| Creator | Abrams, Ruth Dreyfus |
| Title | Ruth Abrams papers |
| Dates | 1945-1990 |
| Identification | MS 124 |
| Quantity | 0.5 linear feet (1 manuscript container) |
| Collection Abstract | The Ruth Dreyfus Abrams papers contain biographical and professional materials, vita, clippings of photos of Abrams from an article in the journal Cancer News, an obituary, published and unpublished writings, correspondence and a bibliography of her publications from 1945-1986. In addition, some materials written by Dr. Jacob E. Finesinger, a colleague of Abrams', also appear in the collection. The majority of the materials in the collection are articles and papers written by Abrams, many of them annotated. Her writings deal primarily with the psychological and social impact of cancer on patients and their families. The collection also contains a copy of the 1966 Bartlett-Solomon Award with a reprint of Abrams' article, "The Patient with Cancer—His Changing Pattern of Communication," published originally in the New England Journal of Medicine. |
| Historical Abstract | Ruth Dreyfus Abrams was born on December 2, 1905 in Boston, Massachusetts. She received her B.A. from Simmons College in 1934 and her M.S. in social work from the Simmons College School of Social Work in 1941. Abrams worked at Massachusetts General Hospital as a case worker and social service supervisor in the 1960s. Later she took a teaching position at the Boston University School of Social Work as an assistant professor. In 1966, she won the Harriett M. Bartlett Award for her article, "The Patient with Cancer: His Changing Pattern of Communication" published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This article was seen as the seminal work in the field of cancer psychology. In 1986, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Cancer Society. Abrams was active in the field of social work until her death in 1991. |
| Language | Material in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Ruth Abrams papers, 1945-1990, MS 124, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
The Ruth Abrams papers were a gift from her daughter Ruth A. Brebner, to the Simmons College Archives in 1992.
Accession number: 92.033
Processed by Nanni Deng, March 1994
Supervised by Peter Carini and Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, March 1994
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Samuel Bauer, August 2013
Ruth Dreyfus Abrams was born on December 2, 1905 in Boston, Massachusetts. She received her B.A. from Simmons College in 1934 and her M.S. in social work from the Simmons College School of Social Work in 1941.
Abrams worked at Massachusetts General Hospital as a case worker and social service supervisor in the 1960s. Later she took a teaching position at the Boston University School of Social Work as an assistant professor. During this time she also worked as a research assistant at the Harvard School of Public Health until the early 1970s. Abrams also worked for the Veteran's Hospital, the Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts and as a research social worker at the Conjugal Bereavement Study Laboratory of Community Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1966, she won the Harriett M. Bartlett Award for her article, "The Patient with Cancer: His Changing Pattern of Communication" published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This article was seen as the seminal work in the field of cancer psychology. In 1975 Abrams was the first recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Foundation of Thanatology in New York. In recognition of her many contributions to the field of oncology, the Social Work of Oncology Group of the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute also gave her an award in 1981. In 1985, she received an award from the Medical Practice Evaluation Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital for her sensitive interviewing of patients.In 1986, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Cancer Society. Abrams was active in the field of social work until her death in 1991.
Abrams published many articles in the New England Journal of Medicine and other professional journals from 1945-1986. Abrams continued to be active in the field of the social work until her death in 1991.
The Ruth Dreyfus Abrams papers contain biographical and professional materials, vita, clippings of photos of Abrams from an article in the journal Cancer News, an obituary, published and unpublished writings, correspondence and a bibliography of her publications from 1945-1986. In additions, some materials written by Dr. Jacob E. Finesinger, a colleague of Abrams', appear in the collection.
The majority of the materials in the collection are articles and papers written by Abrams dating from 1945 to 1990, many of them annotated. Her writings deal primarily with the psychological and social impact of cancer on patients and their families. In addition to the individual articles that Abrams saved, there is also a bound volume of her articles some which duplicate the loose materials. The collection also contains a copy of the 1966 Bartlett-Solomon Award with a reprint of Abrams' article, "The Patient with Cancer—His Changing Pattern of Communication," published originally in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The one piece of correspondence in the collection is a signed letter from Ida Cannon in which she expresses her opinion of the role of social workers in rehabilitation and the need for the development of a professional terminology in response to an article written by Abrams
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Collection is arranged into 5 series:
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Series consists of one signed letter from Ida Cannon in which she expresses her opinion of the role of social workers in rehabilitation and the need for the development of a professional terminology in response to an article written by Abrams.
Box 1
Box 1
