David Vetter Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Vetter, David, 1971-1984
label: Creator
content: Texas Children's Hospital
label: Creator
content: United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Science, Medicine, and Society
label: Donor
content: Vetter, Carol Ann
label: Donor
content: Vetter, David J., Jr.
topic: label: Topic
content: Immunological deficiency syndromes
label: Topic
content: Space suits
label: Topic
content: Hospitals
label: Topic
content: Severe combined immunodeficiency
label: Topic
content: Immune diseases
label: Topic
content: Isolation (Hospital care)
label: Topic
content: Greeting cards -- 20th century
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by David Vetter's parents, David and Carol Ann Vetter in 1986.
creator: label: Creator
content: Vetter, David, 1971-1984
label: Creator
content: Texas Children's Hospital
label: Creator
content: United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
setName: label: See more items in
content: David Vetter Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: Papers document David Vetter, a Texas boy with a rare disease known as Severe Combined Immune Deficiency. His life in a special isolation unit received widespread publicity.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: David Vetter (1971-1984) was a Texas boy who was born with Severe Combined Immune Deficiency, a disease which required him to live in a sterile, plastic isolation unit. NASA scientists designed and created a special suit for David, which resembled astronauts' space suits. His parents, family, church, doctors, and community all made efforts to enable him to have a normal childhood and life. At age 12, he underwent experimental bone marrow surgery, which was not successful, and David died a few months later. The bone marrow donor, David's sister Katherine, carried a dormant strand of the Epstein-Barr virus which was not detected by the pre-operation screens. He was removed from the bubble in February of 1984 and died 15 days later.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.6 Cubic feet (9 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1971-1986
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Science, Medicine and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science) in 2007.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1133
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Financial records
label: Type
content: Reprints
label: Type
content: Periodicals
label: Type
content: Reports
label: Type
content: Specifications
label: Type
content: School records
label: Type
content: Student drawings
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Legislative documents
label: Type
content: Articles
label: Type
content: Trade literature
label: Type
content: Manuals
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into seven series.

Series	1: Correspondence and Press, 1971-1985	


Series	2: Mobile Biological Isolation System (MBIS), 1973-1983	

	
Series	3: Medical Publications, 1972-1983	

	
Series	4: Personal Papers, 1978-1983	


Series	5: Nimitz High School Project, 1985	


Series	6: Texas Children's Hospital Medical Records, 1965-1989


Series	7: Photographs, 1974-1983
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Eric Ross, intern and Andrea Bishop, intern, 2018.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Financial records -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Reprints
label: Genre/Form
content: Periodicals
label: Genre/Form
content: Reports -- 1950-1980
label: Genre/Form
content: Specifications
label: Genre/Form
content: School records
label: Genre/Form
content: Student drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Legislative documents
label: Genre/Form
content: Articles -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Trade literature
label: Genre/Form
content: Manuals
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Papers relating to David Vetter, a Texas boy with a rare disease known as Severe Combined Immune Deficiency. The papers document his and his family's efforts to maintain normalcy in his life in spite of the limitations imposed by his disease, and medical efforts to reduce or cope with the limitations. A special suit was designed for David by NASA scientists to give him mobility, and the papers include documentation of the development and implementation of the suit. 

The collection includes letters, greeting cards, photographs, medical records and internal hospital memoranda and documents from the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, procedure manuals for the isolation unit, specifications for the space suit, David's school records and school art projects, receipts and other financial papers, trade literature for products used in creating the sterile isolation unit, medical journals, newspaper and magazine articles, and clippings. The collection also includes a project created by high school students in 1985 about David's life and legislation to honor David with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Shriners Hospital Patient Isolation Unit Records, NMAH.AC.1142

Materials in the Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History

Related objects include action figure toys, a t-shirt, and a space suit.  See accessioons: 1986.0201 and 1986.0450.