University of Tennessee Health Sciences Library and Biocommunications Center

This reception was held to honor the family of Dr. Etteldorf, his colleagues and his students, who encouraged and supported our efforts to organize Dr. Etteldorf's professional papers. Below are a few images that were taken during the reception, which included words from Tom Singarella, Ph.D., Shane Roy III, M.D., Eleanor Nunn and Marcella Houseal, both daughters of Dr. Etteldorf, and Richard Nollan, HSHC Coordinator.

Dr. Etteldorf was born in 1909 and raised in South Dakota. After receiving his B.S. degree in 1932 from South Dakota State University, he came to the University of Tennessee, Memphis, where he first planned to pursue a degree in pharmacology, but then changed his mind in favor of medicine, which he completed 1942. After completeing his internship and residency, and a year at St. Louis Childrens Hospital, he joined the staff at UT. Dr. Etteldorf's association with UT spans over 60 years. During that time he accomplished many medical firsts, administered an 18-year postdoctoral training grant which established pediatrics in Memphis, and was instrumental in the early development of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital and Lebonheur Children's Medical Center. Go to this link for a more detailed biography.

Tom Singarella, Ph. D., and Shane Roy III, M.D.

Dr. Singarella's comments recalled how Dr. Ellen Kang first approached him with an idea to develop Dr. Etteldorf's papers. "She asked me what it would take to preserve his memory, recognize his contributions, preserve his materials, and to make them available to future generations. Hearing her passion for this man and his contributions made me want to learn more."

Dr. Roy recounted fond memories of working with Dr. Etteldorf over many years. Everyone called him Dr. E. Dr. Roy noted that he was only 1 year old when Dr. E began working at UT. Dr. E was always ahead of everyone, always thinking. "Hundreds and hundreds of papers have been published as a result of his own work and that of his students," he said. Dr. E's reputation is truly international.

Eleanor Nunn and Marcella Houseal
Daughters of Dr. Etteldorf

Both daughters recalled growing up with Dr. Etteldorf as their father. "This collection is a celebration of his life." Mrs. Nunn said. She also asked for a moment of silence in memory of Dr. Robert Summitt, who died last year. Dr. Summitt was a prot à ©g à © of Dr. Etteldforf and Dean of Medicine at UT. Mrs. Houseal recalled how important medicine was for her father, who never refused to take a phone call from anyone, and who continued to make house calls long after his colleagues stopped making them. "He demanded excellence of his family and his students, and he got it." Mrs. Houseal also recounted how he helped her to win at a school science fair by designing a project that included experiments with mice.

Richard Nollan, M.L.S., AHIP
Health Sciences Historical Collections Coordinator

Mr. Nollan spoke about the evolution of the project and the new opportunities that the Etteldorf project afforded the Historical Collections. The first task was to create a database containing a record for each item in the collection, which totals 1486 items. The database can generate a paper inventory that numbers over 100 pages long, which would have been the final product only a few years ago. However, the digital version is much more flexible to search and sort. In addition, he added, over 77% of the items in the collection were scanned, thus creating over 3300 images. These images together with the inventory easily fit onto a compact disk. In this way, Dr. Etteldorf's papers are not only perserved, but easy to search and utilize.

In addition to the speakers pictured above, approximately 50 people attended this reception, including colleagues and memberof the family. Below are pictures of other attendees.

  

  

And a good time was had by all. A special thanks goes to Laura Blalock of the library staff for shooting the images on this page. If you would like to view the inventory to the Etteldorf Collection, you may download a copy here.

For more information contact: Richard Nollan

Revised 4/17/2006