Guide to the Burton Ray Rogers Papers 1908-1941


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Table of Contents

• Descriptive Summary
• Information on Use
• Access
• Citation
• Biographical Note
• Scope Note
• Related Resources
• Subject Headings
• INVENTORY
• Series I: Research
• Series II: Correspondence

Descriptive Summary

Information on Use

Access

Series V contains student evaluations, restricted for 80 years.

The remainder of the collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Rogers, Burton Ray. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

Burton Rogers was a trained veterinarian who spent the majority of his life studying inflammation, tuberculosis, and the relationship between slaughterhouses, animals, and these diseases. Throughout his life, Rogers worked as the Federal Veterinary Inspector as well as the Dean of the St. Joseph Veterinary College in Kansas.

Rogers believed that his research would save hundreds of human lives and was of the utmost importance. Unfortunately, his research was not given much attention and he felt disrespected by the medical community. As a result, he sent his research to various individuals and communities hoping to accomplish his goals. He also strived to earn the United States a Nobel Prize in Medicine, resulting in many letters to the Nobel Commission. Faced with these disappointments, Rogers then turned to Ripley’s Believe it or Not, sending many suggestions for their newspaper column.

Scope Note

This collection is divided into two series: Research and Correspondence. The materials date from 1908-1941, with the majority of materials dating from the 1930s. The collection provides insight into the life and work of Burton Rogers.

Series I, Research, contains all the materials in the collection that detail Rogers’s work on medical science. The documents include Rogers’s annotated scrapbook that contains newspaper articles, research notes, as well as Rogers’s personal thoughts on these works. The series also includes a copy of the medical report submitted to the Nobel Commission. Within the series, there is a magazine with an article about Franklin Roosevelt that Rogers annotated. In addition, the series contains several medical photographs and Rogers’s own drawings.

Series II, Correspondence, includes Rogers’s letters to a variety of individuals. The correspondence are mostly written by Rogers to others, with several instances of responses. Rogers wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, the King of Sweden, the Nobel Commission, and sent a large number of letters to Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

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Subject Headings

• Rogers, Burton
• Ripley, Robert Le Roy, 1893-1949
• Veterinary medicine
• Animal health

INVENTORY

This series includes documents relating to Burton Rogers’s research and scholarly pursuits. The series contains Rogers’s scrapbook of his research which consists of annotated copies of published newspaper articles, reports, and hand-written notes. In addition, the series also includes several medical photographs and drawings. The series also contains a report submitted to the Nobel Commission.

This series contains Burton Rogers’s correspondence with various individuals. The majority of the documents are letters sent by Rogers, with several telegrams also appearing. Rogers wrote letters to Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, the King of Sweden, the Nobel Commission, and Ripley’s Believe it or Not. The correspondence dates from 1933-1941.