New York City Public Health Collections

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This section of the website presents a single collection of objects from one donor: the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The collection documents the activities of the Health Department from the late-19th century through the mid-20th century. It includes a broad selection of equipment and tools used by the Department over several decades and for a variety of public health initiatives.

Municipal public health departments like New York’s rose to prominence during the Progressive era with strong support for the role of government in reform programs. The departments dealt directly with health issues affecting poor urban neighborhoods often composed of immigrant populations. Their activities in promoting health and hygiene were part of larger efforts to transmit American values and make American citizens of these newcomers.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Health Department had built an immensely influential and extensive public health infrastructure: it was major force in the development of health code standards, as well as health education for physicians, government, and the public.

The Department’s bacteriology laboratory became a recognized world leader in immunological research and vaccine and serum development. Further, the Department implemented innovative community-based welfare campaigns aimed at treating and preventing infectious disease.

Objects from this collection speak to many of the Department’s most important activities. In 1874, the Department responded to an outbreak of smallpox by organizing a team of staff to conduct vaccinations, and establishing a temporary vaccine laboratory to make and sell vaccine. By 1893, the Department expanded its laboratory and made it permanent. It was the first municipal laboratory in the U.S. That same year, bacteriologist William H. Park became director of the laboratory.

 

Ivory Points

A wooden box of ivory vaccinator points used for the type of mass vaccinations that had to be accomplished in a population center such as New York City.

By the mid-1890s, the Department had developed an educational program to assist in its fight against tuberculosis. The program provided instructional pamphlets, and the Department gave public lectures, using lantern slides to illustrate important points. The laboratory also began investigating tubercle bacilli in sputum, administering the vaccine against rabies, and providing examinations for malaria, typhoid fever, and gonorrhea.

Lantern Slide, 'Sleep with the Windows Open'
Slide, Tubercle Bacillus in Sputum

Lantern slides used in the Department’s educational programs and research activities: “Sleep with the Windows Open” and “Tubercle Bacillus in Sputum x 1250.”

In 1894, Dr. Anna Wessels Williams, in collaboration with Dr. Park, isolated a new strain of diphtheria that was used to create a much improved diphtheria antitoxin. The Department quickly became one of the country’s leading producers of diphtheria and other antitoxins. During the First World War, it produced vaccines and antitoxins for the military.

Supplies and tools from the NYC Bacteriology Laboratory

Supplies and tools from the Health Department’s bacteriology laboratory: Aniline Violet 43, a histological stain; large beaker (16” high), probably used for serum production; basket scale for weighing small animals in the laboratory; culture bottle of the kind used to produce vaccines and serums.

Dr. Williams also worked diagnosing and treating rabies infection. She developed a better and faster test for staining brain tissue. The test could quickly reveal the presence of Negri bodies – indicators of rabies infection.

Lantern slide, negri bodies

A lantern slide from the Department’s research and education materials. The slide’s label points to the presence of three small Negri bodies, which are indicators of rabies infection.

The Department led public health efforts to fight venereal disease. In 1912 it instituted a public education and testing program. A new laboratory was dedicated to test for syphilis and gonorrhea, and staff hung educational signs in public bathrooms and placed informative notices in newspapers.

V.D.R.L. Slide Test Antigen
Flocculation Antigen

“V.D.R.L. Slide Test Antigen” and “Flocculation Antigen” from the New York City laboratories, ca 1950s-1960s. The Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) slide test is used to screen for syphilis.

In 1914, Dr. Park devised the first vaccine against diphtheria. A specialist in ailments of the nose and throat, his treatment and research specialties are reflected in the contents of his surgical set: instruments used in the examination and treatment of the nose, throat, trachea, and larynx.

Tongue depressor
Nasal Snare

Tongue depressor (left) and tonsil and nasal snare (right) from the surgical set of Dr. William Park.

The Department was an early model for broad, multifaceted municipal engagement with community health and hygiene, and it performed many services beyond the laboratory’s infectious disease research, prevention, and treatment programs.

The Department devised food and drink sanitation standards and instituted permitting processes. It is renowned for its proactive testing and enforcement of sanitation standards for milk, including testing the city’s dairy cattle for bovine tuberculosis. It also set up stations where parents could acquire free milk and have their baby weighed and examined. The Department’s task force of trained nurses conducted home and school visits, providing health education and assessments, as well as treatment for both children and adults.

A microscope used by New York Health Department milk inspectors

A microscope used by New York Health Department milk inspectors tasked with the control of sickness spread via bacteria in milk.

Uniform used by members of the Department’s Public Health Nursing Corps
Bag used by members of the Department’s Public Health Nursing Corps

Uniform and Bag used by members of the Department’s Public Health Nursing Corps

Theobald Smith (1859-1934), an epidemiologist then working at the Bureau of Animal Industry, introduced this type of fermentation tube in 1893.Ref: Theobald Smith, “Fermentation Tube with Special Reference to Anaerobiosis and Gas Production among Bacteria,” Wilder Quarter Century
Description
Theobald Smith (1859-1934), an epidemiologist then working at the Bureau of Animal Industry, introduced this type of fermentation tube in 1893.
Ref: Theobald Smith, “Fermentation Tube with Special Reference to Anaerobiosis and Gas Production among Bacteria,” Wilder Quarter Century Book (Ithaca, N.Y., 1893): 187-233.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.077.1
accession number
2017.0184
catalog number
2017.0184.077.1
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Dr. G. Grubler & Co.
ID Number
2017.0184.001.38
catalog number
2017.0184.001.38
accession number
2017.0184
maker number
0213
The Falling Drop Densiometer was designed “for determining Blood Proteins and Specific Gravity of Body Fluids.” An inscription on this example reads “LAMOTTE CHEMICAL PRODUCTS CO / BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.”Ref: LaMotte ad in Science 91 (March 8, 1940): 4.Currently not on view
Description
The Falling Drop Densiometer was designed “for determining Blood Proteins and Specific Gravity of Body Fluids.” An inscription on this example reads “LAMOTTE CHEMICAL PRODUCTS CO / BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.”
Ref: LaMotte ad in Science 91 (March 8, 1940): 4.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1941
maker
LaMotte Chemical Products Company
ID Number
2017.0184.021.1
catalog number
2017.0184.021.1
accession number
2017.0184
Glass and metal syringe with a “GERMANY” inscription on the plunger. This resembles the “Rekordspritze” introduced in 1906 by the Berlin instrument maker, Dewitt & Herz.Currently not on view
Description
Glass and metal syringe with a “GERMANY” inscription on the plunger. This resembles the “Rekordspritze” introduced in 1906 by the Berlin instrument maker, Dewitt & Herz.
Location
Currently not on view
user
City of New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
ID Number
2017.0184.059
accession number
2017.0184
catalog number
2017.0184.059
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.001.06
catalog number
2017.0184.001.06
accession number
2017.0184
Josef Leiter, a leading surgical instrument maker in Vienna, Austria, designed this type of apparatus for applying heat or cold to parts of the body. This example came from the Surgical Set of Dr.
Description
Josef Leiter, a leading surgical instrument maker in Vienna, Austria, designed this type of apparatus for applying heat or cold to parts of the body. This example came from the Surgical Set of Dr. William Park of the City of New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Ref: Josef Leiter, “Device for Applying Heat or Cold to the Body,” U.S. Patent 341,584 (May 11, 1886).
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.002.57
catalog number
2017.0184.002.57
accession number
2017.0184
patent number
341,584
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.038
catalog number
2017.0184.038
accession number
2017.0184
The inscription on the paper scale reads “John Chatillon & Sons / New York / U.S.A.”Currently not on view
Description
The inscription on the paper scale reads “John Chatillon & Sons / New York / U.S.A.”
Location
Currently not on view
maker
John Chatillon and Sons
ID Number
2017.0184.010
catalog number
2017.0184.010
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
National Aniline and Chemical Company
ID Number
2017.0184.001.12
catalog number
2017.0184.001.12
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
user
City of New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
ID Number
2017.0184.003
catalog number
2017.0184.003
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.012
catalog number
2017.0184.012
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1906
maker
Lehn & Fink Products Corporation
ID Number
2017.0184.001.18
catalog number
2017.0184.001.18
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.014
catalog number
2017.0184.014
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.002.39
catalog number
2017.0184.002.39
accession number
2017.0184
Electric sterilizer with a “Boekel” inscription on the front. William Boekel (1825-1906) was a German mechanic who moved to the United States, and established William Boekel & Co. in Philadelphia in 1868.
Description
Electric sterilizer with a “Boekel” inscription on the front. William Boekel (1825-1906) was a German mechanic who moved to the United States, and established William Boekel & Co. in Philadelphia in 1868. Following his death in 1906, his nephew, Julius Boekel, took charge of the firm. The firm was incorporated in 1932, and now trades as Boekel Scientific.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
William Boekel & Co.
ID Number
2017.0184.051
accession number
2017.0184
catalog number
2017.0184.051
serial number
3280
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.002.04
catalog number
2017.0184.002.04
accession number
2017.0184
Downwards nasal saw with a “TIEMANN” inscription.Currently not on view
Description
Downwards nasal saw with a “TIEMANN” inscription.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Tiemann, George
ID Number
2017.0184.002.27
catalog number
2017.0184.002.27
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.002.30
catalog number
2017.0184.002.30
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.068
accession number
2017.0184
catalog number
2017.0184.068
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.002.50
catalog number
2017.0184.002.50
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.002.59
catalog number
2017.0184.002.59
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0184.002.60
catalog number
2017.0184.002.60
accession number
2017.0184
Straight nasal saw with an “E. B. MEYROWITZ” inscription.Currently not on view
Description
Straight nasal saw with an “E. B. MEYROWITZ” inscription.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
E. B. Meyrowitz, Inc.
ID Number
2017.0184.002.28
catalog number
2017.0184.002.28
accession number
2017.0184
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
user
City of New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
ID Number
2017.0184.055
accession number
2017.0184
catalog number
2017.0184.055

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