Elizabeth Bishop Davis papers

1964-1979

African American psychiatrist Elizabeth Bishop Davis began her career in the late 1940s with the Lafargue Clinic, the first mental health facility that primarily served African Americans in Harlem. Her father, the Rev. Shelton Hale Bishop, rector of St. Philips' Church, helped to establish the clinic, which was housed in the church. In 1962, she accepted the position of director of Harlem Hospital's newly established Department of Psychiatry, serving in that position until 1978. During this period she became an authority on providing psychiatric care in inner-city settings. Davis began teaching in 1957 at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, where she received her medical degree (1949). In 1971 she was promoted to clinical professor of psychiatry, and retired in 1978. The Elizabeth Bishop Davis papers include papers given by Davis at professional psychiatric conferences from 1964 to 1982 as well as published articles, 1964-1979. While the topics are varied, many deal with mental illness among black people, psychiatric health care in an inner-city setting, and the role of psychoanalysis in the treatment of the mentally ill. Other themes deal with the consequences of poverty and racial discrimination on mental health, particularly in Harlem, community psychiatry and black psychiatrists. There are also papers presented by other Harlem Hospital psychiatrists and women staff, including Gladys Engri.