Background
Benjamin Sacks was a Johns Hopkins trained physician known for his contributions to the medical literature in cardiac pathology. When his medical career was cut short by ill health, Dr. Sacks turned his research talents and intellectual rigor to the history of the American West.
For the next 20 years, Dr. Sacks created the most extensive annotated bibliography known to exist on the history of Territorial Arizona and the borderlands. His work is considered a masterpiece of historical investigation and exposition.
About the Collection
Stored in four card catalogs, the index includes over 100,000 hand-written, cross-referenced, index cards. One of the distinguishing hallmarks of this index is its comprehensiveness. Dr. Sacks indefatigably searched out relevant, obscure sources in research libraries and archives across the nation, fastidiously examining hundreds of thousands of pages of obscure periodicals, U.S. government publications, government archival records and unindexed newspapers.
The very scope and variety of sources is unusual. Topics include changing border relations with Mexico, Confederate occupation of Southwestern lands, migrations of peoples to Arizona, military and civilian relations with Indians, exploitation and stewardship of natural resources, beginnings of Western towns, frontier law enforcement, railroad development, mining and famous and obscure individuals. To this day much of this information can only to be accessed through the card catalog our reading room.
| There are five major components to the collection, none of which are duplicative. For a complete search, we strongly encourage you to search all five components. |
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Index Cards |
Organized into four sections: Biography, Place Names, Subjects and Newspapers.Over 100,000 hand-written index cards with citations to books, newspapers, journals, correspondence, government documents, personal papers, maps, theses and more.
Copies of many, but not all, of the source material cited on the cards can be found in the other four components. The card catalog is available in the AHF reading room. |
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Subject Files (A-Z) |
Organized alphabetically, the 32 boxes of Subject Files contain source material cited in the card catalog. A quick list is available. |
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Biography Files (A-Z) |
Organized alphabetically, the 59 boxes of Biography Files contain source material cited in the card catalog. A quick list is coming soon. |
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Documents
(1-16316) |
Numbered index cards correspond to individual source documents of special significance to Dr. Sacks. The Documents are not catalogued, but are available for use in the AHF reading room.
Many of the names and subjects found in the other portions are represented in the over 16,000 documents. For example, the Biography Files include a folder on J. Ross Browne, which is complimented by Documents #7063-7089. |
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Microfilm
(1-303) |
Some source material is contained on microfilm reels. Primarily government documents and newspapers, the microfilm also includes personal papers, theses, maps, and company correspondence. |
To begin your search
The Subject and Biography Files and Microfilm reels are individually catalogued on the Arizona Historical Foundation Index via the ASU Libraries' Special Materials Index page. To reach the Search page for the AHF Index click on
the Special Materials Index link above, scroll
down to "Arizona Historical Foundation" and click on the link. Keyword searches can be conducted using subject terms or names. Adding "sacks" to the search term will limit the results to the Sacks collection.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Come in to the AHF Reading Room and we will assist you with the lost art of using card catalogs. For additional information or questions on the use of this rich collection please contact AHF at 480-965-3283.
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