A history of social work at Presbyterian Hospital and its affiliated institutions from the establishment of a visiting nurse service in 1904 through 1980.
History and Biography
Prichard became a member of the Department of Social Service at Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, in 1949 and was named its director in 1954. The next year she was appointed head of the newly consolidated department which included the previously separate social service components of Babies Hospital and the Neurological Institute. She held academic appointments at the Columbia University School of Social Work as well as at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. She retired in 1981. Elizabeth Prichard died Oct. 24, 2004 in New York City.
Organization
A history of social work at Presbyterian Hospital and affiliated institutions from the establishment in 1904 of a visiting nurse service up through 1980. Prichard's typewritten manuscript goes up through 1965; after that date the manuscript consists of annual reports of the Presbyterian Hospital Department of Social Service. Interspersed throughout the manuscript are pages from annual reports of Presbyterian and Babies Hospitals and of the Neurological Institute; memos and letters; and photographs.
Presbyterian was one of the first US hospitals to establish a social work dept. Directors of the department during this period were Janet Thornton (1924-1946), Mercedes Geyer (1947-1954), and Prichard (1954-1981).
During the period covered by this history, Presbyterian Hospital was located on Park Avenue and 70th Street before becoming, in 1928, part of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center at Broadway and West 168th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Gift of Elizabeth R. Prichard, 2002 (accession #2002.06.24).
Processed November, 2002, Stephen E. Novak.