Wednesday, February 7, 2024 – ISLAND HISTORY ON EXHIBIT IN WESTCHESTER
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2024
ISSUE # 1177
VISITING THE
METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL
HISTORY AT
NEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE
NICHOLAS WEBB, ARCHIVIST
JUDITH BERDY
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the archives at New York Medical College. (NYMC) NYMC has had a long affilitation with the Homeopathic Hospital on Wards’s Island which later relocated to Blackwell’s Island was re-named Metropolitan Hospital. It was located to the site of the former lunatic asylum, opening in 1895. The Met was on the island until1955, when it relocated to East 97th Street, where it remains today.
The archives were mostly collected by Dr. Jay Tartell who has had an interest and extensive collection of materials from the 1700’s on. Dr. Tartell has donated much of his collection to the NYMC and recently hung art and there are display cases of his collections. His collections include medical instruments history and William Cullen Bryant,
The archives include yearbooks and annuals from Metropolitan Hospital School of Nursing, which were held at the hospital until the library closed. Luckily some of the collection was preserved but much I assume was discarded.
This is the original check to pay James Blackwell for the purchase of the Island by the City of New York for $13,900- in 1828. This was half the payment.
The hallway and halls are full of historic artifacts and memorabilia from the many collections.
Nic Webb stand in front a a wonderful display of Metropolitan Hospital images just installed in one of the study rooms, (no libraries, just cubicles for laptops is the look of modern medical schools)
New York Medical College Proudly Displays Donated Portrait of William Cullen Bryant
Historical Portrait of NYMC Founder and Longtime President of the Board of Trustees Adorns Medical Education Center
New York Medical College (NYMC) co-founder and revolutionary, William Cullen Bryant, is back at the College–in oil painting form. The portrait of the long, gray-bearded founding father is hung prominently in the Blanche and Albert Willner, M.D. ’43 Atrium and Lobby in the Medical Education Center, where hundreds of students pass each day and can now be inspired by the man who laid the College’s foundation. Jay D. Tartell, M.D. ‘82, gifted the College “Portrait of William Cullen Bryant,” which was painted by Ferdinand Danton Sr., in 1877.
“William Cullen Bryant’s often forgotten contributions to the ascent of America and the vitality of New York need to be understood and remembered today,” said Dr. Tartell in a statement. “Bryant’s role in the founding of NYMC is of obvious interest to the College community. But his role as a ‘Renaissance Man,’ advancing our country on multiple fronts – including science, art, politics, literature, world awareness and moral principles – can serve as an even greater inspiration to our students.”
The archives at at the NYMC campus in Valhalla, NY., adjoining the Westchester County Medical Center. NYMC is now part of Truro College and has a long history of being part of Grasslands Hospital and Flower Fifth Hospital.
Nicolas Webb has just acquired a medical instrument collection that he is busy researching and cataloging . The work of an archivist never ends. Thanks for a great visit to see our history.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
ED LITCHER AND GLORIA GOT IT RIGHT
(SEE ABOVE)
CREDIT
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
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THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
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