Brief Overview of Collection, MC104
Name: Henry B. Peters Papers
Dates: 1940-1997
Extent: 6 cubic feet
Historical Note: Henry
Buckland Peters was born in California
in 1916 and died there in 2000 after a long and distinguished career in
optometry. Peters obtained the Doctor of
Optometry degree from the University
of California-Berkeley in 1938 and a
master’s of education from the University
of Nebraska in 1939. During World War II Peters served in the
South Pacific as an advanced radar officer on navy destroyers. Following the war, Dr. Peters returned to California and began the
practice of optometry in his father’s office.
In 1947 he received an appointment as a clinical professor of optometry
at UC- Berkeley. In 1959 Peters was
co-author of the ground-breaking “Orinda Study,” the “premier study in
childhood vision screening” which “paved the way for school-based vision
screening” across the U.S. In 1962 he
received an appointed as an associate professor, as assistant dean, and as
director of the optometry clinics at UC-Berkeley. In 1969 Dr. Peters was recruited to Birmingham as the founding
dean of the UAB School of Optometry; he would retain that position until 1986
when he returned to the teaching faculty in the school. In 1987 Peters retired from the school’s
active faculty and was appointed dean emeritus and professor emeritus by the
University of Alabama Board of Trustees. From 1987 until 1988 Peters also served as
the first executive director of the UAB Research Foundation. In 1994 he authored a photographic history of
the school upon its 25th anniversary and that same year the School
of Optometry Building at UAB was renamed in his honor. Active in regional and national professional
organizations, Peters served as the president of the National Health Council,
the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, and the American Academy
of Optometry.
Scope & Contents: Contains
correspondence, publications, certificates, appointment books, scrapbooks,
photographs
Arrangement: Organized into
eight discrete series: 1)
Correspondence; 2) Orinda Study; 3) Reprints; 4) Speeches & Lectures; 5)
Scrapbooks; 6) Certificates, Awards & Plaques; 7) Appointment Books; and 8)
Photographs (see artificial collection PMC104)
Accession Number: M1998-21
Provenance: Material
maintained by Dr. Peters in his offices at UAB until his departure from campus,
and later transferred to the UAB Archives in June 1998 by Dr. Arol R. Augsburger, dean of the School of Optometry.
Copyright: Check with archives staff.
Finding aid: Printed descriptive guide by Tim L. Pennycuff available
in repository.
Access Points:
Peters, Henry B., q
(Henry Buckland), d 1916-2000.
Optometrists z
Alabama
z Birmingham.
Optometry
z Alabama z Birmingham.
University of Alabama at Birmingham. b School
of Optometry.
University of Alabama in Birmingham. b School
of Optometry.
Document Types:
Correspondence, Certificates, Photographs, Audio tapes, Speeches,
Scrapbooks.
Location: Manuscript Stacks
Related Series:
PMC104, Henry B. Peters Photographs, 1944-1994 (consult
archives staff for information on Dr. Peters’ university records)
Physical Condition: Items have
been placed in acid free folders and acid free boxes. Metal fasteners have not been removed.
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Collections Page
Last Updated 29 October 2008.
Finding Aid Copyright:
The University
of Alabama Board of
Trustees.