Office of the Historian records

The Office of the Historian was created in 1937 in response to the needs of the Trustees' Committee on Endowments, which was itself formed in 1936. The primary duties of the Office were to compile a source book of historical facts for use in fund raising efforts and to write public relations pieces as needed. Sheldon Coons, a new Trustee at that time, was very involved with these events, and indeed, seems to have been brought on the Board specifically to advise on PR and fund raising matters. This relationship to the Committee allowed the Historian access to the Trustees, and the Historian reported directly to Dr. Turner, the Hospital Director.

As time went on, the duties of the Office changed. In 1942, Roman Slobodin was hired to handle the public relations efforts of the Hospital, heralding the establishment of Mount Sinai's first Publicity Office. (He was succeeded in 1944 by Edith Behrens. See the files of Public Affairs of that time period for more information.)

The Historian continued to work on providing background for the publicity efforts and also shared in the work of creating fund raising mailings. Also, the Historian handled the creation of several internal publications, such as the Private Pavilion booklet, the School of Nursing bulletin, the Trustee's Bulletin, and the Annual Report for 1941. (Later Reports were done by the Publicity Office.)

The concept of a source book of historical data grew into the hope for a full history of the Hospital from its founding to the present. Dr. Turner was especially encouraging of this idea. This work resulted in 1942 in the serial publication of the history to 1904 in the Mount Sinai Journal. In 1944, a compilation of this material, "The Story of the First Fifty Years", was published and distributed. The historical data gathering and publications were also used to help celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Hospital in 1942. The set piece for this celebration was a historical exhibit that was open to the public. The history was based on extensive reading and note taking in the primary sources of the Hospital: the minutes of the Trustees, Medical Board, Auxiliary, and the Directors of the School of Nursing, as well as annual reports and interviews with individuals connected with the Hospital in earlier years. Memorabilia and reminiscences were gathered for the Hospital's archives, and copies were made of relevant documents in other collections, especially those of the American Jewish Historical Society. Work on the History was halted in early 1944 due to the War.

In 1951, with the Centennial of the Hospital approaching, Joseph Hirsh was hired to write the history of Mount Sinai and to put the Hospital's archives in order. His work, "The First Hundred Years of the Mount Sinai Hospital", published in 1952, drew extensively on the notes and interviews conducted by the earlier historians. Hirsh stayed at least until 1953, when the historical files of the Hospital were again left to wait for another surge of historical interest.

Chronology:
2/1937 Florence Lemaire hired as Historian
4/1938 Jane Benedict hired
3/1940 Frances Ullman hired
4/1941 Elizabeth G. Herzog hired
10/1942 Louise B. Silverman, until c3/1944.
3/1951 Joseph Hirsh begins, until 1953.