Name: Joseph F. Volker Papers

Dates: 1933-1989

Extent: 19 cubic feet

Historical Note: Joseph Francis Volker was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1913 and later studied at the Universities of Indiana and Rochester, earning a D.D.S. from Indiana in 1936 and a Ph.D. degree from Rochester in 1941. He then served as assistant professor of dentistry at Rochester until his 1947 appointment as dean of the Tufts dental school. In 1948, Dr. Volker was named as the first dean of the new dental school at the University of Alabama's Medical Center in Birmingham. In 1955 he was also named director of Research and Graduate Studies for the Medical Center, and in 1962 became the Vice President for Health Affairs. In 1969, Dr. Volker became the first president of the autonomous University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB), serving as the new university's inaugural president until his 1976 appointment as first chancellor of the three-campus University of Alabama System. After his retirement as chancellor in 1982, Volker returned to UAB as a distinguished professor. He died in Birmingham on May 3, 1989.

Scope and Contents: Includes correspondence, scrapbooks, student research notebooks and research notes, drafts of research papers and speeches, recordings, printed materials, and news clippings.

Arrangement: The materials are arrangement into eight discrete series, as detailed below.

Accession Number: A90-01

Provenance: These materials were transferred to the Medical Center Archives in 1990 as part of the Volker Archives Project. The materials were transferred from the offices of Dr. Volker's two secretaries, Blanche Alexander and Jane Williams.

Finding aid: Printed descriptive guide created by Virginia E. Fisher and William A. Harris available in repository.

Access Points:
Dental schools.
Dunbar, John B., d b. 1929.
Medical centers z Alabama .
Tufts College . b. Dental School .
Universities and colleges z Alabama .
University of Rochester ( Rochester, New York ).
Volker, Joseph F., d 1913-1989.

Document Types: Audio recordings, Correspondence, Notebooks, Photographs, and Scrapbooks.

Location: Manuscript Stacks

Overview of Arrangement

Series 1: University of Rochester Files, 1939-1943, 1.00 c.f.
Subseries 1: Correspondence, 1940-1943, .25 cubic foot
Subseries 2: Class Notebooks, n.d., .25 cubic foot
Subseries 3: Laboratory Notebooks, 1939-1942, .25 cubic foot
Subseries 4: Reports and Research Materials, n.d., .25 cubic foot

Series 2: Tufts College School of Dentistry Files, 1942-1949, 1.35 c.f.
Subseries 1: Correspondence, 1942-1949, .25 cubic foot
Subseries 2: Unitarian Service Committee Files, .50 cubic foot
Subseries 3: Research Notes and Data, 1945-1947, .50 cubic foot
Subseries 4: Class Notebook, n.d., .1 cubic foot

Series 3: Arizona Medical School Study Files, 1960-1962, 1.00 c.f.

Series 4: Miscellaneous Printed Matter and Writings, 1940s-1980s, 17.15 c.f.
Subseries 1: Historical Files, 1940s-1980s, 10.15 cubic feet
Subseries 2: Manuscripts, Drafts, and Notes, 1930s-1970s, 6 cubic feet
Subseries 3: Newspaper Clippings, 1950s-1980s, 1 cubic foot

Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1940s-1980s, 12 volumes, 4.00 c.f.

Series 6: Books and Other Printed Materials, 47.00 c.f.

Series 7: Oversized Materials, 2.00 c.f.

Series 8: Recordings, 1.50 c.f.

Total for Collection: 72.00 c.f.

This page created 1999 and last updated 2018.

Copyright:  The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.