A Guide to the Papers at the Indiana University Archives
Finding aid prepared by Angela Kilsdonk.
Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives
Creator
Pietsch, Paul, 1929-
Collection No.
C406
Extent
27.2 cubic feet (29 boxes)
Language
Materials are in English
Abstract
Paul A. Pietsch was a Professor in the
School of Optometry and an Adjunct Professor of Anatomy at Indiana University from
1970 until his retirement in 1994. His research concentrated on the connections
between the brain, mind, and memory, as well as limb regeneration. The collection
contains his teaching materials, subject files, professional and academic
correspondence, and a wide array of research materials, including publications,
visual materials, and research notebooks.
At this time, access to the Subject files series is restricted due to the presence of a large amount of sensitive information and confidential materials. Researchers may gain access by contacting the Archives well in advance of their visit so that staff may have sufficient time to pull any restricted records.
Advance notice is required for access to the collection.
Paul A. Pietsch was born in New York City in 1929. He left high school in the 10th grade and joined the Army in 1946. He served in Japan until 1949 and in the Korean conflict in 1951. He earned his GED while in the Army and credited the GI Bill for providing him with an education. Pietsch earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Syracuse University in 1954 and a PhD in anatomy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1960.
Pietsch went on to work as an instructor in anatomy at Wake Forest College and an assistant professor of anatomy at the State University of New York at Buffalo. From 1964-1970, he worked as a research physiologist and senior research molecular biologist at Dow Chemical. Pietsch began his career at Indiana University as an Associate Professor of Optometry in 1970 and became a full professor in 1978. In 1980 he also became an Adjunct Professor of Anatomy in the Medical Sciences Program. He served as the chairperson of the Department of Basic Health Sciences in the School of Optometry from 1975-1983. He retired in 1994.
Pietsch’s primary research interests were limb regeneration and the relationship between the brain and the mind. His article “Shuffle Brain”, which explores amphibian brain transplants to determine the connections between the brain and memory, was published in Harper’s in 1972. It was awarded the 1972 Medical Journalism Award by the American Medical Association. Pietsch’s research for “Shuffle Brain” was also featured on the television program “60 Minutes” in August of 1973.
After his retirement in 1994, Pietsch remained active through his award winning website http://www.indiana.edu/~pietsch (access to the website can be attained through the Archives Archive-It collection at http://wayback.archive-it.org/219/*/http://www.indiana.edu/~pietsch/home.html). Dr. Pietsch passed away on November 26, 2009.
Collection is organized into three series: Teaching materials, Subject files, and Research files.
The Paul Pietsch papers are organized into three series: Teaching materials, Subject files, and Research files.
The first series, Teaching materials (1971-2000), includes a wide range of materials pertaining to the courses Pietsch taught at Indiana University. These files include course and lab manuals, lecture notes and outlines, course syllabi and visual aid materials. Pietsch taught a wide range of courses in the School of Optometry, including neurology, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology, and histology. Of particular interest are laboratory manuals and audio tutorials written and developed by Pietsch. Teaching materials from Summer Institute courses taught by Pietsch are also found in this series. The Teaching materials are arranged by course number, material type, and year. The School of Optometry changed their course numbering system in the 1993-1994 school year; folder titles reflect the numbering change, but materials are still arranged by course. For example, course numbers V414 and V514 both refer to the same course, Neuroanatomy, and are found together in boxes 1 and 2.
The second series, Subject files (1951-2008), is arranged alphabetically by folder title. This series contains a wide variety of materials related to Pietsch’s research, teaching, and professional activities. Pietsch’s correspondence, which is mostly of an academic and professional nature, is interfiled under "C". However, correspondence with various individuals can also be found throughout the subject files. The Subject files also contain materials related to various aspects of Pietsch’s research and professional activities. Of note is his research on brain transplants, DNA, limb regeneration, his grant applications, and his work with Ethylenedinitramine (EDNA). Materials related to Pietsch’s involvement in the academic and scientific communities and partial manuscripts of novels that Pietsch wrote later in his career can also be found in the Subject files. At this time, access to the Subject files is restricted due to the presence of a large amount of sensitive information and confidential materials. Researchers may gain access by contacting the Archives well in advance of their visit so that staff may have sufficient time to pull any restricted records.
The third and final series, Research files (1956-2008), is further organized into five subseries: Publication research, Publications, Research notebooks, Research visuals, and Audiovisual materials.
The first sub-series, Publication research, (1961-1994), contains materials pertaining to Pietsch’s research that led to a publication. It includes in-depth background research, photographs and figures, and manuscripts on various topics. This sub-series contains materials that Pietsch himself separated from his more general subject files and as such it does not contain all published research materials in the collection, but only those that Pietsch set aside. These files deal mainly with Pietsch’s research on the cancer inhibiting drugs Bleomycin and Phleomycin, Retinoic acid and on limb regeneration.
The second sub-series, Publications (1961-1993), contains a selection of Pietsch’s publications from his career as a research scientist at Dow Chemical through his time at Indiana University. This is not a complete body of Pietsch’s scholarly publications, but reflects what has been maintained in his personal papers. They are arranged chronologically.
The third sub-series, Research notebooks (1956-2008), contains mostly numbered notebooks concerning various research topics. Many of the notes are related to the materials found in the sub-series Research visuals. The notebooks cover Pietsch’s research from his time in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania in 1956-1957 through his career at the School of Optometry at Indiana University. Several unnumbered notebooks are also included in this sub-series.
The fourth sub-series, Research visuals (1975-2004), contains a wide variety of visual materials related to Pietsch’s research and teaching activities. Research photographs and photographic negatives from Pietsch’s years at Indiana University comprise the majority of the materials. Also included are 35mm slides that Pietsch used in course lectures or other talks. The Photographic negatives had been bound together with rubber bands upon acquisition by the Indiana University Archives. The Archives removed the rubber bands and designated each rubber-banded bundle as a Group, e.g. [Group 1], [Group 2], etc. All negatives have been re-housed and original notations by Pietsch have been replicated on the new housings. Also included in this sub-series are digital photographs and 92 cases of microscope specimen slides. The content of these slides is unknown, but they appear to be research related.
The fifth and last sub-series, Audiovisual materials (1976-1979, undated), contains audiovisual materials not directly related to the courses Pietsch taught. (The audiotutorials developed by Pietsch for his courses can be found under Teaching materials.) The materials in this sub-series includes cassette tapes related to Pietsch’s development of audio-tactile learning materials, miscellaneous cassette tapes related to research, and VHS videocassette tapes related to anatomy.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.
Materials containing personal student information and materials not directly related to Pietsch's work and research were separated from the collection and discarded or shredded. 3.5" disks, 5.5" disks, and CDs with unrecoverable data, duplicate course materials, and index cards with bibliographic information were also discarded. A binder of 35mm slides was returned to its original owner at written request left by Dr. Pietsch. Copies of the Axolotl Society newsletter were separated and will be processed separately.
Additional publications and research materials may be accessed in IUScholarworks: http://scholarworks.iu.edu/
The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.
Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.
Completed in 2010
(in Box 19)
(in Box 19)
(in Box 19/20)
(2 folders)
(2 folders)
(master tape and copy)
(in Box 20)
(master tape and copy)
(in Box 20)
Restricted: At this time, access to the Subject files is restricted due to the presence of a large amount of sensitive information and confidential materials. Researchers may gain access by contacting the Archives well in advance of their visit so that staff may have sufficient time to pull any restricted records.
(2 folders)
[Note: contains Little Frank drafts and other materials related to publishing]
[Note: Includes correspondence regarding Shufflebrain]
(These notebooks are described here as this is where they fall in the intellectual arrangement of the collection. However, they are housed separately in Box 21.)
(2 folders)
[Note: Contact Photograph Curator for access to these images.]
(described elsewhere in collection)
(2 cassette tapes)
(2 cassette tapes)
(2 cassette tapes)
(2 cassette tapes)
(2 cassette tapes)
(2 cassette tapes)
(2 cassette tapes)
(2 cassette tapes)
(2 cassette tapes)
[Note: these materials are related to the Subject Files: Blind.]
(Removed and housed with 4411.10. Consult Archives staff for further information.)
(Described above)