Cranston Holman, MD Papers

Collection

Identifier: US-NNCORMA-RGPPM-044

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Scope and Contents

The collection has been organized into seven series: Correspondence (1917-1993), Case Files (1932-1970), Research Notes (1932-1987), Reprints (1925-1977), Biography (1959-1986), Miscellaneous (1881-1984), and Photographs (1930-1990).

Dates

1917 - 1993

Conditions Governing Access

Historical records in the Medical Center Archives are protected by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), internal policies requiring protection and confidential handling of PHI (protected health information), FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), or other institutional polices regarding internal or confidential records, and may require additional permissions prior to access. Some records in this collection are restricted and require additional permissions prior to access. View the container inventory for more information and visit the Medical Center Archives website for the most updated policies and procedures regarding access to historical materials containing restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Materials from this collection cannot be reproduced outside the guidelines of United States Fair Use (17 U.S.C., Section 107) without the advance permission of the Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine or the copyright holder. In the event that anything from the collection become a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine is required.

Historical records in the Medical Center Archives are protected by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and internal policies which require protection and confidential handling of all protected health information (PHI). Materials containing PHI, personally identifiable information (PII), and/or student information (protected under FERPA) have been restricted and require additional permissions prior to reproduction and use.

Please visit the Medical Center Archives website for the most updated policies and procedures regarding reproduction and use.

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Cranston Holman was born in Pasadena, California on January 5, 1907. His parents were Frank and Carolyn Holman. His brother, Emile Holman, M.D. was also a renowned physician in California. He married Marion Nicholas and had two children Eric and Martha.

Dr. Holman was a leading tennis player in the 1920s and was the eighth ranked player in the United States. However in 1925, he decided to give up tennis for medicine.

He received both an A.B. (1927) and M.D. (1931) at Stanford University. He was an assistant resident of surgery at Cincinnati General Hospital in 1931-1932. When Dr. George Heuer, his mentor at Cincinnati General Hospital, was hired as chairman/surgeon-in-chief at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in 1932, he brought Dr. Holman with him. He started as assistant resident in surgery at New York Hospital. He moved up the ranks at the hospital: resident surgeon (1935-1936), assistant attending surgeon (1937-1946), associate attending surgeon (1946-1953), and attending surgeon (1953-1975).

In 1935, he joined the faculty of Cornell University Medical College as an instructor in surgery. He moved up the ranks to research fellow (1937), associate in surgery (1937-1938), assistant professor of surgery (1938-1946), associate professor of clinical surgery (1946-1958), and professor of clinical surgery (1958-1975). During World War II, he joined the U. S. Army Medical Corps and served in the Pacific as a chief surgeon, 29th Evacuation Hospital (1942-1945) and 80th General Hospital (1945-1946).

He served on the American Board of Surgery in 1939 and the Board of Thoracic Surgery in 1948. He was the president of New York Society of Thoracic Surgery in 1964-1965, president of New York Surgical Society, 1960-1961, and president of New York Medical Surgical Society in 1973. He was a member of several other organizations. His specialty was thoracic surgery. He participated in one of the world's first heart-lung transplants on December 25, 1969. He and Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and 12 other doctors performed the operation. The patient only lived one week.

He was highly respected by his colleagues and patients. He died on December 10, 1993.

Extent

2.08 Linear Feet (5 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Dr. Constance Friess, his second wife, gave the papers to the Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell on January 13, 1994.

Processing Information

This collection was processed and finding aid was written by Elizabeth Shepard in 2001. Minor modifications to the finding aid were made during migration to ArchivesSpace in 2024.