Morris H Saffron, MD, PhD, A Guide to the Papers of

Morris H. Saffron, MD, PhD (1905-1993) was born in Passaic, NJ. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1925 from Columbia University and his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1928. Dr. Saffron was an authority on American Colonial medicine, archivist and historian of the New Jersey Medical Society, and a practicing dermatologist in New Jersey and New York. He returned to Columbia in the 1960s to study history and earn a Masters degree and later, a doctorate in the field in 1968. Dr.Saffron authored several books including Samuel Clossy: The Existing Works (1967), Maurus of Salerno (1972), and Surgeon to Washington: Dr. John Cochran, 1730-1807 (1977), as well as many articles on medical history topics.

In 1940, he was called to active service as a flight surgeon, having qualified for the position before the eruption of World War II, and served as chief medical officer of the New York Aviation Cadet Examining Board for two years. He later served as chief of dermatology at several Army hospitals, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1945, when he resumed his medical practice in New Jersey (and later in New York)and active participation in professional associations. He served as president of the New Jersey Dermatological Society, then as president of the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey, and later of the New Jersey Academy of Science.

In 1958, Dr. Saffron was hired as professor by the new Seton Hall College of Medicine to deliver the first formal series of lectures on medical history offered in the state. He subsequently taught medical history at Kean College (now University), the former Rutgers Medical School (now UMDNJ-Robert WoodJohnson Medical School), and the former New Jersey College of Medicine (now UMDNJ).

Dr. Saffron served as chairman of the Friends of the Columbia Libraries from 1967 to 1972. In 1974, Columbia University awarded him its Presidential Citation for Distinction. He served as a trustee of the New Jersey Historical Society until his death. Dr. Saffron was a fellow of the American Antiquarian Society, the Morgan Library, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dr. Saffron was one of the founders of the Medical History Society of New Jersey, where an annual lectureship was established in his honor in 1979. He served as the chairman of the the Library Committee of the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey and was instrumental in influencing the Academy to donate its closing library to the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (now UMDNJ), which included rare books -- the basis for the University Libraries' Special Collections. In honor of Dr. Saffron's role in the Academy's donation, the rare book collection was named the Morris H. Saffron Collection of Books on Historical Medicine. Dr. Saffron further supported the University Libraries and the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School by establishing endowments within each unit, the first for the acquisition of rare and antiquarian library materials and the second for the study of the history of medicine by University students.

For additional information on Dr. Saffron, SEE ALSO: (MC/25) Medical History Society of New Jersey Records