Manuscript Group 1113, Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary Records, 1880 – 1944
Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs
MG 1113
NEWARK CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY
Records, 1880-1944. 1.5 linear ft.
An effort to isolate treatment of the eye and ear was first made
by Dr. Charles John (Jacob) Kipp (1838-1911) in 1870 with the
start of a special eye and ear clinic at St. Michaels
Hospital, Newark, N.J. The Newark Charitable Eye and Ear
Infirmary was formally established on January 31, 1880 to treat,
free of charge, indigent persons suffering from diseases of
the eye and ear, in the Rankin mansion on High Street and
Springfield Avenue, by Dr. Kipp and a Board of Trustees: Robert
H. Ballantine of Ballantine Brewery; William Clark of the Clark
Thread Company; Frederick Frelinghuysen, and Dr. William Rankin.
A new location at
77 Central Avenue in Newark, was donated and built by Robert
Ballantine, from 1904-1908, as a memorial to Dr. Kipp, who played
a leading role in the Infirmary until his death in 1911. Dr.
Kipp, born in Hanover, Germany, came to the United States in 1854
and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at
Columbia University in 1861. He worked as a surgeon for the
United States Army until 1868. Wells P. Eagleton
(1865-1946), another prominent physician, who also graduated from
Columbia University (1888), was the first to complete an
internship and residency at the Infirmary, and remained with the
Infirmary until his death in 1946.
Records include
minutes, a patient register, an account book, a hand-written
memorial tribute to Dr. Kipp and pictures of the Central Avenue
building. Minutes of the Board of Trustees, 1880-1925,
contain the Certificate of Incorporation with a list
of founders; the constitution and by-laws; lists of contributors,
officers, members, attendees and medical staff; recommendations
to the committees; pathological, social service, financial,
building fund and other department reports; summary reports such
as the number of cases treated, kinds of surgical operations
performed, number of staff visits, number of patient visits and
length of stay; and remarks on the deaths of noted members.
The Register of
Patients, 1896-1897, pertains to the eye department of the
Infirmary, and provides patients name, account number,
address, citizenship, age, diagnosis, treatment and remarks.
Remarks include: cataracts, foreign body in cornea,
conjunctivitis, patients swimming habits in public bathing
places and repeated use of the same towel or handkerchief.
Collection also
includes photocopies of medical instruments which were
transferred to the museum collection at the time they were
donated to the society.
Gift of the Newark Charitable Eye and Ear
Infirmary, 1980. The collection was accessioned by
Archives
Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs as a result of the Newark Business and
Labor Records Survey. The actual transfer of the records was made
at the celebration of the Infirmarys centennial anniversary
on January 30, 1980.
MG
1113
NEWARK
CHARITABLE EYE & EAR INFIRMARY
Records,
1880-1944
CONTAINER
LIST
Box Folder
Title
Dates
1
1
Minutes of Meetings of the Board of Trustees 1880-1916
(Volume 1 of 2)
2
Minutes of Meetings of the Board of Trustees 1917-1925
(Volume 2 of 2)
3
Account Book
1901-1909
4
Newark Eye & Ear Infirmary 50th Anniversary:
Dr. Eagletons Address
Jan. 26, 1930
5
Memorial to Dr. Charles P. Kipp
1911
6
Photographs, new infirmary building, 1904
(2 items)
1905
7
Medical instruments, photocopies of:
(instruments were part of gift, but were
transferred to the museum at the time
of the donation)
2
Register of Patients
1896-1897
MG 1113
NEWARK EYE & EAR INFIRMARY
Records, 1880-1944. 1 linear ft.
CONTAINER LIST
Box Folder
Title
Dates
1
1
Minutes of Meetings of the Board of Trustees 1880-1916
(Volume 1 of 2)
2
Minutes of Meetings of the Board of Trustees 1917-1925
(Volume 2 of 2)
3
Account Book
1901-1909
4
Newark Eye & Ear Infirmary 50th Anniversary:
Dr. Eagletons Address, January 26th
1930
5
Memorial to Dr. Charles P. Kipp
1911
6
Photographs, new infirmary building, 1904
(2 items)
1905
7
Medical instruments, photocopies of:
(instruments are part of the gift, but have
been transferred to the museum at the time
of the donation)
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