Learning Resource Center: Manuals and Instructions: Subject Guide

About the Manuals and Instructions in the USU Archives

The USU Archives has a number of U.S. Government and military bulletins, guidebooks, and manuals in its collections, ranging from medical officer reference books to aids for using pack animals. A number of these items have been scanned and can be viewed and downloaded via the Archives online collections, while others can be searched via their collection's finding aid and viewed in person.

Military Medical Manuals Collection

The Military Medical Manuals Collection spans the years 1912-1975 and includes many undated documents. The collection materials include manuals and instructional materials produced by the government to guide military procedures. They relate primarily to medical education within the military and sanitation, but also cover a wide range of medical topics dealt with in the military. The Finding Aid for this collection is linked below.

The following are a selection of titles from this collection:

The Bluejacket's Manual, United States Navy. 1902
Letterman General Hospital: Blood Chemistry for Laboratory Technicians. c 1940
Sanitation Instructions. 1942
Use of Gasoline Containers for Transportation of Drinking Water. 1943
Transportation of the Sick and Wounded. 1945
Damage from Atomic Explosion and Design of Protective Structures. 1950
Poisonous Fish-like Vertebrates. 1957
Lectures in Aerospace Medicine. 1963
Aeromedical Reviews: Pharmacology and Toxicology of Propellant Fuels. 1966

The Finding Aid for this collection can be viewed here.

U.S. Army Technical Bulletins

The USU Archives has scanned several U.S. Army Technical Bulletins created by the U.S. War Department, from 1956-1957. These materials can be viewed and downloaded from the Archives' online collections. These bulletins deal with medical treatments dealing with diseases and the effects of heat.

Department of the Army Technical Bulletin No. 142: Filariasis (Wuchereria) with Special Reference to Early Stages

Department of the Army Technical Bulletin No. 175: The Etiology, Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Adverse Effects of Heat

Department of the Army Technical Bulletin No. 193: Poliomyelitis.

Department of the Army Technical Bulletin No. 218: Epidemic (Louse-Borne) Typhus

Military Medical History Documents in the USU Archives' Digital Repository

The Military Medical History Documents collection in the USU Archives' Digital Repository features a number of military medical handbooks and guidebooks. The following are a selection of those that have been scanned by the USU Archives.

Civil War Materials

A manual of military surgery: for the use of surgeons in the Confederate army, with an appendix of the rules and regulations of the medical department of the Confederate army

Duties of inspectors after battles

Contributions relating to the causation and prevention of disease, and to camp diseases

Military Handbooks

Handbook for dental prosthetic technicians

Instructions for medical officers of the United States Navy/prepared under the direction of the Surgeon-General of the Navy, and published by order of the Secretary of the Navy.

Medical compend for commanders of naval vessels to which no member of the Medical Department of the United States Navy is attached and others ; to accompany medicine box. 1923

Medical compend for commanding officers of naval vessels to which no member of the Medical Department of the United States Navy is attached; to accompany medicine box. 1942

Medical compend for commanding officers of naval vessels to which no member of the Medical department of the United States Navy is attached. To accompany medicine box. 1941

World War II Materials

Uses and Methods of Applying Insecticides and Repellents Recommended to the Armed Forces

Radiological Defense Materials

Radiological defense / a manual prepared by the Joint Crossroads Committee. Volume 1.

Radiological defense / a manual prepared by the Joint Crossroads Committee. Volume 2.

Radiological defense / a manual prepared by the Joint Crossroads Committee. Volume 3.

Radiological defense / a manual prepared by the Joint Crossroads Committee. Volume 4.

USU Archives Subject Guides

USU Historical Materials The University Collections in the USU Archives contain a multitude of material relating to the founding, growth, and operations of the Uniformed Services University. This subject guide provides a brief overview of the University's history with a sample of corresponding documents.
American Civil War Materials The USU Archives has a number of items relating to the American Civil War across various collections. These materials include publications and reports by the U.S. Sanitary Commission, memoirs by doctors and nurses, correspondence, and numerous books about various subjects relating to medicine during and after the war.
World War I Materials The USU Archives has a number of items relating to World War I across various collections. These materials include U.S. Government publications about hospitals, books about shell shock, contemporary newspapers, and numerous books about various subjects relating to medicine and World War I.
World War II Materials The USU Archives has a number of items relating to World War II across various collections. These materials include U.S. Government publications dealing with field medicine, reports from the German Medical Consultants Conferences, contemporary reports and publications, and historical accounts.
U.S. Sanitary Commission Materials The U.S. Sanitary Commission was founded in 1861, a private relief agency created to support ill and wounded soldiers of the Union Army during the Civil War. Primarily staffed by volunteers, often women, the Sanitary Commission raised money, made uniforms, collected food and other supplies, and ran hospital ships and soldiers’ homes for the U.S. Army.
Combat Disorders and Field Medicine Materials The USU Archives has a number of items relating to combat disorders and field medicine in both the manuscript and Rare Book collections. Combat disorders are defined by the National Library of Medicine as "Neurotic reactions to unusual, severe, or overwhelming military stress". Field medicine (also called combat casualty care) is the treatment of wounded individuals in areas of combat.
Tropical Medicine Materials Tropical Medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with health issues that are more common or are harder to control in tropical and subtropical regions. Tropical Medicine is a topic of particular importance at USU due to the international nature of military medicine. The USU Archives has a number of items relating to Tropical Medicine across various collections. These materials include U.S. government publications, rare books, papers by USU faculty and students, and historical publications.
Medicine in Extreme Cold Weather The USU Archives has a number of items relating to medicine in extreme cold weather in both the manuscript and rare book collections. Exploration and scientific research have taken people to the coldest places on Earth, requiring the study and development of the effects of extreme cold on the human body, and what prevention and treatment can be used in these circumstances.
Manuals and Instructions in the USU Archives The USU Archives has a number of U.S. Government and military bulletins, guidebooks, and manuals in its collections, ranging from medical officer reference books to aids for using pack animals. A number of these items have been scanned and can be viewed and downloaded via the Archives online collections, while others can be searched via their collection's finding aid and viewed in person.
Women During Wartime The USU Archives has several items relating to women's contributions during wartime. These materials span various collections and include U.S. Government publications, contemporary newspapers, biographies, and memoirs.
Pandemics The USU Archives and the LRC collection have a number of items that relate to both historical and contemporary pandemics. These materials include books, military medical publications, and other items.
Prisoner of War (POW) and Missing in Action (MIA) Materials The USU Archives has a number of items relating to Prisoners of War (POW) and Missing in Action (MIA) in the manuscript and rare book collections. The LRC general and history collections also have a number of related materials.