Open. Columbia does not hold the copyright to this material.
The papers are largely unpublished scientific papers given by Davis at professional conferences from 1964 to 1982. Topics include the provision of psychiatric health care in an inner-city setting; the place of psychoanalysis in the care of the mentally-ill; the effects of poverty and racial discrimination on mental health; and community psychiatry.
History and Biography
Elizabeth Bishop Davis was born April 26, 1920, the daughter of the Rev. Shelton Hale Bishop, an Episcopal clergyman who was Rector of St. Philip's Church in Harlem. She was graduated from Barnard College and received her M.D. from the College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, in 1949.
After an internship at Harlem Hospital, she had residencies at both the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. She received her psychoanalytic certificate from the latter institution in 1955.
In the early 1960s, New York City Commissioner of Hospitals Ray Trussell began forging relationships between municipal hospitals and private schools of medicine in hopes of improving care for the mostly indigent population of the city's hospital system. The College of Physicians & Surgeons (P&S) was paired with Harlem Hospital, a process that led Trussell to ask Davis to become Director of Harlem's newly-established Department of Psychiatry. Davis held the position from 1962 to 1978 and became an authority on providing psychiatric care in an inner-city setting. She also taught at P&S from 1957 on, becoming a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in 1971 and a Professor Emerita in 1978. She died February 1, 2010 in New York City.
Organization
The papers largely consist of unpublished papers given by Davis at professional conferences from 1964 to 1982. While the topics are varied, there is much relating to the provision of psychiatric health care in an inner-city setting; the place of psychoanalysis in the care of the mentally-ill; the effects of poverty and racial discrimination on mental health; and, community psychiatry.
Also included are two medical school papers; several reports from committees on which Davis served; a P&S faculty resolution relating to the Bakke case; and material concerning the revocation of a physician's license in which Davis was involved.
There is also a folder relating to the memorial service for Viola W. Bernard, a fellow psychiatrist who was a close friend and colleague of Davis.
| Box | Folder | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Medical School papers, 1949 & undated (for title list see below) |
| 2 | Papers presented but not published, 1964-1969 (for title list see below) | |
| 3 | Papers presented but not published, 1971-1982 & undated (for title list see below) | |
| 4 | Report of the Sub-Committee on Manpower of the New York City Regional Health Planning Committee: Addendum by Davis, September 1964 | |
| 5 | Report of the Task Force on Criteria for Admissions & Readmissions to Psychiatric Facilities, NY State Department of Mental Hygiene, June 30, 1975 [Davis was Chairman] | |
| 6 | Committee on Social Issues, Association for Psychoanalytic Medicine: Annual Report [1975] | |
| 7 | Shepard, Martin: correspondence and a newsclipping relating to the revocation of his medical license, Feb. 1977 | |
| 8 | Bakke v. Board of Regents of the University of California: Resolution of the Faculty of Medicine supporting Columbia University's participation in a Friend of the Court brief filed with the US Supreme Court relating to the case, November 1977 | |
| 9 | Bernard, Viola W.: correspondence; newsclippings; material relating to her Memorial Service, 1972, 1983, 1998 |
Title list
- Medical School Writings:
- "The Chemistry of Nervous Tissue: Resting and Active Metabolism"
- "Hormonal Aspects of Carcinogenesis" in Recent Advances in Cancer Research (Alpha Omega Alpha Symposium, May 11, 1949). Co-authored with Anne L. Davis, Lewis R. Elias, and Mary C. Morgan
- Papers Presented but Not Submitted For Publication
- "From Family Membership to Personal and Social Identity," presented to Symposium on the Negro Family, University of California, Berkeley, Nov. 6-8, 1964 (2 copies)
- "The Clinician's Role with Respect to Public Mental Health," presented at Annual Meeting, American Orthopsychiatric Association, 1965
- Untitled presentation to Columbia University Seminar on the Roles of the Health Professions dealing with the "Relation of the 'Death of God' to Health", Oct. 11, 1966 (includes synopsis of remarks by her co-participant, Robert Reeves
- "Some Problems in Implementing the Principle of Continuity of Care," presented at Staff Conference, Metropolitan and Harlem Hospitals, March 3, 1967
- "Can Psychiatry Help Reduce Racial Tensions?" Closed Circuit TV Program, APA, May 10, 1967
- Untitled position paper beginning "Self-image is the individual's perception of himself.," Kansas City? August 21, 1967
- "Mental Health Services for the Inner City," presented at NYDB APA Divisional Meeting, Nov. 17-18, 1967
- Response to paper entitled "Multipregnancies in Multiproblem Families: The Chronic Postpartum Reactions" by Joshua M. Perman: American Psychoanalytic Association Meeting, Boston, May 11, 1968
- "Psychoanalysts in Community Psychiatry," panel discussion with Sheldon Gaylin, Israel Zwerling and Viola B. Bernard at Scientific Meeting of the Association for Psychoanalytic Medicine, Jan. 7, 1969 [published in the Association Bulletin, v.9, #1 (Oct. 1969)
- "Implications for Outcome of Time-Limited Hospital Treatment" [co-authored with Hugh F. Butts and Trevor Lindo], presented at American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Bal Harbour, Florida, May 1969
- "The Department of Psychiatry and Community Control," presented at Northeast Professors of Psychiatry, Annual Meeting, April 14, 1971
- "Relations between the Provision of Health Services and Social Outcomes for the Disadvantaged," NMA, April 4, 1973 [abstract only]
- "Interactions between Community Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis in the Understanding of Ego Development," presented at American Psychoanalytic Association, Annual Meeting, Denver, May 3, 1974 [co-authored with Jules V. Coleman]
- Discussion of the Report of the Commission on the Relationship of Psychoanalysis to Current Changes in Medical Psychiatric Education: American Psychoanalytic Association, COPER Conference, Hot Springs, VA, September 1974
- "Applications of Psychoanalytic Concepts of Ego Development in the Organization of Community Psychiatry Services," presented, University of North Carolina, October 1974
- Untitled address presented at the Dept. of Social Service Inservice Seminar [Harlem Hospital?]: February 19, 1975
- Response by unidentified person to Davis's paper "On a Psychoanalytically-Oriented Approach to the Treatment of the Severely Mentally Ill"; also "Complications due to Differences between the Therapist and Patient", author unknown: both given at San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, November 2, 1975
- "Changing Priorities for Mental Health," presented at Mental Health Association of New York and Bronx Counties, Inc., Annual Award for Human Services Luncheon, May 26, 1976 (2 copies)
- "The Right to Treatment: Challenge or Threat?" presented at American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, May 1977
- Davis's response to "Medicaid: Gresham's Law at Work" by John W. Rosenberger and Robert Reich at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, May 1977 (copy of Rosenberger and Reich paper included)
- "Rights and Responsibilities for Aftercare," presented at American Psychiatric Association, Hospital & Community Psychiatry Service Meeting, San Francisco, October, 1977 (2 copies)
- "Clinical Vignettes: Relation of Stress to Symptom" (draft), October 1979 [no place or occasion given]
- "Psychiatry and Government," presented at NY County DB, APA, Committee of Residents' Program, November 14, 1979
- "Outcomes of Care Systems for Chronic Patients," presented American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, May 1982 (co-authored with Gladys Egri and Carol L.M. Caton). Note: this is the version published in the Journal of the National Medical Association, v. 76, no. 1, (1984) (2 copies)
- "Blacks as Psychiatrists: Psychiatrists as Blacks: Options for the Future," presented at Black Psychiatrists of America, Annual Transcultural Seminar Conference, November 12, 1982
- Untitled paper beginning "The long struggle of black Americans for full citizenship.": no place or date of presentation given
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Gift of Dr. Elizabeth Davis, 1999 (acc.#99.09.15)