Large collection of approx. 95 letters, nearly all war-date sent to Dr. Harry R. Slack Jr. Slack was a 1912 graduate of Johns Hopkins who in 1922 sailed from Baltimore for Beijing with his new wife to work for a year at the Union Medical College in an effort to modernize Chinese medicine. The majority of the letters in this lot are between 1912 and 1922, and appear to be largely from his father, Dr. Henry R. Slack of Georgia and his siblings. A few of the letters read in part: ‘...The disaster to the Titanic is the worst...I guess the steamers will carry more life boats than heretofore, and probably take a little more time in crossing the Atlantic, especially in the neighborhood of icebergs...Have you decided what hospital course you will take this summer?...The Baptists have been carrying on a meeting during the week, conducted by Rev. Mr. Stephens, a returned missionary from China...Dr. Thomas...will be at the Hopkins for a week. Hope you can see him and his brother Cecil who comes with him. What about going to Atlantic City to the A.M.A. meeting?...You ought to be here to hear how much we all enjoyed that letter of yours to sister...That was a cute Valentine you sent me...Mother rec’d. your long and very interesting letter and thoroughly enjoyed it. She remarked after finishing it ‘That is the most satisfactory letter we have had from Harry in a year’...I am sending you by this mail a piece of this old man’s nose. When I began treating him...it was nearly as large as your fist. But under X-rays it shrank until just left a little ridge...I took it off...I put the specimen in 20% formaldehyde sol. Hope you can make a diagnosis for me, for it is a very interesting case...I wanted to write to you while I was in Atlanta...I was so proud to be known as ‘Harry Slack’s sister’...I am glad you heard Dr. Finney, and hope you will take an interest in this work, it is certainly a field in which much good can be done...The war news seemed to be pretty bad for allies, though Russians are making steady advances into Prussia and the English have certainly demonstrated their mastery of the Seas. Hurst paper seems to be favorable to Germany news while the Journal and Constitution give very one sided English and French accounts. They contradict each other so flatly that you cannot tell anything about it...Louise threw her arms around her and said, ‘Mama...to think that Brother was picked out one in a hundred for that Red Cross service which will certainly reflect honor on his country...She has been reading about the Zeppelin ships dropping bombs on the hospitals and she is dreadfully afraid they will drop one on you...It certainly speaks well for the Hopkins men for eight of them received commissions when there were so many applicants...Glad to hear that you are getting some medical organization now...It is not only the problem...to get the wounded out of the one of fire and take care of them in ambulances and hospitals in the interim. There are also many questions concerning the precise attributions, duties, responsibilities of the medical service...I am very glad to hear about the new School of Hygiene which is to be established in connection with Hopkins by the Rockefeller foundation...Have been thinking about making application for a 1st Lieutenancy in the Engineer Reserve Corps...It strikes me that if we go to war most of us will have to go anyway – couldn’t afford to be slackers – so why not prepare for it and try to get a good place? They certainly would have to conscript me before I go as a private!...There are now plans on foot here to send a mission of French officers to America to help you organize the new army...’ As indicated in these letters, Slack served with the Red Cross as part of the Johns Hopkins medical unit during the war, and this lot is accompanied by 22 photos, one of which is a young man in a Red Cross uniform, believed to be Slack. Other images include: soldiers gathered on a boat; the gardens of an extravagant home; group photos of young ladies, believed to be of the Slack family; the Statue of Liberty; shots of New York skyscrapers; and more. Also with this lot are several newspaper clippings following the war, particularly the Johns Hopkins medical unit, and some political cartoons. SOLD WITH: an issue of the magazine ‘Hopkins Medical News’ with an article that briefly discusses Harry Slack, his wife Elizabeth Blanchard, and their time in Beijing. A fine lot worthy of further research.