Otway Watkins Rash papers

Title

Otway Watkins Rash papers

Date

1896-1965

Creator

Rash, Otway Watkins, 1876-1966

Extent

11.25 Cubic feet

Subjects

Correspondence.

Hospital administrators.

Hospitals--Kentucky--Louisville

Medical records--Kentucky.

Medicine--Kentucky--Louisville

Memorabilia.

Physicians

Physicians (General practice)--Kentucky.

Radium--Therapeutic use

Surgery--Military aspects--Philippines--1899-1900.

Surgery--Practice--Kentucky--Louisville.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged by format.

Finding Aid Author

Finding aid prepared by Julie Williams

Preferred Citation

74M1: [identification of item], Otway Watkins Rash papers, 1896-1965, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

Repository

University of Kentucky

Biography / History

Dr. Otway W. Rash, a native of Henderson, Kentucky, attended Louisville Medical College from 1894 to 1896. He received his medical degree in March of 1897 from New York City's Bellevue Hospital Medical College. After three years of private medical practice in partnership with Dr. Robert L. Bone of Madisonville, Kentucky, Dr. Rash in 1898 joined the United States Army as a surgeon. Following service in the Phillippines (1899-1900), he returned to civilian life and established a general practice of medicine and surgery in Owensboro, Kentucky, where he spent the remainder of his career.

In 1921, Dr. Rash was one of the first Kentucky doctors to utilize radium in the treatment of disease. During this period, he served as instructor of anatomy at the Owensboro-Daviess County Hospital. In addition, he held the position of Chief of Staff of that hospital for eleven years, and on June 3, 1947, was named Emeritus Chief of Staff. Dr. Rash also occupied the position of Chief of Staff of Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Owensboro from 1949 to June of 1952.

When Dr. Rash reached the age of 73 in 1950, he gave up surgery and established an office as a general practitioner. The doctor continued to practice until the year before his death in 1966. In April 1964, the Kentucky Medical Association honored Dr. Rash by citing him as the doctor who had practiced medicine for the longest period of time in the State of Kentucky.

Heltsley, Ernest C. "Dr. Rash Completing 68 years in Medicine." Sunday Courier and Press (Evansville, Indiana). April 4, 1965, p. 35 A.

Tapp, Hamilton, ed. Kentucky Lives: The Blue Grass State Who's Who. Hopkinsville, Kentucky: Historical Record Association, Inc., 1966, pp. 436-437.

Scope and Content

The professional correspondence and records of Dr. Otway Rash provide an intimate look at the business details in the life of a doctor. The records in this collection are of three types: correspondence and memorabilia, receipts, bills and tax records and account books. The correspondence consists mainly of letters concerning referral patients, although some personal correspondence is scattered throughout. The financial records include receipts from the bills of sale of stocks, bonds, and automobiles, tax assessment records and gas and electric bills. Included in the account books are ledgers which contain patients' yearly accounts, day books with patients' daily records, and receipt book stubs. Additionally, the papers include a large photograph (the "Bellevue Hospital Class Reunion," 1932) and a restaurant menu.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to researchers by appointment.

Use Restrictions

The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections.