MTGMss586.xml Guide to the Jessie M. Bierman Papers circa 1890-1993 Bierman (Jessie Marguerite) Papers Finding aid prepared by Jennifer Rusk Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula © 2004
The University of Montana--Missoula Missoula, MT 59812 406-243-2053 http://www.lib.umt.edu/asc library.archives@umontana.edu
Finding aid encoded by Donna McCrea 2004 Finding aid written in English. University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
The University of Montana--Missoula Missoula, MT 59812 406-243-2053 http://www.lib.umt.edu/asc library.archives@umontana.edu
Mss 586 Bierman, Jessie M. (Jessie Marguerite), 1900-1996 Jessie M. Bierman Papers circa 1890-1993 4.25 linear feet This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Dr. Jessie M. Bierman, a pioneer in the field of maternal and child health, from all stages of her life. Materials are in English Biographical Note

Jessie M. Bierman was born on April 6, 1900, at Egan Slough near Kalispell, Montana, to Henry and Alice Bierman. She received her bachelor of arts from The University of Montana in 1921 and got a medical degree from Rush Medical College of the University of Chicago in 1926. She earned a master of public health at the Institute of Columbia University fifteen years later.

Dr. Bierman worked in private practice in San Francisco, California, from 1927 to 1936 and also served as an instructor in pediatrics at the University of California School of Medicine. In 1936, Bierman returned to Montana to work as Director of Maternal and Child Health in the Montana Department of Health. She started well-baby clinics in Montana that were a model for such programs across the country.

From 1938 to 1942, she worked with the Children’s Bureau in Washington, D.C., as assistant director of the Division of Health Sciences. She was chief of Maternal and Child Health of the California Department of Public Health from 1942 to 1947, during which she became a lecturer in pediatrics and a professor of maternal and child health at the University of California School of Medicine, a position she held until 1963. While at the University of California, she traveled to Germany as an expert in maternal and child health and served as a consultant on maternal and child health problems in India. Bierman also studied the children of Kauai, Hawaii, and published her findings in the book The Children of Kauai.

She was named professor emerita in 1963, but stayed on as the director of maternal and child health research until 1967. After that, she was the head of the maternal and child bureau for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland and was visiting professor of public health at the University of North Carolina.

Jessie Bierman was the recipient of the Martha May Eliot Award of the American Public Health Association and other distinguished awards. She was given an honorary doctorate by The University of Montana in 1967.

Bierman had a summer residence at Goose Bay on Flathead Lake. Bierman supported academics and research at The University of Montana’s Biological Station, endowing a distinguished professorship to support an internationally recognized ecologist to study and direct research at the Flathead Lake Biological Station. Bierman died in 1996.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Dr. Jessie Bierman, a pioneer in the field of child and maternal health, from all stages of her life. The collection contents begin with writings related to Bierman’s family history. The collection contains the memoirs of Jessie Bierman’s father, Henry, and her writings about him.

Items from her early days include a poetry scrapbook filled with correspondence and poems, her high school yearbooks, and diploma. Her student days at The University of Montana are represented by a scrapbook and diploma. Materials from her medical career in California include a set of house call diaries, 1931-1935. A scrapbook and related correspondence represent her years with the Montana Department of Health. Her positions in government and with international missions related to maternal and child health are reflected in correspondence and other writings. The collection contains the writings and publications Bierman completed while at the University of California and elsewhere, including the study she prepared regarding the children of Kauai, Hawaii.

The collection contains the numerous honors and awards Bierman received toward the end of her career. It also contains clippings about Bierman and other clippings and publications she collected on child and maternal health issues. The photographs in the collection are from all stages of Bierman’s life. Of particular interest are the family photographs, which include photographs of the Kalispell Meat Market that was owned and operated by Henry Bierman, and photographs of Henry and Alice Bierman.

The collection is divided into six series:

Series I: Henry Bierman, 0.25 linear feet, 1895-1985

Series II: Jessie Bierman, 1.5 linear feet, 1907-1986

Series III: Writings, 0.5 linear feet, 1924-1986

Series IV: Awards and Honors, 1.25 linear feet, 1918-1993

Series V: Clippings, 0.5 linear feet, 1935-1991

Series VI: Photographs, 0.25 linear feet, circa 1890-1980

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright status unknown.

[Name of document or photograph number], Jessie M. Bierman Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.

The bulk of the collection was donated by Jessie Bierman in 1987 and 1991. Another portion of the collection was a gift of the University of California-Berkeley, Bancroft Library, 2000.

The collection was processed and a finding aid was written by Jennifer Rusk in Fall 2004. The collection consists of three separate accessions of materials, which were combined and reorganized to create the collection. One accession of materials (donated in 2000) consisted of duplicates of correspondence, writings, clippings from the Jessie M. Bierman Papers at the University of California-Berkeley. Negatives were physically removed from the collection for preservation.

The Bancroft Library at the University of California-Berkeley holds a collection of Jessie M. Bierman papers.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Bierman, Alice--Photographs Bierman, Henry--1860-1943--Biography Bierman, Henry--1860-1943--Photographs California--Bureau of Maternal and Child Health Montana--State Dept. of Health Kalispell Meat Market (Kalispell, Mont.)--Photographs University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco--Faculty University of Montana--Missoula--Students Child health services--Government policy--Montana Maternal health services--Government policy--Montana Children--Health and hygiene Children--Health and hygiene--Hawaii--Kauai Maternal health services Pediatrics Women pediatricians--California--San Francisco--Diaries Awards Personal papers Photographs Poems Scrapbooks Women Medicine and Health Women pediatricians Series I Henry Bierman 1895-1985 0.25 linear feet 1/1 Johann Heinrich Bierman’s descendents in America undated 1/2 Henry Bierman’s memoirs and correspondence 1895 and undated 1/3 Henry and Alice Bierman Marriage Certificate 1899 1/4 Book accounts of Kalispell Meat Market-Henry Bierman, Proprietor 1906-1926 1/5 Henry Bierman certificates 1939 and 1943 1/6 Clippings re: Henry Bierman’s death 1943 1/7 Newspaper features about Henry Bierman, Montana history-general 1949-1985 and undated 1/8 Correspondence, writings, clippings re: Montana: The Magazine of Western History articles about Henry Bierman 1959-1961 and undated Series II Jessie Bierman 1907-1986 1.5 linear feet 1/9 Jessie Bierman grades 1907-1928 1/10 Flathead High School yearbooks 1916-1918 2/1 Poetry Scrapbook 1918 and undated 2/2 Scrapbook-Autobiographical 1920-1971 and undated 2/3 Rush Medical College of The University of Chicago, Senior Class book 1926 2/4 House call diaries 1931-1933 2/5 House call diaries 1935-1936 2/6 Scrapbook-Montana State Board of Health 1936-1937 2/7 Montana State Board of Health, correspondence, clippings 1936-1938 2/8 Children’s Bureau 1937-1981 3/1 Correspondence 1929-1986 3/2 Personal correspondence 1932-1952 and undated 3/3 State of California Department of Health 1942-1945 and undated 3/4 University of California-Jessie Bierman, faculty member 1947-1984 3/5 Notes about Geneva, India, Mediterranean, Soviet Union undated 3/6 Germany trip, notes and miscellaneous 1949 3/7 Germany trip with Unitarian Service Committee Public Health Planning Team 1951 3/8 Outgoing correspondence from trip to India 1955 3/9 Clippings and memorabilia from Soviet trip (1956) 1956 and undated 3/10 Clippings and publications from Soviet Union 1956-1969 and undated 3/11 Trip to Soviet Union (1956) and other Soviet Union-related materials 1956-1961 3/12 Trip via Asia 1957 OS9 Diploma: University of Chicago, Doctor of Medicine 1927 OS9 Diploma: University of Montana, Bachelor of Arts 1921 OS9 Diploma: Flathead County High School 1918 OS9 Certificate: Montana Board of Medical Examiners 1936 OS9 The American Board of Preventive Medicine and Public Health 1950 OS9 Delta Omega 1948 OS10 Art plates: Ajanta Paintings: Twenty Colour Plates, published in New Delhi 1956 OS10 Student Scrapbook: The University of Montana 1919-1921 Series III Writings 1924-1986 0.5 linear feet 4/1 Published papers-Kauai Pregnancy and Child Study, other papers about maternal and child health (some by Jessie Bierman) 1924-1970 4/2 Publications by Jessie Bierman 1924-1968 4/3 Speeches/writings and radio broadcasts by Jessie Bierman 1938-1986 and undated 4/4 Writings by Jessie Bierman 1958-1971 and undated 4/5 Kauai Study, clippings, correspondence 1960-1972 and undated 4/6 Book The Children of Kauai by Jessie Bierman, Emmy E. Werner, and Fern E. French 1971 4/7 Martha May Eliot tributes 1966-1978 and undated 5/1 "Annotated Bibliography on Maternal Nutrition," by Jessie Bierman, with related news releases 1970 5/2 Publication, "Maternal Nutrition and the Course of Pregnancy" by Jessie Bierman, with related correspondence 1970 5/3 Curriculum Vitae drafts for Jessie Bierman undated 5/4 Notes, clippings and overhead transparencies for speeches 1967-1969 and undated 5/5 Miscellaneous writings and notes undated Series IV Awards and Honors 1918-1993 1.25 linear feet 5/6 Certificates-honorary, etc. for Jessie Bierman 1918-1964 5/7 University of Montana-awards, clippings, writings 1960-1993 5/8 Honorary Doctorate, The University of Montana 1967 5/9 The Golden Grizzly Den, The University of Montana, certificate 1971 5/10 American Public Health Association Certificate 1977 6/1 University of Chicago Alumni Award 1984 6/2 Honors-miscellaneous correspondence, clippings 1958-1984 8 Plaque: "Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies-The Montana Coalition Establishes the Jessie Bierman, MD, MPH, Lecture" 1990 8 Plaque: American Public Health Association-Martha May Eliot Award, presented to Jessie Bierman 1968 8 Two academic hoods, one possibly Ph.D. hood undated OS10 Framed certificate: "The University of Chicago Alumni Association Professional Achievement Award" 1984 Series V Clippings 1935-1991 0.5 linear feet 6/3 Clippings about Jessie Bierman 1934-1983 6/4 Clippings about Jessie Bierman 1937-1982 6/5 Jessie M. Bierman Annual Lecture in Maternal and Child Health, programs 1963-1965 6/6 Publications and clippings, health and medical-related 1935-1978 and undated 6/7 World Health Organization publications 1957-1970 6/8 Public health publications by others 1966-1972 6/9 University of North Carolina 1971 6/10 Miscellaneous clippings 1978-1979 and undated 6/11 University of Montana Biological Station, Flathead Lake 1967-1986 and undated 6/12 University of Montana Biological Station clippings 1973-1991 and undated OS9 Poster: First Annual Jessie M. Bierman Lecture 1963 Series VI Photographs circa 1890-1980 0.25 linear feet 6/13 Alice Bierman photographs circa 1890-1948 6/14 Henry Bierman and family photographs circa 1902-1940s and undated 6/15 Jessie Bierman photographs 1918-1980 and undated 6/16 California photographs 1926-1979 and undated 7/1 Germany photographs 1949-1951 7/2 Foreign travel photographs 1955-1956 and undated 7/3 Soviet Union Trip-Seminar "The Equality of Women in the USSR," photographs 1956 7/4 Honorary degree photographs 1966 7/5 [Bierman at home, Goose Bay, Flathead Lake] photographs 1967 and undated 7/6 Miscellaneous photographs undated 7/7 Scenic photographs undated Negatives [Jessie Bierman] examining a child, undated [Jessie Bierman], undated [Jessie Bierman] and unidentified children fishing, undated [Henry Bierman], undated Ida Shawers Bierman, portrait, 1887