Archival correspondence regarding the origin of the Harvey Cushing Society: the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

Abstract

Behind the scenes in the origin of the Harvey Cushing Society, now known as the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, there were many interesting political factors occurring, which appeared in correspondence and were preserved and later forwarded by William P. Van Wagenen to the Harvey Cushing Section of the Yale Medical Library. This correspondence, circa 1931, provides an interesting account of the aspirations of young neurosurgeons who wished to gain societal status, without offending the giants of the Society of Neurological Surgeons.