New York Psychiatric Society Records, 1903-1990

Summary

Creator:
New York Psychiatrical Society
Abstract:
This collection contains records from the New York Psychiatric Society. The collection has 5 series: Secretary-Treasurer, Committees, Society Publications, Papers Delivered to the Society, and Emergency Committee of Neuro-Psychiatric Societies.
Extent:
4 boxes 2.25 linear feet
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The New York Psychiatric Society collection has been arranged into five series. The Society's original Constitution and By-Laws may be found in the first volume _of the Secretary-Treasurer's Minutes (1903-1909); a copy of the revisions that went into effect in January 1955 may be found in the Secretary-Treasurer's Corres­pondence for 1954.

Secretary-Treasurer: documents include minutes, correspondence, meeting programs, Secretary­ Treasurer's reports, rosters, attendance records, annual reports, and ledgers, including detailed minutes of the five, later four, meetings each year. Attachments to various entries include the Secretary­ Treasurer's Annual report, transcriptions of discussions that followed the presentation of papers, memorial state­ments about recently deceased members, rosters of committee and Society membership from year to year. The correspondence includes Includes incoming and outgoing letters pertaining to program arrangements, speaker selection, election of members and officers, letters of condolence and, when noted below, correspondence regarding specific issues or legislation being considered by the city or state during that year, sent to or signed by the secretary-treasurer. Each year the Salmon Committee on Psychiatry and Mental Hygiene of the New York Academy of Medicine selects as the Thomas W. Salmon Lecturer a specialist in the fields of psychiatry, neurology, or mental hygiene. In conjunction with the lecture, the Society annually sponsors a dinner at the New York Academy of Medicine, where the speaker is the guest of honor and there are other invited distinguished guests. These files include the memos, correspondence, invitations, and responses preliminary to the dinner.

Committees: in­cludes correspondence to and from the Legislative and Member­ ship Committees

Society Publications: consists of Society publications.

Papers Delivered to the Society: includes the manuscripts of papers delivered at Society meetings. Each of the four yearly Society meetings includes a Scientific Session at which each member is, in turn, responsible for presenting a prepared paper. Distinguished speakers are sometimes invited by the Executive Committee.

Emergency Committee of Neuro-Psychiatric Societies: includes correspondence related to the Emergency Committee of Neuro-Psychiatric Societies, a group founded in 1941 by the New York Psychoanalytic Society to respond to mental health problems created by the impact of World War II on both military and civilian populations. The New York Psychiatric Society became a member of this group. Appointed by the N.Y. Psychoanalytic Society on December 9, 1941, the Committee sought to assist "the civil and military defense authori­ties in any matters requiring the services of qualified neuro­psychiatrists," with representatives from 10 different psychiatric societies.

Biographical / historical:

The New York Psychiatric Society was founded in 1903. Its object, according to its Constitution, was "to stimulate the study and advance the interest of psychiatry." The Society originally called itself the Psychiatrical Society of New York. It later became known as the New York Psychiatrical Society, under which name it published several volumes of col­lected essays. It has been called by its present name for the last fifty years. Two classes of members were defined in the Society's 1903 Constitution and By-Laws: active and honorary. Later three classes of members evolved: resident, non-resident and honorary. In the revised Constitution and By-Laws adopted in May of 1954, and reiterated in the 1971 revision, another class, senior members, was added. The By-Laws provide that the thirty resident members "reside or have an office within fifty miles of New York City." The ten non-resident members reside fifty miles or more outside of New York City. The process by which members are selected has remained the same over the years. Nominees for resident and non­ resident membership are solicited by the Secretary-Treasurer of the Society. The names received are turned over to the Member­ ship Committee, who, according to the By-Laws, select "from them those to be voted on by the Society." Members then receive bal­lots listing the names selected shortly before the Society's annual meeting each January. The Society can, with a two-thirds vote, direct the Membership Committee to present a candidate for balloting whose name had been submitted earlier, but had not appeared on the ballot. Senior members of the Society are those "members in good standing" (resident and non-resident) who have reached the age of 65. "In special instances" a member might be elected to senior status before the age of 65. Originally there were five honorary members; the 1971 revised By-Laws do not give an actual number. In both cases, honorary members had to be proposed for membership by six current members of the Society, with a unani­mous vote at the annual meeting required for their election. Office holders are chosen from among resident and senior members only. These include a president, a vice president, and a secretary-treasurer. Nominations for officers are made at the meeting preceding the annual meeting; the election by ballot follows at the annual meeting. Prior to 1971 officers' terms were for one year. The 1971 revision of the By-Laws provides for two­ year terms. The president, according to the By-Laws, is the Society's chief executive. On written request of three resident members, he is empowered to call an extra meeting at any time. The vice president assumes the latter's duties in his absence. The secretary­ treasurer's role is by far the most visibly active one, and this is indeed reflected in the present collection. The By-Laws provide that he "keep a record of the proceedings of the Society, send out notices of meetings, elections, etc..notify officers and members of committees of their election....keep a list of the members...conduct all the correspondence of the Society...have charge of all funds and pay all expenses....present a report of the past year." Vacancies occurring during unexpired officers' terms are filled for the balance of the term by an appointee of the president. Three Standing Committees have been provided for in all the Society's Constitutions: the Executive Committee, the Legislative Committee, and the Membership Committee. The Executive Committee consists of the president, vice-president, secretary­ treasurer and two members appointed by the president to serve during his term of office. The Membership Committee includes the president, vice-president, secretary, and two members elected at the annual meeting for two-year terms. The composition of the Legislative Committee is not detailed in the Constitutions. In the past, the Society met regularly five times a year. More recently, it has met four times a year. Its annual meeting takes place during the first week of January. While it has had no official headquarters, the Society has traditionally met at the Century Club. Six resident members constitute a quorum. The order of business includes the routine reading of minutes, committee reports and new business, and a Scientific Session f-0r which each member is, in turn, responsible for presenting a pre­ pared talk. Distinguished speakers are sometimes invited by the Executive Committee. Resident members absent from regular meetings on three successive occasions without "an excuse satisfactory to the Executive Committee" are dropped from the roll of members. As can be noted in the secretary-treasurers' ledgers, dues have risen over the years. In 1903 annual dues for resident members was $5 a year. In 1954 resident and senior members paid $35 annually. The 1971 revised By-Laws leave the amount open, pro­vided that dues "shall be determined from time to time upon recommendation of the Executive Committee" followed by the ap­proval of a majority of members. Honorary members pay no dues, but are the guests of the Society at the meetings they attend. In its entry in the 1947 Handbook of Scientific and Tech­nical Society of the U.S. and Canada the New York Psychiatric Society cites its entrance "requirements" as being "achievement in the field of psychiatry." In the programs and correspondence represented in this collection, one senses the Society's strength as a lively forum for the exchange of scholarly ideas, and its ef­fectiveness as a group concerned with the civic and social well­ being of both its members and society-at-large.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions on this material.

Terms of access:

Written permission must be obtained from the Oskar Diethelm Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Location of this collection:
DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry: History, Policy and the Arts
Weill Cornell Medical College
525 East 68th Street, Box 140
New York, NY 10065, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
212-746-3728