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Scrapbooks, photographs, and miscellaneous correspondence and documents relating to the Neurological Institute of New York and the Department of Neurology at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, 1917-1983.
History and Biography
The Neurological Institute of New York was founded in 1909 as the first hospital and research center in the Western Hemisphere devoted solely to neurological disorders. It was originally located at 149-151 East 67th Street. In 1925, it affiliated with Presbyterian Hospital and in 1929 occupied its own building on the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center campus in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood.
In 1943, the Neurological Institute merged with Presbyterian Hospital, but retained its name. The Institute also serves as the department of neurology of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Organization
Arranged in two series:
I. Records
II. Photographs.
Scrapbooks, photographs, and miscellaneous correspondence and documents relating to the Neurological Institute of New York and the Department of Neurology at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, 1917-1983.
This appears to be an artificial collection created by Archives & Special Collection staff sometime before 1996. The largest part consists of a scrapbook dating from 1921-1930; it largely contains newspaper and magazine reviews of books by Dr. Joseph Collins (1866-1950), one of the founders of the Neurological Institute. Another scrapbook appears to have been created by Flora Jo Bergstrom, probably a nurse at the Institute in the early 1920s. It dates from 1921 to the late 1970s and contains newspaper clippings (largely about the NI), Christmas cards, some correspondence, and snapshots of Institute nurses and staff from the 1920s.
Other material includes miscellaneous publications of the Institute, mostly fundraising appeals; photocopies of documents relating to the NI’s affiliation with the Medical Center in 1925; annual reports from the 1950s-1960s; a fiftieth anniversary program; and a tribute to Dr. Edwin Zabriskie on the occasion of his 80th birthday (1954) signed by members of the Institute staff.
The photographs are of the 4th International Congress of Neurological Surgery/9th International Congress of Neurology in 1969 and of 1970 symposium honoring Dr. H. Houston Merritt (Director of the NI/Chairman of the Dept. of Neurology, 1948-1967). There are also photos apparently produced for a short text entitled “First Aid to Spines” by Dr. Byron Stookey; they are undated but are probably from the 1930s.
| Box | Folder | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Series I: Records | ||
| 1 | 1 | Affiliation with CPMC: correspondence, documents [photocopies], 1925-1955 |
| 2 | Chairman’s reports, 1957-1966, 1968, 1970 [removed from Annual Report, CPMC] | |
| 3 | “Chronological Account” of the NI and histories, 1917-1966 | |
| 4 | Collins, Joseph: Scrapbook, 1923 1930 [Folder 1 of 2] | |
| 5 | Collins, Joseph: Scrapbook, 1923-1930 [Folder 2 of 2] | |
| 6 | 50th Anniversary Celebration: program, article, guest list, 1959 | |
| 7 | Miscellaneous material: correspondence, ephemera, etc., c.1920s-1970s & undated | |
| 8 | Publications, 1924-1983 | |
| 9 | Scrapbook [created by Flora Jo Bergstrom?], 1920s-1970s: includes photographs of NI staff | |
| 2 | 1 | Zabriskie, Edwin G.: tribute presented to him by the NI staff on the occasion of his 80th birthday, Oct. 1954 |
| Series II: Photographs | ||
| 2 | “First Aid to Spines”: also includes text | |
| 3 | Fourth International Congress of Neurological Surgery/9th International Congress of Neurology, 1969 | |
| 4 | Clinico Pathological Experimental Symposium in Honor of H. Houston Merritt, April 30, 1970 |
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Unknown. No accession records exist. The Collins scrapbook appears to have been donated by Flora Jo Bergstrom. From internal evidence, some items came directly from the Neurological Institute while others may have been added by archives staff.
Collection reprocessed and finding aid rewritten by Stephen Novak, Nov. 1999