Records of Fife-Hamill Memorial Health Center for Southeast Philadelphia
Scope and Contents
The collection contains the official records and proceedings of
the Board of Managers of Fife Hamill Memorial Health Center
for Southeast Philadelphia, 1947-1960. Minutes and reports
of Fife Hamill's Women's Committee, 1948-1960, and a 16mm motion
picture, circa 1956, showing the services available at the Center,
are also included.
Series 1 contains the minute books and related records of the
Board of Managers. In addition to the minutes, the series also
contains a few items of secretarial correspondence, minutes
of the Executive, Finance, Medical, and Nursing Committee, and
monthly financial reports and statistical reports on the use
of the Center. Records before 1951 are organized by type; from
1951 to 1960, the records are divided by session with relevant
reports and committee minutes attached to each meeting of the
Board of Managers. Notable items in Series 1 include a 1951
edition of the Center's by laws; a request for municipal support, 1951,
and a functional analysis, 1953, both containing background
information on the Center; and the "Social Audit", a 1957 evaluation
of the progress and problems of Fife Hamill. Since Fife Hamill
conducted all operations of Babies' Hospital from 1948 to 1960,
minutes of each annual meeting of the Board of Managers and
the Corporation of Babies' Hospital of Philadelphia and a copy
of the joint plan of merger with St. Christopher's Hospital
for Children are also part of this series.
The minute books of the Women's Committee, 1948-1960, along with
occasional correspondence and reports, are in Series 2.
Dates
- Creation: 1948 - 1960
Creator
Biographical / Historical
The Fife Hamill Memorial Health Center for Southeast Philadelphia,
a private community health center to promote public health and
preventive medicine, was formed in 1948 by a merger of the funds
and resources of the Babies' Hospital of Philadelphia and the
Philadelphia Child Health Society. Fife Hamill was located
at 7th and Delancey Streets, in the building formerly occupied
by the Babies' Hospital. The Center was administered by a board
of managers composed of representatives of Babies' Hospital,
the Philadelphia Child Health Society, and Jefferson Medical
College. A representative from the Southern Dispensary joined
the board of managers in 1952.
The Center was formed to foster preventive medicine on the neighborhood
level by providing such services as immunization and physical
examinations of children; a nursery school; a nursing service
for families; and a health maintenance clinic, emphasizing education,
nutrition, and discussion of social and psychological problems,
for the general public. This clinic served also as a teaching facility
for medical students at Jefferson and Hahnemann Medical College.
Fife Hamill was responsible for the urban population from Market
Street to Snyder Avenue and Tenth Street east to the Delaware
River.
From its formation, Fife Hamill worked closely with the Philadelphia
Department of Public Health. In 1950, it became a designated
City health center, run jointly by the Fife Hamill board and
the Department of Public Health. The Center's director was
appointed by the Department of Public Health. By 1953, Fife Hamill
was responsible for all public health activities in Philadelphia
between the Schuylkill and Delaware River, from Vine to Wharton
Street.
The Fife Hamill Memorial Health Center served as a model for a
decentralized public health program in Philadelphia. Due to
shifting population, municipal support for Fife Hamill was transferred
to a new City health center at Broad and Lombard Streets. Fife Hamill
was closed in 1960. Its Women's Committee became associated
with the Children's Aid Society of Philadelphia, and the Corporation
of Babies' Hospital of Philadelphia was merged with St. Christopher's Hospital
for Children.
Full Extent
1.6 Linear feet (5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Custodial History
The records of Fife Hamill Memorial Health Center for Southeast
Philadelphia were donated to the Historical Collections of the
College of Physicians of Philadelphia in conjunction with a
donation of material concerning Babies' Hospital of Philadelphia
by Deborah Vaughan in 1991.
The collection was processed and catalogued in 1991.
Genre / Form
- Title
- Records of Fife-Hamill Memorial Health Center for Southeast Philadelphia
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Repository
19 S. 22nd Street
Philadelphia PA 19103 United States
