Turner Z. Cason Papers, 1932-1957.
Physical Description: 2.9 linear ft. 7 boxes.
Arrangement Note: Files organized in blocks- the first block concentrates on short course material, the second on material pertaining to beginning the Department of Medicine and then the College of Medicine, while the third is a collection of files relating to professional organizations and general correspondence.
Biographical Note: Dr. T.Z. Cason, b. 1886- 1968. Born in Island Grove, Florida, he attended and graduated from the University of Florida in 1908, and he received his MD from the University of Georgia. He joined the Army Medical Corps during World War I, and served from June 13, 1917- April 17, 1919, reaching the rank of Captain in the Medical Corps. He practiced as a physician in Jacksonville and he also was a member of a group of physicians who founded Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville. He remained in touch with his alma mater and delivered the Phi Beta Kappa address at UF in 1941, entitled “In Search of a Dream”. He was an early advocate for the importance of Continuing Medical Education and he developed and ran graduate short courses for physicians in Florida starting in 1932. As an incentive encouraging physicians to remain abreast of new medical knowledge, he was instrumental in the creation of a Department of Medicine in UF Graduate School- so enrolled students could receive credit at a time when there was no medical school in the state (African American physicians received credit from FAMU). His interest in providing practicing physicians with accurate information on medical practice also led him to work toward creation of a College of Medicine in Florida. When the UF College of Medicine opened in 1956, he ran their CME program. Brother of Zelma Cason, who became embroiled in a lawsuit with Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, claiming Rawling portrayed her in a slanderous manner in the book Cross Creek. Himself uninvolved in the lawsuit, T.Z. Cason also was, for a time, physician to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
Contents Note: Collection of papers, chiefly correspondence, related to development and offerings of short course for physicians in Florida, to the creation of the Department of Medicine through the Dean of the UF Graduate School, and to creation of the College of Medicine at UF. Also includes various news clippings. Most correspondence discusses administration and planning of short courses, including administrative details on registering participants, publicizing courses and siting courses at various Florida locations. Some material reports on attendance at courses, with separate entries for African American and white physicians. Also correspondence concerning first integrated short course in Jacksonville in 1940- correspondence to hotel president, police, and with Florida A & M University on issues of crediting African American physicians who attended.
Box 1
- History- short courses 1932-1936
- Short Course 1933
- Short Course 1934
- Short Course 1935
- Short Course 1936
- Short Course 1937
- Short Course 1938
Box 2
- Short Course 1939
- Short Course 1940
- History- 1940
- History- African American Physicians-1940
- Negroes- General Correspondence, Including Physicians, except Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College
- Negroes- Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College
- Short Course 1941
- Short Course- cardiology- 1941
Box 3
- Short Course 1942-1943
- Short Course 1954
- Short Course 1955
- Short Course 1957
- News Clippings- Short Course- With Harrell- 1954-55
- Programs- Permanent File- 1953-1957
- Announcements and releases for publicity- newspapers and other publications- 1945-1956
- Committee on Medical Postgraduate Class- reports- 1953, 1954-1955
- Publicity- circular letters to doctors, hospitals, etc.- 1946-1952
Box 4
- Florida Medical Education- U. Miami Medical School- 1943
- Florida Medical Education Committee- 1946-1947
- Department of Medicine of the Graduate School of the University of Florida- Faculty- 1942-1951
- Graduate School Development Notes and Minutes (including Short Course Committee meeting minutes)- 1943-1957
- Creation of Medical School- 1946-1952
- Medical School Clippings College of Medicine 1953-1956
Box 5
- American College of Physicians Applications- Faculty and Miscellaneous Positions- 1943-1953
- Cason- Public Address and Published Papers- 1948-1949
- Central Florida State TB Sanatorium- 1949-1950
- Daily Files- March, 1948- June, 1949
- Daily Files- August, 1949- May, 1950
- Daily Files- June- Dec. 1950
- Daily Files- Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 1951
Box 6
- Daily Files- Jan- Dec. 1953
- Daily Files- Jan.- Nov. 1954
- Daily Files- 1955
- Daily Files- 1956
Box 7
- Daily Files- 1957
- Diabetes Research- 1952
- Duval County Medical Center- 1946-1950
- Florida Medical Association- 1943-1957
- Florida State Board of Health- 1942-1952
- Florida Tuberculosis and Health Association- 1944-1953
- Heart Associations- 1946-1950