The Albert S. Lyons Papers consist primarily of the professional records of Dr. Albert S. Lyons and of the ostomate self-help groups with which he was involved. The collection is organized into nine series. Series 1, Correspondence, contains personal and professional correspondence. Series 2, Writings, contains published and unpublished articles, lectures and reviews. Series 3, Professional Associations, contains the records of Dr. Lyons' involvement in numerous professional organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the American College of Gastroenterology, the Medical Society of the State of New York, the New York Surgical Society, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, and the Physicians' Wine Appreciation Society. Series 4, Project Files, contains files on research projects both within and outside the field of medicine, including several surgical and medical projects and a wide range of proposed books. Series 5, Oral History, contains records related to the study and practice of oral history and consists primarily of material from the Oral History Association's annual colloquia. Series 6, History of Medicine, contains records related to Dr. Lyons's work in medical history, including material related to the book Medicine: An Illustrated History and the records of Dr. Lyons's activities as a teacher of medical history at Mount Sinai. Series 7, Subject Files, contains subject files on a wide variety of topics, including material related to the creation of the Mount Sinai Archives and the records of Dr. Lyons's service at a number of New York City hospitals. Series 8, Ostomies & Ostomy Associations, consists of material related to ostomy patient self-help groups and to ostomies in general. It contains an extensive collection of material related to the United Ostomy Association, smaller files of material on local and regional ostomy groups, subject files, and collections of periodicals, vendor publications and miscellaneous literature. Finally, Series 9, Plaques, Slides and Oversized Material, contains oversized and artifactual material including diplomas, professional certificates, presentation slides and honorary plaques.

The Charlotte Friend collection provides an excellent view of the scientist as well as the non-research side of a researcher's career. These files document Dr. Friend's role as a professional involved with numerous organizations as a leader, committee member, and reviewer; as an administrator of her own lab, with the concomitant need to write and receive grants from outside funding; and, at a lessening degree as time went on, as a teacher. Dr. Friend's research efforts are harder to trace here. The natural source for this would be the research notebooks, but these are now lost, with only a few remaining in the Center for Experimental Cell Biology. In this collection, the Manuscripts Series has the finished product of this research, although this series ends in 1979. There is also the Meetings, Speeches and Notebooks Series, which shows somewhat the progress of her work. Scattered throughout the Correspondence and Alphabetical series are also fleeting references to her work. There is also a small set of glass lantern slides from 1956-1963 (Box 44) that show experimental mouse specimens and cells. These were contained in a slide box with the initials C.P.R. on the top. It seems likely that the box once belonged to Cornelius P. Rhoads, who served as Director of Memorial Hospital from 1940-1953 and was the founding Director of Sloan Kettering Institute, where he served until his death in 1959. Another facet of the collection is the insight it provides into the world of cancer research during an important era, an era which Dr. Friend herself helped propel. This was the time, starting in the 1950s, when scientists gradually turned to an acceptance of viruses as cancer causing agents in humans. The evolution of the field may be traced through the conference programs (Box 33-38), the journal articles that Dr. Friend reviewed (Box 2, Box 7-19), as well as through the correspondence and her own research. These papers also show the intimacy of the cancer research community itself, at least at the level at which Dr. Friend operated. These papers provide information on women's role in science. Dr. Friend in some ways held an unusual position. Her discovery of the Friend leukemia virus established her reputation very early in her career. Perhaps because of this, she felt that she herself was not held back by being a woman, with the exception of some wage discrimination. Still, she believed that science truly had been a man's world and that it would take conscious and steady efforts by women to change this. For her part, this involved nominating women to positions of authority in organizations; suggesting women speakers for programs; speaking out about women's issues; serving as a role model to young women from grade school to graduate school; and ultimately, by taking time from her own lab to serve in prominent positions in professional associations. The latter is reflected in the Alphabetical Series in files on the Harvey Society, the American Association for Cancer Research, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. Finally, the Charlotte Friend Papers give a great deal of insight into her as a person. She cared deeply about and was very involved with her family (Personal Series). She loved to travel, but always loved New York. She wrote letters to congressmen and mayors on issues she cared about, including support for Israel, cuts in research funding, the status of women, and abortion rights (Box 42, f.7). Her support staff loved her, and many times she functioned as a mother hen to the group. Still, she seemed to be the mentor to few graduate students, and colleagues did not remain many years in her lab. She was a complex woman whose intricacies are clearly displayed in this collection.

In this interview, Dr. Davidson discusses his career at Beth Israel Medical Center, including his time as a resident, his work as medical director of the Bernstein Institute, which administered Beth Israel’s pioneering methadone treatment program, and his service on the Medical Board. Other topics discussed include Beth Israel’s affiliation with the Hospital for Joint Diseases, a first responder program established after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and a capitation practice established with a New York City trade union. Individuals discussed in depth include: Leon Ginzburg, MD; Arthur Fishberg, MD; Robert Newman, MD, MPH; Samuel Hausman; Louis Venet, MD; Ray Trussell, MD; Harold Trigg, MD.