Thursday, April 2, 2020 SOCIAL ISOLATION ON THE ISLAND 1927

By admin

TODAY IS CENSUS 2020 DAY

(oops, it was yesterday) 

Thursday, April 2, 2020

15th in our FROM THE ARCHIVES series. 

Today is Census Day!!

Without census records the RIHS and other historic preservation, genealogical and archival organizations would have little biographical information to work with.

One person that I followed thru the census records was William Leszynsky, MD.

Dr. Leszynsky was a House physician at the Blackwells Island Lunatic Asylum .
At one point of his work on the island he was presented with a leather and brass engraved surgical instrument set. 

We tracked Dr. Leszynksy from census records.

In 1860 his mother Amelia was married to Henry and living in San Francisco
In the 1870  William, 13 years old  was one of 6 children of Henry and Amelia living in New York City
In 1880 William, 25  was a physician living in New York City (His address is listed as the B.I. Lunatic Asylum)
In 1900 William, 40 was married to Adele for 5 years and lived in Manhattan and listed as a physician.
In 1910 William 52 and Adele lived in Manhattan and listed as a physician.
In 1920 William, 62 and Adele were living in Manhattan listed as a Physician Neurology.
In 1930 Adele (listed as Belle) was living in Manhattan, with a housekeeper Mary Cronin

(The ages do not add up by the years indicated)

It his Wikipedia listing Leszynsky graduated from University Medical College in 1878.(now NYU) . He died March 3, 1923.
There are numerous papers listed on-line for him including one on “Coffee as a Beverage: It’s Deleterious Effects on the Nervous System.

EDITORIAL

Clutter seems to be growing these days. In the morning I stack up the materials I used the day before.

Some goes back in the shelf or folder. Other gets stacked higher and higher.  Maybe it is the incomplete situation we are in with an indefinite date. No one is coming to a Seder. We do not have to clean the house for Passover, Easter or Ramadan, all of which are approaching.

Many of us are living with kids, aunts, uncles, in-laws in our homes now.  Clutter is everywhere.   The dining room table is desk, an office, schoolroom, movie studio and maybe even a pizza box is propped on the stack of stuff,

Below is a photo one of our Schools of Nursing dormitory rooms  from the 1930’s.   Enjoy you tea.

Judith Berdy

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Dottie Jeffries