Open. Because of staff constraints, Archives & Special Collections will only search for an individual record if an exact date of death is provided.
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.
History and Biography
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.
Organization
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.
| 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] |
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Gift of the Columbia University Dept. of Pathology and Cell Biology, Jan. 2008 (accession #2008.01.15).