Dr. Robert H. Ivy Papers

Scope and Contents

The collection documents the work of Dr. Robert H. Ivy, an oral surgeon of cleft lips and cleft palates, primarily through correspondence, printed publications and photographs. The majority of the correspondence relates to Dr. Ivy's military service during World War I as a surgeon, and his work post World War II with the International Congress of Plastic Surgeons.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged into six series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1918-1951

Series 2: Correspondence, 1917-1963

Series 3: Photographs and Lantern Slides, 1927-1964

Series 4: Writings, Robert H. Ivy, 1915-1974, undated

Series 5: Writings, Others, 1901-1971

Series 6: Audio Visual Materials, 1937-1938

Biographical

Robert Henry Ivy was born to Robert D. Ivy and Anne Edith Cryer in Southport, England in 1881 and emigrated to the United States at the age of six in 1887 but returned to England to finish his education at the Emanuel School. In 1898, Ivy returned to the United States and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania Dental School graduating in 1902. He then attended University of Pennsylvania Medical School from 1903-1907 and was a resident physician from 1907-1910 at the Episcopal Hospital of Philadelphia. In 1910, he opended an oral and plastic surgery practice in Philadelphia at a time when this speciality did not exist. Ivy also served as a pathologist and baceterilogist at the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women and helped develop the Wasserman test for syphillis.

Commissioned in 1917 as a Captain in the Army Medical Corps, Ivy was assigned to the Medical Reserve Corps under the Surgeon General of the Army for temporary duty. He was an assistant to Vilray P. Blair of the Office of the Surgeon General. He was assigned to the Services of Supply, Headquarters, Base Section 1 (Surgical Unit No. 1), Chaumont (Haute Marne), France, and the Maxillofacial Surgery Hospital Centers of Vichy and Clermont where he assisted patients with face, head and jaw injuries.

After the war, Ivy returned to the United States and was in charge of Maxillofacial Surgery at Walter Reed Hospital. In November 1919, he was discharged as a Lieutenant Colonel and opened a practice in Philadelphia. He was appointed Professor of Clinical Maxillofacial Surgery at the School of Dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania (1919) and in 1920 he was a Professor of Maxillofacial Surgery at the Graduate School of Medicine, ultimately becoming Chief of Maxillofacial Surgery.

In 1920 he was called to active duty and was a representative for the U.S. Army at the Inter-Allied Surgical Conference where he discussed bone grafts. In 1924 he was elevated to Colonel in the Army Medical Corps Reserve up until WWII, making frequent trips to the Walter Reed Hospital. he served two terms of active duty at Army Medical Centers in Washington DC. He was an instructor to Army Surgeons treating facial injuries under Division of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery.

In the post war years, Ivy was a civilian consultant to Surgeon General with Jerome Webster of New York. Together they inspected all the Plastic Surgery Centers in the United States. Dr. Ivy taught courses for Army officers at Army Medical Center and University of Pennsylvania and authored many papers, including , 1917 and , 1942.

Ivy established the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, for dental students and community dentists. Dr. Ivy later developed interdisciplinary treatment of cleft palates in children. He wrote a textbook called .

Ivy was a founder of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, founder and president of the American Association of Plastic Surgery, and founder of the .

Robert H. Ivy married Norma Corrine Crossland on June 19, 1912, in Barrie, Ontario. They had four children: Cythia, Robert H., Jr., Eleanor and Peter. Dr. Ivy died on June 21, 1974.

https://www.pennmedicine.org/departments-and-centers/oral-and-maxillofacial-surgery/about-us/history (last accessed March 6, 2024)

https://www.ivysociety.org/uploads/1/2/4/4/124459515/history_of_ivy_society__part_1_.pdf (last accessed March 6, 2024)

https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/citation/1973/04000/robert_h__ivy__m_d_,_d_d_s__a_tribute.8.aspx (last accessed March 6, 2024)

Related Materials

Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Repository

Robert H. Ivy papers (unprocessed), 1904-1974