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By Charlotte Lellman, February 5, 2020

Covers of pamphlets for expecting parents and “Non-Alcoholic Beverage Recipes” booklet.

Center staff are currently processing the papers of David Dickinson Potter (1930-2019), who was a founding faculty member in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of the Native American High School Summer Program (now named in honor of Potter and his colleague as the Ed Furshpan and David Potter Native American High School Program). The program began as a collaboration between Harvard Medical School and students, teachers, and community members from Native American homelands, and remains a collaborative program today. Potter hosted groups of Hopi, Lakota, Sioux, Wampanoag, Native Hawaiians, and other Native Americans at Harvard each summer, and he worked with the teachers to develop educational curricula that carefully considered the social factors influencing teenagers who lived on Native homelands. The programs often focused on health issues that impacted the students’ communities, such as addiction and fetal alcohol syndrome. Potter’s voluminous files of articles on the effects of alcohol and drugs on the brain attest to his research on neurobiology’s relevance to Native American health. His collection also includes posters, brochures, a word search, a bumper sticker, handwritten notes, and other educational materials about fetal alcohol syndrome from the 1990s.

Pages from “Non-Alcoholic Beverage Recipes” showing recipes for “Berry Blush,” “Party Punch,” and Water.

This hand-drawn booklet of “Non-Alcoholic Beverage Recipes” was distributed by the Nutrition and Dietetics Training Program in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The booklet contains recipes for non-alcoholic cocktails, such as “Honey Nog” and “Party Punch.” The recipe collection,  informational pamphlets, and bumper sticker, are examples of public health outreach materials aimed at educating Native American communities (or the general population), about the effects of alcohol, particularly on developing fetuses. Most items in Potter’s collection were produced by federal or non-profit organizations, but some items were created by Native American organizations. It was Potter’s close work with Native teachers that led to the creation of in-depth high school education resources that combined neurobiology with the students’ own experiences.

Bumper sticker created by the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

In addition to academic work related to neurobiology and health topics, the Native American High School Summer Programs typically included local outings in Boston, and visits to Potter’s homes in Cambridge, Massachusetts for blueberry pancakes and Woods Hole, Massachusetts for fishing. Potter mentored many students from the program long after their visits to Harvard, supporting them as they pursued higher education.

The finding aid for the Potter collection is forthcoming. Some materials may be restricted. Please contact Public Services staff with any questions.

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By Charlotte Lellman, November 12, 2019

Irene E. Kochevar. Photograph courtesy of Kochevar.

The Center for the History of Medicine is pleased to announce that the Irene E. Kochevar papers, 1971-2015 (inclusive) are now open to research. Kochevar is Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School. The papers are the product of her career as Biochemist at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, as well as her consulting work, her patents, and her involvement in professional organizations. Kochevar’s work focuses on the effects of ultraviolet radiation on skin, and on photochemical tissue bonding.

Irene Emily (Hejl) Kochevar was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1943. She graduated from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, with a B.S. in biochemistry in 1965, an M.S. in biochemistry in 1967, and a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1970. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at New York University, New York, New York, and a postdoctoral fellowship and Assistant Professorship at Columbia University, New York, New York, she was appointed Associate Professor in the Department of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1981, with a simultaneous appointment at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She earned the rank of Professor in 1999. Kochevar has received National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense grant awards for her research. She holds several patents for photochemical tissue bonding, a process that involves using ultraviolet light to activate a dye that stimulates cross-linking of proteins. This technique has been used to close skin incisions and to heal corneal injuries.

Micrograph slide image of cell sample from Kochevar’s research on activation of the Egr-1 gene

The bulk of the collection consists of grant applications from Kochevar’s many research projects at the Wellman Center. The collection also includes correspondence from her consulting work; research notes; patent applications; and photographs from her involvement with professional organizations and committees.

For more information about accessing this collection, please contact the Public Services staff.