University Health Network - Academy of Medicine Collection
Category
Archival
Military Medicine
Classification
Archival, Military
Archival, Military, photographs
Military Medicine, Hospital
Archival, Images
Military Medicine
Accession Number
002050423
Description
Rectangular hardbound photograph album (a) with approximately 90 monochrome photographs of various sizes depicting World War II surgical and plastic surgery patients attached to both sides of thick dark grey card paper pages; hand written descriptions accompany many photographs showing the war woun…
Rectangular hardbound photograph album (a) with approximately 90 monochrome photographs of various sizes depicting World War II surgical and plastic surgery patients attached to both sides of thick dark grey card paper pages; hand written descriptions accompany many photographs showing the war wounds before and after plastic surgery and in some cases the patients name; 17 loose monochrome photographs of surgical patients (b-r), 1 small rounded rectangular plastic-ray negative (s), and 1 rectangular paper illustration of mandible accompany album (t); light brown book cloth covers the exterior of the cardboard front and back covers, and thin dark brown leather covers the corners and spine; hand written signature of original owner appears in bottom corner of front cover in red ink; pages consist of single folded sheet attached to spine with three grey metal staples along proper right side; 18 double sided pages with photographs; 18 double sided pages without photographs.
Number Of Parts
20
Part Names
a - album - Length 27.5 cm x Width 21.0 cm x Depth 4.0 cm
b-d - loose photographs - Length 12.0 cm x Width 8.3 cm
e-f - loose photographs - Length 12.0 cm x Width 8.4 cm
g-i - loose photographs - Length 10.6 cm x Width 8.1 cm
j - loose photograph - Length cm x Width cm
k-m - loose photographs - Length 10.7 cm x Width 7.1 cm
n-o - loose photographs - Length 8.9 cm x Width 6.6 cm
p - loose photograph - Length 8.7 cm x Width 6.4 cm
q-r - loose photographs - Length 9.0 cm x Width 6.4 cm
s - x-ray negative - Length 7.6 cm x Width 5.7 cm
t - illustration - Length 16.1 cm x Width 10.8 cm
Provenance
Acquired from the Academy of Medicine; originally from the Estate of Dr. Stuart Gordon.
Hand written on front cover in red ink: "Stuart Gordon"; prited on label inside back cover in black ink: "THE // CROMER // ALBUM // No. S 886 // Johnson, London."
Permanent Location
Storage Room 2005
2005-2-4 Box 41
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Condition Remarks
Minor wear, fading, and areas of discolouration all over covers; minor tears and abrasion to leather, especially on spine cover; minor creasing and warping of of pages and photographs; several photographs seperating from pages throughout album; on page group completely seperated from album
Copy Type
original
Reference Types
Documents
Website
Reference Comments
Donor file 002.050
Garfield, Richard. "Gillies - The Genius of Rooksdown." 2009, Basingstoke Gazette, Newsquest Media Group Ltd., 2020.
"Stuart Gordon, MD." Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, University of Toronto, 2020.
Research Facts
The photographs were likely taken of patients at the Basingstoke Neurological and Plastic Surgery Hospital R. C. A. M. C. during the Second World War; Dr. Gordon, the album’s original owner, served at the hospital during the war; the hospital itself also served as the Number Four Canadian General Hospital during the First World War and became Park Prewett Mental Hospital, which originally specialized in mental health care, in the inter-war period; the depicted plastic surgery wing of the hospital was known as Rooksdown House, and was established by Sir Harold Gillies, often called the father of modern plastic surgery; Dr. Gordon worked with Gillies and was a successful plastic surgeon who aided the wounded of the Second World War and worked to grow the Plastic Surgery field during and after the war.
Dr. Gordon graduated from the University of Toronto in 1926. After serving in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in World War II, he returned to Toronto to become the Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Toronto General Hospital and the first head of the University of Toronto training program in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.