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

The collection encompasses a number of physical formats which include written materials, photographs, slides, drawings, films, videocassettes, and surgical instruments. The records were donated by various people and cover a broad area. Major contributors were Dr. Joseph Boyes, Dr. Robert Brown, Dr. John Niebauer, Dr. Lot Duncan Howard, Dr. Herbert Stark and the Sterling Bunnell Foundation.

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 practiced in San Francisco and is known worldwide for his contributions to the field of hand surgery. Dr. Bunnell incorporated aspects of orthopedics, plastic surgery and general surgery into the care of the hand. Dr. Bunnell's reputation as an expert in hand surgery was well established by the 1940s. His 1944 textbook Surgery of the Hand is a classic in the field of surgery of the hand.

Sterling Bunnell 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."