Autopsy reports

Download Presbyterian Hospital Autopsy Records PDF finding aid.
Creator:
Presbyterian Hospital (New York, N.Y.)
Date [inclusive]:
1872-1911, 1917-1919
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
2.33 cubic feet (15 vols.)
Collections:
Access:

Open. Because of staff constraints, Archives & Special Collections will only search for an individual record if an exact date of death is provided.

Call Number:
CUMC-0022
Control Number:
6662247
Abstract:

Records of autopsies performed on patients who died at Presbyterian Hospital, 1872-1911, 1917-1919. Records 1872-1911 are handwritten and composed in narrative form, while later records are typed and use a pre-printed form. Microscopic examination begins to appear regularly in the mid-1880s.

Volumes 1 and 12 overlap chronologically but do not cover the same cases. Most volumes include indices for both decedent's name and cause of death.

Cite as:
Presbyterian Hospital Autopsy Reports, Archives & Special Collections, Columbia University Health Sciences Library
Historical/Biographical Note:

Presbyterian Hospital was established in 1868 by philanthropist and book collector James Lenox who intended that the new hospital accept all patients “without regard to race, creed, or color.”  It opened in October 1872 on a site bounded by Madison and Park Avenues, 70th and 71st Streets.  Presbyterian affiliated with Columbia University in 1911 to form the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, which opened in 1928 in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Presbyterian Hospital and New York Hospital merged on Dec. 31, 1997 to form New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Scope and Content:

Records of autopsies performed on patients who died at Presbyterian Hospital, 1872-1911, 1917-1919.  Records 1872-1911 are handwritten and composed in narrative form, while later records are typed and use a pre-printed form.  Microscopic examination begins to appear regularly in the mid-1880s.

Volumes 1 and 12 overlap chronologically but do not cover the same cases.  Most volumes include indices for both decedent’s name and cause of death.

Box and Folder List:
Volume Contents
1 Aug. 27, 1874-Nov. 28, 1885
2 April 9, 1886-Jan. 31, 1893
3 Feb. 1, 1893-Dec. 19, 1894
4 Dec. 22, 1894-July 31, 1896
5 July 4, 1896-June 24, 1898
6 June 24, 1898-July 17, 1900
7 July 17, 1900-July 30, 1902
8 Aug. 2, 1902-Nov. 4, 1904
9 Nov. 5, 1904-Dec. 14, 1906
10 Dec. 16, 1906-Dec. 21, 1909
11 Dec. 24, 1908-Dec. 24, 1911
12 Nov. 17, 1872-Aug. 5, 1880 [unnumbered vol.]
13 Sept. 20, 1917-March 2, 1918 [original v. 26]
14 March 3, 1918-Nov. 20, 1918 [original v. 27]
15 Dec. 7, 1918-June 12, 1919 [original v. 28]
Subjects:
Autopsy
Hospitals - New York (State) - New York
Medical records
Pathology
Presbyterian Hospital (New York, N.Y.)
Provenance:

Gift of the Columbia University Dept. of Pathology and Cell Biology, Jan. 2008 (accession #2008.01.15).