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Papers of Susan Dwight Bliss largely documenting her volunteer work with New York City hospitals.
History and Biography
Susan Dwight Bliss was the daughter of George T. Bliss (d. 1901), a prominent New York banker, and his wife Jeanette Dwight. She was a founding member of the social service executive board of St. Luke's Hospital and served for many years on the hospital's Auxiliary. Besides her work with St. Luke's, she was active in many other organizations concerned with the social and medical welfare of children and of psychiatric patients.
During the time covered by these papers, Bliss resided at 9 East 68th St. in New York City as well as in New Canaan, CT. She died on October 25, 1966.
Organization
Approximately one half of the material documents Bliss's work with the Hospital Visiting Committee of the New York State Charities Aid Association. This material contains personal observations of hospital visitors as well as minutes, meeting notices, reports, etc. relating primarily to Morrisania and Lincoln Hospitals in the Bronx. Of related interest are the papers of the Vaginitis Committee of the Charity Organization Society.
Other materials include class notes from a Red Cross nutrition course, World War II ephemera and wartime correspondence on functional swimming for nurses. Also present are materials concerning scientific convalescent care, social casework services, psychiatric hospital visitors, and appeals from hospital charities.
| Box | Folder | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Vaginitis Committee, 1926-27: minutes, reports, statistics, correspondence, re: gonorrheal vaginitis in children. |
| 2 | Morrisania Hospital, 1944-48: notes made on visits; minutes; visiting assignments; correspondence; clippings | |
| 3 | New York City Hospital Visiting Committee, Annual Reports & Instructions, 1941-56: reports, announcements, manuals, by-laws | |
| 4 | Lincoln Hospital, 1948-55: reports, correspondence | |
| 5 | Bronx Committee of New York City Hospital Visiting Committee, 1949-57: correspondence, reports, minutes, press release. | |
| 6 | St. Luke's Hospital, 1951-55, n.d.: psychiatric service questionnaire, bulletins, reports | |
| 7 | Chronic Illness, 1943,1949: reports, prospectus, clipping, program | |
| 8 | Appeals from Hospitals, 1939-54: correspondence, printed matter, including one for an incubator for a Nevada City hospital. | |
| 9 | Welfare Council of New York City, 1935-37: correspondence, reports re: community health fund, scientific convalescent care | |
| 10 | Family Counseling Center, 1936-37: correspondence, reports, handbill re: professional casework for the economically independent. | |
| 11 | Nutrition Course, Red Cross, Jan.-Feb., 1942: class notes, class handout, clippings. | |
| 12 | Red Cross Swimming, 1943-47: correspondence, memoranda, printed matter, clippings, nurses lists re: functional swimming for nurses. | |
| 2 | 1 | Red Cross: Blackout [wartime ephemera], 1941-42, n.d.: clippings, printed matter re: civilian physical and intellectual safety measures. Includes material from Consolidated Edison, Oxford University Press, and the Metropolitan Museum publication, "Emergency Protection of Works of Art in Private Houses." |
| 2 | Psychiatry/Therapy, 1937-54: correspondence, notes, clippings, printed matter, re: Travelers Aid psychiatric services, psychiatric volunteers, disturbed children, (cf. St. Luke's questionnaire) | |
| 3 | Notes (labor unrest, role of education), 1935-37: manuscript & typescript notes, correspondence. |
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Unknown. Archives & Special Collections has no information on the source of these papers.