Nixon, Pat Ireland, 1883-1965

San Antonio physician, book collector, and medical historian. Dr. Nixon was the sole author of three books devoted to Texas medicine and was co-author of a fourth. He was founder of the San Antonio Historical Association and served terms as president of the Bexar County Medical Library Association, Texas Surgical Society, San Antonio Ex-Students Society of Texas, San Antonio Historical Association, and the Philosophical Society of Texas. Because of Dr. Nixon's efforts, the Bexar County Medical Library was able to accumulate a large collection of rare medical books which was donated to the Briscoe Library in 1970; the collection is known as the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library.

From the description of Papers. 1864-1964. (University of Texas Health Science Center at San A). WorldCat record id: 13419458

Pat Ireland Nixon was born in Old Nixon, Texas on November 29, 1883 to Robert Thomas and Fannie (Andrews) Nixon. He graduated from Luling High School in 1900 and the Bingham School in Ashville, North Carolina in 1902. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas in 1905 and his medical degree in 1909 from John Hopkins University School of Medicine.

After completing postgraduate studies, he opened an office in San Antonio on September 27, 1911, as a general practitioner and treated patients for over 50 years. On July 3, 1912, Nixon married Olive Gray Read of Mineola, Texas. They had four sons. He served on the medical staffs of Baptist Memorial, Nix Memorial, and Santa Rosa hospitals and helped found the Bexar County Medical Library. He was president of the Bexar County Medical Association in 1926 and the Texas Surgical Society in 1956. Appointed to the San Antonio Board of Health in 1928, he served for the next twenty years on city or city-county health boards. He crusaded for improvements in public health and in the government of San Antonio, which he blamed for not doing anything about the deplorable health conditions. He was especially concerned about the spread of polio, tuberculosis, syphilis, infant diarrhea, and other infectious diseases and the living conditions in the barrios, where the poorest people in San Antonio resided. He spoke out at public rallies and on the radio and was a leader in efforts to improve the health of San Antonio’s people.

Dr. Nixon was a skillful writer and researcher and is recognized as the preeminent historian of Texas medicine. He was the sole author of three books devoted to Texas medicine and was co- author of a fourth. He was founder of the San Antonio Historical Association and served terms as president of the Bexar County Medical Library Association, Texas Surgical Society, San Antonio Ex-Students Society of Texas, San Antonio Historical Association, and the Philosophical Society of Texas. In 1957 Nixon received two literary honors, the Summerfield G. Roberts and Clement E. Trout awards. In 1963 Trinity University granted him an honorary doctorate. He died on November 18, 1965 and was buried in Sunset Memorial Park, San Antonio, Texas.

One of his most enduring contributions to the medical profession in San Antonio was his role in the founding of the Bexar County Medical Library Association in 1919. He served as Chair of the association, and by 1933 the library had acquired over 15,000 volumes and long runs of more than two hundred journals. Because of Dr. Nixon's efforts, the Bexar County Medical Library was able to accumulate a large collection of rare medical books, purchased with association funds, donations by patients and friends of Dr. Nixon, and money from the sales of several of his books. He searched for old and rare books over a period of 50 years. This collection of rare books was donated to the Briscoe Library in 1970 and is known as the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library. Nixon also had a personal library of Texana comprised of books on early Texas history, both rare books and more modern publications. This collection was donated to Trinity University in San Antonio in 1964 and became the Pat Ireland Nixon Collection. Nixon also served on the advisory council for the Handbook of Texas and contributed many articles on doctors and medicine for the handbook.

• 1883: Born November 29 to Robert Thomas Nixon and Laura Ann Wood at Old Nixon, Texas.
• 1895: Nixon family moves to Luling, Texas.
• 1897: Father dies on March 27.
• 1900: Graduates from Luling High School as salutatorian.
• 1902: Graduates maxima cum laude from Bingham School, Asheville, North Carolina, and enrolls in the University of Texas at Austin.
• 1905: Graduates from University of Texas and enters Johns Hopkins Medical School.
• 1909: Graduates from John Hopkins, passes Texas State Medical Board examination, licensed to practice medicine in Texas, and begins internship at Johns Hopkins.
• 1911: Opens medical practice in San Antonio on September 27.
• 1912: Marries Olive Gray Read on July 3 in Mineola, Texas.
• 1913: First child, Pat I. Nixon, Jr., born on May 28.
• 1914: Robert Read Nixon born on June 26.
• 1920: Became Chairman of the Bexar County Medical Library Association.
• 1921: Twins Benjamin Oliver Nixon and Thomas Andrews Nixon born on February 14.
• 1926: Elected president of the Bexar County Medical Association.
• 1928: Appointed to the San Antonio Board of Health.
• 1936: Publishes A Century of Medicine in San Antonio.
• 1939: Mother dies December 7 in Luling, Texas.
• 1941: Elected president of the San Antonio Historical Society.
• 1946: Publishes The Medical Story of Early Texas. Elected president of both the Philosophical Society of Texas and the Texas State Historical Association.
• 1952: Receives San Antonio Conservation Society award for A Century of Medicine in San Antonio for his valuable contribution to San Antonio’s recorded history.
• 1953: Publishes A History of the Texas Medical Association.
• 1956: Publishes family history The Early Nixons of Texas and is elected president of the Texas Surgical Society.
• 1957: Receives the Summerfield G. Roberts Award for The Early Nixons of Texas and the Clement E. Trout Award for “Surgery: A Cultural Factor in Early Texas,” article published in the Texas State Journal of Medicine that year.
• 1961: Son Major Ben Nixon dies on January 22.
• 1963: Receives honorary doctorate from Trinity University, San Antonio.
• 1964: Wife Olive Nixon dies on October 29.
• 1965: Dies on November 18 and is buried at Sunset Memorial Park, San Antonio, Texas

From the guide to the P. I. Nixon Collection MS 1*1 – MS 1*15., 1864 - 1964, (University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, UTHSC Libraries, University Archives, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900)