Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Paper finding aid with additional information is available in Special Collections & University Archives.
Charles Henry Lerrigo (1875-1955) was born in Birmingham, England and came to the United States in 1886. He was educated at the Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri and graduated in 1900 with an M.D. Lerrigo practiced medicine in Topeka, Kansas. He served in France during WWI as commanding officer of an ambulance company. Several of his serial publications are drawn from his war experience: "Billy Ransom's Adventures in France," "Billy Ransom's Further Adventures," "Alone in an Army Camp," and "From Charing Cross to Germany."
Lerrigo was active in many fields. He served on the Kansas State Board of Health (1905-1924), and served as its president (1909-1910). He was executive secretary of the Kansas State Tuberculosis Association from 1922-1948. From 1919-1922, he was also state registrar of vital statistics.
Lerrigo also wrote novels, short stories, serials, health articles and columns, and was health editor of Capper Publications. Several of his novels used medical settings.
Lerrigo was a member of the American Medical Association, a fellow of the American Public Health Association, the American Geriatrics Society, the American Trudeau Society and an honorary member of the National Conference of Tuberculosis Workers. Lerrigo died on December 4, 1955, in Topeka, Kansas.
The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, published work, diaries (1925-1954), publication records, books, scrapbooks, and memorabilia.
The correspondence is separated into incoming (1909-1947), incoming miscellaneous (1911-1928), incoming personal, and each section is organized alphabetically. Outgoing correspondence (1912-1946) is organized chronologically.
Manuscripts include short stories, serials, articles, short story manuscripts (prize-winning), book-length, medical columns, and short story, serial and article publications, and all writings are organized alphabetically by title of work. Some works include manuscript and published versions. Book length manuscripts and medical columns material include drafts, illustrations, notes, and critiques. There are also files on health articles written for Capper Publications, newspaper health articles, magazine and pamphlet publications, and reviews of Lerrigo's books.
Included in the collection are diaries (1925-1954) and publication records (1912-1940).
Also available are scrapbooks that contain serial publications and memorabilia.