Harry J. Sears lantern slide collection, 1916-1941

Harry J. Sears, M.D., was born in Daviess County, Missouri where he attended a one room grade school. He earned a B.A. in 1911 and an M.A. in 1912 from Stanford University. Sears remained at Stanford to obtain a Ph.D. which he earned in 1916. He spent two and a half years as Director of the Berkley, California City Health Laboratory before he came to Portland. He paid for his education cleaning bricks from the earthquake damaged buildings on campus, washing dishes, and working on a railroad construction crew.

He married Huldah Meyer of Palo Alto, California, with whom he had two daughters and two sons, Thomas and David.

Until his retirement in 1956, Harry J. Sears served as the first chair and professor at the University of Oregon Medical School's (UOMS) Department of Bacteriology. When Sears first arrived in Portland from Berkley, he was the only bacteriologist in the state of Oregon. He began teaching at the medical school in 1919 when it was still located at the corner of NW 23rd and Lovejoy. There, he organized UOMS's first Department of Bacteriology. He was among the first small contingent faculty of the school, teaching both bacteriology and chemistry.

In his early days, he was among the teams who sought to find the causes and treatments for influenza, typhoid, paratyphoid, and diphtheria. Sears also helped to establish the state civil service merit system of examinations and served as first director of the merit system.

It was said of Sears that "He was one of our great pioneers." He retired in 1956 after serving as the Head of the Bacteriology Department for 38 years. Over the course of his career, Sears authored and published 30 professional papers. He died at the age of 77 at his daughter's home on October 27, 1962.

Medical Practice:

Head of Bacteriology – University of Oregon Medical School

Memberships:

Friends of the Library Committee – Portland Academy of Medicine

Society of the American Association for Advancement of Science

The Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

The Portland Academy of Medicine

Phi Beta Kappa

Sigma Xi

Phi Lambda Upsilon.

Publications:

A list of Sears' publications can be found in the Historical Collection & Archives' Biographical Files.