Celebrating 86 Years of a Medical Center

In October 1928—86 years ago this month—Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, a unique collaboration that started with the partnership of Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and Presbyterian Hospital, was dedicated.

An exhibition celebrating the expansion of the medical center is on display in the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library. The exhibition was created by Archives & Special Collections.

“Building for Education, Research and Patient Care: Nine Decades of Expansion at the Columbia University Medical Center” will be on display on Lower Level 2 of the Hammer Health Sciences Center until Dec. 12.

“Using vintage photographs and original documents from the Library’s Archives & Special Collections, the exhibit chronicles the development of the medical center from the first groundbreaking in 1925 through the expansion of the 1980s,” says Stephen E. Novak, head of  Archives & Special Collections, who curated the exhibit.

The exhibit features some of the medical center’s more notable structures: the original Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (1928–29), which included homes for Presbyterian Hospital, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Babies Hospital, the Neurological Institute, the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and the School of Nursing; Bard Hall (1931), the first medical school residence hall; Hammer Health Sciences Center (1976), housing the Health Sciences Library, classrooms and laboratories; and the Milstein Hospital Building (1988), the medical center’s primary patient care facility.

The exhibit is accessible to everyone holding valid Columbia University or NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital identification. Others can send email to hslarchives@columbia.edu to make arrangements to view it.

Related to the exhibit, the History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series will feature a public presentation by architectural historian Katherine L. Carroll, PhD, Oct. 9. Dr. Carroll’s lecture is titled “ ‘The Fortress on the Heights’: The Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in the Context of Early 20th Century U.S. Medical School Design.”

Dr. Carroll will describe the three major medical school types constructed in the first part of the 20th century and explain the significance within this movement of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. Beyond discussing building types and their plans, however, says Mr. Novak, Dr. Carroll argues that the buildings themselves helped to codify and promote specific ideas about modern medicine. “These spaces contributed to the formation of professional identities even before doctors and nurses entered the workforce.”

The lecture begins at 6 p.m. in Room 2 of the Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion, 1150 St. Nicholas Ave. at West 168th Street. A reception begins at 5:30.