Ask a Librarian

Dr. Desmond’s papers now available

Murdina MacFarquhar Desmond, MD (1916-2003)

The papers of Murdina MacFarquhar Desmond, M.D., FAAP are now available at the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center (HAM-TMC) Library’s Historical Research Center (HRC) at 8272 El Rio, Suite 190, Houston.  A guide to the 3.5 linear feet of material is online at: https://archives.library.tmc.edu/ms-054.
Dr. Desmond (1916-2003) was a member of a 1950s team that developed an infection control plan for hospital- acquired staphylococcous infection for newborns. Dr. Desmond began the first neonatal intensive care unit in the nation at the former Jefferson Davis Hospital and worked with affected babies at the hospital during the 1963-64 rubella outbreak. In 1973, she became director of the Leopold Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics at Texas Children’s Hospital.
The main portion of her papers deal with her work at Jefferson Davis Hospital, including grants she received from the John A. Hartford Foundation, and at Texas Children’s Hospital.  Reprints of her published articles are included in the papers. This collection holds photographs of Dr. Desmond as a medical student, Naval officer, and a faculty member of Baylor College of Medicine. Some background material and photographs of the illustrations she used in the book, Newborn Medicine and Society: European Background and American Practice (1750-1975), are included. She donated many books on the newborn and on pediatrics. These books have been cataloged and are available in the HAM-TMC Library’s online catalog.