Personnel records of living current or former faculty, including residents, are closed unless the faculty or staff member grants permission in writing. Personnel records of deceased faculty are closed for 25 years from date of death. Archives & Special Collections staff may, however, answer reference questions relating to basic directory information such as birth dates and places, dates of residency, and previous education.
Records of those who did post-graduate internships and residencies at the Columbia University Department of Neurology/Neurological Institute of New York, 1929-1970.
History and Biography
Instruction in neurology began at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1875, when Edward Seguin joined the faculty as the Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System. When both the medical school and the Neurological Institute of New York moved to Washington Heights as part of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in 1928/29, the director of the Neurological Institute became the chair of the Department of Neurology, combining the clinical and educational facets of the organizations. Also, until it was created as a separate department in 1949, neurological surgery was part of the Department of Neurology.
The Neurological Institute of New York, originally located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, was established in 1909 as the first specialty hospital in the United States devoted entirely to the study and treatment of disorders of the nervous system. In 1925 the Institute affiliated with Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University and became part of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, now known as the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The Neurological Institute merged with Presbyterian Hospital in 1943 but the Department of Neurology is still often known as the Neurological Institute, and both terms are used interchangeably.
Organization
Alphabetically by surname.
Records of those who did post-graduate internships and residencies at the Columbia University Department of Neurology/Neurological Institute of New York, 1929-1970. Contents vary over time but always include the application form, a portrait photograph, and letters of recommendation and often include evaluations done during the interview process and throughout the residency. Post-residency correspondence is sometimes found. The length of an internship/residency might be as short as six months or as long as three years depending on the time period and the neurological specialty the resident was pursuing. During this period and especially in the early part of it, the terms “internship” and “residency” were often used interchangeably.
Records of neurological surgery residents will also be found here until the creation of the separate department in 1949.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Unknown. Presumably transfer from the Dept. of Neurology before 1997.