John Shaw Billings records

Description data TOP

unittitle

{"value"=>"John Shaw Billings records"}

physdesc

{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"41 linear feet (48 boxes, 70 volumes)"}

repository

{"value"=>"The <span class=\"corpname\">New York Public Library Archives.</span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">5th Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, New York 10018-2788</span></div>"}

abstract

{"value"=>"Records of the first Director of The New York Public Library. John Shaw Billings (1838-1913) served as Director of NYPL from its founding in 1895 until 1913. He helped create NYPL by combining the Astor and Lenox Libraries into a public research library and building a branch library system for three of the boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx.) He also planned and oversaw the construction of the NYPL Central Building which was opened to the public in 1911."}

prefercite

{"value"=>"<p>John Shaw Billings Records, The New York Public Library Archives, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.</p>"}

bioghist

{"value"=>"<p>John Shaw Billings, the first director of The New York Public Library, was born in Switzerland County, Indiana, on April 12, 1838. He completed his B.A. degree at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1857 and received his M.D. in 1860 at the Medical College of Ohio. On September 3, 1862, he married Katharine Mary Stevens of Washington, D.C. The couple had six children.</p> <p>From 1862 to 1864, Billings served as a field surgeon with the U.S. Army. In December 1864, he was transferred to the Surgeon-General's office in Washington to do administrative work. He was put in charge of the Surgeon-General's Library, and, over the next thirty years, built it up into one of the world's largest and most comprehensive medical collections. In 1879, he began editing the monthly guide to medical literature, the <span class=\"title\">Index Medicus</span>.</p> <p>Also during these years, he produced numerous articles and lectures, mostly on public hygiene and sanitation, and served as a consultant in the planning of Johns Hopkins Hospital and the hygiene laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania.</p> <p>Billings was fifty-seven when he retired from the Army in October 1895. He had intended to accept the position of professor of hygiene at the University of Pennsylvania, but was persuaded to become the director of The New York Public Library by its newly-formed Board of Trustees, following the merger of the Astor and Lenox Libraries and the Tilden Foundation. In January 1896, he formally assumed the directorship of The Library, a position he held for the next seventeen years.</p> <p>As Director, Billings oversaw three major projects: the integration of the holdings of the Astor and Lenox Libraries, the design and completion of the Central Building, and the consolidation of New York's free circulating libraries into a branch library system administered by The New York Public Library. His director's office papers, particularly the correspondence, reflect his active involvement in all facets of The Library's operations, from the acquisition of new materials to personnel decisions at a variety of levels.</p> <p>Billings's health began to decline in 1912, and further worsened after the death of his wife that August. He died of pneumonia following surgery on March 11, 1913.</p>"}

scopecontent

{"value"=>"<p>The John Shaw Billings Records document Billings' seventeen years as the Director of The New York Public Library, from 1896 to 1913. They also include correspondence and other items from the office of Edwin H. Anderson, his former assistant director, who became Director upon Billings' death. The bulk of the collection consists of incoming and outgoing letters and internal memoranda, mostly concerning such library matters as the purchase and exchange of books and other materials, the hiring and termination of library employees, and finances. Most of the early correspondence has been lost. There are also architectural sketches and drawings, minutes of staff meetings, card files, and other materials.</p>"}

{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The John Shaw Billings records are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/nypla/4937#c633883'>Series I. Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1895-1914</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Files of incoming and outgoing letters and memos, 1895-1914; letterbooks containing copies of outgoing correspondence, 1896-1912, and the card index to those letterbooks; and stenographic notebooks of Billings's secretary, L.D. Covert, 1908-1910. Most of the correspondence files are from 1911-1914; few of those from 1895-1910 have survived. The letters pertain mostly to the various functions of The New York Public Library; they include reference questions, inter-library loan requests, and correspondence with potential donors. Readers should note that correspondence concerning orders can be found in the letterbooks in Boxes 37-41, Subseries D, as well as in Series III. For more information, see the subseries descriptions below.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/nypla/4937#c635582'>Series II. Central Building</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1885-1915</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Arranged chronologically. Correspondence, speeches, ephemera, and articles and other printed matter documenting the planning, construction, and formal opening of The New York Public Library's Central Building at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street. Of particular interest in this series are the letters from May through August 1897 concerning the competition in which the architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings was chosen to design The Library (folders 34/5 - 34/7), and Billings's 1897 preliminary pencil sketch of The Library's floor plan, which eventually served as the model for the architects (folder 34/21). Box 46 contains notebooks and diaries kept by Franklin J. Ward and Peres B. Polhemus who worked for Carrère & Hastings on the construction of the Central Building.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/nypla/4937#c635613'>Series III. Orders Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1896-1915</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Arranged chronologically, and alphabetically within groupings of years. Most of this series consists of correspondence, lists, and other items relating to the purchase and donation of books, serials, and other materials for The Library. Coverage is fragmentary; there are no orders files for 1905 through 1911, and only portions of the alphabetical files from other years. For 1896-1904 coverage includes P - S only, for 1912 it has A and L only, and 1911 has only portions of I - N. The series includes correspondence with various manufacturing firms, 1911-1915, concerning the acquisition of their trade catalogs for NYPL.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/nypla/4937#c635670'>Series IV. Other Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1898-1913</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Arranged by format. Series IV. contains two folders of minutes of staff meetings, May 1897 - January 1913, chaired by John Shaw Billings; six envelopes of visitors' calling cards from that time period, rough-sorted alphabetically; Billings's office card file of names and addresses; and a volume on Sales of Duplicates, 1903-1908.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/nypla/4937#c635677'>Series V. Child Welfare Exhibit of 1911</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1909-1912</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Contains NYPL Assistant Director Edwin H. Anderson's files as the Library's representative to the Child Welfare Exhibit of 1911.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}

arrangement

{"value"=>"<p>The collection has been arranged in five series: I. Correspondence, 1895-1914; II. Central Building Files, 1885-1915; III. Order Files, 1896-1904, 1911-1915; IV. Other Materials, 1895-1913; V. New York Child Welfare Exhibit, 1910-1911.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}

accessrestrict

{"value"=>"<p>Access to the collection is restricted to qualified scholars and researchers through the Office of Special Collections, Room 316.</p>"}

unitid

{"value"=>"MssArc 4937", "type"=>"local_call"}

{"value"=>"4937", "type"=>"local_mss"}

unitdate

{"value"=>"1885-1915", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1885/1915"}

physloc

{"value"=>"RG 6", "type"=>"local_call", "supress_display"=>true}

date_inclusive_start

1885

date_inclusive_end

1915

origination

{"value"=>"New York Public Library. Central Administration. Director's Office", "type"=>"corpname"}

acqinfo

{"accession_number"=>"ARC"}

{"materials"=>"Records"}

userestrict

{"value"=>"<p>All rights reserved. Permission to quote must be obtained in writing from the New York Public Library</p>"}

relatedmaterial

{"value"=>"<p>Billings' personal papers are held by NYPL Manuscripts Division</p>"}

{"value"=>"<p></p>", "type"=>"host"}

keydate

1885

processinfo

{"value"=>"<p>Compiled by Laura O'Keefe; machine-readable finding aid created by Jim Moske.</p>"}

date_start

1885

date_end

1915

Update Collection TOP

Update from EAD XML File

Child components TOP

1. Series I. Correspondence [5/2]
2. Series II. Central Building [30/1]
3. Series III. Orders Files [56/1]
4. Series IV. Other Materials [6/1]
5. Series V. Child Welfare Exhibit of 1911 [8/1]