URMC / Libraries / Edward G. Miner Library / Rare Books and Manuscripts / Archives and Manuscripts / Record Groups / Women's Hospital Association of Batavia - Batavia Hospital

Woman's Hospital Association of Batavia - Batavia Hospital

Historical Background

The establishment of the Batavia Hospital in 1902 is representative of a phenomenon that took place in many American communities during the last quarter of the 19th century and until the Great Depression. In 1875, for example, there were only eight general hospitals in New York State, all located in larger cities. By 1930, 107 communities in upstate New York had opened hospitals. By the turn of the 20th century, public opinion no longer regarded the hospital as a place where the poor sick were sent to die, or as a “pest house” for the isolation of those infected during outbreaks of epidemic disease. Dramatic successes in laboratory medicine and general surgery had won the confidence of the middle and upper classes, who came to regard the community hospital as a necessity and who shouldered most of the burden for the formation of these institutions. The community hospital thus became a reflection of the social, economic, and political life of the community, and the focus of civic spirit and charitable endeavor.

In 1900, the village of Batavia, N.Y. had a population of 9,200. Situated on the east-west main line of the New York Central Railroad, Batavia was home to several firms manufacturing agricultural equipment. It was a prosperous town with a managerial class, some of whose wives were among the 100 women who met on 20 April 1900 to form the Woman's Hospital Association of Batavia for the purpose of establishing a hospital in the community. On 28 July 1900, the Woman’s Hospital Association was incorporated with the State of New York. Its fifteen directors were charged with expanding membership, raising funds, selecting a site for the hospital, and developing plans for its design and construction.

In September 1900 a site was purchased on the northern boundary of the village. Successful fund raising allowed construction of the hospital to begin on 30 July 1901. The three-story wood frame and clapboard building was designed by the Batavia architect H.W. Homelius. It totaled 4,748 square feet, could accommodate fifteen patients, and had an operating room. There was no clinical laboratory, no pharmacy, no provision for x-ray equipment or for a morgue. The Hospital building did boast central heating, gas lighting, a telephone, and an elevator. The Batavia Hospital opened on 16 July 1902, staffed by four nurses, a janitor, and a housemaid. Its medical staff consisted of local physicians. As was common at the period, a Training School for Nurses was established within the Hospital (1907), attracting applicants from western New York, northern Pennsylvania, and southern Ontario. In 1907, a two-story contagious disease unit was built, and in 1908 a wing was added to the eastern end of the building that doubled bed capacity. This complex of buildings served the community until the construction of a new hospital building in the mid-1950s.

In 1944 the Woman’s Hospital Association of Batavia was reincorporated as the Genesee Memorial Hospital. The hospital currently operates as the United Memorial Medical Center. Those interested in the Hospital’s development to the Second World War and/or the community hospital movement at the turn of the 20th century will want to consult two articles by Batavia native Edward C. Atwater, M.D.: “Of grande dames, surgeons, and hospitals: Batavia, New York, 1900-1940,” J. hist. med. & allied sci., 1990, 45:416; and “Women, surgeons, and a worthy enterprise: the general hospital comes to Upper New York State,” in: The American general hospital. Ed. by D.E. Long & J. Golden. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1989, pp. 40-66.

Batavia Hospital

The Records

The records of the Woman’s Hospital Association of Batavia were presented to the Edward G. Miner Library in 1991 and were reprocessed in the spring of 2010. The collection consists of twelve boxes and nineteen ledgers occupying eighteen linear feet. The records in this collection may be divided into two categories: administrative and clinical.

Administrative Records: The annual reports, 1901-1925 (Box 1), the minutes of the Board of Directors, 1900-1950 (Boxes 2-4), and the financial reports, 1925-1943 (Box 6) provide a complete record of the issues facing the Association’s president, its board, and hospital staff from 1900 through 1950. There are no annual reports, Board minutes or financial reports dating after 1950. The only post-1950 administrative records in the collection are standing committee reports issued circa 1950-1964 (Box 5). The operation of the Training School for Nurses is recorded in the annual reports and Board minutes, as well as the school’s own monthly and annual reports compiled between 1909 and 1921 (Box 8). There is an extensive collection of correspondence from Training School applicants (Boxes 8-12) that provides invaluable data on the demographics of the young women who applied to this program between 1909 and 1921.

Clinical Records: The bulk of the clinical records in this collection span the years 1902-1949. There are ten ledgers of patient admission & discharge registers from July 1902 to September 1935, and four ledgers of surgical records for the years 1938-1949.

Batavia Hospital with new wing

Container List

Box One

Folder 1: Annual report (1901)
Folder 2: Annual report (1902)
Folder 3: Annual report (1903)
Folder 4: Annual report (1904)
Folder 5: Annual report (1905)
Folder 6: Annual report (1906)
Folder 7: Annual report (1908-09)
Folder 8: Annual report (1909-10)
Folder 9: Annual report (1910-11)
Folder 10: Annual report (1911-12 May)
Folder 11: Annual report (1911-12 Oct)
Folder 12: Annual report (1912-13)
Folder 13: Annual report (1913-14)
Folder 14: Annual report (1914-15)
Folder 15: Annual report (1915-16)
Folder 16: Annual report (1916-17)
Folder 17: Annual report (1917-18)
Folder 18: Annual report (1918-19)
Folder 19: Annual report (1919-20)
Folder 20: Annual report (1920-21)
Folder 21: Annual report (1921-22)
Folder 22: Annual report (1922-23)
Folder 23: Annual report (1923-24)
Folder 24: Annual report (1924-25)

Box Two

Folder 1: Board of Directors minutes (Aug 1900-Oct 1903)
Folder 2: Board of Directors minutes (Nov 1903-Apr 1911)
Folder 3: Board of Directors minutes (May 1911-Sep 1922)
Folder 4: Minutes of the annual meeting (Apr 1900-Jul 1944)
Folder 5: Specifications for contagious disease hospital building: H.W. Homlius, architect (Oct 12, 1900); & Specifications for construction of Batavia Hospital: H.W. Homelius, architect (May 20, 1901)

Box Three

Folder 1: Board of Directors: correspondence & reports (1926)
Folder 2: Board of Directors: correspondence & reports (1927)
Folder 3: Board of Directors: correspondence & reports (1928/29)
Folder 4: Board of Directors: correspondence & reports (1930/31)
Folder 5: Board of Directors: minutes (1929)
Folder 6: Board of Directors: minutes (1930)
Folder 7: Board of Directors: minutes (1931)
Folder 8: Board of Directors: minutes (1932)
Folder 9: Board of Directors: minutes (1933)
Folder 10: Board of Directors: minutes (1934)
Folder 11: Board of Directors: minutes (1935)
Folder 12: Board of Directors: minutes (1936)
Folder 13: Board of Directors: minutes (1937)
Folder 14: Board of Directors: minutes (1938)
Folder 15: Board of Directors: minutes (1939)
Folder 16: Board of Directors: minutes (1940)
Folder 17: Board of Directors: minutes (1941)
Folder 18: Board of Directors: minutes (1942)
Folder 19: Board of Directors: minutes (1943)
Folder 20: Board of Directors: minutes (1944)
Folder 21: Board of Directors: minutes (1945)

Box Four

Folder 1: Board of Directors: minutes (1946)
Folder 2: Board of Directors: minutes (1947)
Folder 3: Board of Directors: minutes (1948)
Folder 4: Board of Directors: minutes (1949)
Folder 5: Board of Directors: minutes (1950)
Folder 6: Board of Directors: correspondence (1940-45)
Folder 7: Board of Directors: correspondence (Jan 1946-Mar 1947)
Folder 8: Board of Directors: correspondence (Jan-Aug 1948)
Folder 9: Board of Directors: correspondence (Oct-Dec 1948)
Folder 10: Board of Directors: correspondence (Jan-Apr 1949)
Folder 11: Board of Directors: correspondence (May-Oct 1949)
Folder 12: Board of Directors: correspondence (Nov-Dec 1949)
Folder 13: Board of Directors: correspondence (1950)
Folder 14: Building program (1948-52)
Folder 15: Building program (1948-52)
Folder 16: Building program campaign (1951)

Box Five

Folder 1: Building program campaign (1951)
Folder 2: Building program campaign (1956)
Folder 3: Committees: Annual meeting committee (1961-64)
Folder 4: Committees: Auxiliary liaison committee (1952, 1959)
Folder 5: Committees: Fallout committee (1961-62)
Folder 6: Committees: Finance committee (1950-64)
Folder 7: Committees: House & grounds committee (1950-64)
Folder 8: Committees: Insurance committee (1957)
Folder 9: Committees: Interhospital liaison committee (1961-63)
Folder 10: Committees: Legal committee (1951, 1956, 1961-63)
Folder 11: Committees: Long-range planning committee (1956-57, 1960-63)
Folder 12: Committees: Long-term care & rehabilitation committee (1960-63)
Folder 13: Committees: Medical liaison committee (1950-59, 1964)
Folder 14: Committees: Membership committee (1950-56, 1960-63)
Folder 15: Committees: Nominating committee (1964)
Folder 16: Committees: Nurse training committee (1951-54)
Folder 17: Committees: Nursing home committee (1963-64)

Box Six

Folder 1: Committees: Personnel committee (1950-64)
Folder 2: Committees: Public relations committee (1950-52, 1956-60)
Folder 3: Dietician applications (1914-18)
Folder 4: Dietician applications (1914-18)
Folder 5: Dietician applications (1914-18)
Folder 6: Financial reports (Oct 1925-1926)
Folder 7: Financial reports (1927)
Folder 8: Financial reports (1928)
Folder 9: Financial reports (1929)
Folder 10: Financial reports (1930)
Folder 11: Financial reports (1931)
Folder 12: Financial reports (1932)
Folder 13: Financial reports (1933)
Folder 14: Financial reports (1934)
Folder 15: Financial reports (1935-36)
Folder 16: Financial reports (1937-38)
Folder 17: Financial reports (1939)
Folder 18: Financial reports (1940)
Folder 19: Financial reports (1941)
Folder 20: Financial reports (1942-43)

Box Seven

Folder 1: Genesee County. Board of Supervisors (1923-38)
Folder 2: Genesee County. Board of Supervisors (1939-43)
Folder 3: Inventory of Hospital property (1932)
Folder 4: Inventory of Hospital property (1933)
Folder 5: Martin, Mary Louise, “Hospital echoes” [poem] (1902)
Folder 6: Membership campaign (1928-29)
Folder 7: Name change: Woman’s Medical Association to Genesee Memorial Hospital (1944)
Folder 8: New York State. Board of Charities (1920-23)
Folder 9: New York State. Board of Charities (1924-29)
Folder 10: New York State. Dept. of Social Welfare (1930-39)
Folder 11: New York State. Dept. of Social Welfare (1940-44)
Folder 12: New York State. Dept. of Social Welfare (1945-49)
Folder 13: New York State. Dept. of Social Welfare (1950-53)
Folder 14: New York State. Dept. of Social Welfare (1954-55)
Folder 15: New York State. Dept. of Social Welfare (1956-59)
Folder 16: New York State. Dept. of Health (1964-68)
Folder 17: Nurse applications (1920-21)

Box Eight

Folder 1: Rourke, Anthony J.J., hospital consultant (Dec 1958)
Folder 2: Training School for Nurses: State registration & accreditation (1908)
Folder 3: Training School for Nurses: monthly reports (Oct 1920, Dec 1920-Sep 1921)
Folder 4: Training School for Nurses: Annual reports to New York State Dept. of Education (1909, 1910, 1912-17, 1919)
Folder 5: Training School for Nurses: New York State Dept. of Education – correspondence (1907-13)
Folder 6: Training School for Nurses: New York State Dept. of Education – correspondence (1914-16)
Folder 7: Training School for Nurses: miscellaneous

Box Nine

Folder 1: Training School applicants: “Alien pupil nurse” (1902)
Folder 2: Training School applicants: Allen, Mildred (1914)
Folder 3: Training School applicants: Anderson, Mary E. (1917)
Folder 4: Training School applicants: Ayers, Erma R. (1918)
Folder 5: Training School applicants: Baker, Elizabeth (1916, 1917)
Folder 6: Training School applicants: Baker, Ethel M. (1914)
Folder 7: Training School applicants: Baldwin, Anna (1914)
Folder 8: Training School applicants: Baldwin, Martha J. (1917)
Folder 9: Training School applicants: Balfour, Lelia K. (1914, 1916)
Folder 10: Training School applicants: Ball, Jessie N. (1913)
Folder 11: Training School applicants: Bannister, Edith B. (1914)
Folder 12: Training School applicants: Barber, Ala M. (1909)
Folder 13: Training School applicants: Bennett, Maude (1918)
Folder 14: Training School applicants: Billiar, Lillian (1909)
Folder 15: Training School applicants: Bowen, Edna J. (1916)
Folder 16: Training School applicants: Briggs, Etta (1911)
Folder 17: Training School applicants: Brooks, Helen (1910)
Folder 18: Training School applicants: Burroughs, Ruth E. (1914)
Folder 19: Training School applicants: Butler, Pearl (1915)
Folder 20: Training School applicants: Butterfield, Ethel F. (1912)
Folder 21: Training School applicants: Campbell, Katherine (1919)
Folder 22: Training School applicants: Chin, K. A. (1917)
Folder 23: Training School applicants: Chrispen, Alice M. (1915)
Folder 24: Training School applicants: Church, M. A. (1918)
Folder 25: Training School applicants: Coe, Edith (undated)
Folder 26: Training School applicants: Cofield, Agnes E. (1914)
Folder 27: Training School applicants: Comfort, Edna E. (1913, 1914)
Folder 28: Training School applicants: Connor, Elizabeth (1917)
Folder 29: Training School applicants: Cooper, Ida A. (1912)
Folder 30: Training School applicants: Cowan, Marjorie E. (1918)
Folder 31: Training School applicants: Croston, Susan (1919)
Folder 32: Training School applicants: Cummings, Rose (1915)
Folder 33: Training School applicants: Dettmer, Mable (undated)
Folder 34: Training School applicants: Elliott, Susan E. (1919)
Folder 35: Training School applicants: Fawdrey, A. L. (1916)
Folder 36: Training School applicants: Feasted, May (1914)
Folder 37: Training School applicants: Firman, Louise V. (1912)
Folder 38: Training School applicants: Fischer, F. (1916)
Folder 39: Training School applicants: Flavin, A. E. (1917)
Folder 40: Training School applicants: Fox, Carrie M. B. (1914)
Folder 41: Training School applicants: Fox, Marian L. (1919)

Box Ten

Folder 1: Training School applicants: Frans, M. (1916)
Folder 2: Training School applicants: Freeman, Ruth M. (1915)
Folder 3: Training School applicants: Gage, Helen M. (1914)
Folder 4: Training School applicants: Gardner, Mabel (1916)
Folder 5: Training School applicants: Gosselin, Ethel (1913)
Folder 6: Training School applicants: Hagerman, Martha (1917)
Folder 7: Training School applicants: Haines, Nellie (1914)
Folder 8: Training School applicants: Hamilton, Rachel (1914)
Folder 9: Training School applicants: Hammond, Amelia (1916)
Folder 10: Training School applicants: Harloff, Lillie F. A. (1914)
Folder 11: Training School applicants: Harrington, Reta (1912)
Folder 12: Training School applicants: Hay, Lillian E. (1920)
Folder 13: Training School applicants: Hazzard, Elzina (1918)
Folder 14: Training School applicants: Heibel, Irene M. (1912, 1914)
Folder 15: Training School applicants: Hertell, Ada V. (1917)
Folder 16: Training School applicants: Howard, Loretta M. (1915)
Folder 17: Training School applicants: Howe, Elizabeth R. (1921)
Folder 18: Training School applicants: Johnson, E. T. (1912, 1913)
Folder 19: Training School applicants: Johnson, Elsie (1914)
Folder 20: Training School applicants: Johnston, Pearl M. (1916)
Folder 21: Training School applicants: Kavanaugh, Anna (1916)
Folder 22: Training School applicants: Keith, Elizabeth (1914)
Folder 23: Training School applicants: Keleher, Louise (1914)
Folder 24: Training School applicants: Kenney, Mary A. (1910)
Folder 25: Training School applicants: Kief, Ruth H. (1913)
Folder 26: Training School applicants: Knoop. Bessie (1917)
Folder 27: Training School applicants: Kraatz, Ruth M. (1918)
Folder 28: Training School applicants: Lamphear, Ruth (1920)
Folder 29: Training School applicants: Lange, Amanda (1911)
Folder 30: Training School applicants: Latimer, Fannie M. (1911)
Folder 31: Training School applicants: Lawrence (or Lohrenz), Anna (1911)
Folder 32: Training School applicants: Lawrence, Katie M. (1915)
Folder 33: Training School applicants: Lawrence, Lauretta (1912)
Folder 34: Training School applicants: Lewis, Dora (1918)
Folder 35: Training School applicants: Lewis, Dorothy (1916)
Folder 36: Training School applicants: Livingstone, Kathleen R. (1915)

Box Eleven

Folder 1: Training School applicants: Luisler?, Emma B. (1910)
Folder 2: Training School applicants: McAuliffe, Clara (1919)
Folder 3: Training School applicants: McEl—(?), Mildred (1916)
Folder 4: Training School applicants: McClelland, Anna Mary Belle (1914)
Folder 5: Training School applicants: MacGlashan, Lena N. (1921)
Folder 6: Training School applicants: McKee, Merle A. (1912)
Folder 7: Training School applicants: Mackenzie, Anna C. (1916)
Folder 8: Training School applicants: McKenzie, Christine (1918)
Folder 9: Training School applicants: McNaughton, Jennie (1912)
Folder 10: Training School applicants: Mahr, Anna (1917)
Folder 11: Training School applicants: Mann, Matilda (1916, 1917)
Folder 12: Training School applicants: Martin, Bessie (1912)
Folder 13: Training School applicants: Mentzien, Charlotte (1910)
Folder 14: Training School applicants: Miller, Antoinette L. (1915)
Folder 15: Training School applicants: Miller, Florence (1917)
Folder 16: Training School applicants: Moorehead, Hazel H. (1915)
Folder 17: Training School applicants: Moran, Nellie (1912)
Folder 18: Training School applicants: Morewood, Susan (1915)
Folder 19: Training School applicants: Murray, Grace (1913)
Folder 20: Training School applicants: Naisbitt, Dorothy M. (1920)
Folder 21: Training School applicants: Nygren (or Nigren), Hedvig A. (1913)
Folder 22: Training School applicants: O’Brien, Mary C. (1914)
Folder 23: Training School applicants: O’Driscoll, Ilena (1919)
Folder 24: Training School applicants: Ott, Alice M. (1912)
Folder 25: Training School applicants: Passage, Ella May (1910)
Folder 26: Training School applicants: Pattison, Hattie E. (1917)
Folder 27: Training School applicants: Perrault, Minnie (1918)
Folder 28: Training School applicants: Pinkney, Ida (1917, 1918)
Folder 29: Training School applicants: Plummer, Annie M. (1914)
Folder 30: Training School applicants: Poole, Edith M. (1917)
Folder 31: Training School applicants: Porter, Mary (1917, 1918)
Folder 32: Training School applicants: Prentice, Jessie A. (1920)
Folder 33: Training School applicants: Pullyblank, Eva (1915, 1917)
Folder 34: Training School applicants: Redmond, Enna M. (1917)
Folder 35: Training School applicants: Reichenbach, Johanna (1911)

Box Twelve

Folder 1: Training School applicants: Rohde, Edith (1913)
Folder 2: Training School applicants: Rosenberger, Kathryn M. (1913)
Folder 3: Training School applicants: Rowley, Ernestine (1914)
Folder 4: Training School applicants: Savage, Ruthe (1914)
Folder 5: Training School applicants: Shroeder, Beatrice (1919)
Folder 6: Training School applicants: Sell, Minerva (1913)
Folder 7: Training School applicants: Sherk, Kathryn H. (1914)
Folder 8: Training School applicants: Shumway, Gertrude E. (1915)
Folder 9: Training School applicants: Smith, Florence B. (1915)
Folder 10: Training School applicants: Smith, Ida L. (1915)
Folder 11: Training School applicants: Smith, Isabel (1918)
Folder 12: Training School applicants: Smith, Margaret K. (1918)
Folder 13: Training School applicants: Snyder, Edna (1913)
Folder 14: Training School applicants: Snyder, Viola L. (1912)
Folder 15: Training School applicants: Southwick, Isabelle (1915)
Folder 16: Training School applicants: Squires, Ada (1917)
Folder 17: Training School applicants: Stanley, Nellie (1913, 1914)
Folder 18: Training School applicants: Starks, Noreen A. (1911)
Folder 19: Training School applicants: Stebbins, Agnes W. (1914)
Folder 20: Training School applicants: Stickles, Nellie (1919)
Folder 21: Training School applicants: Swanson, Nellie (1912)
Folder 22: Training School applicants: Talbot, Bessie (1918)
Folder 23: Training School applicants: Thompson, Myrtle (1916)
Folder 24: Training School applicants: Trank, Ruth (1916)
Folder 25: Training School applicants: Truesdell, Nellie (1914)
Folder 26: Training School applicants: Tumalty, Corinne E. (1920)
Folder 27: Training School applicants: Underwood, Bessie (1913)
Folder 28: Training School applicants: Urf, Vera M. (1914)
Folder 29: Training School applicants: Varn, Wilda H. (1920)
Folder 30: Training School applicants: Vyskocif (?), Helen Q. (1918)
Folder 31: Training School applicants: Walker, Margaret (1918)
Folder 32: Training School applicants: Wearne, Lillian (1911)
Folder 33: Training School applicants: Weiler, Amelia (1909)
Folder 34: Training School applicants: White, Irene (1916)
Folder 35: Training School applicants: Willoughby, Anna H. (1914)
Folder 36: Training School applicants: Wimmer, Verdi (1914)
Folder 37: Training School applicants: Wirish, Genevieve F. (1914)
Folder 38: Training School applicants: Wolcott, Daisy (1918, 1919)

Batavia Hospital

Admission & Discharge Records , 1902-1935

Ledger 1. Patient admission & discharge register (Jul 1902-Apr 1916) (appears to be recopied from previous registers for these years)
Ledger 2. Patient admission & discharge register (Sep 1905-Apr 1909)
Ledger 3. Patient admission & discharge register (May (1909-Jan 1913)
Ledger 4. Patient admission & discharge register (Jan 1913-Jul 1914)
Ledger 5. Patient admission & discharge register (Jul 1914-Oct 1919)
Ledger 6. Patient admission & discharge register (Jul 1922-Aug 1925)
Ledger 7. Patient admission & discharge register (Aug 1925-Mat 1928)
Ledger 8. Patient admission & discharge register (Apr 1928-Oct 1930)
Ledger 9. Patient admission & discharge register (Oct 1930-Oct 1933)
Ledger 10. Patient admission & discharge register (Oct 1933-Sep 1935)

Surgical Records , 1938-1949

Ledger 11. Surgery schedule (Sep 1938-Apr 1939)
Ledger 12. Abstracts of surgical records destroyed (Aug 1939-Oct 1944)
Ledger 13. Abstracts of surgical records destroyed (Oct 1944-Dec 1948)
Ledger 14. Abstracts of surgical records destroyed (Oct-Dec 1949)

Miscellaneous Business Records

Ledger 15. Endowment, maintenance & building ledger (Oct 1912-Oct 1919)
Ledger 16. Employee hourly records (Sep 1934-Oct 1937)
Ledger 17 Wages ledger (Jan-Dec 1946)
Ledger 18. Building fund: cash received & pledges (Nov 1944-Feb 1948)
Ledger 19. Building fund: campaign publicity [scrapbook] (Dec 1949-Apr 1950)