Walter W. Williams Papers, 1916-1987.
Collection Number: 6547

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Walter W. Williams Papers, 1916-1987.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Collection Number:
6547
Abstract:
This collection contains correspondence, newsclippings and research notes. Most of the research is related to the study of fertility and sterility.
Creator:
Williams, Walter Wilkinson, 1892-.
Quanitities:
1.0 cubic feet.
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Walter Wilkinson Williams was born on January 28, 1892. He attended Cornell University from 1909-1915. He received a bachelor of arts in 1913 from the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences. In 1915, he received a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine also from Cornell University. He married Glady Howell Warrick in 1916. They had two children Walter Jr., (1918) and Rosalind (1923). Walter Jr. was a 1941 graduate of Cornell University.
Williams practiced veterinary medicine for thirteen years. From 1920-25 he studied bovine semen and spermatic pathology. He collaborated on his father Walter Long Williams' book The Diseases of the Genital Organs of Domestic Animals. In 1928, at the age of 36, he decided to go back to school in order to receive a medical degree. He published a book entitled Sex Hygiene and Reproduction of Cattle, in 1929, which helped to finance his education. He graduated in 1933, from the Albany Medical College, where he received his doctorate in medicine. After this he moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he served as house officer at Springfield Hospital. By 1940, he had devoted his medical practice to the study of infertility and sterility.
From 1944-46, during World War II, he served as a surgeon with the rank of Lieutenant Commander for the U.S. Navy. For many years after the war, he was a clinical geneticist. He was awarded the Gold Medal Award in 1951, by the American Medical Association for an exhibit on the diagnostic and prognostic procedures of fertility and sterility. In 1953, he was given an honorary mention by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology for an exhibit on the diagnosis of fertility. Between 1925-1975 he published approximately 100 articles on male and female sterility. By 1977, he had published 30 more. He is author of Sterility: The Diagnostic Survey of the Infertile Couple, first published in 1953 with two subsequent editions. From 1958-1961, he served as the editor of the International Journal of Fertility. In 1977, at the age of 84, he published, An Insight into Marital Infertility. His accomplishments include co-founding the American Fertility Society in 1944. He was an honorary member, founder and past president of the American Society for the Study of Sterility. He was also an honorary member and founder of the International Fertility Association. He was an honorary member of the Sociedad de Obstetricia y Gynecologia de Venezuela, the Societats Gynecologica et Obstertrica Italica, and the American College of Theriogenologists. He was a member of the American Medical Association, Hampden District Medical Society, the New England Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
He died in 1988 in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
For more biographical information, please see "Contributions to Infertility Studies" in the biographical series of this collection. This is an autobiographical sketch included in Part IV of the third edition of his book, Sterility: The Diagnostic Survey of the Infertile Couple.

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

This collection includes personal material such as newsclippings, correspondence and photographs, as well as research material, printed material, slides and photographs relating to Williams' infertility work. Personal correspondence includes letters from Walter W. William's father Walter Long Williams, one of the first six professors of the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. Materials related to his work on infertility in both animals and humans include numerous publications, research notes, charts and tables. Many diagrams and research notes are from his book, Infertility: A Guide for the Childless Couple.

RELATED MATERIAL

Besides numerous academic journal articles, Walter W. Williams also published a number of books which can be found in the Cornell University library catalog. These books include The Diseases of the Genital Organs of Domestic Animals (1921) which was written primarily by his father Walter L. Williams with his collaboration and assistance.The book Sex Hygiene and Reproduction of Cattle, was written in 1930. It was followed by Sterility; The Diagnostic Survey of the Infertile Couple which was written in 1953. His last book, An Insight Into Marital Infertility, was published in 1977.
Series I. Biographical Material Folders 1-5, 46-47
Series II. Correspondence Folders 6-10
Series III. Writings Folders 11-16
Series IV. Research Material & Subject Files Folders 17-45

SEPARATED MATERIAL

Three photographs have been physically separated from this collection. They are housed in the Veterinary Photograph Collection, and have been assigned the folling numbers:
VPC.00??? Walter W. Williams in uniform at Sampson Naval Training Station, June 1945.
VPC.00??? Walter W. Williams, Dr. Mayer and Dr. Percival A. Duff at Sampson Naval Training Station, May 1945.
VPC.00??? Portrait of Walter W. Williams, ca. 1940-1949.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:

Walter W. Williams Papers, # 6547. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

SUBJECTS

Names:
Williams, Walter Wilkinson, 1892-
Williams, W. L. (Walter Long), 1856-1945.
New York State College of Veterinary Medicine
Subjects:
Infertility.
Veterinarians.
Physicians.

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Series I. Biographical Material
Box 1 Folder 1
Newspaper clippings and magazine articles
1953-84
Box 1 Folder 2
"Contributions to Infertility Studies"
1964
Box 1 Folder 3
Bibliographies
1961-1975
Box 1 Folder 4
Congress Venezolano de Obstetrcia y Ginecologica-Mexico
1945, 1955
Box 1 Folder 5
International Journal of Fertility - Festschrift in Honor of Walter W. Williams
1964
Box 1 Folder 46
U.S. Navy and World War I
1944-1946
Box 1 Folder 47
Dr. Leopoldo Aguerrevere medal
n.d.
Series II.Correspondence
Box 1 Folder 6
W.L. Williams
1916-25
Box 1 Folder 7
W.L. Williams
1927-43
Box 1 Folder 8
Walter W. Williams Jr.
1938-40
Box 1 Folder 9
American College of Theriogenologists (A.C.T.)
1983-86
Box 1 Folder 10
Miscellaneous
1918-87
Series III. Writings
Journal Articles and Publications
Box 1 Folder 11
General
1921-25
Box 1 Folder 12
General
1927-39
Box 1 Folder 13
General
1940-48
Box 1 Folder 14
General
1950-58
Box 1 Folder 15
General
1960-69
Box 1 Folder 16
General
1970-72
Books
Box 1
Sex Hygiene and Reproduction of Cattle-annotated
1930
Box 1
An Insight into Marital Infertility-annotated
1977
Box 1
La Sterilita: Diagnosi e Terapiia dell'inferilita coniugale
1960
Series IV. Research Material and Subject Files
Box 1 Folder 17
Notes on spermatozoa
1920's
Box 1 Folder 18
"Physiologic Factors Concomitant to Maturation of the Ovum, Fertilization, Implantation and Survival"
1942-1943, 1976
Box 1 Folder 19
"Pathogogical Spermatozoa and Fertility Potential"
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 20
Semen and sperm analysis and charts
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 21
"Spermatic Cytopathoogy and Potenial Fertility"
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 22
"Progress on Infertility" and other notes
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 23
Anovulation articles and material
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 24
"Hyperestrogenic Anovulation"
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 25
"Effects of Low Dosage Irradiation on Ovarian Function"
1985
Box 1 Folder 26
"Diagnosis and Therapy of Endometriosis"
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 27
Basal body temperature
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 28
"Foundation of the American Fertility Society"
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 29
"Chapter X: Basic Progress in Marital Infertility"
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 30
Notes for Sterility: The Diagnostic Survey of Infertile Couples
1986
Box 1 Folder 31
Infertility Research
1980's
Box 1 Folder 32
Book notices and reviews for Sterility
1953-1971
Box 1 Folder 33
Resolve, Inc,
1975-76
Box 1 Folder 34
The American Society for the Study of Sterility
1963
Box 1 Folder 35
Anovulation Charts
1942-1972
Box 1 Folder 36
Charts recording basal body temperature
1945-1955
Box 1 Folder 37
Charts and tables related to ovulation
1947
Box 1 Folder 38
Diagrams of abnormal sperm
1967-1980
Box 1 Folder 39
Diagrams of normal sperm
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 40
Articles by Eric Bloom
1976-1983
Box 1 Folder 41
Miscellaneous journal articles on spermatozoa
1921-1938
Box 1 Folder 42
Miscellaneous journal articles on spermatozoa
194-1946, 1974, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 43
Laboratory Manuals
1919, 1980
Box 1 Folder 44
Exhibits
n.d.
Box 1 Folder 45
Slides
n.d.