A View from the 25th Floor

Image Databases are Going Online

2013-06-14T17:57:29Z

The Medical Center Archives has begun the process of publishing their images online in two new databases. One database will only be available to internal users who are employees or students of Weill Cornell Medical College or NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Click here.

The other database called Shared Shelf Commons will be available to the general public. Click here

Both database are made available through a collaborative project with Cornell University and ARTstor.org. Currently we have images that are in the public domain or were published in the Cornell University-New York Hospital Blue Plaid yearbook (1937-1977). We will be adding more photographs throughout the summer and will be making blog announcements regarding our progress. Watch here for future updates.

New York Hospital and the Civil War: Regimental Surgeons

2013-05-31T12:30:55Z

When the war broke out, each state began forming volunteer regiments. Most of the New York Hospital doctors who served in the war began their service as volunteer surgeons in the regiments from New York State. Often doctors who were recruited for these regiments were small town physicians who had no training in military medicine and were ill prepared to treat wounded soldiers or perform amputations. Surgeons had to pass an exam and be approved by the war department. Their first task was to conduct the exams for the enlisted men and officers. These surgeons were responsible for treating the soldiers in the camps or after the battles in makeshift field hospitals. In the first year of the war, surgeons got some of their medical supplies from their states as well as the Medical Department. Starting in 1862, the supplies were distributed by brigade surgeons to the regiment surgeons. Regimental physicians were furnished with medicine chests designed to be carried on horseback. Orderlies carried knapsacks with essential bandages, instruments, and medicines. Each surgeon had four sets of surgical instruments: major, minor, pocket case, and field case.

New online collections!

2013-05-22T15:41:46Z

Historical annual reports from both the New York Hospital and the Lying-in Hospital of the City of New York, as well as announcements from the Weill Cornell Medical College, are now available online at http://archive.org/details/newyorkpresbyterianweillcornell. Announcements from the (now defunct) Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing will be added soon.

At present, the digital collections include:

New York Hospital Annual Reports, 1834-1962
Medical College announcements, 1898-1960
Lying-in Hospital of the City of New York Annual Reports, 1890-1931. (The Lying-in Hospital was merged into New York Hospital in 1932.)

The WCMC Library and the Medical Center Archives received a digitization micro-grant from the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) to fund the digitization of these historical annual reports and announcements.

The Medical Center Archives materials are part of the Medical Heritage Library, a body of curated digital materials focusing on the history of medicine, from libraries and archives around the world, hosted by the Internet Archive. More information is available on the Medical Heritage Library site.

Heberden Society, May 14 - Ellen Cohn on Benjamin Franklin

2013-05-06T14:02:22Z

Ellen R. Cohn, Editor of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Yale University
will present the spring Heberden Society Lecture on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, at 4:30 p.m.
This will be the final Heberden Society lecture of the 2012-13 academic year, and promises to be a fascinating talk.

Benjamin Franklin's Contributions to Medicine
Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 4:30 p.m. (Light refreshments at 4:15)
Uris Faculty Room (A-126)
Weill Cornell Medical College, 1300 York Avenue

Printer, promoter, philanthropist, inventor, investigator. Throughout his life, Benjamin Franklin attempted to "do good to man" by seeing that the best medical practices were available to the widest number of people, often using his influence to convince a skeptical public to embrace new ideas that were either frightening (such as inoculation) or suspicious (such as allowing fresh air into a bed chamber or sick room).

Ellen R. Cohn will discuss some of Franklin's significant contributions to medicine, including his work with William Heberden, Sr., on inoculation, his invention of medical devices, his observations on the causes of disease and the efficacy of remedies, his role in founding America's first hospital, and his work as head of the French royal commission that investigated the medical claims of Anton Mesmer. Ever the wit as well as the scientist, Franklin's trenchant observations on doctors and charlatans continue to enliven the study of the history of medicine.

Ellen R. Cohn is the Editor of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin, a comprehensive, annotated edition based at Yale University and co-sponsored by Yale and the American Philosophical Society.

The Heberden Society, which seeks to promote an interest in the history of medicine, was founded at the medical center in 1975. With funding from the WCMC Office of the Dean, the society sponsors a series of lectures during each academic year.

New York Hospital and Civil War: Valentine Mott

2013-04-26T11:46:24Z

Valentine Mott was a renowned surgeon at New York Hospital from 1817 to 1837. After 1837 he was a consulting surgeon. He was born in 1785 in Glen Cove, Long Island. His father, Henry, was also a physician. He was a pupil of another New York Hospital surgeon, Valentine Seaman, and he received a medical degree from Columbia University in 1807. He received further medical training in London and Edinburgh. In addition to New York Hospital, he was on the staff or faculty of Columbia College, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Rutgers Medical College, and the City of New York's Department of Surgery. In 1818 he performed a pioneer heart surgery on an axillary aneurism at New York Hospital. Another pioneer surgery was a hip amputation. During the Civil War, he was already an elderly man. He assisted in the war effort by serving as a consultant for the war department. He wrote a few articles for the U.S. Sanitary Commission on the use of anesthesia and methods for suppressing hemorrhages in gun wounds for their manual that was distributed to the surgeons. After hearing about the Lincoln's death, he collapsed and died a few weeks later.

New York Hospital and Civil War: U.S. Sanitary Commission Members

2013-04-05T12:22:18Z

New York hospital had four doctors who served with the U. S. Sanitary Commission, a civilian organization that was concerned with the health of the soldiers. The volunteers worked as medical inspectors visiting the camps and hospitals, operated soldiers' homes, and furnished medical supplies, food, clothing, and nursing care for soldiers in the camps and hospitals. The leaders of the U.S. Sanitary Commission were instrumental in lobbying the government for the need to reform the U.S. Medical Department, develop an effective transport ambulance system, and develop more sanitary hospitals and camps.

William Van Buren was an attending surgeon at New York Hospital from 1853-1860. He accompanied Henry Whitney Bellows, founder of the Commission, to Washington DC to lobby for Lincoln's and Congress' approval of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. After the war he continued to serve as a consulting surgeon at the hospital until his death in 1883. He was also a professor at the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Cornelius Agnew was a house surgeon at New York Hospital from 1853-1854. He was a member of the U.S. Sanitary Commission in 1861. He served as the general surgeon for the New York State Militia during the Civil War. After the war, he became a prominent ophthalmologist. He was one of the founders of the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital and the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital. He died in 1888.

James W. McLane served with the U. S. Sanitary Commission from 1861-1862. In 1862, he served as an acting assistant surgeon during the McClellan Peninsula Campaign. From 1864-1865, he was a house physician at New York Hospital. From 1867-1884, he was an attending at New York Hospital.

A. Brayton Ball served with the U.S. Sanitary Commission from 1862-1863 and also served with Robert Weirs at General Hospital, Frederick, MD. He returned to New York in 1864 where he served a year as a house surgeon at New York Hospital. From 1888-1905, he was an attending surgeon at the hospital.

New York Hospital and Civil War: U.S. Sanitary Commission

2013-03-22T13:15:16Z

Four doctors from New York Hospital were members of the U.S. Sanitary Commission: William Van Buren, Cornelius Agnew, James McLane, and A. Brayton Ball. Valentine Mott was a consultant for the war department.

The number one cause of death of the Civil War soldiers was communicable diseases caused by unsanitary conditions in the camps and hospitals. In 1861 the U.S. Sanitary Commission was formed in New York City at a meeting held by the Women's Central Association of Relief. The civilians led by Henry Whitney Bellows, minister of the First Congregational Church were concerned about the sanitation conditions of the Union camps. In 1861 Bellows and Van Buren along with Jacob Harsen and Elisha Harris went to Washington DC to lobby the Commission's cause. There were many that felt that civilians should not be involved in the war effort. Lincoln approved of the Commission activities for the volunteer troops only. Bellows chose 11 prominent men to be on the Commission: Alexander Dallas Bache, George Templeton Strong, Elisha Harris, William Van Buren, Cornelius Agnew (who was also the surgeon general for the New York State Militia), George Washington Cullum, Alexander Eakin Shiras, and Robert Crooke Wood. The head of the Commission was renowned landscape designer Frederick Law Olmstead.

By the end of the war, the Commission had organized hundreds of auxiliary branches in the U.S. and in Paris, London, Montreal, and Toronto. The volunteers worked as medical inspectors visiting the camps and hospitals. Other volunteers operated soldier's homes. The majority of the volunteers furnished medical supplies, food, clothing, and nursing care for soldiers in the camps and hospitals. Finally, the leaders of the U.S. Sanitary Commission were instrumental in lobbying the government for the need to reform the U.S. Medical Department, develop an effective transport ambulance system, and improve the sanitary conditions of the hospitals and camps. The Commission was disbanded in 1866.

New York Hospital and Civil War: Civil War Casualities and Civil War Medicine

2013-03-01T14:02:21Z

Approximately 750,000 Americans whether Union or Confederate died in the Civil War. About 250,000 died of battle wounds. About 500,000 died of infectious diseases such as dysentery/intestinal diseases, malaria, continual fevers, measles, mumps, yellow fever, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, and cholera. These staggering figures are more than the combined statistics of all major wars that Americans participated in through the Korean War.

More than 11,000 doctors served in the Civil War as regiment, military, or contract surgeons. More than 300 military surgeons serving with the U.S. Army or U.S. Volunteers died in the war. Three surgeons from the New York Hospital died of disease.

The war took a great toll on the medical resources available. Medicine was still in the pre-modern age. Many doctors still used the old bleeding, purging, and blistering treating method for most diseases. Often these treatments were more harmful than the disease. By the 1840s, these practices were being criticized by other doctors including the Surgeon General William Hammond. These new breed of doctors emphasized listening to the patient's complaints and letting nature take its course. In spite of the efforts of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and others, many diseases were caused by the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions of the camps and hospitals especially in the early years of the war. Although they understood that unsanitary conditions and filth contributed to disease, they did not understand the role germs play in causing infectious diseases. They had smallpox vaccines and quinine for the malaria. Drugs such as blue mass used for a variety of ailments and calomel and tartar emetic for GI purging had high amounts of mercury.

Poor diet was also an issue in the camps. Many intestinal complaints were caused by the poor diet as well as bacterial infections. Scurvy was a problem from the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Many wounded soldiers required amputations. Since there were many battlefield causalities, surgeons performed the amputations quickly and many surgeons were not trained in the procedure. Amputations were performed within 48 hours and there was a 25% mortality rate. Both chloroform (the most common in the battlefield) and ether (more common in the general hospitals) anesthesia were used for operations, but they were sometimes not available to the Civil War surgeons. Many died from wound infections due to the lack of sterilization of the surgical instruments and unsanitary conditions. Instruments were cleaned only with cold water. The surgical cots and surgeons' clothes were not changed and were covered by the blood of previous patients. Although the surgeons had disinfectants such as iodine they often used them after infection had already set in. Strep infections would spread from patient to patient in crowded conditions. For pain the surgeons used alcohol and opiates. Some patients became addicted to morphine which was dusted into the wounds or injected with a hypodermic syringe, which was a new device.

New York Hospital and the Civil War

2013-02-01T18:32:34Z

At the dawn of the Civil War, New York Hospital was located at its first site on Broadway between Duane and Worth Streets. From April 1861-February 1862, New York Hospital had an agreement with the New York State Militia to accept sick or wounded officers and privates. From February 1862 until the end of the war, the hospital had an agreement with the U. S. Medical Department to accept non-commissioned officers and privates from the Union Army.

The hospital already had a long standing agreement with the U.S. government to treat merchant seamen. The soldiers were treated both before and after being sent to the front. Most soldiers were housed in the North Building to the right of the main building. When there were many wounded soldiers, some stayed in the main building. The heaviest year was in 1862 due to battles in Antietam, Shiloh, and Fredericksburg. In May 1862, some residents were fired after they wrote a letter of complaint to the U.S. Army that they were not being paid to treat the soldiers. By end of the war over 3,000 soldiers had been treated at the hospital.

During the war, the hospital was staffed by several prominent attending physicians and surgeons, assisted by the house staff. Many of these doctors rose to the call to serve in the Civil War. One attending surgeon and two house surgeons were active with the U.S. Sanitary Commission and one attending surgeon was a consultant for the war department. Twenty five attending and house surgeons served for the Union and one house surgeon served for the Confederates.

In conjunction with an exhibit in the Weill Cornell Medical College's York Avenue Lobby, we will be posting blogs on some of the Civil War veterans of New York Hospital. Stay tuned.

Dr. David B. Levine to present Heberden Society Lecture January 23, 4:30pm

2013-01-08T15:06:27Z

David B. Levine, M.D.
Emeritus Professor, Clinical Orthopaedic Surgery
Weill Cornell Medical College
Director, Alumni Association and Archives
Hospital for Special Surgery
will present the winter 2013 Heberden Society lecture.

The Civil War and its Casualties

Wednesday, January 23, 2013. 4:30 p.m.
Weill Cornell Medical College, 1300 York Avenue
Uris Faculty Room (A-126)

Dr. Levine's talk will be followed by a reception:
Samuel J. Wood Medical Library, room C-115, 5:30 p.m.
in celebration of the travelling exhibition Life and Limb: the Toll of the American Civil War. This exhibition was developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

In addition, an exhibition prepared by the Medical Center Archives highlights New York Hospital physicians and future faculty of the Cornell University Medical College who served in the Civil War.

From the beginning of the Civil War in April 1861, until the Confederate States surrendered in April 1865, the casualties and deaths on both sides were monumental, changing the face of medical care in the United States, resulting in the creation of the Army Medical Corps, and taking medical care in the United States out of the "dark ages of medicine". New statistics reported in December 2011 by J. David Hacker, PhD, of the history department of Binghamton University, raise the death toll of the Civil War over 20% of what had been previously known. Disease accounted for twice as many deaths as battlefield injuries. Civil War era medicines and drugs available were generally without any scientific basis, and treatment often consisted of bleeding and mercurial purging (Blue Mass). Many believed in theories of "miasma" causing diseases such as cholera, chlamydia and malaria. Advanced military methods, with the introduction of the MiniÃ© ball, resulted in more devastating wounds. Over 60,000 amputations in the North and the South were performed, each taking an average of 15 minutes. Surgeons were often operating for 48 hours straight. Black soldiers contracted diseases nine times higher than battlefield injuries, receiving inferior care compared to white soldiers. There was only one woman physician, Mary Walker, M.D., who masqueraded as a Union officer. Death toll figures were higher than from all combined wars fought by the United States from 1917 to 2011.

About the speaker
Appointed first Director of the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Alumni Association in 2003, David B. Levine has published over a dozen articles on the history of medicine in the past 30 years. His book on the history of HSS, the oldest orthopaedic hospital in the country, will be published with eight other contributors in March, 2013, as Anatomy of a Hospital. It will mark the Sesquicentennial Celebration of HSS (1863-2013), featured at the 150th HSS Scientific Symposium, May 2-4, 2013.

A member of the Class of 1954 of Dartmouth College, Levine was awarded his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University College of Medicine in 1957. He interned at Case Western Reserve's Metropolitan General Hospital, was a surgical resident at Harvard's Beth Israel Hospital and spent two years on active duty as a Lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy, serving aboard the USS Forrestal in the Sixth Fleet. Following graduation as an orthopaedic resident at HSS in 1964, Levine spent a year as a scoliosis fellow at University of Southern California's Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, returning to HSS in 1966 to become Director of Scoliosis in 1967 and Director of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1986. Retiring from active patient care in 1995, he moved with his wife Janet, an artist, to Florence, Italy, where he lectured at Careggi Orthopaedic Hospital, restored antique furniture, and mastered Italian cooking. He returned to New York in 1997. A fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Association, founder and Past President of the Scoliosis Research Society, Dr. Levine is currently Historian of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons.

The Heberden Society, which seeks to promote an interest in the history of medicine, was founded in 1975. With funding from the Weill Cornell Medical College Office of the Dean, the society presents a series of lectures during each academic year.

Civil War Exhibits

2013-01-04T19:14:48Z

Two exhibits on the Civil War will be on displayed in the Medical College Library until the end of January. The first exhibit is an traveling display called Life and Limb: the Toll of the American Civil War. This exhibition was developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

An accompanying exhibit curated by associate archivist, Elizabeth Shepard focuses on civil war veterans of New York Hospital and Cornell University Medical College. The New York Hospital was actively involved with the treatment of civil war soldiers. They had an contract with both the state milita and U.S. Army Department of Medicine to accept civil war wounded and sick soldiers. About 3,000 soliders were treated during the war at the hospital which was then on Broadway between Duane and Worth Streets. In addition, Elizabeth has identified 25 attending and house surgeons who participated in the war as members of the U.S. Sanitary Commission or as surgeons with the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, or New York State regiments. One house surgeon was a Conferderate.

Cornell University Medical College had four Civil War veterans that have been identified. Dr. Witthaus served on local Union Defense Committee but did not serve in the war itself. Founding chairman of Surgery, Lewis Stimson was a young soldier during the war. The college main benefactor, Col Oliver Payne served with regiments from Illinosis and Ohio. Finally founding Dean William Polk served with the Confederate in Tennesee and Kentucky.

Our featured blog series this year will be the Civil War veterans. Return here for additional features on other Civil War veterans from New York Hospital and Cornell University Medical College.

Happy Holidays

2012-12-21T17:08:47Z

Happy Holidays from the staff of the Medical Center Archives. We will be closed on December 24-26, and December 31-January 1. Enjoy the scene of the Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing's Candlelight Ceremony, ca. 1940s.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2012-11-20T16:57:16Z

Enjoy this image of the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses Class of 1924 Thanksgiving Dance, held on November 28, 1922.

The Medical Center Archives will be closed on Wednesday thru Friday, November 21-23 for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will return on Monday

We wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.

An 1300 York Avenue Lobby Exhibit: Ninth General Hospital

2012-11-16T16:25:34Z

An new exhibit has been installed in the 1300 York Avenue Lobby honoring the 70th anniversary of the Ninth General Hospital, which was organized by New York Hospital during World War II.

In October 1940, George Heuer, chairman/chief of the Department of Surgery received a request from the Secretary of War to reestablish the Ninth General Hospital. The New York Hospital also operated Base Hospital No. 9 in France during World War I. Two years later in July 1942, the Ninth General Hospital was called to active duty. Several doctors and nurses mostly from New York Hospital joined up to serve. The doctors went sent for military training at Fort Andrews, MA; while, the nurses went to Fort Devens, MA. The doctors trained the enlisted men as orderlies, nurses' aides, and technicians. The nurses worked at the Station Hospital at Fort Devens. Along with the nurses were dieticians, physical therapists, and red cross workers. It was a long tedious wait to be called oversees.

Finally in July 1943, they were given the order to go oversees to serve in the South Pacific. The doctors and nurses met in Boston where they boarded a large troop train headed to Stoneman Camp near San Francisco. It was the longest troop train at that time. They arrived in California where they boarded the ship SS David Shanks to take them to Brisbane Australia.

Once the Ninth General Hospital personnel arrived in Brisbane, Australia, they thought they would be taking over a brand new hospital in Australia. Instead that hospital was given to the University of Maryland unit, and Ninth General Hospital was assigned to Goodenough Island, off the coast of New Guinea.

In October 1943, the doctors and enlisted men went ahead to establish the hospital on this island. They arrived in pouring rain and marched from the ship to the large field where the hospital was to be built. It took them about six weeks to construct the hospital buildings including the telephone, electricity wires, and sewers. While the hospital was being built, the nurses stayed in Australia and worked at various hospitals in the area, or they were sent to other military hospitals in India, Egypt, Russia, and Africa. In December 1943, a few nurses arrived with the balanced arriving January-March 1944. The hospital suffered a setback in January 1944, when a monsoon hit and knock down six wards. Soon after the monsoon, a scrub typhoid fever broke out and several people became ill and 8 people died. The hospital served military units that were training on the island and as well as wounded soldiers. The hospital had orthopedic, ophthalmology, and otolaryngology clinics for outpatients. They also had departments for anesthesia, neurosurgery, gynecology, urology, plastic surgery, general surgery, and dental services. This hospital never saw many patients since it was away from the main battle zones. When they left the island, the hospital buildings were burned.

In August 1944, the Ninth General Hospital was ordered to go to Biak Island, which was closer to the South Pacific front. As before, the doctors and enlisted men went first to Biak Island, where they discovered that the Japanese was on the island and using the buildings they were planning to use as their hospital. Again the hospital had to be built by scratch. The nurses were dropped off at Hollandria, New Guinea until the new hospital was built. This hospital saw more action in war causalities. One exciting event was the capture of a Japanese soldier by Preston Wade, who found the starving Japanese soldier in the woods near the hospital compound.

In August 1945, some of the doctors were ordered to the Lingyen Gulf in Luzon, Philippines, however the war ended. After the war the Ninth General Hospital personnel were mustered out in Manila or transferred to another military hospital. The name Ninth General Hospital was given to a regular military hospital unit in Okinawa, Japan.

Many doctors who served in this hospital returned home to become prominent doctors at our medical center: including Frank Glenn, chairman/chief of Department of Surgery (he also served with the sixth army), Preston Wade, head of the trauma unit and one of John Kennedy's physicians, George Eagan, head of dentistry, and Bruce Webster, venereal disease specialist. The nurses included, Muriel Carbery, who became the dean of the Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing.

Happy 50th Anniversary: Samuel J. Wood Library

2012-11-16T14:20:17Z

The Samuel J. Wood Library and Research Building was dedicated on October 17, 1962. The new building included research laboratory space, new lobby for the medical college, and the medical college library. Below enjoy some pictures of our library.

People visiting the new library during the dedication ceremony on October 17, 1962.

The Samuel J. Wood Library and Research Building, 1960s.

Construction of the Samuel J. Wood Library, Spring of 1962.

Construction of the Library Stacks, Spring of 1962

The Samuel J. Wood Library in 1962.

Exhibit Space on the first floor of the library in the 1960s.

People studying in the library in the 1960s.

Samuel J. Wood Library as it appeared in the 1970s.

People studying in the library in the 1970s.

Eric Meyerhoff was the library director from 1970-1986.

The Library Faculty and Staff in 1986.

In 1987-1988, the library underwent major renovations when the William and Mildred Lasdon Biomedical Research Building was built. The library sunken reading room was one of the features of the renovated library.

The library staff in the 1990s. Robert Braude was the library director from 1987-2001.