Inventory of The Arequipa Sanatorium Records, 1911-1958

Collection number: BANC MSS 92/894 c

The Bancroft Library


University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

The Bancroft Library.

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu

URL: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/

Processed by:

Lynn Downey

Completed by:

Mary Morganti and Katherine Bryant

Date Completed:

May 1994

Encoded by:

Gabriela A. Montoya

© 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title

The Arequipa Sanatorium Records, 1911-1958

Collection number

BANC MSS 92/894 c

Collector

Arequipa Sanatorium (Fairfax, Calif.)

Extent

Number of containers: 2 boxes, 3 cartons, 1 oversize folder
Linear feet: 4.5

Repository

The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000

Shelf location

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Administrative Information

Provenance

The Arequipa Sanatorium Records were given to The Bancroft Library by the San Francisco Bay Girl Scout Council, via Nancy Berg, Executive Director, on November 22, 1991.

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Manuscripts Division. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as owner of the physical items and the copyright.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Arequipa Sanatorium Records, BANC MSS 92/894 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Organizational History

The Arequipa Sanatorium was founded by San Francisco physician, Philip King Brown. In his work with patients in the City after the 1906 earthquake and fire, Dr. Brown discovered that the TB rate for women was twice that of men; appalled by this statistic, he made plans to build a sanatorium to treat women exclusively, and called on many of his influential Bay Area friends to help.

Henry Bothin, a Marin County philanthropist, donated land in Fairfax in western Marin County¾a tract which had once belonged to Phoebe Apperson Hearst, a Brown family friend. The property adjoined Hill Farm, a home for convalescent women and children. Managed by the Telegraph Hill Neighborhoood Center and its founder Elizabeth Ashe, this land had also been donated by Bothin. John Bakewell, prominent San Francisco architect, donated his services and designed the graceful sanatorium, and Phoebe Apperson Hearst donated the money for a laundry. With the gift of $10,000 by an anonymous donor, Dr. Brown was able to open Arequipa¾a Peruvian word meaning “Place of Rest”¾in 1911.

Conceived as a “school” where patients would learn how to cure themselves through fresh air and bed rest, the sanatorium featured large wards that were screened from floor to ceiling, even in winter. Whenever possible, locally grown food was served, and members of many Bay Area families donated money and goods. Arequipa eventually had three wards, a small library, living room, dining room, bathrooms, and examining rooms. Patients read, slept, wrote and published in-house magazines, and enjoyed the various entertainers who came to visit the sanatorium.

Dr. Brown believed that if the patients had something to occupy themselves, they would spend less time worrying about their disease and would heal more quickly. He began to experiment with various types of occupational therapy, and in 1911, decided to open a pottery. He secured the services of Frederick Rhead, a prominent English ceramist, to run Arequipa Pottery, which was in operation from 1911 to 1919. Patients made pottery that was sold in stores throughout the country; profits helped pay the cost of their treatment. In 1915, Arequipa had a booth at the Panama Pacific International Exposition, where discharged patients demonstrated pottery-making and sold examples of the product. There were three Pottery Directors before the operation closed at the end of World War I: Frederick Rhead, Albert Solon, and Fred Wilde, all of whom went on to even greater fame in the field of ceramics. Arequipa Pottery is a prized collectible today, and fine examples can be seen at The Oakland Museum and the Smithsonian Institution.

With the discovery of antibiotics in the 1940s and their use in the fight against TB in the 1950s, it became possible to treat patients at home, and admissions to the sanatorium dwindled. By the end of the decade it was apparent that Arequipa was no longer needed and was closed in 1957. The property was leased to the Girl Scouts in the 1960s for use as a camp. The sanatorium, damaged by the heavy rains of the early 1980s, was torn down in 1984. The San Francisco Bay Girl Scout Council owns the property, as well as the adjoining tract which used to be Hill Farm. Both locations are administered as the Bothin Youth Center.

Biography

Philip King Brown was born in Napa, California in 1869. His mother was Dr. Charlotte Blake Brown, the founder of San Francisco's Children's Hospital and an outstanding physician and surgeon. He received his M.D. from Harvard in 1893 and, after studying in Germany, returned to the Bay Area to begin his practice. He was a co-founder of the San Francisco Boys Club, and was active in the Tuberculosis Polyclinic, designed to help people recognize the symptoms of tuberculosis and to cure themselves once they had contracted the disease.

In 1900, Brown married Helen Hillyer, and the couple had four children: Hillyer, Cabot, Phoebe, and Bruce. Many San Francisco notables were counted as friends of the Brown family, including Phoebe Apperson Hearst, Bruce Porter, and John Bakewell.

Although Dr. Brown considered himself a general practicioner, he was well-known for his work with the tuberculous at the Polyclinic. He was incensed by the attitude of most municipal authorities toward the treatment of tuberculosis; this led him to found the Arequipa Sanatorium in 1911, financed and built almost entirely by donations.

Except for a brief stint with the Red Cross in France during World War I, Dr. Brown continued as Medical Director of Arequipa until the early 1930s. Dr. Ethel Owen succeeded him in this position, followed by Dr. Brown's son, Cabot, as the final Medical Director.

Dr. Philip King Brown died in October of 1940, having remained active in many charities and worthy causes in the Bay Area.

Scope and Content

The records of Arequipa Sanatorium in Fairfax (Marin County), California, cover the years from its beginning in 1911 throughout its operation and closure in 1957/1958. They contain a small amount of administrative, financial, and medical files, as well as the correspondence and writings of Dr. Philip King Brown, and miscellaneous materials relating to The Arequipa Pottery. The bulk of the collection consists of patients' files, along with correspondence and various in-house publications and other writings by patients.

Topics of note include a dispute with a noisy local dog kennel, a handwritten history of The Arequipa Pottery by Dr. Brown's wife, design sketches used in The Pottery, and the sometimes poignant correspondence, writings, and medical files of individual patients.

Series Description

Series 1: Correspondence, 1911-1958.

Box 1, Folders 1-6.

Arranged alphabetically by correspondent, and then chronologically. A general correspondence file preceeds those of individuals. Incoming and outgoing letters between the sanatorium and various local individuals and institutions.

Series 2: Administrative Records, 1912-1956.

Box 1, Folders 7-14.

Includes Annual Reports, Board of Directors' minutes and correspondence, and reports to the County of Marin. Also includes contract and specifications for construction of a nurses' quarters in 1947, and the Sanatorium's rules and regulations.

Series 3: Philip King Brown, 1910-1931 & n.d.

Box 1, Folders 15-16.

Correspondence and published writings.

Series 4: Arequipa Pottery, 1913-1914 & n.d.

Box 1, Folders 17-18; Oversize Folder 1.

Miscellaneous materials related to The Arequipa Pottery, including a history of the Pottery, design sketches, certificates relating to incorporation and trademark, and other ephemera.

Series 5: Patients Files, 1913-1954 & n.d.

Box 1, Folders 19-24; Carton 1; Carton 2, Folders 1-43.

Divided into 3 sub-series: of individual patients. The bulk of the series consists of medical files of individual patients, arranged chronologically, and then by patient number. Includes one folder of letters to and from patients and various in-house publications and other writings by patients.

Series 6: Medical Records, 1955-1957 & n.d.

Carton 2, Folders 44-47; Carton 3, Folder 1.

Lists of types of medication given to patients and supplies purchased, as well as daily calendars of doctors' orders and a nursing administrator.

Series 7: Financial Records, 1916-1958.

Carton 3, Folders 2-21.

Incomplete sets of financial records, including monthly reports, daily journal and balance sheets, receipt books, a staff time log, and files relating to various funds. Of interest are the records pertaining to the Patients' Fund, on which patients could draw for short-term loans in order to pay for their treatment.

Series 8: Ephemera, 1930-1950s & n.d.

Box 2, Folders 1-7.

Miscellaneous collection of ephemeral materials, including clippings and other printed materials, a guest book, and greeting cards sent to the patients in response to a 1950s radio program called “The Sunshine Shower.”

Container List

Series 1: Correspondence, 1911-1958.

Series 2: Administrative Records, 1912-1956.

Series 3: Philip King Brown, 1910-1931 & n.d.

Series 4: Arequipa Pottery, 1913-1914 & n.d.

Series 5: Patients, 1913-1954 & n.d.

Correspondence, 1916-1954.

Writings, 1921-1938 & n.d.

Medical Files, 1913-1952 & n.d.

Series 6: Medical Records, 1955-1957 & n.d.

Series 7: Financial Records, 1916-1958 .

Series 8: Ephemera, 1930-1950s & n.d.

Additional Information

Materials Cataloged Separately

Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.