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Georgie Rose Burt Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Mss 231

Scope and Contents

This collection of Georgie Burt’s papers includes a large number of typed and handwritten notes for speeches that Dr. Burt gave to various organizations. These speeches are, for the most part, about various aspects of adolescent behavior and how to effectively work with adolescents. Dr. Burt gave speeches covering self-esteem, drug abuse, sexuality, freedom and responsibility, education, eating disorders, growing old, and understanding adolescent behavior. This collection also contains many letters that Dr. Burt wrote. There are letters to Senators, Congressmen, journalists, and television personalities. This collection also contains many letters to the editor of local newspapers and a small number of personal letters. The collection contains articles that Dr. Burt saved concerning, among other things, education, healthcare and politics. There are two typescripts that Dr. Burt wrote. One she describes as “…how plants and animals, which includes man, you and me, have a better life by surviving better.” The second typescript, which is titled “RX Vitality: An MD Looks at Life” is a series of short essays about various topics that are arraigned alphabetically. This collection contains a set of sayings and epigrams that Dr. Burt saved and a set of math problem crossword puzzles that Dr. Burt created for a local school. This collection has been organized into four series: Lecture Series, Correspondence Series, Article Series and a General Series. The Lecture Series contains the scripts, both typed and handwritten, of talks that Dr. Burt gave to various organizations. These talks reflect Dr. Burt’s interest in adolescent behavior and development. The Correspondence Series contains letters that Dr. Burt wrote to members of congress, personalities, journalists, letters to the editor of newspapers and personal letters. The Article Series contains articles from newspapers and magazines that Dr. Burt collected about education, healthcare, politics, and adolescent behavior and development. The Subject Files Series contains two typescripts, a set of crossword puzzles and a collection of sayings. One of the typescripts is about plants and animals “and how they have a better life by surviving better.” The other typescript is titled “RX Vitality: An MD Looks At Life”. A set of math problem crossword puzzles that Dr. Burt created for a local school and a set of sayings that Dr. Burt collected complete this series.

Dates

  • 1967-1995

Creator

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The copyright is held by the Institute for Regional Studies.

Biography

Georgie Rose Metzinger was born November 11, 1910 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father was Dr. Leon Metzinger and her mother was May (Longwick) Metzinger. Dr. Burt graduated from Central High School and North Dakota Agricultural College, both in Fargo. She attended medical school at the University of Chicago. After an internship at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Chicago she earned her medical degree in 1936. Dr. Burt subsequently spent three years as a resident pediatrician at the Michigan State Hospital for Children in Detroit. She married Dr. Arthur Cullen Burt in December of 1935. During the first years of World War II, while her husband was serving overseas in the U.S. Navy, Dr. Burt worked at Abbot Hospital in Minneapolis. In 1943 she returned to Fargo and abandoned her medical practice to be a full time mother to her three children Nancy, Sally, and John. After nearly twenty years as a full time mother Dr. Burt completed a fellowship at the pediatrics department of the Children’s Hospital Medical Center at Harvard Medical School. She joined the staff of the Fargo Clinic in 1968 where she would establish the first department of adolescent medicine in North Dakota. Dr. Burt was an avid gardener and a ham radio enthusiast. She had her own radio talk show and a TV show called “Doctor On Call” both of which focused on adolescent’s problems. Politically conservative, Dr. Burt would frequently contribute letters to the editor to local newspapers and for a time she served as Chairman of the National Republican Women. She failed in a bid for a seat on the Fargo City Commission in 1962. Dr. Burt was well known for her support of area high school and university sports teams. She was named Bison Booster of 1973, only the second woman to receive that award, by the Fargo Chamber of Commerce. In 1973 she also received a YWCA Leadership Award and the Fargo Optimists Club’s Friend of Youth Award. She died on March 4, 1995 in Fargo at the age of 84.

Extent

0.8 Linear Feet (0.8 linear feet)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

While on the staff of Fargo Hospital, Dr. Burt developed the first adolescent medical program in North Dakota. The Georgie Burt’s papers (Fargo, N.D. physician) include typed and handwritten notes for speeches that Dr. Burt gave to various organizations about various aspects of adolescent behavior and how to effectively work with adolescents. Dr. Burt gave speeches covering self-esteem, drug abuse, sexuality, freedom and responsibility, education, eating disorders, growing old, and understanding adolescent behavior. This collection also contains letters she wrote to senators, congressmen, journalists, and television personalities, and to the editor of local newspapers and a small number of personal letters. There are two typescripts that Dr. Burt wrote. One she describes as “…how plants and animals, which includes man, you and me, have a better life by surviving better.” The second typescript, which is titled “RX Vitality: An MD Looks At Life” is a series of short essays. There is also a set of math problem crossword puzzles that she created.

Provenance

Donated by Sally Jo Smith and Nancy Beecher, 1995, (Acc. 2389).

Separation Record

Photographs (Processed as P274)

Three images, including two portraits of Georgie Burt and exterior of house with Christmas tree.

Property rights

The Institute for Regional Studies owns the property rights to this collection.
Title
Finding Aid to the Georgie Rose Burt Papers
Description rules
Appm
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository

Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States