fort Sam Houston
Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas.Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the first President of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston....
, Texas, later to become the Brooke Army Medical Center
Brooke Army Medical Center
Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio is part of the United States Army Medical Command. It is a University of Texas Health Science Center and USUHS teaching hospital and contains the Army Burn Center....
. From 1933 to 1936 he commanded the Tripler Army Medical Center
Tripler Army Medical Center
Tripler Army Medical Center is the headquarters of the Pacific Regional Medical Command of the armed forces administered by the United States Army in the State of Hawaii. It is the largest military hospital in the Asian and Pacific Rim region and serves a military sphere of jurisdiction that spans...
in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 1936, Colonel Jones was appointed head of the Army Medical Library (AML) in Washington, D.C., now the United States National Library of Medicine
United States National Library of Medicine
The United States National Library of Medicine , operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is a division of the National Institutes of Health...
(NLM). His tenure would include a critical period in its history. With the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, appropriations for the Library were increased; the demands for its services trebled and quadrupled within the space of a few months in 1940.
In July 1942, he arranged for the Cleveland Medical Library Association (CMLA), in Ohio, to store some 75 tons worth of the AML’s rare books and incunabula for safekeeping and restoration. The "Cleveland Branch of the Army Medical Library" took over most of the third floor of the CMLA's Allen Memorial Medical Library
Allen Memorial Medical Library
Allen Memorial Medical Library is located along Euclid Avenue on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The library was designed in a classical revival style by the Cleveland firm of Walker and Weeks and completed in 1926. In addition to housing a portion of the Cleveland...
, where it remained until the early 1960s.
Jones also led an ambitious project there to edit and update the old George M. Gould
George M. Gould
George Milbry Gould was an American doctor and lexicographer.-Life:At 12 years, he enlisted and became a drummer boy in the American Civil War, serving in the 63rd Ohio Infantry and later in Company K, 141st Ohio Infantry during 1864.After the war, he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University and...
Medical Dictionary, whose results were published in 1949 as "Blakiston's New Gould Medical Dictionary."
In 1943, Jones commissioned a detailed survey of the Army Medical Library led by Keyes D. Metcalf
Keyes Metcalf
Keyes DeWitt Metcalf was an American librarian. He has been identified as one of the 100 most important leaders in librarianship by the journal American Libraries. In a career spanning over 75 years, he worked in various roles at the New York Public Library and served as the director of the...
, then director of the Harvard University Libraries, with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
under the auspices of the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
. Completed in 1944, the Survey urgently recommended the construction of a new building, as well as the reorganizing, expansion and updating of the book collections, Library staff and policies, respectively, to reflect current standards in library science. Coordination with the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
was a separate side-effect of the survey.
With the exception of the new building (not approved until 1958), Jones managed to effect many of the survey's recommendations within a year. During the war years, he also formed a temporary consulting group of top physicians and librarians to advise on the operation and future development of the AML, to significant effect.
Colonel Jones had reached retirement age in November 1941, but was asked by the Surgeon General to remain on wartime duty as Director of the Army Medical Library. Finally, at the height of all these developments, he was compelled to retire at the end of 1945. In a unique twist, he ended his military career in the same building he had entered as a young lieutenant.
Awards and distinctions
In 1918, Dr. Jones was decorated in France as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and an Officer of the Order of Public Health. He was also decorated by PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(1939), Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
(1941), and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. In 1937, Jones was Chief U.S. Delegate to the 9th International Congress of Military Medicine (later the International Committee of Military Medicine
International Committee of Military Medicine
The International Committee of Military Medicine is an international and intergovernmental organization consisting of more than one hundred states...
) in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, as well as delegate to the Geneva Convention of International Red Cross Societies in the Hague. In 1939, he was Secretary General of the 10th International Congress of Military Medicine. From 1936 to 1946, he was Honorary Curator of the Osler Library in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. In 1945, he received the U. S. Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
, as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Western Reserve University. In June 1956, the Medical Library Association
Medical Library Association
The Medical Library Association is a nonprofit, educational organization with more than 4,000 health sciences information professional members and partners worldwide.- History :...
(MLA) presented him with an award for his outstanding work as its President (1940 and 1941), Publication Committee chairman (1941–45), Editor of the Bulletin (now Journal) of the Association (1941–43), and as its long-time Finance Committee chairman.
Character, interests, and private life
Concurrently with his other work, Colonel Jones wrote many highly regarded publications in military medicine, medical history, and medical librarianship. In addition, second only to his keen interest in medicine and surgery, he also had a great bent for travel and literary pursuits. He was an avid traveler both in Europe and in the interior of Asia and the East Indies. In 1913, he wrote a lengthy manuscript with the working title "Twenty Towns in Spain." He also wrote a number of urbane, humorous essays, first published in early volumes of the Current List of Medical Literature, which he instituted, and later issued as a vanity press volume entitled "Green Fields and Golden Apples," in 1942. Jones dedicated the collection to his late friend and colleague, Nathaniel Allison. In 1945, he wrote a short piece neatly combining many of his interests in "Some Physicians—Real and Fictional—in French Literature," which appeared in the MLA Bulletin.In illustrating his personality, an adjutant said on meeting him in 1942 "It was easy to like Colonel Jones. He was [then] about 64 and in excellent health...handsome and erect and about six feet, six inches tall. His eyes were merry, mischievous, and bright, and his clipped white moustache made one think of a colonel from Esquire, except that he was not at all heavy for his height."
Jones and his second wife, Mary, (née Mary Winifred Morrisey, m. May 1, 1937) had an attractive home in Silver Spring, Maryland, where they liked to entertain guests, often high-ranking military friends and their wives. (Note: Jones' first marriage was to Eva Ewing Munn on January 1, 1910. She died in 1936.)
Colonel Jones died at his retirement home in Orlando, Florida, on April 5, 1958. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
.
See also
U.S. Army Medical DepartmentLibrary of the Surgeon General's Office
Library of the Surgeon General's Office
The Library of the Surgeon General's Office, later called the Army Medical Library, was the institutional medical literature repository of the U.S...
United States National Library of Medicine
United States National Library of Medicine
The United States National Library of Medicine , operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is a division of the National Institutes of Health...
(NLM)
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine , located in St. Louis, Missouri, is one of the graduate schools of Washington University in St. Louis. One of the top medical schools in the United States, it is currently ranked 4th for research according to U.S. News and World Report and has been listed...
Washington University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Washington University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Washington University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is part of Washington University School of Medicine of St. Louis, which is one of the most competitive and highly regarded medical schools and biomedical research institutes in the United States and the...
Medical Library Association
Medical Library Association
The Medical Library Association is a nonprofit, educational organization with more than 4,000 health sciences information professional members and partners worldwide.- History :...
(MLA)
External links
- Fulton, J. F., "The Retirement of Colonel Harold W. Jones", Bulletin of the Medical Library Association Vol. 33, pp 409–412, Oct. 1945.
- Jones, H.W. "Some Physicians—Real and Fictional—in French Literature", Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 33(3): 295-304, Jul. 1945.
- Keyes, T. E. (1958), "Colonel Harold Wellington Jones" (Obituary), Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 46: 646-649, Oct. 1958.
- Keyes, T. E. (1998), "Past Presidents I have known", Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 86(2): 193-201, Apr. 1998.
- Brand, R.A. (2009), "Biographical Sketch - Nathaniel Allison", Clin Orthop Relat Res (2010) 468:3-5.
- Reproduction of notes by Alan Gregg, wartime director of the Rockefeller Foundation's Medical Sciences Division, on his March 26, 1943, meeting with Jones and Metcalf about the proposed AML survey.
- Jones' March 27 1943 letter to Metcalf, formally requesting funds for the survey and outlining its purpose and scope.
- Medical Library Association
- Cleveland Medical Library Association: history
- Mrs. Evarts E. Munn Weds Capt. Jones The New York Times, Jan. 2, 1910, page 13