Nov 19, 2015
November 18th is World Toilet Day, a phrase that seems strange – and funny! – to the ears. So, first some fun. Below are images of the fancy new bathroom, including a toilet, that Mount Sinai Hospital offered to the well-to-do paying patients in the new Private Pavilion that opened in 1921. It does not look like much today, but it had all the pieces and could be kept ‘sanitary,’ which was an important goal.
Which leads to the unfunny part about World Toilet Day. It exists for a reason. As the website for World Toilet Day notes: “Of the world’s seven billion people, 2.4 billion people do not have improved sanitation. 1 billion people still defecate in the open. Poor sanitation increases the risk of disease and malnutrition, especially for women and children.” (http://www.worldtoiletday.info/about)
Think about it, and go to the website to learn more.
For more on the Archives or the history of Mount Sinai, contact us at msarchives@mssm.edu
Nov 10, 2015
The Class of 1905, where the first Nancy was a student.
This week I spent some time looking for an early graduate of The Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing. An email about the alumna, Nancy Morris, said she graduated from the School in the late 1890s. As I scanned the class lists trying to find the exact year of her graduation, I found many names that seem distinctly old-fashioned, but no simple Nancys. There was a Josepha, many Adas and Idas, an Alphasine, a few Mauds and Daisys, a Mehitable, an Igogereth, quite a few Minnies and Mabels, a Mynolia, and some Florences. It was 1905 – 24 years into the School’s history – before I found the first Nancy, and they were few and far between for quite some time after this.
Just as an FYI, the most common name in our School of Nursing up until 1910 was Mary. This did not even make the top 50 girls’ names in 2013, according to Parents magazine.
Oct 22, 2015
The Mount Sinai Archives has recently installed a new exhibit in the display cases in the Annenberg North lobby that celebrates the centennial of the birth of Irving J. Selikoff, MD, a Mount Sinai physician who was a pioneer in occupational and environmental medicine. The display was created as part of the Department of Preventive Medicine’s recent celebration of the centennial of his birth. Irving J. Selikoff was a physician and researcher who made landmark contributions to the treatment of tuberculosis, engaged in seminal research on asbestos associated illness, and crusaded for the adoption of laws to make workers safe.
As a researcher, many of his efforts were aimed at documenting the link between asbestos and various cancers, but as a specialist in lung disease, other topics of interest included tuberculosis and later AIDS. As an advocate, Selikoff’s research and testimony helped lay the foundation for the establishment of the 1970s Occupational Safety and Health Act, Worker’s Compensation reforms, and the 1989 Environmental Protection Agency limitations on asbestos use, and inspired investigation into the ill effects of other commonplace environmental and industrial hazards. As a physician, the clinical programs that Dr. Selikoff established have cared for thousands of workers and their families impacted by occupational diseases. The Selikoff Centers for Occupational Health, since named in his honor, continue to grow and treat patients in need. As an educator, the medical students, residents and fellows he trained have spread knowledge of and interest in the field of Occupational Medicine around the world.
Irving J. Selikoff, MD, an advocate for the health of the average man, died May 20, 1992 after fifty years of service to the global community. He changed the everyday lives of millions with his work on tuberculosis and as a pioneer in Occupational Medicine. Selikoff’s influence shaped public policy, initiated multi-million dollar litigation, toppled an industry, and saved lives.
For more on the Archives or the history of Mount Sinai, contact us at msarchives@mssm.edu
