Sterling Bunnell Memorial Library

The Sterling Bunnell Memorial Library consists of books and journals of historial significance in the subject of hand surgery. Additionally there are archival records of and about Dr. Sterling Bunnell, who pioneered many of the hand surgery techniques still in use today.

The Library was dedicated on November 6, 1982. Major contributors to the collection include Dr. Joseph Boyes, Dr. Robert Brown, Dr. John Niebauer, Dr. Lot Duncan Howard, Dr. Herbert Stark and the Sterling Bunnell Foundation. The collection encompasses a number of physical formats which include written materials, photographs, slides, drawings, films, videocassettes, and surgical instruments.

Sterling Bunnell, MD, 1882-1957, Father of Hand Surgery

Dr. Sterling Bunnell was born in San Francisco in 1882 and died there in 1957. He completed his undergraduate degree in 1904 at the University of California and received his medical degree in 1908 from the University of California at San Francisco.

He was the founder and first president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Hand surgery is a specialty that grew out of the treatment of the many hand injuries that occurred during World War II. Dr. Bunnell served as a government consultant to the Secretary of War "to guide, integrate and develop the special field of hand surgery."

Dr. Bunnell practiced in San Francisco and at Stanford Hospital (now the Pacific Campus of California Pacific Medical Center). His practice incorporated aspects of orthopedics, plastic surgery and general surgery into the care of the hand. The first edition of his textbook Surgery of the Hand was published in 1944 and is considered a classic. Dr. Bunnell's reputation as an expert was well established by the 1940s and he is known worldwide for his contributions to the field of hand surgery.