The bulk of this collection consists of Gordon's publications (bulk 1970s) and correspondence. It also contains a number of clippings and publications from other authors.
Burgess Lee Gordon was born in Spokane, Washington on April 10, 1892. He graduated from Gonzaga University in 1912 and from Jefferson Medical College in 1919. Following graduation from Jefferson, Gordon interned at JMC from 1919-1921 before becoming a resident physician at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston from 1921-1926 and a teaching fellow at Harvard Medical School from 1923-1926. Beginning in 1941 Gordon was a Clinical Professor of Medicine and Cardiopulmonary Disease at Jefferson. From 1942-1946 he served in the US Army. After WWII he continued as a professor at Jefferson until 1951 when he left to become the first male president of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, where he also taught. In 1957 he moved to the Lovelace Foundation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He remained there as the Director of Investigation and Education until 1960. Finally, he became the Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, a position he stayed in until his retirement at 83. He died in 1984.
Gordon is known for creating the Gordon stethoscope, which incorporated rubber contacts to make the stethoscope less cold on bare skin. He also co-created the electric thermometer, which registered temperature continually and automatically.
I. Biography (1951-c.1980)
II. Addresses (1972-1973)
III. Publications (1958-1985)
IV. Correspondence (1925-1984)
V. Events and Ephemera (1919-1972)
VI. Pictorial (n.d.)
VII. Publications (Other Authors) (1905-1973)
VIII. Necrology (1984)
Burgess Gordon Papers, MS-020. Thomas Jefferson University - Archives and Special Collections.
Burgess Gordon Papers, MS-020. Thomas Jefferson University - Archives and Special Collections. http://aisrmedia1.jefferson.edu:81/repositories/2/resources/21 Accessed May 14, 2024.