Visiting Nurse Service of New York records | Archives and Special Collections

Abstract:

The records of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) contain extensive documentation of the oldest and largest public health nursing organization in the U.S. The records are a significant resource for the history of public health, nursing, medicine, women, and New York City. Included in the records are minutes and records of the Board of Directors and its committees; correspondence of the Executive Directors/Presidents; and records of fundraising, public relations, and human resources departments; printed material including a wide range of fundraising and informational brochures, reports, studies, and periodicals; scrapbooks; photographs; audiotapes; artifacts; and internal histories.

There is also a large amount of records from the VNSNY's pre-1944 predecessor organization, the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service, including minutes of its Board of Directors and its committees; correspondence of its Nursing Directors; biographical material on its staff; nursing case notes; reports and studies; and considerable printed material especially relating to fundraising and publicity.

There are over 17 cubic feet of photographs which document almost every aspect of the VNSNY's activities from its founding into the 1990s. It is probably one of the most important sources for visual documentation of public health and nursing in the U.S.

Creator:

Visiting Nurse Service of New York

Date [inclusive]:

1889-2007 (bulk 1893-1983)

Languages:

English, Spanish, French, Greek

Physical Description:

105 cubic feet (288 boxes, 20 flat boxes)

Collection:

- Personal Papers and Manuscripts

Access:

Records of the Board of Directors and its committees are closed for 50 years from date of creation. All other records, with the exception of published material intended for general public distribution, are closed for 25 years from date of creation. Researchers seeking to use restricted records may apply to the Visiting Nurse Service of New York for access.

Permission to publish images found in the records must be obtained from the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.

Access to records containing Protected Health Information (PHI) as defined by the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is allowed under the terms of Archives and Special Collections’ Access Policy for Records Containing Protected Health Information.

Cite as:

Visiting Nurse Service of New York Records, Archives & Special Collections, Columbia University Health Sciences Library.

Download VNSNY Records pdf finding aid

History and Biography

Historical/Biographical Note:

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), the oldest and largest such agency in the United States, has played an important role in the development of U.S. public health, nursing, social work, and home care.

The VNSNY traces its origins to the founding in 1893 of the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service by Lillian D. Wald and Mary Brewster, recent graduates of the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses. They had joined a settlement house, the College Settlement, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where they provided urgently needed nursing care to the inhabitants of the immigrant neighborhood – at the time one of the most densely-populated places on earth. Soon realizing that nursing care was the crucial element missing from the settlement house movement, in 1893 they enlisted the financial backing of Jacob Schiff and Mrs. Solomon Loeb to found the Nurses’ Settlement and to purchase their own tenement house at 265 Henry Street, which would become the internationally-celebrated “House on Henry Street.” The new organization was soon renamed the Henry Street Settlement and its nursing component the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service (HSVNS).

Though the Henry Street Settlement would come to offer a wide array of social, cultural, and vocational services, nursing remained at the core of its mission. The Henry Street Nurses not only offered nursing care to their clients, they also disseminated knowledge of nutrition, of family health supervision, and of basic practices of self-care and self-help, thus becoming pioneers in public health, as well as in nursing.

Growth was rapid. By 1907, the Henry Street Nurses had ten offices around New York City including one in the Bronx. It employed an average of 25 full-time nurses making 58,877 visits annually. In 1911, the Settlement accepted a contract from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to extend nursing care to its policy holders, marking the beginning of Henry Street’s industrial nursing service.

Paralleling this growth was a trend towards a more traditional corporate structure. Schiff and others on the Board of Directors took a more active role in operations, offering both financial support and advice to Wald. In 1917, Annie W. Goodrich was appointed the first separate Director of the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service (HSVNS), while Lillian D. Wald remained as Head Resident of Henry Street Settlement.

During this era, the Henry Street Visiting Nurses also made social service visits, provided examinations for Children’s Court, and increased industrial services by adding clients such as the American Red Cross and the National Cloak & Suit Company to their roster. Despite such growth, the HSVNS did not forsake its commitment to public health. When the terrible influenza/pneumonia epidemic nearly paralyzed New York City in 1918, the Visiting Nurses played a huge role in battling it, making 10,645 calls in October and November alone.

Marguerite A. Wales succeeded Goodrich as Director of the HSVNS in 1923. By this time, HSVNS had 18 offices including the newly-opened headquarters at 99 Park Avenue. The administrative staff had grown to 8 executives and 12 supervisors. HSVNS operated specialized clinics, baby welfare stations, first aid rooms, polio clinics, after-care influenza clinics, intensive maternity work, and a developing industrial service.

During Wales’s tenure the agency began to make full use of the country’s burgeoning advertising and public relations industry, producing service brochures, pamphlets, books, and other promotional materials and, in the process, creating an unparalleled photographic archives documenting its activities. The Board became more actively involved in business affairs as well as fundraising, daily operations, and policy-making. Celebrities such as Sara Delano Roosevelt, mother of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia contributed their time, effort, and money in support of the work of the Henry Street nurses.

In 1933, nursing and settlement functions began to diverge when Wald became Director Emeritus. Wales remained as Director of HSVNS while a second executive, Helen Hall, was appointed Head of the Henry Street Settlement. A struggle over whether nurses or administrators would have control over the nursing service within Henry Street Settlement ended with the resignation of Wales in 1936.

This controversy, however, did not retard the growth of HSVNS. Katharine A. Faville, who became nursing director in 1937, presided over significant advancements: the development of staff recruiting brochures; the expansion of co-operative programs; the addition of Fathers’ Classes; and training for public health nurses from overseas. Nursing staff salaries exceeded half a million dollars a year. In 1939, the HSVNS moved to new headquarters at 262 Madison Avenue.

By the conclusion of Faville’s tenure in 1942, 275 nurses were making half a million visits each year to well over 100,000 patients. Due to increased operations and a shortage of nurses caused by the country’s entry into World War II, HSVNS began to employ practical nurses. HSVNS nurses visited nursery schools and day care centers, servicemen’s dependents, and supervised health and safety at a number of defense plants.

The scale and scope of the nursing service within Henry Street Settlement convinced the Board of Trustees that Henry Street’s dual functions of social service and nursing care needed to be separated. In May 1944, nursing was incorporated into its own independent organization, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, while Henry Street Settlement continued to offer social programs at its Lower East Side headquarters.

Marian G. Randall became the first Executive Director of VNSNY. Under her direction, the new agency further increased its role in public health nursing. VNSNY was ready for the post-war baby boom, offering classes for mothers, fathers, and parents. Volunteer activities became increasingly important to the organization. In 1946, Board members organized and trained volunteers for a Speakers’ Bureau intended to garner contributions for the VNSNY while informing the public about its work. Volunteers also operated the Bargain Box, a thrift shop whose profits went to the support of VNSNY.

The post-war years also saw a significant change in the nation’s health problems. The communicable and infectious diseases and high childhood mortality that characterized the health challenges of the early 20th century U.S., declined substantially after mid-century with the introduction of antibiotics, the spread of health insurance, and the general rise in standards of living. Chronic and geriatric diseases began to replace acute illness as the major focus of VNSNY’s services.

Responding to these changing conditions, VNSNY introduced services and programs for chronically-ill patients living with afflictions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, tuberculosis, polio, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy. Patients and their families learned self-care from visiting nurses. As the agency added programs and services, it opened new administrative facilities to oversee operations. By 1957 there were seven district offices in Manhattan, five in the Bronx, and three in Queens.

During the 1960s and ‘70s, under Executive Directors Anna C. Fillmore (1959-1964) and Eva M. Reese (1964-1976), VNSNY programs expanded to include nursing research, mental health, and rehabilitation nursing. In 1960, the “Visiting Friends” program began, enabling visiting nurses to call on home-bound patients, predominantly the elderly. The agency established a Home Aide Program in 1962 with a grant for the U.S. Public Health Service. With the subsequent establishment of Medicare, Home Health Aides assumed a prominent role in VNSNY casework.

The agency was quick to utilize mass appeals as fundraising and promotional tools. Radio announcements and broadcast interviews of agency representatives began as early as the 1920s. By the 1960s, the VNSNY public relations department expanded the scope of its advertising, adapting its public service announcements for television.

VNSNY used new formats in other areas of its business. For example, in 1963, VNSNY produced Long Day’s Journey, a teaching film for nursing students, again with help from the U.S. Public Health Service. Other films made specifically as television public service announcements followed.

The Visiting Nurse Service also reached the community in other ways. It developed service brochures in several languages – Spanish, French and Greek – amplifying its message through special radio and television commercials. Such efforts had a discernible effect: by the mid-1960s, the organization’s combined nursing and home health aide services approached an annual income of almost $3 million.

By the 1980s, the VNSNY instituted a corporate structure with four subsidiaries: VNS Home Care, which provided acute and long-term care, maternal and pediatric care, hospice care, and prevention; Partners in Care, a for-profit subsidiary that integrated home health aide services with a patient’s needs; Family Care Services; and the National Center for Home Care Education and Research. Continued fiscal prudence was exemplified by a consolidation of management functions, with the agency reorganized into in fewer offices: two district centers each in Manhattan and the Bronx and three in Queens.

The 1980s also saw an increased emphasis on ancillary and/or support personnel. Such positions as administrative and business staff, patient services personnel, family nurse practitioners, consultants, various therapists, social workers, home health aides, escorts, and contract work staff played a growing role in casework. In addition, as New York City became one of the epicenters of the AIDS epidemic, the VNSNY became the largest home health care provider for AIDS patients in the country.

The VNSNY celebrated its centennial with an exhibition at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum highlighting the contributions the agency and its staff made to public health in the United States and to the lives of immigrants. That same year, the agency looked forward by establishing the Center for Home Care Policy & Research to increase knowledge about home and community-based care.

This historical note is based on material in the original finding aid created by the Winthrop Group in 1995; Ellen Paul Denker’s exhibition catalog, Healing at Home: Visiting Nurse Service of New York, 1893-1993 (New York, 1993); and material from the VNSNY website, http://www.vnsny.org/about-us/history/, accessed Jan. 27, 2010. It was edited by Stephen E. Novak in 2010.

Organization

Arrangement:

Organized in 15 series and numerous sub-series:

1. Corporate Documentation
2. Annual Reports
3. Presidents & Staff
4. Administrative Functions
5. Programs & Services
6. Affiliates & Subsidiaries
7. Volunteers
8. Henry Street Settlement
9. Visual Materials
10. Printed Material
11. Awards, Artifacts & Memorabilia
12. Histories & Chronologies
13. Legal Size Records
14. Scrapbooks
15. Oversize & Separated Material.

Scope and Content:

The records of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) contain extensive documentation of the oldest and largest public health nursing organization in the US. The records are a significant resource for the history of public health, nursing, medicine, women, and New York City.

The bulk of the records dates from the agency’s founding in 1893 as part of the Henry Street Settlement to the administration of Anne-Marie Thom as President (1976-1983) of the independent Visiting Nurse Services of New York, though some printed material extends to 2007. Included in the records are minutes and records of the Board of Directors and its committees; correspondence of the Executive Directors/Presidents; and records of fundraising, public relations, and human resources departments; printed material including a wide range of fundraising and informational brochures, reports, studies, and periodicals; scrapbooks; audiotapes; artifacts; and internal histories.

There is a large amount of records of the VNSNY’s pre-1944 predecessor organization, the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service, including minutes of its Board of Directors and its committees; correspondence of its Nursing Directors; biographical material on its staff; nursing case notes; reports and studies; and considerable printed material especially relating to fundraising and publicity.

Though the papers of the VNSNY’s co-founder, Lillian D. Wald, are held elsewhere, the records hold a significant number of her letters, early nursing case notes, and manuscripts of her two books, as well as considerable secondary biographical materials, and some photographs.

The photographic archives is large in extent (over 17 cubic feet and probably including thousands of items) and documents almost every aspect of the VNSNY’s activities almost from its founding into the 1990s. It is likely one of the most important sources for visual documentation of public health and nursing in the U.S.

Series 1: Corporate Documentation

Boxes 1-23

Sub-Series 1.1: Incorporation and Related Papers

Photocopies of change of name certificates; separation agreement from Henry Street Settlement; certificate of report of existence; certificate of change of purpose and powers; certificate of incorporation with amendments; by-laws.

Sub-Series 1.2: Board of Directors

Sub-Series 1.2.1: Board of Directors – Biographical Files

Files on past members of the Board containing profiles, news clippings and a few articles or speeches. For biographical files on VNSNY staff and nursing directors, see Record Series 3.1. For biographical information on Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service directors and staff, see Record Series 8.3.1. Arranged alphabetically.

Sub-Series 1.2.2: Board of Directors – Committees

Minutes of committee meetings and miscellaneous committee correspondence, 1944-1985. Included are records for the Audit Committee (1982-84); By-laws Committee (1956-82); Council for Volunteer Activities (1962-82); Development Committee (1964-84); Education Committee (1945-83); Employee Pension Advisory Committee (1981-83); Executive Committee (1944-83); Field Practice Committee (1944-83); Finance Committee (1945-84); Foundations Committee (1954-55); Hospice Advisory Committee (1983-85); House Committee (1944-75); Industrial Advisory Committee (1944-50); Medical Advisory Committee (1944-83); Negro Advisory Committee (1944-45); Nominating Committee (1946-83); Orthopedic Advisory Committee (1951-55); Personnel Committee (1944-83); Professional Advisory Committee (1973-83); Public Relations Committee (1974-76); Publicity Committee (1948-81); and Recruitment Committee (1951-53). Arranged chronologically, thereafter alphabetically.

Sub-Series 1.2.3: Board of Directors – General

Lists of people who served on the Board of Directors, 1944-1986, including “Who's Who” lists with brief profiles of Board members and a card file with information about the gift–giving of various Board members. Arranged chronologically.

Sub-Series 1.2.4: Board of Directors – Meetings

Minutes of the Board of Directors meetings, 1944-1976, as well as supporting documentation such as annual financial reports and correspondence from the VNSNY executive director.

Sub-Series 1.3: Organization Charts

Organization charts for the VNSNY for 1945, 1978, and 1982.

Series 2: Annual Reports

Boxes 24-27

An almost complete set of VNSNY annual reports, 1949-2007. There appear to have been no annual reports issued for 1944-1948 and the 1990 report is missing. For annual reports of the Henry Street Settlement see Record Sub-Series 8.7.5.

Series 3: Presidents and Staff

Boxes 28-94

Sub-Series 3.1: Biographical Files

Profiles, news clippings, and obituaries for executives, nurses and staff associated with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, 1944–1990. See Record Group 8.3.1 for biographical files of employees of the Henry Street Settlement.

Sub-Series 3.2: Committees – General

Minutes and reports of a few committees, 1965-1975: Special Meeting of Supervisors and Administrators, Field Nursing Staff Association, Management Committee, and Psychiatric Committee.

Sub-Series 3.3: Nursing Staff Association

Records of this committee of the VNSNY nursing staff, 1944-1974, including its constitution (1947, revised 1968), by-laws and amendments, minutes, reports for selected committees and annual reports (1944-1972). Arranged chronologically, thereafter alphabetically.

See Sub-Series 10.1 for The News Bulletin which contains information about Association activities and Record Sub-Series 8.3.2 for records of the Nursing Council and Staff Council, as the Nursing Staff Association was then known.

Sub-Series 3.4: Correspondence & Subject Files

Incoming and outgoing correspondence and some subject files of the Executive Directors of the VNSNY, 1944-1985. As might be expected, there is considerable internal correspondence with the Board of Directors and VNSNY Centers. However there is also extensive correspondence with city, state, and federal agencies; New York City hospitals; other charitable, medical, and welfare organizations (including Visiting Nurse Service branches across the U.S.); nursing organizations; and insurance companies. The records of the administrations of Marian G. Randall (1944-58) and Eva M. Reese (1964-76) are particularly rich and extensive. The records are arranged alphabetically by name of director:

Sub-Series 3.4.1: Anna Fillmore, 1958-1964

Sub-Series 3.4.2: Elsie I. Griffith, 1982-1985

Sub-Series 3.4.3: Marion G. Randall, 1944-1958

Sub-Series 3.4.4: Eva M. Reese, 1964-1976

Sub-Series 3.4.5: Anne-Marie Thom, 1976-1982

Sub-Series 3.5: Speeches and Writings

Speeches and articles written by executives and staff of VNSNY, 1944-1993. Of particular interest are a number of writings by the Executive Directors, beginning with Marian G. Randall and continuing through to Anne-Marie Thom. For speeches and writings by staff and executives prior to 1944, see Record Sub-Series 8.3.7. For speeches and writings by members of Board, see Record Sub-Series 1.2.1.

Series 4: Administrative Functions

Boxes 95-124

Sub-Series 4.1: Borough Administration

An incomplete run of directories of various district office staff listing title, address and phone number, 1975-1985.

Sub-Series 4.2: Business Development

An incomplete run of fee lists, service descriptions, and other informational material, 1952-1994.

Sub-Series 4.3: Development

Records documenting fundraising and special events.

Sub-Series 4.3.1: Administrative Files

Correspondence and other documents related to the administrative functioning of the Development Department, 1982-1984.

Sub-Series 4.3.2: Fundraising

Divided into reports and promotional brochures, 1944-1984; arranged chronologically in each section. The reports – of which there is a very incomplete set, 1950-1985 – give an overview of each year’s fundraising campaign. The brochures are extensive with practically every year between 1944 and 1992 represented.

Sub-Series 4.3.3: Special Events

Announcements, invitations and programs for annual and one-time fundraising events and benefits sponsored by the Development Department, 1950-1994. Some annual events documented here are the Belmont Balls, the St. Regis Dinner Dances, and the Corporate Awards Dinners. There are also records for the opening of the Japanese Pavilion at the World’s Fair (1964) and “Healing at Home,” the centennial exhibition held at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

Sub-Series 4.4: Finance & Investments

Cost analyses, service statistics, and financial reports, 1944-1979. There is also a report on VNSNY investments, 1993.

Sub-Series: 4.5 Human Resources & Labor

Sub-Series 4.5.1: General

Miscellaneous human resources material, including bulletins to supervisors, 1943-1970; the VNSNY group health plan, 1945; and a “values statement,” 1995.

Sub-Series 4.5.2: Handbooks & Manuals

Includes speakers’ handbooks; policy & procedure manuals; education manuals; personnel manuals; an industrial nurse’s manual; nursing guidebooks; and patient service manuals, 1944-1983. The handbooks and manuals were intended for use by staff and VNSNY representatives. Some of the manuals are incomplete. Arranged chronologically.

Sub-Series 4.5.3: Recruitment Materials

Brochures and other materials used to recruit nursing staff and other professionals for service with VNSNY, 1945-1985. Arranged chronologically.

Sub-Series 4.6: Legal/Government Affairs

Consists almost entirely of releases and permission forms, 1947-1983, granting VNSNY clearance to use photos or films featuring patients and nursing staff. Arranged chronologically.

Sub-Series 4.7: Operations

Includes statistical analyses of the business operations, and comparisons to the previous year, 1944-1978. There are also extensive records of time studies for selected staff members (staff nurses, supervisors, district directors, field staff, rehabilitation therapists, home health aides). Arranged chronologically. See Record Sub-Series 4.4 for similar information and
Record Sub-Series 8.7 for pre-1944 materials.

Sub-Series 4.8: Public Relations

Sub-Series 4.8.1: Administrative Records

Correspondence, memos and reports relating to VNSNY public relations and/or staff projects, 1947-1984. There are files on the making and marketing of films; correspondence with many area radio and television stations concerning the airing of the agency’s public service announcements (PSAs) and/or interviews with agency representatives; and reports on events such as the Lillian D. Wald Teas. For similar information prior to 1944, see Record Group 8. Arranged chronologically.

Sub-Series 4.8.2: Advertising

A very incomplete set of advertisements placed in various publications and locales by VNSNY, 1946-1978.

Sub-Series 4.8.3: Promotional Materials

Brochures, flyers and other items used to describe the programs and services of VNSNY, 1942-1991. These include brochures that advertised specific kinds of nursing care maternity, etc.); those that informed physicians of the services VNSNY offered; and service flyers that answered general questions the public might have about VNSNY. There are a number of brochures in Spanish, Greek, and French as well as in English.

Sub-Series 4.8.4: Press Releases

An incomplete run of press releases produced by the agency, 1944-1982. Among the topics covered are: staff changes; membership on the Board of Directors; fundraising drives; benefits, etc. See Record Sub-Series 8.6.3 for press releases issued before 1944.

Sub-Series 4.8.5: Public Service Brochures

Pamphlets and brochures on health topics produced by VNSNY for distribution to the public, 1948-1989. Arranged chronologically.

Sub-Series 4.8.6: Special Events

Announcements, invitations, and programs relating to special events organized by the public relations department, 1948-1994. Arranged chronologically.

Sub-Series 4.8.7: Quality Assurance Education

Reports, studies, and educational materials relating to techniques and procedures used by VNSNY nursing staff. These include: diabetic teaching; diabetic treatment (tolbutamide); parent education; treatment for hypertension; and protocols for family nurse practitioners, 1949-1974.

Sub-Series 4.8.8: Strategic Planning

Material relating to strategic planning for mental health services, 1944, and overall planning for the agency, 1981.

Series 5: Programs & Services

Boxes 125-126

Sub-Series 5.1: Adult Care/Industrial Nursing Service

Correspondence with companies; a directory of services; and general administrative records, 1947-1953.

Sub-Series 5.2: Hospice Care

Consists of one brochure, “Help for the Person in an Advanced Illness,” ca. 1993.

Sub-Series 5.3: Long-Term Home Health Care (LTHHC)

Consists of one brochure, “We Care for You At Home,” ca.1975.

Sub-Series 5.4: Managed Care & Pediatrics

Correspondence with VNSNY day-care centers, 1942-1951; Day-care staff instruction materials, 1951-1954; and records of parents classes, 1943-1962.

Sub-Series 5.5: Student Programs

Records of medical students who participated in VNSNY programs, 1948, 1951-1956.

Series 6: Affiliates & Subsidiaries

Box 127

Sub-Series 6.1: Family Care Services

Consists of two brochures: one on safety tips on home visits (“Employees’ Guide to Safety,” 1984) and another promoting “A Home Attendant Program” (1984).

Sub-Series 6.2: Partners in Care

Consists of three brochures relating to the program, two for patients and a third for staff dated 1984-84, 1988, and 1990.

Sub-Series 6.3: VNS Home Care

Promotional brochures for VNS Home Care services and programs, 1984-1994.

Sub-Series 6.4: Affiliates

An incomplete set of annual reports, 1958-1971, for three VNSNY affiliates: the Associated Visiting Nurses Services, Inc.; The Visiting Nurse Association of Brooklyn; and the Visiting Nurse Association of Staten Island.

Series 7: Volunteers

Boxes 128-129

Sub-Series 7.1: Administrative Files

A small and incomplete set of records on the operations of the VNSNY centers’ volunteer committees, 1948-1970.

Sub-Series 7.2: Committees – General Information

Reports, correspondence and memos from the volunteer committees at various centers (Douglaston, Forest Hills, Kips Bay, Flushing and Riverdale), 1948-1982.

Sub-Series 7.3: Committees – Meetings

Minutes, 1946-1962, 1982, of various groups operating under the umbrella of the center committees. Included are minutes for the speakers bureau, the special committee on volunteer activities; the volunteer opportunities committee; and from organizational committees for certain volunteer-run benefits such as the Christmas Fair and the St. Regis Dinner Dance.

Sub-Series 7.4: Events

Records pertaining to events sponsored by the centers' volunteer committees, 1948-1967, 1976-1978. Included are calendars of events (1955, 1961-1962) and scripts for fashion shows.

Sub-Series 7.5: Recruitment

Brochures used to promote volunteerism and volunteer projects, 1949-1967.

Sub-Series 7.6: Training

Records on a volunteer training seminar (1961) and the speakers training courses (1946, 1947, 1952–1955, 1957, 1963).

Series 8: Henry Street Settlement

Boxes 130-212

This series holds records both of the parent corporation, Henry Street Settlement, and of its nursing service, the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service (HSVNS), from the foundation of the Settlement in 1893 until 1944 when the nursing component was established as a separate organization, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. Since the focus of Henry Street was primarily on providing nursing service, all records are likely to have information on that subject.

Sub-Series 8.1: Corporate Documentation

Copies of the Henry Street Settlement's certificate of incorporation (1903) and amendments (1939), a certificate of change of purpose for the organization (1944), by-laws (1927-1939), and an organizational chart (1943).

Sub-Series 8.2: Board of Directors: Meetings & Committees

Minutes of both annual and regular meetings of the Board of Directors and of its committees. The meeting minutes, spanning from 1903 to 1944, appear to be complete and give a comprehensive overview of all of Henry Street’s activities.

The committee meetings are arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by title of committee. Included are minutes of the Appointment Service Committee (1940-42); Budget Committee (1937-43); Education Committee (1924-44); Executive Committee (1918); House Committee (1926-43); Industrial Nursing Committee (1944), Medical Advisory Committee (1927-44), Negro Advisory Committee (1942-43); Nursing Committee (1911-44); and Personnel Committee (1930-44). For much of this period the Nursing Committee functioned as the governing body for the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service, while the Board of Directors was primarily concerned with fundraising.

Sub-Series 8.3: Directors & Staff

Sub-Series 8.3.1: Biographical Files

Biographical articles, news clippings, and memorabilia relating to lives and careers of Nursing Directors and staff of HSVNS. There is copious material on Lillian D. Wald including many biographical sketches; obituaries; records relating to her memorial service in 1940 including a program, memorial statements, and a memorial scrapbook; and daily appointment calendars for 1911, 1914, and 1916. There are also pamphlets supporting her candidacy for New York University's Hall of Fame for Great Americans as well as a program from her induction ceremony. Arranged alphabetically.

Sub-Series 8.3.2: Nursing Staff Association

Records of this organization of HSVNS nurses, including correspondence, annual reports, by-laws, and committee minutes, 1923-1943. Arranged chronologically.

Sub-Series 8.3.3: Correspondence and Subject Files

Correspondence of HSVNS staff, 1893-1943. There are also fragments of records of several acting heads of nursing service, including Elizabeth J. Mackenzie (9/1936-7/1937?), Leah M. Blaisdell (9/1/1943-1/10/1944), and Elisabeth C. Phillips (1/1-5/31/1944). The records on other staff and Board members include Mabel Coleman, Paul Cravath, Naomi Deutsch, B.A. Tompkins, and Jane Hitchcock. Particularly important are the nursing notes written by Mary Brewster on two visits in July 1893. Numerous letters from Lillian D. Wald, 1925-1937, can be found in the Naomi Deutsch folders.

Sub-Series 8.3.4: Director’s Records - Katharine Faville

Records of Faville, who was Director of HSVNS, 1936-1944. The 34 boxes include correspondence on the HSVNS centers; funds; relations with governments and hospitals; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; many charitable, nursing, and social welfare organizations; Teachers College and other universities; and various Visiting Nurse Associations.

Sub-Series 8.3.5: Director’s Records - Wald, Lillian D.

Two boxes of Wald’s papers, 1889-1937, dating from her nursing school days into retirement. Included are several folders of Wald’s case notes from 1893 (Box 187: 6-8, 11-12); early letters to Jacob Schiff and Mrs. Solomon Loeb, 1894-1895; and selected correspondence with various staff members up to 1937. There is also considerable correspondence with editors and publishers relating to her books, The House on Henry Street (1915) and Windows on Henry Street (1934). The majority of Wald’s papers, however, are divided between the New York Public Library and Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Sub-Series 8.3.6: Director’s Records - Wales, Marguerite A.

One box of records dating 1926-1937 including correspondence with the Board of Directors and files on subjects such as birth control and mental health.

Sub-Series 8.3.7: Speeches and Writings

Speeches, articles, pamphlets and books written by various HSVNS staff and Directors. Of interest is a “book” written by Santa Carolina, HSVNS switchboard operator, relating many humorous incidents while she was on duty (“My 900 and 99 Foolish Questions...”); an article by Marguerite A. Wales on the use of statistics (“The Value of Measuring Rods in a Visiting Nurse Service”); the transcript of a radio interview with Theodora Sharrocks (“The Little Black Bag”); and Rebecca Schaatz’s writings on “The Rest”, the HSVNS convalescent home. This is almost certainly only a sampling of articles and talks produced by Henry Street staff in the first half century of its existence.

The three boxes of Wald material contain numerous speeches and articles on such topics as the relation of visiting nurses to public health; “Origin and Development of Visiting Nursing in the United States” (1901); child welfare (1911); nurses’ training (1914); and “Internationalism and the Settlement” (1915). Of particular importance are the manuscripts of her books, The House on Henry Street (1915) and Windows on Henry Street (1934).

Sub-Series 8.4: Centers

Includes lists and profiles of centers, center addresses and phone numbers, and other general information, 1907-1940. Centers included are: Bronx, Henry Street, Longacre, Queens and Stillman.

Sub-Series 8.5: Events

Programs of events held at Henry Street Settlement including the 20th anniversary pageant; 25th anniversary celebration; HSVNS Rally; 40th anniversary celebration; and a schedule of Mothers’ Clubs meetings (1943).

Sub-Series 8.6: Finance

Sub-Series 8.6.1: Accounting

Ledgers, 1904-1934, and one financial report, 1916.

Sub-Series 8.6.2: Fundraising

Fundraising brochures (including specific campaign brochures), grant applications, direct appeal letters, and fundraising reports, 1920-1943. The brochures are especially interesting because of the HSVNS statistics they include.

Sub-Series 8.6.3: Publicity & Press Releases

Advertising and promotional materials, 1917-1944, and press releases, 1917-1944.

Sub-Series 8.7: Nursing Service

Sub-Series 8.7.1: Case Files

Nursing case records, 1900-1945. There is no explanation how these records survived, out of the thousands of cases the HSNVS treated. Most are notes on a particular individual or family, though there is one folder describing services rendered to the entertainment profession from 1938 to 1943.

Sub-Series 8.7.2: Manuals, Procedures & Forms

Manuals, handbooks, procedures, and forms used in training and educating field nurses for the HSVNS, 1914-1942. Included are bulletins of information for classes, records manuals, procedures for case management (conference outlines, outlines for case studies, dismissed cases, using case records), and instructions and advice for parents.

Sub-Series 8.7.3: General Care/Field Practices

Reports, memos, and policies relating to nursing care in the field, 1893-1942. The records are arranged alphabetically by topic: communicable diseases, health supervision, maternity care, miscellaneous, and post-operative cases. Perhaps the most important material here relates to the 1918 influenza epidemic including a memo, “Important Points in Nursing Influenza Cases,” and a daily log of cases seen by Henry Street nurses, Oct. 21-Nov. 8, 1918.

Sub-Series 8.7.4: Personnel

Personnel records, 1893-1943, including a ledger page indicating Lillian D. Wald's salary (1893); a nurses’ visit book (1903); a time book (1904-1914); an evaluation/rating scale (1937); and staff performance reviews (nurses’ record book, 1906- 1910). Also included are “Bulletins to Supervisors,” 1932-1944. Written by the Nursing Directors to supervisors, the Bulletins touch on many subjects including the Lillian D. Wald memorial service (11/1940); the Committee on Grooming’s recommendations (8/1941); and supplementary reading for Family Health supervision conferences (7/1943).

Sub-Series 8.7.5: Annual Reports

An incomplete set of annual reports, 1920-1941. It also includes reports for the Bronx branch (1938, 1941).

Sub-Series 8.7.6: Periodical Publications

Includes sets of the Henry Street Nurse (1920-1924), Henry Street News Bulletin (1935-1937), and the News Bulletin (1937-1944), as well as a few other miscellaneous publications.

Sub-Series 8.7.7: Statistics

Statistical analyses of HSVNS service and clinical operations, 1907-1944. Topics include the 1918 influenza epidemic; length of service; work and costs in Queens (1936); and an incomplete set of annual service statistics.

Sub-Series 8.7.8: Studies and Reports

Studies by the HSVNS staff based on statistics gathered from its cases, 1911-1943. These fall into two kinds of reports: those relating to patients, cases, and services, and those concerning staff. The staff reports are mostly time studies while the patient-related studies are quite varied.

Series 9: Visual Materials

Boxes 213-265

The Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service made early and widespread use of photography as a fundraising and informational tool, a strategy that was continued after 1944 by its successor, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. The result is one of the largest and most comprehensive photographic archives documenting nursing and health care in the US, including thousands of items dating from 1893 to 1994.

The photos are organized by subject. The largest sub-series is 9.2.5, “Nurses,” in Boxes 223-231. These are further sub-divided into such categories as “Activities,” “Group Portraits,” “With Patients,” etc. Other extensive sub-series are 9.2.12, “Services” (Boxes 240-244), and 9.2.13, “Subjects” (Boxes 245-250). Researchers should be aware that images can contain multiple subjects; they should be prepared to search across sub-series to find documentation on a single topic.

Legal-sized photos from all sub-series are housed in sub-series of its own (9.2.18). Larger, oversized photos can be found in Records Sub-Series 15.2.

Sub-Series 9.1: Artwork & Posters

Sub-Series 9.2: Photographs

Sub-Series 9.2.1: Photos of Artifacts

Sub-Series 9.2.2: Photos of Artwork

Sub-Series 9.2.3: Photos of Members, Board of Directors

Sub-Series 9.2.4: Photos of Events

Sub-Series 9.2.5: Photos of Nurses

Sub-Series 9.2.6: Photos of Offices

Sub-Series 9.2.7: Photos of Administrative Staff

Sub-Series 9.2.8: Photos of Celebrities/Well-Known People

Sub-Series 9.2.9: Photos of Home Health Aides

Sub-Series 9.2.10: Photos of Groups

Sub-Series 9.2.11: Photos on Masonite

Sub-Series 9.2.12: Photos of Services

Sub-Series 9.2.13: Photos of Subjects

Sub-Series 9.2.14: Photos of Training

Sub-Series 9.2.15: Photos of Uniforms

Sub-Series 9.2.16: Photos of Volunteers

Sub-Series 9.2.17: Transparencies

Sub-Series 9.2.18: Legal Size Photos

Sub-Series 9.2.19: Contact Prints

Series 10: Printed Material

Boxes 264-275

Sub-Series 10.1: Periodic Publications

An incomplete set of VNSNY publications, mostly employee newsletters (Happenings, VNS People, In the News, etc.). Two publications related to activities of volunteers are: Volunteer News (1947-61) and VNS Volunteer (1985). A few publications, such as FrontLine Focus, (1991- ) published by the Development Department, target potential contributors and are aimed at a broader audience.

Sub-Series 10.2: Non-Periodic Publications

Items published by the agency, frequently of an historical nature, although not specifically histories. These include “A Dutchman’s Farm,” relating to Henry Street Settlement; “Historical Background,” highlighting the past achievements of the agency, especially Lillian D. Wald; “Memorandum in Support of the Candidacy of Lillian D. Wald of Henry Street for Admission to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans;” and Healing at Home: Visiting Nurse Service of New York, the catalog for the centennial exhibition opening (1993).

Sub-Series 10.3: Articles and News Clippings

Articles and news clippings about the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, and its antecedent, the Henry Street Settlement, 1909-1983. There is information about agency activities (such as fundraising campaigns and benefits), Directors and Board members, as well as articles on public health advocacy. See also Record Series 14: Scrapbooks.

Sub-Series 10.4: Reprints

Reprints of articles written by VNSNY staff members that originally appeared in Nursing Outlook and other professional journals, 1921-1985. Among the topics covered are: home care nursing in New York City, nutrition, and psychological considerations of nursing care for the aged.

Series 11: Awards, Artifact & Memorabilia

Boxes 276-281

Sub-Series 11.1: Awards and Artifacts

Includes awards received by the VNSNY, 1907-1976; nursing pins; and the corporate seal. Other awards can be found in Record Series 13: Legal Size Folders and Record Series 15: Oversize & Separated Materials.

Sub-Series 11.2: Calendars/Holiday Cards

An incomplete set of Christmas cards and calendars created by VNSNY as a promotional tool, 1936-1993.

Sub-Series 11.3 Memberships, Certificates & General Memorabilia

A variety of material often of an ephemeral nature, 1905-1994. Included are postcards, calling cards, membership certificates, and bookplates.

Series 12: Histories & Chronologies

Box 282

Historical reference works created internally by the VNSNY. Included are lists of Directors and Acting Directors; chronologies of radio and television broadcasts; and several brief histories.

Series 13: Legal Size Folders

Boxes 283-286

All non-photographic material from all records series that is too large to fit in standard letter size document boxes and too small to be stored in flat oversize boxes. When the records were processed by the Winthrop Group in the early 1990s, some legal size material was segregated at the end of its respective records series, as in the records of Directors Marion G. Randall (Sub-Series 3.4.3) and Anne-Marie Thom (Sub-series 3.4.5), while other records were placed in this separate series. The rationale for this is not known at this date (2010).

Series 14: Scrapbooks

Scrapbook Boxes 1-9

Newspaper and magazine articles, pamphlets, forms and flyers maintained in scrapbook form by the VNSNY, 1919-1948, 1972-1976. Similar material can be found in Records Sub-Series 10.3.

The 29 volumes, most of which are disbound, are housed in 9 boxes in roughly chronological order. Besides the volumes of standard newspaper clippings, there is a volume of publicity for the Queens fundraising campaign (1948), and 3 volumes of forms and internal VNSNY publications.

Series 15: Oversize and Separated Material

5 Flat Boxes and 3 document boxes

Oversize documents and photographs; audio-visual material, and three dimensional artifacts.

Sub-Series 15.1: Documents

Consists of newspaper and magazine clippings, advertising materials, a guest book,
financial statements, certificates, and other materials too large to be housed in legal size boxes.

Sub-Series 15.2: Photographs

Photographs too large to be housed in legal size boxes.

Sub-Series 15.3: Audio-Visual Materials

Largely sound recordings in a variety of formats, 1937-1993. Included are discs of the radio broadcast celebrating Wald’s 70th birthday in 1937; interviews with VNSNY staff; and a recording of the Wald memorial in Sept. 1940. The visual material are a videodisc of the 1993 centennial exhibition and a film strip version of the VNSNY film, They Are Not Alone, c. 1966.

Sub-Series 15.4: Artifacts

A VNSNY banner (no date) and a collection of dolls in nursing uniforms presumably used in exhibits.

Subject Headings and Related Records

Subjects:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

On deposit by the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, 2008.

Processing Notes:

Most of the records here were processed by archivists working for the Winthrop Group in the early 1990s. At that time a finding aid with a detailed series description and a database with information to the folder level were created. In anticipation of the records being removed to Columbia University, the Winthrop Group did further work on the records in Summer, 2008.

After the records were moved to Columbia’s Health Sciences Library in Fall, 2008, Archives & Special Collections staff discovered that it was impossible to recover the original database in its entirety. The boxes and folders were then numbered, some remaining materials (particularly the photographs and audiotapes) were organized, and for the first time a folder list for the records was created. Some records series were reordered and several sub-series were consolidated. A new finding aid, based on the original 1995 document, was written by Stephen E. Novak.

The original 1995 database exists in a truncated form and may be consulted at Archives & Special Collections. Researchers should be aware, however, that it is incomplete and its location information does not correspond to the new box and folder numbering scheme.