American Association for Cancer Education, Records of the

Creator

Hill, George J., 1932-

Dates

1947-2001

Extent

6 Linear Feet (6 linear ft.)

Restrictions on Access

No restrictions on access, under the conditions of the Archives access policy.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Related / Analytical Title

The American Association for Cancer Education (AACE) was founded in 1967 as a reorganization of an earlier group known as the Coordinators of Cancer Teaching (CCT). The CCT operated between the years 1947 and 1966. "The American Association for Cancer Education is a worldwide organization withboth health care givers and professional educators as members" (Hill, 1987). One of the association's primary concerns is to "enhance cancer knowledge within the framework of the medical schoolcurriculum" (Wood, 1975). The AACE promotes cancer education and provides the opportunity for members to advance programs for early cancer detection, therapy and rehabilitation.

Membership in the association is for individuals involved in cancer education. An interested party must be proposed by a member and seconded by another member. Each year there is an annual meeting for which members are asked to submit papers on new techniques in cancer education and/or evaluations of cancer teaching materials.

The executive council is composed of the president, president-elect, secretary, treasurer, the immediatepast-president, and six appointed members. The current archivist and former president, George J. Hill, MD, succeeded Dr. David Wood, Historian for the AACE. Dr. Wood was Chairman of the Coordinators for Cancer Teaching in 1961-1962 and was the Samuel C. Harvey lecturer in 1973.

In 1951, the Samuel C. Harvey lectureship was established to honor the first chairman of the Coordinators for Cancer Teaching. Dr. Harvey organized the first of the annual cancer conferences ofthe Coordinators of Cancer Teaching in 1948.

In 1947, the National Advisory Cancer Council established a grants program for medical schools to improve the undergraduate teaching of cancer. Federal funds provided schools of medicine the opportunity to create a balanced program of medical education and research.

Dr. George J. Hill, President of the AACE in 1986, gave a paper at the annual meeting in Montreal on November 12, in which he reviewed the last 40 years of the association. He speaks of the achievementof two objectives: 1) "...the association's survey of cancer education in American medical and dentalschools is a landmark" and, 2) "goals and objectives have been established for cancer education, in thebasic sciences and in the various clinical departments" (Hill, 1987).

The Margaret Hay Edwards medal was established in 1986 to honor outstanding contributions to cancer education. Dr. Margaret Hay Edwards was honored twice: 1) the medal was named for her efforts on behalf of cancer education and, 2) she was its first honoree.

Four publications are sponsored by the AACE: 1) the "Newsletter," 2) the textbook Concepts in CancerMedicine, 3) abstracts of the annual meetings and 4) The Journal of Cancer Education, edited by Dick Bakemeier.

The AACE endorsed the "1940 Statement of Academic and Tenure of the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges. "As an organization, the AACE wasgranted tax-exempt status as a public foundation, under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Arrangement

The records have been organized into five series: Series I: Subject Files Series II: Publications Series III: George J. Hill, M.D. Papers, 1984-1993 Series IV: Miscellaneous Series V: Richard Gallagher, Ph. D. Papers, 1995-2001.

Custodial History

The records of the AACE were collected by Dr. David Wood, former Historian of the organization. In 1994, arrangements were made by Dr. George J. Hill to transfer the records to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Special Collections Department on a permanent basis. The Department was designated the official repository of the AACE records. The initial accession of the records of the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE), dating from 1947 to 1995, and total 4 cubic feet. The AACE records were transferred to the archives on May 16, 1994 by George J. Hill, MD. An addendum of 1 linear foot was arranged and described in 2005.

Bibliography

Hill, G. "The American Association for Cancer Education: 40 Years of Civic Engineering in Cancer."Journal of Cancer Education, 1987; 2(2): 86.
Wood, D. "Cancer Education in Perspective." New York State Journal of Medicine, 1975; 175(2): 442.

Scope and content

The records of the American Association for Cancer Education date from 1947-present. The AACE manuscript collection documents the history of the organization. The records document the majority of annualmeetings, 1950 to 1983. The 19th annual meeting in 1966 is the last meeting of the organization when it was known as the Coordinators of Cancer Teaching. The 1st annual meeting of the American Associationfor Cancer Education was held in 1967. According to Dr. Hill, between the years 1950 and 1965, medical schools each received $25,000 from the Federal government for cancer education, if they met certain criteria. After 1965, it became more difficult to obtain grants. The AACE received a Federal grant to study cancer teaching in medical schools throughout the country. The study, called the Cancer Education Survey, took place in 1976 and 1977, and is prominently documented in the records. It was during this difficult time that Dr. Margaret Hay Edwards was instrumental in maintaining the grants at a remarkably high level.

Addendums in 1996, 1999, and 2004 from the AACE and incorporated into the collection. This additional material can be found in Series IV: Assorted Materials and Series V: Richard Gallagher, PhDPapers.