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Contact Us About This Collection
By Florence Borders and Lester G. Sullivan Jr.
Title: Rivers Frederick papers, 1893-1961
Creator: Frederick, Rivers (1874-1956)
Extent: 1.0 Linear Feet
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically within each format.
Date Acquired: 01/01/1976
Languages: English
The papers of Dr. Rivers Frederick consist of circa 250 items of correspondence and approximately 125 items of non-correspondence. The non-correspondence occupies about eighty-five percent of the shelf space allotted to this collection.
Non-correspondence in these papers includes speeches and writings by Frederick; writings by others about Frederick; other collected writings; lists; programs and menus; diplomas and certificates; photographs; newspaper clippings; collected periodicals, books, and other collected items, including posthumous materials. A series of phonograph records are housed in box 2; oversized items are housed in box 3. Most of the materials, both correspondence and also non-correspondence, date from after World War II.
Most of the correspondence consists of letters of congratulation to Frederick upon the occasions of testimonial celebrations in his honor staged in 1947 and 1954. These congratulatory letters amount to a veritable catalog of central Southern black doctors and their black and white associates and of blacks in the industrial life insurance business in Louisiana at the time. Some are posthumous letters to Frederick's widow, Eloise Clarke Frederick. There are no more than four letters each from any one correspondent.
Among prominent persons represented within incoming correspondence are the following, with the years of their correspondence: Herbert Acuff, president of the International College of Surgeons, 1951; Will W. Alexander, vice-president of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, 1947; Joseph Bartholomew, prominent New Orleans businessman, 1947; Roscoe C. Brown, chief of the office of Negro Health Work of the U.S. Health Service, 1947; Fred Brownlee, general Secretary of the American Missionary Association, 1947; Daniel E. Byrd, New Orleans civil rights activist, 1954; Gladys F. Cahn, Louisiana State Commander, American Cancer Society, 1947-1954; W.G. Carradine, president of the Standard Industrial Life Insurance Company of Louisiana, 1947; Giovanni Cavina, director and vice-president, Societa Tosco-Umbra di Chururgia, Florence, Italy, 1951; Ulysses Grant Dailey, leading African American surgeon, 1954 and n.d.; Matthew S. Davage, Secretary of the Department of Educational Institutions for Negroes of the Methodist Church Board of Education, 1947; Jimmie H. Davis, Governor of Louisiana, 1946; Eugene H. Dibble, medical director, Tuskegee Institute, 1947; Joseph A. Hardin, prominent black New Orleans physician and Liberian consul, 1947; Raymond Hufft, Louisiana state director Selective Service System, 1950; James Lewis, Jr., president of the People's Industrial Life Insurance Company of Louisiana, 1947; Earl K. Long, Governor of Louisiana, 1951; Douglas L. Manship, Louisiana state director of Civil Defense,1951; Wade O. Martin, Jr. Secretary of State of Louisiana, 1951-1954; Mother Mary Agatha, president of Xavier University of Louisiana, 1954; Karl A. Meyer, secretary of the International College of Surgeons, 1953; deLesseps Story Morrison, New Orleans mayor, 1947; Alton Ochsner, leading New Orleans hospital administrator, 1947-1954; Kermit A. Parker, Commissioner, Louisiana State Industrial School for Colored Youths, 1949; J.E. Walker, president of the Universal Life Insurance Company, 1947-1954; Matthew Walker, chairman of the department of Surgery, Meharry Medical College, 1947; John M. Whitney, New Orleans Superintendant of Public Health, 1947; and Andrew J. Young, politician and pastor, 1947.
This collection was processed under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Rivers Frederick, son of George S. Frederick and Armintine Dalcourt Frederick, was born May 22, 1874, in New Roads, Louisiana. After his early education, Frederick completed the English course at New Orleans University on May 24, 1893. Frederick received his M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1897.
Frederick began his professional career as an intern at the John B. Murphy Clinic in Chicago from 1897-1899. Following his private practice in New Orleans from 1901-1904, Frederick became the surgeon-in-chief at a small government hospital in El Roi Tan, Spanish Honduras. Frederick later contracted malaria during this stint. He then returned to New Orleans where he became the Assistant Professor of Surgery at Flint Medical School from 1904-1908. During this time Frederick married his first wife, Adele (nee Bouis) on May 20, 1906. A year later on June 18, Frederick's first child, Pearl, was born.
In 1908, Frederick obtained the position of Chief Surgeon at Sarah Goodridge Hospital in New Orleans, which he maintained until 1913. During this time, Frederick's second child, Lolita, was born on June 27, 1911. From 1913-1932, Frederick was a surgeon for Southern Pacific Railway in New Orleans. In 1923, Frederick became one of the founders of the black-owned Louisiana Life Insurance Company (later known as the Universal Life Insurance Company). Frederick served as a board member, secretary, vice-president, and president. He later became the principal stockholder.
Frederick became the Chief of Surgery at the Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University from 1932-1950. He married his second wife, Eloise (nee Clarke), and had his third child, Rivers Jr., on Nov 10, 1939. In 1934, he was elected first vice-president of the National Medical Association. From 1935-1953, Frederick became the instructor in surgery at the Flint-Goodridge summer postgraduate courses. He also led efforts that resulted in the formation of the New Orleans Insurance Executive Council, an organization of black-owned industrial life insurance firms.
On November 2, 1947, the Flint-Goodridge testimonial service honored Frederick for fifty years of medical practice. The same year he became a life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1948, he was appointed to the New Orleans Citizens' Advisory Committee for Shakespeare Park Playground. The following year Frederick became a member of the International College of Surgeons. He also received a National Urban League Certificate of Recognition, and was appointed to the New Orleans Mayor's Negro Advisory Board.
In 1950, Frederick stepped down as Chief of Surgery at Flint-Goodridge to become its Consultant in Surgery. The same year he became Associate Medical Advisor to Selective Service Local Board No. 39 (Orleans Parish). In 1951, Frederick received the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Social Action Achievement Award. The summer of that year he was named a Corresponding Fellow of the Italian Societa Tosco-Umbra di Churgia, as well as being appointed to the Louisiana Governor's Advisory Council on Civil Defense.
During October 1951, Frederick was appointed by Louisiana Governor Earl K. Long to sit on a special committee investigating the Orleans Parish Levee Board. Frederick also won the first Dillard University Alumni Achievement Award, and was also awarded in February 1952 by the Flint-Goodridge Hospital.
The following year Frederick was appointed to the New Orleans Mayor's Citizens' Committee to Study Housing Rehabilitation. In 1954, Frederick received a National Medical Association Distinguished Service Award and was honored by the New Orleans Branch of the NAACP for over half a century of service to the Community. Dr. Rivers Frederick died on September 2, 1954.
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions: Copyright to these papers has not been assigned to the Amistad Research Center. It is the responsibility of an author to secure permission for publication from the holder of the copyright to any material contained in this collection.
Technical Access Note: Phonograph records are unavailable for use at this time.
Acquisition Source: Mrs. Eloise F. Buckner
Acquisition Method: Gift
Appraisal Information: Collection documents the medical career of Dr. Frederick Rivers, as well as his many honors and recognitions.
Processing Information: Processed
Finding Aid Revision History: Initial processing by Florence E. Borders, 1976-1977; second processing by Lester G. Sullivan, Jr., December 1979; rehoused by Christopher Harter and Andrew Albert, student intern, June 2009
Other Note: Correspondence Index attached as PDF
Other URL: http://www.amistadresearchcenter.org/pdfs/Archon/Frederick, Rivers Papers - Correspondence Index.pdf
Acute Intestinal Obstruction, circa 1930s
Primitive Surgeons in Modern Medicine, August 1946
The Doctor and the Dignity of Man, circa 1951
Dillard University Alumni Award Acceptance, October 25, 1951
New Orleans Branch NAACP Testimonial Acceptance, February 3, 1954
National Medical Association Presidency Acceptance, undated
People's Industrial Life Insurance Home Office Dedication, undated
Draft for a speech
Note regarding a paper by Ullysses G. Daily
Albert W. Dent, citation: First Dillard University Alumni Award, October 25, 1951
Biographical sketch, August 1951
Biographical sketch, September 29, 1951
Frederick Has Just Returned from Buenos Aires, circa 1953
Biographical sketch, circa September 1954 (page 2 only)
Eloise Clarke Frederick: In appreciation, September 1954
Louis A.G. Blanchet and Haidel J. Christophe: A resolution, September 13, 1954
Biographical sketch, May 1956 (page 2 only)
Rivers Frederick, M.D., undated
Conclusions About Africa / by Ulysses G. Dailey, September 28, 1953
Grave's Disease: Treatment with Radiodine / by Mayo H. Soley, Earl Miller, and Nadine Foreman, undated
Incomplete script about heart disease, undated
Persons Invited as a Committee to Advise the State Department of Education in Preparing Rules and Regulations...for Out-of-State Scholarships for Graduate, Professional, and Specialized Education for Negro Residents of Louisiana, August 23, 1946
Guests at State Dinner Honoring His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia in New Orleans, 1954
Members of the Royal Party [of Haile Selassie I], 1954
Unveiling of portrait of Rivers Frederick at Flint-Goodridge Hospital, 1947
New Orleans Branch of the NAACP, Testimonial Banquet for Rivers Frederick, 1954
Inauguration of Mayor de Lesseps S. Morrison, 1954
International House, Reception for Haile Selassie I
Inauguration of The Louis T. Wright Library of Harlem Hospital, undated
International College of Surgeons, Founders' Dinner, August 1, 1950
International College of Surgeons, Fifteenth Annual Banquet, November 2, 1950
Dillard University of Louisiana Honors Clarence Cameron White, March 17, 1954
First Annual Rivers Frederick Lecture Series, May 9, 1956
Louiana Medical Association, Eleventh Annual Meeting, May 8-9, 1957
New Orleans University, Completion of English Course, May 24, 1893
Louisiana Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association, Certificate of Appreciation, May 14, 1941
NAACP, Life Membership, May 22, 1947
New Orleans Citizens' Advisory Committee for Shakespeare Park Playground, July 29, 1948
Chi Delta Mu Fraternity, Initiation, April 20, 1949
New Orleans Mayor's Negro Advisory Board, September 28, 1949
National Urban League, Certificate of Recognition, March 12, 1950
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Social Action Achievement Award, 1951
Dillard University Alumni Award, October 26, 1951
Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University, For Professional Skill in Surgery, February 3, 1952
New Orleans Mayor's Citizens' Committee to Study Housing Rehabilitation, March 31, 1953
Selective Service System, Certificate of Appreciation, December 31, 1953
United Fund for the Greater New Orleans Area, Award, 1953
New Orleans Branch NAACP, For More Than Half a Century of Professional Skill, February 3, 1954
Selective Service System, Certificate of Appreciation, September 14, 1954
American Cancer Society, Certificate of Five Years Service, September 22, 1954
American Cancer Society, Award of Merit, undated
New Orleans University, Completion of English Course, May 24, 1893
Louisiana Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association, Certificate of Appreciation, May 14, 1941
NAACP, Life Membership, May 22, 1947
New Orleans Citizens' Advisory Committee for Shakespeare Park Playground, July 29, 1948
Chi Delta Mu Fraternity, Initiation, April 20, 1949
New Orleans Mayor's Negro Advisory Board, September 28, 1949
National Urban League, Certificate of Recognition, March 12, 1950
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Social Action Achievement Award, 1951
Dillard University Alumni Award, October 26, 1951
Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University, For Professional Skill in Surgery, February 3, 1952
New Orleans Mayor's Citizens' Committee to Study Housing Rehabilitation, March 31, 1953
Selective Service System, Certificate of Appreciation, December 31, 1953
United Fund for the Greater New Orleans Area, Award, 1953
New Orleans Branch NAACP, For More Than Half a Century of Professional Skill, February 3, 1954
Selective Service System, Certificate of Appreciation, September 14, 1954
American Cancer Society, Certificate of Five Years Service, September 22, 1954
American Cancer Society, Award of Merit, undated
Signal Honors to Two Outstanding Negro Surgeons, November 11, 1950
Organizational Meet of NAACP Slated Friday, January 10, 1953
N.O. Medic Admitted to Int'l College of Surgeons, October 3, 1953
Dinner to Honor Dr. Frederick, circa February 1954
Dr. Frederick, February 1954
Dr. Frederick is Honored for Civic, Medical Work, February 4, 1954
Dr. Frederick is Hailed at Testimonial, February 13, 1954
Surgeon, Insurance Man Dies, September 2, 1954
Let's Give Our Fair Share, October 20, 1954
Dr. Frederick to Be Honored, May 9, 1956
Medical Group Opens Meeting, May 9, 1957
Un congenere americain dans nos murs, undated
La Louisiane, circa 1947
The Dillard Bulletin, October 1951
Medical News Round-Up, November 1952
Annual Report of the Orleans Parish Unit, American Cancer Society, 1953
Journal of the National Medical Association, July 1954
The Journal of the International College of Surgeons, September 1954
The Medical Alumni Association of the University of Illinois Newsletter, February 1955
Central Christian Advocate, March 1, 1955
The Rivers Frederick Times, circa December 1955 (2 copies)
The Rivers Frederick Times, June 1, 1956
Conference for Betterment of Health Conditions Among Negroes, undated
Out of My Life and Thought /by Albert Schweitzer (with provenance note from Eloise Frederick Buckner)
Black-Belt Diamonds / by Booker T. Washington (with provenance note from Eloise Frederick Buckner)
Postgraduate Course Schedule, June 25-30, 1951
World Medical Association, Report to Contributors Past, Present, and Future, 1952-1953
International College of Surgeons, Receipt for Annual Dues, January 1, 1954
Acknowledgement of Sympathy by the Frederick Family, circa September 1954
Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, To All Retirees, undated
Booker T. Washington Senior High School, Bibliography on Black History, undated
National Medical Association, Certificate of Membership, August 30, 1950
Selective Service System, Appointment as Medical Advisor, September 22, 1950
Societa Tosco-Umbra di Chirurgia, Diploma di Nomina, May 5, 1951
Dr. Rivers Frederick, June 5, 1953 (12 inch, 33 1/3 rpm)
NAACP Testimonial, February 3, 1954 (12 inch, 78 rpm)
Royal Salute, Music of New Orleans, Dr. Rivers Frederick, undated (10 inch, 78 rpm)
Rivers Frederick, undated (10 inch, [?] rpm)