Nursery and Child's Hospital Records

Collection

Identifier: US-NNCORMA-RG09-SG001-001

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Scope and Contents

The records consist of the Board of Managers minutes, Medical Board minutes, Medical Board Executive Committee minutes, annual reports, adoption records, by-laws and constitution, printed rules for the staff and the Medical Board, materials on the country branch in Saten Island, and scrapbooks. See series description for more information.

Dates

1854-1911

Conditions Governing Access

Historical records in the Medical Center Archives are protected by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), internal policies requiring protection and confidential handling of PHI (protected health information), FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), or other institutional polices regarding internal or confidential records, and may require additional permissions prior to access. Some records in this collection are restricted and require additional permissions prior to access. View the container inventory for more information and visit the Medical Center Archives website for the most updated policies and procedures regarding access to historical materials containing restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

The copyright holder of this collection is NewYork-Presbyterian. Materials from this collection cannot be reproduced outside the guidelines of United States Fair Use (17 U.S.C., Section 107) without the advance permission of the Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine or the copyright holder. In the event that anything from the collection become a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine is required.

Historical records in the Medical Center Archives are protected by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and internal policies which require protection and confidential handling of all protected health information (PHI). Materials containing PHI, personally identifiable information (PII), and/or student information (protected under FERPA) have been restricted and require additional permissions prior to reproduction and use.

Please visit the Medical Center Archives website for the most updated policies and procedures regarding reproduction and use.

Biographical / Historical

The Nursery and Child’s Hospital opened in 1854 and was originally named the “Nursery for the Children of Poor Women.” The institution’s mission was to care for the children of wet-nurses and of parents who worked away from home during the day. The focus soon changed to the medical care of neglected and abandoned infants and pregnant patients who were unable to afford the cost of care. The institution was renamed to Nursery and Child’s Hospital in 1857 to reflect the change in mission. In 1859, the institution moved to Lexington Avenue and 51st Street. The hospital maintained a country branch for children in the Castleton Corners neighborhood of Staten Island from 1870 until 1905. The hospital was administered by women and for much of its history it employed women physicians.

The Nursery and Child's Hospital merged with the New York Infant Asylum in 1910, to form the New York Nursery and Child's Hospital, an institution that became part of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in 1934.

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Nursery and Child’s Hospital opened in 1854 and was originally named the Nursery for the Children of Poor Women. In 1910, it merged with the New York Infant Asylum to form New York Nursery and Child’s Hospital. The records include the Board of Managers minutes, the Medical Board minutes, annual reports, adoption records, constitution and by-laws, printed rules for staff and the Medical Board, materials on the country branch in Staten Island, and scrapbooks.

Arrangement

The records are arranged into three series: 1. Administrative Records, 2. Scrapbooks, and 3. Annual Reports.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Nursery and Child’s Hospital records were donated to the Medical Center Archives at an unknown date from an unknown source.

Existence and Location of Copies

The Nursery and Child’s Hospital annual reports were digitized in 2014 thanks to the Metropolitan New York Library Council and digital reproductions are available online through the Medical Center Archives.

Related Materials

Additional records of Nursery and Child’s Hospital are held by the library of The New York Historical.

RG09-SG002-001, Nursery and Child’s Hospital Patient Medical Records, 1859-1910 (Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY).

RG11-SG001-001, New York Nursery and Child’s Hospital Records, 1857-1965 (Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY).

New York City-Nursery and Child's Hospital Records, MS 443.20, The New-York Historical Society.

Processing Information

Preliminary processing was done circa 1970s or 1980s by unknown archives staff. Final processing was done by Stephen Novak in 2025. The finding aid was written by Stephen Novak and Chiyong (Tali) Han in 2026. A folder that contained requests for former patient information from the late 20th century was moved to the collection file folder.