Fonds 1307 - William Edward Gallie fonds

Identity area

Reference code

UTA 1307

Title

William Edward Gallie fonds

Date(s)

  • [189-?] - 1963 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

1.45 m of textual records (10 boxes)
0.36 m of graphic records (85 photographs; b&w, 4 x-rays, 16 illustrations/sketches, 36 glass plate slides)
1 reel of 16mm film

Context area

Name of creator

(1882-1959)

Biographical history

Dr. William Edward Gallie (1882-1959) was a pioneering orthopedic surgeon and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He was born on January 29, 1882 in Barrie, Ontario to William Gallie, a building contractor and mill operator, and Anne Gray. Gallie graduated from Barrie High School in 1899. Finding the work of his father uninspiring, Gallie entered the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto at the age of 17. Gallie graduated in the spring of 1903, and immediately began work as an intern at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (1903-1904). Gallie spent the next several years interning at the Toronto General Hospital (1904-1905) before moving to New York’s Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled (1905-1906).

Upon completion of his internship in New York, Gallie returned to Toronto and gained employment at the Hospital for Sick Children. Concurrently, Gallie was appointed junior surgeon at the Toronto General Hospital, a position he held until 1910 when he shifted his focus solely to the Hospital for Sick Children and became an assistant to the Chief of Orthopaedic Service, Dr. C.L. Starr. Starr taught Gallie as a pupil at the University of Toronto, supervised him through his initial internship at the Hospital for Sick Children, and would become Gallie’s mentor as a young surgeon at the Hospital.

From 1906-1910, Gallie developed a strong research interest in the surgical correction of paralysis. A proponent of animal experimentation to improve surgical techniques, Gallie developed a method of tendon fixation to stabilize paralytic feet and began publishing papers on the topic, bringing him a great deal of recognition amongst his peers.

In 1914, Gallie married Janet Louise Hart with whom he had 3 children; Alan Edward, Marion Louise, and Hugh Richmond.

The outbreak of the First World War saw the departure of many Canadian doctors as they joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force overseas. Gallie’s fellow surgeons at the Hospital for Sick Children, Dr. Starr, Dr. D.E. Robertson, and Dr. B. Robertson all joined the war effort. Gallie remained the lone surgeon at the hospital until 1917, when he replaced Starr in England at the Canadian Special Treatment Hospital. While serving for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Gallie graduated to the rank of Major (Act.) before the end of the war.

When Gallie returned to Canada, he became the Surgeon-in-Chief at the Hospital for Sick Children, a post he held until 1929. During his time at the helm of the Hospital for Sick Children, Gallie began some of his most famous surgical experiments, publishing papers on the transplantation of fascia into tendons, and applying the method to the treatment of hernias and to the repair of anatomical defects.

In 1929, Gallie replaced Dr. Starr as the Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. Gallie was also appointed Surgeon-in-Chief of the Toronto General Hospital, a position he held until 1936 when he became Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. During his time at the U of T, Gallie established a training regimen for medical students that qualified them to become part of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. This move helped bring medical training in Canada on par with the courses in England and the United States. When the Second World War broke out, Gallie helped to establish a program for Canadian military surgeons to return home for 6 month periods in order to share their experiences with their University. Gallie also served as the President of the American College of Surgeons from 1941-1946.

Gallie formally retired from his position at the University of Toronto in 1947, but continued to aid the medical profession by delivering lectures, addresses, and establishing scholarships and trust funds for medical students.

William Edward Gallie died on September 25, 1959 at the age of 77.

Archival history

This collection of records was offered to the University of Toronto Archives by the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. It is unclear where the records were kept between the time of Gallie’s death and their arrival at the U of T Archives, however annotations on some of the publications indicate that Gallie’s son, Hugh, may have had custody of the records at one point.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The William Edward Gallie fonds consists of 6 series based largely on his work as a surgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children and the Toronto General Hospital, as well as his role at the University of Toronto as Dean and Professor at the Faculty of Medicine. The majority of the records relate to Gallie’s publications, lectures, public addresses, and research. The fonds also includes a small amount of personal ephemera such as event invitations and newspaper clippings. The W. E. Gallie fonds consists of the following series: 1) Writings & Publication Drafts, 2) Lectures and Public Addresses, 3) Research, 4) Correspondence, 5) Personal Ephemera, and 6) Photographs & Graphic Materials.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

The records in the Gallie fonds arrived with no clear order and have been placed into series largely based on subject and content.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Patient records are restricted under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA). See series and file level descriptions for details. The rest of the fonds is open.

Conditions governing reproduction

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Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Uploaded finding aid

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

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Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Accession

B1990-0046

Accession

B2013-0001

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Description control area

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Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Dates of creation revision deletion

-Original finding aid for B2013-0001 created by Tys Klumpenhouwer, February 2013
-Added to AtoM by Karen Suurtamm, December 2015

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