| Creator | Boston Dispensary |
| Title | Boston Dispensary records |
| Dates | 1871-1955 |
| Identification | CC 27 |
| Quantity | 0.5 linear feet (1 manuscript box) |
| Collection Abstract | The Boston Dispensary records document the history of the Boston Dispensary and its affiliations with various organizations. Included in the collection is a bound copy of a testimonial booklet to honor Miss Frances Stern, the founder of the Boston Dispensary Food Clinic. In addition, the Boston Dispensary records contain annual reports, copies of three studies, and an auditor's report. |
| Historical Abstract | The Boston Dispensary was founded in 1796 and provided medical relief to many people in the community including the poor. From the beginning many fine physicians received their training at the Boston Dispensary. In 1873 the Boston Dispensary established the 1st clinic for the treatment of syphilis and in 1899 the first lung clinic. In 1918 a Health Clinic was added so that patients who were not acutely ill might have periodic check-ups or physical examinations. |
| Language | Material in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Boston Dispensary Records, CC 27, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Transferred from the Simmons College School of Social Work Library, 1991
Accession number: 2000.019
Processed by Pat Perreault, April 2000
Supervised by Claire Goodwin
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Alyson Bowers, October, 2012
The Boston Dispensary, the third such institution in the country and the first in New England was founded September 11, 1796 on three principals: 1) The sick, without being pained on a separation from their families, may be attended and relieved in their own houses; 2) The sick, can, in this way, be assisted at a less expense to the public than in any hospital, and 3) Those who have seen better days may be comforted without being humiliated; and all the poor receive the benefits of a charity, the more refined as it is the more secret.
Under the by-laws, each lady or gentlemen who paid five dollars annually into the hands of the treasurer should be entitled to the privilege of having two patients at one time under the care of the Dispensary. Four patients at one time were allowed to those who paid $10.00, while a donation of $50.00 gave the donor the privilege of having two patients for life. The patient procured a card of recommendation from a subscriber, which he presented when seeking treatment.
The Boston Dispensary became incorporated in 1801 with the signing of the Act of Incorporation by then Governor, Caleb Strong. In 1837, the Visiting Doctors Association was formed. From the beginning many fine physicians received their training at the Boston Dispensary including Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Jackson, Asa Bullard, Gamaliel Bradford, Pliny Hayes, Edward Warren, Henry Bowditch, Benjamin D. Appleton, Daniel Slade, E. Whitley Blake, and Buckminster Brown.
In 1873 the Boston Dispensary established the 1st clinic for the treatment of syphilis and in 1899 the first lung clinic. In 1927 Dr. William A. Hinton perfected a diagnostic test for syphilis which bears his name. The South End Diet Kitchen was established near the Dispensary to furnish food to the needy. 1886 saw the formation of the Instructive District Nursing Association, which is now the Visiting Nurse Association.
The Dispensary employed the first social worker in 1908 and in the same year an agreement was reached with the Tyler Street Day Nursery. 1910 saw a medical teaching program initiated with Harvard and Tufts College Medical Schools, and the first evening Pay Clinic Service for the eye clinic was established in 1913 and eventually expanded to include all the major medical and surgical specialties.
In 1918 a Health Clinic was added so that patients who were not acutely ill might have periodic check-ups or physical examinations. The same year saw arrangements made with the Children’s Aid Association and later extended to the Church Home Society to examine and correct physical defects of wards of the two societies.
A Fact Finding Committee was appointed in 1926 to study material assets, to inquire into the quality of service rendered by the dispensary and to obtain opinions as to how the community might be served in the future. The committee recommended the use of hospital beds and permanent staff with efforts made to increase the service to patients above level of indigence.
Graduate and undergraduate educational programs with Tufts College Medical School were expanded in 1926 to include instruction in medical social service, nutrition, clinical pathology and public health nursing.
The New England Medical Center formed in 1929 with originating members the Boston Dispensary, Tufts College Medical and Dental Schools expanded so that by 1955 it included the Boston Floating Hospital, and the Pratt Diagnostic Clinic-New England Center Hospital.
In 1955 the Dispensary opened the first Rehabilitation Institute in Massachusetts and a children’s rehabilitation clinic, part of the rehabilitation program initiated during the polio epidemic.
All information taken from the Centennial Report of the Boston Dispensary, 1796-1897 and the Annual Report of 1955.
These records document the history of the Boston Dispensary and its affiliations with various organizations in the Boston area including the Boston Children’s Aid Society, Simmons College, Garland School of Homemaking, Dietetic Bureau of the League for Preventive Work, the New England Medical Center, South End Diet Kitchen, Instructive District Nursing Association, now the Visiting Nurse Association, Tyler Street Day Nursery, Harvard and Tufts Medical Schools, Church Home Society, the Boston Floating Hospital. Also included are names of the Administrators and Physicians affiliated with the Boston Dispensary from 1796-1897. Also included is a bound copy of a testimonial booklet to honor Miss Frances Stern, the founder of the Boston Dispensary Food Clinic.
In addition the Boston Dispensary records contain copies of three studies: "Den Forsta Dietkliniken Boston Dispensary" by Astrid von Heijne-Liljeblad (Social-medicinsk tidskrift, Sept. 1949) signed by author; "Efficiency Tests of Out-Patient Work" by Michael M. Davis, Jr. – Director of the Boston Dispensary, a reprint from the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. CIXVI, No. 25, pp. 915-921; June 20, 1912; "Study of the Food Stamp Plan" by Elizabeth Barden and Elizabeth Carlisle with various publications concerning food stamps.
Collection is arranged into four series:
Part of the School of Social Work Library Charities Collection.
The Annual Reports of the Boston Dispensary include the names of the Board of Managers, various committee members, the Acts of Incorporation and the by-laws. The reports also contain the names of physicians associated with the Dispensary over the years, Annual Reports from the Board of Managers and Treasurer, lists of receipts and expenditures, donations and names of annual subscribers.
A Centennial Report of the Boston Dispensary (1796-1897) is included within this series. This report contains a comprehensive history of the Boston Dispensary with numerous appendices.
Box 1
This series consists of a booklet in honor of Miss Frances Stern, the founder of the Boston Dispensary Food Clinic in 1918 and of two copies of the 1911 Annual Report for the Department of Social Service.
Box 1
This series contains three papers: "Den Forsta Dietkliniken Boston Dispensary" by Astrid von Heijne-Liljeblad (Social-medicinsk tidskrift, Sept. 1949) signed by author; "Efficiency Tests of Out-Patient Work" by Michael M. Davis, Jr. – Director of the Boston Dispensary, a reprint from the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. CIXVI, No. 25, pp. 915-921; June 20, 1912; "Study of the Food Stamp Plan" by Elizabeth Barden and Elizabeth Carlisle with various publications concerning food stamps.
Box 1
This series contains a list of missing Annual Reports for the Boston Dispensary as part of the Boston Social Agencies Collection RA982.B7 and also two copies of an Auditor’s Report dated December 31, 1938 for the George Robert White Fund, reprinted from the Boston Transcript dated July 20, 1939.
Box 1
