Through a generous donation by Dr. Clark T. Sawin’s widow, Mrs. Leslie Sawin, and the efforts of the Sawin Library Committee, co-chaired by Drs. Len Wartofsky and Elliot J. Rayfield, the Clark T. Sawin Memorial Library and Resource Center was established at the Endocrine Society’s national office in 2006.
During his lifetime, Dr. Sawin was fascinated with the history of endocrine investigation and clinical endocrinology, and spent many years pursuing his passion. In addition to supporting the endowment of the library, Mrs. Sawin donated Dr. Sawin’s personal library collection which includes more than 6,500 books, meeting programs from endocrine organizations circa 1930 through current day, professional and personal research papers, slides, and many historical articles.
By cataloging and preserving historical endocrine literature and artifacts, the library plays an important role in the Society's mission to support the field of endocrinology. Today, the library holds more than 8,100 items including books, audio and video tapes, medical instruments, and awards donated by members and friends of the Endocrine Society.
The Delbert A. Fisher Research Scholar Award supports an annual fellowship to provide scientists the opportunity to continue Dr. Sawin’s documentation of endocrine history. A fellowship is awarded to one recipient annually for scholarly work on the history of endocrinology, and for the preparation of the Clark T. Sawin Memorial History of Endocrinology Lecture presentation that is featured at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting.
The Clark T. Sawin Memorial Library and Resource Center is committed to recording the history of the leaders in endocrinology, ensuring that the valuable contributions of endocrinologists are chronicled and made available to the membership and public. The video history program will ensure that the oral histories conducted by Drs. Sawin and Friedman as part of the Society’s History Committee in the 1980’s be available on new technology platforms and that new histories will be video-recorded on a regular basis.
In 2012, a special section of the Sawin Library was dedicated to the Pediatric Endocrine Society (PES) to support the history of the field of pediatric endocrinology.This dedicated section of the Library will provide a central place to catalog the important works of pediatric endocrinology. All items donated by the PES and its members are available through the online catalog. Learn more about the Pediatric Endocrine Society History.
The Sawin Library accepts material and monetary donations. Your gift will create a resource that will ensure that the unique history of endocrinology will be appropriately recognized and available for generations to come. We would like to thank Drs. Len Wartofsky and Elliot Rayfield, for their great efforts in co-chairing the Library and Resource Center’s endowment campaign.
To donate a book or other historical item to the library, or to visit the collection at the Endocrine Society's headquarters in Washington, DC, please email info@endocrine.org. If you are interested in making a monetary donation to the library contact our Development office at development@endocrine.org.
