Clement C. Clay papers

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Creator:

Clement C. Clay, 1905-1978

Date [inclusive]:

1917-1977 (bulk 1925-1970)

Languages:

English

Physical Description:

3.75 cubic feet (5 boxes, 2 cartons, 1 flat box)

Collections:

Personal Papers and Manuscripts

Access:

Open

Call Number:

M-0036

Control Number:

7008072

Abstract:

Correspondence, largely incoming; photographs; notebooks and diaries; military service records; ephemera; and artifacts documenting the life of Clement C. Clay. There is almost nothing relating to his work as Director of Columbia's Graduate Program in Hospital Administration and only a few family letters.

The correspondence largely consists of letters received from former students, colleagues, and friends at the time of Clay's retirement. There is much related to his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, including photographs. Also included are medical school notebooks; several diaries; a childhood scrapbook; and correspondence, newspaper clippings, and ephemera relating to his student years at Columbia and McGill.

Cite as:

Clement C. Clay Papers, Archives & Special Collections, Columbia University Health Sciences Library.

History and Biography

Historical/Biographical Note:

Clement Claiborne Clay, hospital administrator and professor, was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on Dec. 8, 1905 and was raised in Atlanta and Minneapolis. He received his A.B. from Columbia University in 1927 and his medical degree from McGill University in 1932. After an internship at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, NY, he attended the University of Chicago School of Business as a Julius Rosenwald Fellow in Hospital Administration.

After military service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Clay became the founder and first director of the Program in Hospital Administration at the Yale University School of Medicine. In 1954 he was named Associate Professor of Administrative Medicine at the Columbia University School of Public Health and Co-Director of the Graduate Program in Hospital Administration. He became sole Director of the program in 1961 and was made a full professor in 1965.

Clay retired in January 1970; he died January 16, 1978.

Organization

Arrangement:

Organized in six series:

I. Subjects & Correspondence
II. Diaries & Notebooks
III. Ephemera & Juvenilia
IV. Photographs
V. Oversize, Printed Material & Artifacts
VI. Oversize Photographs & Certificates.

Scope and Content:

Correspondence, largely incoming; photographs; notebooks and diaries; military service records; ephemera; and artifacts documenting the life of Clement C. Clay. There is almost nothing relating to his work as Director of Columbia’s Graduate Program in Hospital Administration and only a few family letters.

While the correspondence dates back to the 1920s, the bulk consists of letters received from former students, colleagues, and friends at the time of Clay’s retirement in Jan. 1970. The letters reveal the warm regard in which Clay’s students held him. Some of this correspondence is loose, but most is contained in an album created for Clay’s retirement dinner (see Box 6).

The single largest topic documented in the papers is Clay’s military service in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Clay first led Naval Field Medical Photographic Unit #2; near the end of the war he received an executive position aboard the U.S. Naval Hospital Ship Repose. Included in the papers are correspondence; reports; official orders; “plans of the day” for the Repose; and much printed matter, ephemera, and artifacts.

The papers also include some of Clay’s medical school notebooks; several diaries; correspondence, newspaper clippings, and ephemera relating to Columbia and McGill; a childhood scrapbook; and ephemera.

Many of the photographs document medical care in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and were presumably taken by the Field Medical Photographic Unit Clay commanded. There are also many of Clay’s retirement dinner. Some of these are loose, but most are in a photo album presented to him after the dinner.

Box and Folder List:

Box	Folder	Contents
Series I: Subjects & Correspondence
1	1	American College of Hospital Administrators: Election of NY Regent, 1970
	2	Columbia University. Correspondence, 1924, 1927, 1968-1975
	3	Columbia University. Ephemera and printed matter, 1920s
	4	Columbia University. Newspaper clippings, 1920s
	5	Correspondence.1925-1934, 1938-1939, 1945-1967
	6	Correspondence.1969-1977
	7	McGill University. Correspondence, 1929-1932
	8	McGill University. Ephemera and printed matter, 1929-1932
	9	McGill University. Newspaper clippings, 1930s
	10	Military Service: General, 1942-1945
2	1-4	Military Service. General, 1942-1945
	5	Military Service. U.S.S. Repose: Plans of the Day, 1945
	6	Military Service. U.S.S. Repose: Newsletters, menus, and other printed matter, 1945 1946
	7	Military Service. “Paul Jonitz’ [nephew?] Essay on U.S.S. Repose,” 1945
	8	Military Service. Ephemera, 1942-1945
	9	Retirement: Letters received, 1969-1971
3	1	Retirement: Letters sent, 1969-1970
	2	Retirement Dinner, Jan. 8, 1970: invitation, correspondence
	3	St. Barnabas Hospital, Minneapolis: Newspaper clippings, 1930s
	4	St. John’s Riverside Hospital, Yonkers, NY: Newspaper clippings & articles, 1930s
	5	Supper and “Conversat” for students, March, 1970: Invitation, thank you notes
	6	“Thyroxine”: Paper submitted for the Junior Prize, McGill University Medical Society, 1929
Series II: Diaries & Notebooks
3	7	Diary, Oct.-Dec., 1932, kept at St. John’s Riverside Hospital, Yonkers, NY while an intern
	8	Diary, 1942, kept while in military service in the U.S. Navy
	9	Diary, [1945?], kept by Clay’s wife?
	10	McGill University Medical School notes. Anatomy, probably 1928/29
	11	McGill University Medical School notes. Obstetrics, 1929/30
	12	McGill University Medical School notes. Therapeutics and Surgery, 1929/30-1930/31
4	1	Notebooks, Miscellaneous, c.1930s-1940s
Series III: Ephemera & Juvenilia
4	2	Ephemera, 1920s-1960s
	3	Juvenilia, 1910s-1920s
Series IV: Photographs
4	4	Clay, Clement C.: portraits
	5	Clay, Mary S.: portrait
	6	Columbia University Hospital Administration Program Conference, May 1975, Dearborn, MI
	7	Columbia University Master’s Program in Hospital Administration: Class & Residents’ photos, 1958-c.1970 (with gaps) and undated
	8	Conference & parties, 1937, 1962, 1975
	9	Medical Photography Dept., U.S. Naval Medical School, Bethesda, MD, March 31, 1958
	10	Miscellaneous photographs and postcards, c.1930s-c.1940s
	11	Residents [St. John’s Riverside Hospital?], c.1930s
	12	Retirement Dinner, Jan. 8, 1970
	13	U.S. Navy Hospital Ships Repose and St. Olaf, Shanghai, China, Oct. 1945
5	1-2	World War II: photos of hospital scenes and medical treatment
	3	World War II: U.S. Naval Field Medical Photographic Unit #2: group portrait, undated
	4	World War II: “Blowups from 16mm – ‘Leinster’ – Anzio & Naples,” probably 1944
Series V: Oversize/Printed Material/Artifacts
5	6	Loose in carton: Scrapbook, c.1917-1920, 1931, 1 v. Retirement Dinner, Jan. 8, 1970, Photo album, 1 v. Album of retirement letters, 1969-1970: includes a few earlier letters from grateful students, 1 v. Student handbooks, Columbia University & McGill University, 1920s-1930s Stamp Album, 1 v. Miscellaneous printed matter
5	7	Loose in carton: Medals, military insignia, and other artifacts, including a U.S.S. Repose ashtray U.S. Navy caps Columbia University pennant and beanie, 1920s
Map Case 2:5: Plaques and awards
Series VI: Oversize Photographs & Certificates
1	1	Certificates and diplomas
	2	Executive Committee, McGill University Medical Society, 1928/29-1931/32
	3	U.S. Navy Base Hospital #12, Netley, England: Officers, undated but from World War II
	4	Photographs, Miscellaneous
		Loose in box: Columbia University diploma, 1927; certificate of emeritus status, Columbia University, 1975 (in portfolio)