Biographical Note: Doctor and Brigadier General Raymond Osborne Dart was born in Kansas City, Kansas on 5 July, 1890. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a medical degree from Rush Medical College at the University of Chicago in 1916, he entered the U. S. Army in 1917. In 1923 he became Assistant Pathologist of the Army Medical Museum, moving up to Pathologist from 1927 - 1928. From 1932 – 1935 he served as Assistant Curator of the Army Medical Museum, and in 1935 he served his first tour of duty as Curator. After serving as pathologist to the Board of Health Laboratory at Ancon, Canal Zone and five years as head of the Laboratory Service of Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco, he served for three years as Surgeon and later Deputy Chief Surgeon S.O.S. at various locations in Australia and the Pacific, including Brisbane, New Guinea, and the Philippines. After World War II, Dart returned to Washington and the Army Institute of Pathology.

During both the periods he served at the Institute, General Dart worked to implement significant improvements to the organization. In 1935, he wrote a special report pointing out the shortcomings of the museum due to staff reductions, lack of space, and failure to adhere to museum best practices. In 1949, as director of the Army Institute of Pathology, General Dart served on the subcommittee that generated the constitution and by-laws of the new Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), effecting its change in name and status from "Army Institute of Pathology." Also in 1949, General Dart made a statement to Congress as part of a subcommittee hearing on the AFIP’s building, proposing a plan for a new building in Forest Glen, Maryland. The new building was eventually constructed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. After a long and successful career, General Dart retired from the Armed Forced Institute of Pathology on 28 July 1950.

Adapted from:

Henry, Robert S. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology: Its First Century, 1862 - 1962. Washington, D. C.: Office of the Surgeon General, Dept. of the Army, 1964.

Phalen, J. M. "Brigadier General Raymond O. Dart: An Appreciation." Military Surgery, 1951. 109 (4): 269.

Scope: This collection consists of one 17" W x 15" H leather-bound scrapbook containing holiday cards, photographs, and copies of publications from the period of General Dart’s tenures as Pathologist and Curator at the Army Medical Museum and Director of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (1923-1950). The publications include publications about the Museum by Dart, a copy of the letter confirming Dart’s promotion to Brigadier General, and documents outlining Dart’s role in the Institute’s name change from Army Institute of Pathology to Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, as well as his appearance before Congress as part of the hearing on the AFIP’s proposed new building. The leather front cover is embossed in the lower right-hand corner with the words "Brigadier General Raymond O. Dart" in gold. It is also hand-tooled in the center with a picture of the model of the new Armed Forces Institute of Pathology building. Contents of the scrapbook include Christmas cards, cartoons, and photographs, mainly of staff and events at the Museum and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. The photograph on the top of the page that bears the caption "1936, Off to Letterman, 'Covered Wagon Days'" shows General Dart, his wife and three sons in the following order, from left to right: Robert, Raymond T., Brigadier General Raymond O. Dart, wife Mary Eleanor Dart, and William (Bill). The scrapbook was made for the General for his retirement (possibly by the Medical Illustration Service at the AFIP) by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

Items inserted into the scrapbook after its creation, by Dart family members:

Four photographs. From the notes written on the backs of the photographs, they depict:

1. Army Surgeon General Major General Norman Kirk with Raymond O. Dart & Mary Eleanor Dart, 1945.
2. A party including General Dart dining at the Walter Reed Officers Club, 1945 – 1950.
3. Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. 1945 – 46, Raymond Dart and Staff.
4. Luncheon for past directors, 31 March 1970. L to R: Col. James L. Hansen, MC, USA; BG Raymond O. Dart, USA, Ret.; Capt. Bruce H. Smith MC, USN; MG Joe M. Blumberg, USA, Ret.; Col. Robert W. Morrissey, USAF, MC; and Col. James E. Ash, USA, Ret.

One small copy (4" x 6") of a portrait of the Surgeon General (Maj. Gen. Norman T. Kirk) and his staff by Francis Criss, c. 1942 – 1945. Part of a two-year project of American artists recording the Army Medical Department’s activities during World War II. Dart was an employee of this staff during World War II.

Four telegrams, dated July 25 – 28, 1950, congratulating Brigadier General Dart on his retirement from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Telegrams are from: Clara Raven, Fred and Bernice Burgoyne, Harold L. Stewart of the National Institutes of Health, and Marvin N. Solomon, MD Pathologist, Billings VA Hospital.

One telegram, from Miss Violet L. Marriman, Executive Secretary, Army Institute of Pathology, 7th & Independence Ave. SW, stating that General and Mrs. Kirk are unable to attend the dinner honoring General and Mrs. Dart, and that they send best wishes for his retirement.

Processed by Sara Gonzales, 2010