Diplomas awarded to various individuals from various schools and universities, the bulk being Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degrees from the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Includes a small number of certificates for P&S (course attendance), diplomas from the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, School of Nursing, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and School of Public Health, along with other certificates awarded to P&S alumni.
History and Biography
King's College, chartered by George II in 1754, first established a medical school in 1767, the first in New York and second in the Thirteen Colonies. Two B.A. degrees were awarded at the first medical school commencement, held in 1769. The Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree was first awarded in 1770. After the American Revolution, King’s College re-opened as Columbia College (1784) and revived the medical school with Samuel Bard as Dean (1791). The College of the Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) was founded by charter from the New York State Board of Regents (1807). P&S forged a nominal affiliation with Columbia in 1860 but retained its independence until 1891 when it completely merged with the university.
The Columbia University School of Dentistry was established (1916), then merged with the College of Dental and Oral Surgery of New York (1923), changing the name to the School of Dental and Oral Surgery. It was renamed the College of Dental Medicine in 2006.
The College of Pharmacy of the City of New York (established 1829) entered into an affiliation agreement with Columbia in 1904. It was renamed the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1966. The college closed in 1976.
The DeLamar Institute of Public Health was established in 1922 and was renamed the School of Public Health (1945), the School of Public Health and Administrative Medicine (1945), and the Mailman School of Public Health (1998).
The School of Nursing was founded (1892) by the Presbyterian Hospital in the City of New York as the Training School for Nurses. The name was changed to the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing (circa 1904) and to the Columbia University-Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing after a partial affiliation with the university in 1937.
Organization
The collection consists of loose diplomas and certificates, arranged alphabetically by recipient name; and one bound volume containing diplomas.
Diplomas awarded to various individuals from various schools and universities, the bulk being Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degrees from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, printed and signed on paper or parchment. Includes a small number of certificates from P&S (course attendance) and frrom other institutions awarded to P&S alumni. There are only certificates, not degree-awarding diplomas, for nursing education. Recipients were awarded certificates for “course instruction and practice” from Presbyterian, Sloane, Bellevue, and New York Nursery and Child’s hospitals, in addition to Nurse Student Qualifying Certificates issued by the University of the State of New York in order to practice nursing in the State.
Six diplomas come from neither Columbia University nor its affiliates. Includes loose and 2 bound volumes. The larger volume (2 leaves, 138 pages, 39 leaves; 42 x 52 cm) contains class list clippings pasted to the page opposite each of the diplomas. The other volume (7 leaves; 45 x 48 cm) contains certificates solely for John Augustine Smith from his medical studies in London in 1804-1812. Newspaper clippings from 1872 appear on the last leaf. All other diplomas and certificates are unbound.