Historical Reflections: The Medical Heritage Center Blog

Dr. Arthur G. James (1912-2001) believed all cancer would eventually be eradicated. That belief coupled with his dedication to the idea that cancer patients needed separate, specialized care, led him to lobby, campaign, and fundraise for thirty-five years to build a cancer hospital in Ohio. The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute opened at Ohio State on July 9, 1990 when it admitted its first patient. At the time of its construction, only three hospitals – Roswell Park in Buffalo, New York; M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas; and Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City – had comparable resources. After a gift of $20 million from Richard J. Solove in 1999, the facility was renamed the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, but is commonly referred to as the James. The facility remains the only freestanding cancer hospital in Ohio to this day.

A book written by George Paulson and Kristin Rodgers titled Arthur G. James Surgeon with a Dream is for sale by the Medical Heritage Center for $25 plus applicable sales tax. [link to: https://hsl.osu.edu/service-areas/mhc/services/publications-sale] This publication is primarily based on Dr. James’s archival collection and the finding aid for that can be viewed at https://hsl.osu.edu/mhc/pdf/arthur-g-james-md-collection

Paul Tennyson Williams (1925- ) had his own medical practice in Delaware, Ohio until 1974. In 1974 academic family medicine was initiated at Ohio State as a division of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Williams is recruited and appointed Professor and Chair. Under Williams’ leadership in 1974, the Division of Family Medicine received full accreditation for its Family Practice Residency Program, the first university-based family practice residency program in Ohio.

The Medical Heritage Center has an archival collection about Dr. Williams and the finding aid for that can be viewed at https://hsl.osu.edu/mhc/pdf/p-tennyson-williams-md-collection