As the Texas Heart Institute enters its 60^th year as an institute, there’s plenty of history to look back on, and plenty of history yet to be made. The weekly “Did You Know?” segments have been featuring items from the THI Archives collection, like the letter from Dr. Cooley to his mother on the occasion of his birthday, the St. Luke’s Intercom newsletter photograph of the crowded operating suite, and the photo album marking the first “Dutch Airlift” of heart surgery patients.

Many of the items housed in the THI Archive have been donated by retiring staff members or former trainees; including devices, news clippings, photos, and newsletters. The archival collection listing is available through the library catalog, and new items get added regularly. Recent donations that are still being processed include a box of pacemakers, a shelving unit of perfusion research papers, a folder of Pumpkin Run flyers, a box of book drafts, saved copies of electronic newsletters, and a Texas Heart Institute face mask.

 

Photos: (Top) Scrapbook of Dr. Cooley’s news coverage opened to some newspaper articles about the first total artificial heart implantation in 1969. (Below) Showing the Archives space, a portion of the perfusion research collection, and some of the books published at the Texas Heart Institute.