The University of Iowa Libraries

Access: This collection is open for research.

Use: Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information.

Acquisition: Dr. Ward gave his papers to the University of Iowa Libraries in 1980.

Preferred Citation: Donovan F. Ward Papers, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

Repository:	University of Iowa Special Collections
Address:	Special Collections Department University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone:	319-335-5921
Curator:	Greg Prickman
Email:	lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Website:	http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/

A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Donovan Frederick Ward was born in 1904. He was a student at the University of Dubuque from 1923 to 1925, and he graduated with his medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1930. After his internship at St. Mary's Hospital in Detroit was completed in 1931, Dr. Ward returned to Dubuque. There he began his career in medicine, specializing in surgery. Dr. Ward was very active in his professional organizations at both the state and national levels. He was president of the Dubuque County Medical Society as well as the Iowa Clinical Surgeons Society. Dr. Ward was also president of the American Medical Association from 1963 through 1964. He was also involved in community affairs, local businesses, and the University of Iowa Alumni Association. Dr. Ward died in 1998.

The papers of Donovan F. Ward consist of more than three linear feet of manuscripts dating from 1929 to 1980. There are six boxes of articles by and about Dr. Ward, subject files, correspondence, and speeches. The subject files include topics ranging from class reunions to the Medical Speakers Bureau. Correspondence files date from 1944 to 1964 and include letters from Henry O. Talle, Guy M. Gillette, and Bourke B. Hickenlooper. There are nearly four boxes of speeches given by Dr. Ward, spanning a period of some thirty-five years. There are also scrapbooks, videotapes, and audiotapes included in the papers. Much of the material in this collection relates to his presidency of the American Medical Association.

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.

Corporate Names:
American Medical Association
Medical Speakers Bureau
University of Iowa. College of Medicine

Topics:
Medicare

Occupations:
Physicians
Surgeons

Geographic Names:
Dubuque (Iowa)
Iowa

Genre/Form of Materials:
Audiotapes
Scrapbooks
Speeches
Video recordings