This collection consists largely of Dercum's publications, both individual articles in box 1 and bound reprints found in box 2. Box 1 also contains several short biographies, a newspaper clipping from 1939 referencing Dercum's role in persuading Woodrow Wilson not to resign from the presidency, and several photographs and images.
Francis Xavier Dercum was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1865. He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1877. He was a Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases at Jefferson Medical College from 1883-1900 and became the Department Chair in 1900, a position he held until 1925. His career focused largely on neuropsychiatry and endocrinology, and in 1892 he described adipose dolorosa, also known as Dercum's disease. He founded the Philadelphia Neurological Society with Charles K. Mills and throughout his life would be a member of many medical societies and organizations. His life came to an end during an April 24, 1931 meeting of the American Philosophical Society when he died of heart failure.
Francis X. Dercum Papers, MS-050. Thomas Jefferson University - Archives and Special Collections.
Francis X. Dercum Papers, MS-050. Thomas Jefferson University - Archives and Special Collections. http://aisrmedia1.jefferson.edu:81/repositories/2/resources/14 Accessed May 14, 2024.