Edmund B. Piper died of cardiac problems in January 14, 1935. The collection documents Piper's experiences in World War I and his work with the treatment of septicemia. In Series 1, the letter, dated 28 June 1918, by Robert G. LeConte to Piper describes an offensive attack on a French mobile hospital and conditions at Hospital No.1 at Neuilly. The letter from Irene F. Lamb of Women's Hospital of Philadelphia gives a report of two patients who were treated with mercurochrome in 1924. He recounts conditions at the Medical Officers Training Camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, then his experiences at Brest in Field Hospital No.42 and Camp Hospital No.48.
Piper gives several examples of friction between the military commanders and medical staff.
Speeches 3 and 4 give information on Piper's work using Mercurochrome 220 to combat infection and septicemia. The collection of Edmund B.Piper correspondence and speeches was donated to the Historical Collections of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by Mrs. Donaldson Cresswell of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, through David Y. Cooper in January, 1988. The collection was processed in May, 1989. During the course of processing, eleven Piper reprints were removed for cataloguing and integration into the library collection. Correspondence, Speeches, and Addresses, 1915-1931 Box Ser.