Ground breaking ceremony: National Library of Medicine
          Friday June 12, 1959, 2:30 p.m. at the National Institutes of Health
                                  Bethesda, Maryland


[Music]

[Silence]

[ Inaudible background discussion ]

Dr. Champ Lyons: Ladies and gentlemen will you please rise. Chaplain Andrew will offer the invocation.

[ Moving around ]

The Reverend William R. Andrew: Let us pray. Almighty God who dost inspire the hearts and minds of
men we beseech thee to bless us as we dedicate this National Library of Medicine to the healing of thy
children who are sick. 0 thou who declarest thine mighty power in showing mercy and who revealest to
men in each new discovery a part of thy truth. Grant a new vision to all those who serve thee in their
search for the cause of sickness and its cure. Mercifully direct them in thy path of knowledge. Grant
them the realization that through thee all things are possible. Pour upon them the abundance of thy
inspiration and finally lead them to victory that the scourge of disease may be ended and that thy
people being freed from this burden of fear may live continually in thy love and service. Amen.

[ Moving around ]

Dr. Champ Lyons: We are met here today to celebrate an occasion of the very greatest interest to
American medicine and to American librarianship and a very great import to the health and welfare of
the American people. On this site there will soon begin to rise a new building to house an old and noble
institution, the National Library of Medicine. When the Library was founded in 1836 it consisted of shelf
of books located behind the desk of the Surgeon General of the Army. Today the Library's collections
embrace over a million items and require many miles of shelving space. The nation, which was
producing only 11 medical periodicals in the year of the Library's founding is today producing some 1500
medical periodicals. Production of medical literature elsewhere has increased in similar degree. This new
building comes in just in time not only to provide adequate housing for the voluminous and important
records of the past, but also to offer the promise of adequate housing to the burgeoning records of the
present and immediate future.

The project for a new building for the National Library of Medicine has been under active consideration
for more than 40 years. Some of the men who took a major part in bringing this project to fruition are
seated here on the platform. Some I see before me sitting in the audience, some long since gone to their
reward or here in hallowed memory. I am thinking particularly of Colonel Howard Wellington Jones,
Librarian from 1936 to 1945 who did so much to advance the Library cause and who died only last year.
What a pity he could not have lived to share this occasion with us. Since 1956 the National Library of


                                                    1
Medicine has had a Board of Regents, ten members are appointed by the President and seven members
serve ex officio. It is the duty of the Board to advise, consult with and make recommendations to Dr.
Burney, our dedicated Surgeon General of the Public Health Service on important matters of policy in
regard to the Library. The present members of the Board and some of its past members as well as
members of predecessor groups are here with me on the platform. We have with us today members of
the old Armed Forces Medical Library Advisory Group, officers of the Friends of the Armed Forces
Medical Library and officers of the Honorary Consultants to the Army Medical Library. These devoted
people have maintained a special interest in this library throughout the years. And today's event is for
them truly a special moment of history. I would like to acknowledge to all of them and to all of you the
significant contributions of these devoted people by asking my worthy predecessor in office, in the
Office of Chairman of the Board, Dr. Worth by Daniels of Washington to rise and receive your
applaudage.

[Applause]

In 1956 the Library then in its 120th year was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Public Health Service
of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare by Public Law 941 of the 84th Congress. John Shaw
Billings had called it the National Medical Library 80 years previously. But now the Library enjoyed the
jury, the status for which so·long had been de facto only. With a statutory base for its operations specific
legislative approval for its programs and the assurance of adequate and continuing budgetary support
the National Library of Medicine has come into its own and the beginning of a new building symbolizes
this. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare is in the capable hands of a man who at one
time or another has been a journalist, a personnel expert and a university president. In this latter
capacity certainly he has been exposed to the widely held contention that the Library is the heart of a
University. All of us on the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine hope and expect that he
will run his HEW University on that theory, with the National Library of Medicine as its heart. Ladies and
gentleman it is an honor and a pleasure to introduce to you the distinguished Secretary of Health,
Education and Welfare, Dr. Arthur H. Fleming.

[Applause]

Dr. Arthur H. Flemming: Mr. Chairman, members of the Board of Regents, Senator Hill, Dr. Burney and
friends of this Library, I can assure you that I am very, very happy to have the privilege of representing
the Department of Health, Education and Welfare on this very significant occasion. As most who are
gathered here know, this particular spot in the city of Washington or out in the metropolitan area rather
of Washington is referred to as "The Campus." And I certainly agree with our Chairman that the heart of
any campus is the Library. If we do not have effective and adequate library resources we cannot carry on
the work of any campus in the way in which it should be conducted. This is not my first contact with the
history of this Library and with the accomplishments of this Library. It was my privilege to serve as a
member of both Hoover Commissions. Particularly in connection with the work of the second Hoover
Commission very careful consideration was given to the role that this Library had played in the past and
the role that it could play if it were provided with adequate resources and facilities. I remember very
distinctly the discussions that took place around the conference table as the Hoover Commission gave


                                                      2
consideration to this matter. And I was very happy to be one of those who signed one of the Hoover
Commission reports containing very definite and specific statements as to what should be done if this
Library was to render the maximum of service.

In preparation for this occasion I went back and read the portion of our report dealing with the Library.
We said, for example, that a cardinal necessity of effective health research is access to books,
monographs and journals in medical and related fields. Without access to such materials research is
seriously handicapped and research grants are wastefully spent. The largest and most important medical
library in the world is the Armed Forces Medical Library in Washington. Originally organized for military
use in 1836 this Library has become a great national research institution far surpassing the nature, size
and level of activities required by the armed forces. No newly created library could ever hope to
duplicate the present matchless collections. It is, in fact, the National Library of Medicine in the United
States.

There is no clear statutory authority for the functions which it now serves. The Library is ineffectively
placed in point of administration, inadequately housed and too poorly supported to permit effective
conduct of its functions. For over 30 years we said the Library has needed a new building. It now
requires an annual increase of a mile of shelf space. Its collections are constantly threatened by loss
from fire and have undergone actual damage from exposure to weather and improper storage. But the
cost of maintaining this Library is not a fair charge on any one or all of the military establishments. Its
appropriations compete, in peacetime with the needs of the military to maintain the skeleton of an
effective fighting force. In time of war it is hopeless to expect the preoccupation of the military to
include the proper maintenance and continuing development of a National Library of Medicine. What is
needed to enable the Library to function properly as a truly national institution is legal status with an
administrative organization appropriate to a National Library of Medicine, an effective building, an
adequate budget and an independent status just as is the case with university libraries.

Now we then went on to make I think the only mistake that we made in this report. We recommended
that the Library be placed in another agency of the government. Certainly, if I had had the benefit of the
experiences that I have had during the last 10 months, I would never have subscribed to that part of our
report. I am convinced of the fact that the Congress of the United States exercised excellent judgment in
deciding to make it possible to carry out the objectives set forth in the Hoover Commission report by
placing the Library in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare under the United States Public
Health Service. But in the last paragraph, which I just read it seems to me that those of us who served as
members of the Hoover Commission set forth four very important objectives in connection with the
operation of this Library. We said first of all that it needed legal status with an administrative
organization appropriate to a National Library of Medicine. As the Chairman of the Board of Regents has
pointed out it now has legal status and I feel has an administrative organization that is appropriate to a
National Library of Medicine. We said it needed an effective building and we are gathered here today to
celebrate the fact that we are going to have over a period of the next few months an effective building.
We said also that it needed an adequate budget. This is true of all libraries. All libraries have to really
push hard for an adequate budget. It's a little bit hard for me to understand why this is the case, but the
nevertheless it is true in the educational world generally. All I want to say is that as long as I am in this

                                                       3
particular office I will certainly do everything I possibly can to realize this particular objective. And then
we also said that it needed an independent status just as is the case with University Library. Sometimes
we refer to that as academic freedom. And as long as I am in this particular position I can assure you
that I will do everything I possibly can to guarantee this library independent status or academic
freedom.

In the realization of the objectives that were set forth by those of us who have served on the Hoover
Commission we have had outstanding help from leaders of both houses of Congress. But I want to say
that I feel that it is particularly appropriate that the person who is really going to get this Library
underway is Senator Hill of Alabama. All of us are deeply indebted to him for the leadership that he has
provided, which in turn has made it possible for us to move in the direction of achieving these
objectives. And I want to say to him that as long as I am in this office I look forward to working with him
as together we endeavor to guarantee the fact that we continue not only to keep these objectives in
mind, but to continue to move in the direction of their fullest realization. It is a thrilling experience for
me to have the opportunity of participating in what is certainly a very significant occasion of the whole
field of medical research throughout not only our nation, but throughout the world. And I am grateful
for those who planned the program and being here and participating in this manner in this occasion.
Thank you.

[Applause]

Dr. Champ Lyons: Thank you Mr. Secretary. It is now my pleasure to introduce to you the man who
offered the bill making this--

[ Inaudible background discussion ]

Dr. Champ Lyons: I am delighted to acknowledge the arrival of a-- the distinguished Congressman, Mr.
Melvin R. Laird. He's a member of Congress from the great Midwestern state, which supports two of our
finest medical schools along with two fine medical libraries and has furnished another distinguished
public servant, the former Dean of the medical school of the state university as one of the valued
members of the Board of Regents of the National Libraries in Medicine. Ladies and gentleman may I
present to your Representative Melvin R. Laird of Wisconsin.

[Applause]

Mr. Melvin R. Laird: Ladies and gentlemen it is indeed a pleasure for me to be here and take part in this
groundbreaking ceremony as a representative of the House. I have just returned from the World Health
Assembly, which was meeting in Geneva. And at this meeting the United States was looked to as the
leader in the field of medical research and health. I think it is indeed fitting and proper that we here
dedicate this new building which will be built to the furtherance of our position of leadership in the field
of medical research and health. This indeed will be a great contribution. It will help us maintain our
position and will go a long way in helping with the many breakthroughs in health activities that all of us
are looking forward to. It is of great significance I think that this building will be built here near the great
National Institutes of Health. And I know that with the completion of the building our progress in


                                                        4
medical research will go on to new goals, new heights in keeping with the great tradition of our country.
Thank you.

[Applause]

Dr. Champ Lyons: Thank you Mr. Laird. It is now my pleasure to introduce to you the sponsor of the
legislation which made this new Library building possible. Son of a distinguished and fine cardiovascular
surgeon, he has perpetuated the best motifs of surgical and medical research and investigation and now
stands revered by public health teams and the medical profession of America as well as the throughout
the world. It gives me great deal of pleasure to present to you Senator Lister Hill of Alabama.

[Applause]

Senator Lister Hill: Mr. Chairman, Secretary Fleming, my colleague Congressmen Laird, Members of the
Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine, distinguished guests and my friends. May I say
how much we regret that the fact that my colleague, Congressman John Fogarty of the House of
Representatives, is not able to be here at this time, due to circumstances over which he has no control.
He has to be on the floor of the House of Representatives. My colleague Senator Gordon Allott of
Colorado was also due to be here but he has to be on the floor of the United States Senate on a very
important matter there. But I certainly rejoice and am most happy that I can be here with you.

Secretary Fleming has beautifully and well spoken of the Library of this fine new building, which will be
constructed here to preserve and protect for us, for our children, for generations to come and for
suffering humanity around this earth, this Library, the greatest medical library in all the world. There's
nothing to be found in any other land or any other nation comparable to this National Library of
Medicine. Our Chairman, Dr. Lyons, has so well spoken to us and told us that for 40 years efforts had
been made that we might bring to pass this day; break the ground, begin the construction of the proper
home for our National Library of Medicine.

May I say that some three years ago when Senator Jack Kennedy of Massachusetts and I introduced into
the Congress the bill to authorize the construction of this home for the National Library after so many
disappointments and so many failures we knew that we had to have real support to pass that legislation.
And so we called on our friend who honors us with his presence here today, Dr. Worth Daniels. Dr.
Daniels sounded forth the call. He marshaled the forces. He brought the support that made it possible
for us to pass that bill in the Congress of the United States. And there ably helping Dr. Daniels were two
other very wonderful men [inaudible]. One was Dr. Michael De Bakey the other was our Chairman today,
Dr. Champ Lyons. And it's interesting to note my friends that the first Chairman of the Board of Regents
after that legislation passed was Dr. Worth Daniels. Dr. Champ Lyons is the present Chairman of the
Board of Regents and Dr. Michael De Bakey is the Chairman Elect of the Board of Regents. These three
fine, outstanding, wonderful men, who did so much to bring about this great occasion today.

And may I say too, that we've had an awful, an awful good, an awful good friend in Secretary Fleming. I
know no one who has or has shown a greater interest in the National Library of Medicine and the
building of a proper home for it than Secretary Fleming. And surely his Stonewall Jackson in this matter


                                                      5
has as in all matters is our distinguished Surgeon General to the U.S. Public Health Service, General Roy
Burney, who also honors us with his presence here today. And I think our thanks my friends are due to
all of these members of the Board of Regents who have given of their time, of their thought, who've
given of themselves to bring about this great occasion.

It's not possible to name all of those who have contributed to this incomparable Library. But I'm sure in
the heart of each of us we are paying a special tribute today to Dr. Joseph Lovell who is Surgeon General
of the United States Army in 1836 founded this Library. And also we are paying special tribute to that
wonderful man, John Shaw Billings, who from 1865 to 1895, a period of some 30 years, was a Librarian
of this Library. It was his deep interest and his loving care that made such a mighty contribution of the
building of this Library. When I think of him and of all that he did I'm reminded that Emerson, Ralph
Waldo Emerson told us, "An institution is but the length and shadow of a man" and surely in this
institution, the National Library of Medicine we see so much of the influence of the devoted livers of the
manifold sacrifices of John Shaw Billings.

As I stand here today thinking of what this Library has meant, what it will mean to medicine to relieve
suffering humanity to the saving of human lives, I think of those words of Dr. Crawford W. Long, the
discoverer of ether anesthesia. The words of his that we find on the pedestal to his statue in the nation's
Capital. Dr. Long declared, "My profession is to me a ministry from God." And today we shall break the
ground for this Library dedicated to the service of God through the service of his sons and daughters, his
children.

[Applause]

Dr. Champ Lyons: In handing you this ceremonial spade Senator Hill I would like to mention the fact that
it is the same instrument which was used at the groundbreaking at the new Armed Forces Institute of
Pathology building in 1951. The Surgeon General's Museum and Library grew up together and for many
years were housed in the same building. Now the museum has grown into the Armed Forces Institute of
Pathology and the Library has become the National Library of Medicine. This spade was made from
materials from the old museum. The handle was once the tube of a microscope. The shaft was once part
of an old exhibit case and the blade was made from old and discarded equipment boxes which were
melted down for the purpose. The use of this instrument adds another historical overtone to this
occasion as it suggests the common ancestry of these two sister institutions.

[Applause]

[ Inaudible background discussion ]




                                                     6