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Bible and Fruit Mission to the Public Hospitals of New York City records

Call Number

MS 59

Date

1877-1978 (bulk, 1960-1970), inclusive

Creator

Bible and Fruit Mission to the Public Hospitals of New York City

Extent

4 Linear feet in 10 boxes and 1 oversize folder

Language of Materials

The documents in this collection are in English.

Abstract

The Bible and Fruit Mission to the Public Hospitals of New York City was founded in 1874 by a group of Protestant women to visit patients in New York City Hospitals. The purpose was to bring sweets, bibles, necessities, and the gospel to patients. The collection consists mostly of bills, receipts, bank statements, donation journals, custodian accounts and fiscal records of the organization.

Historical Note

The purpose of the Bible and Fruit Mission to the Public Hospitals of New York City was to distribute comfort and relief to patients in New York City's Public Hospitals and to teach them the Gospel. The charity was founded in 1874 and incorporated in 1900 to visit patients in New York City's Hospitals who had no relatives or friends to visit them. It was started by a group of Protestant women who wanted to do charity works in the New York City's Public Hospital for the holidays in 1874. In December 1875 women representing various Protestant Churches organized into this charity that would serve between 1,500-2,000 patients every year. A member of the organization would visit between 300 to 400 patients per week. They would bring sweets, basic necessities, and Christian reading material and the gospel to be distributed among the patients.

The Bible and Fruit Mission was located at 5 East 48th Street in New York City. The organization started visitation with the following hospitals: Charity Hospital, Convalescent Hospital, Bellevue Hospital, and the City Hospital. The Bible and Fruit Mission expanded into visiting the following hospitals: Homeopathic Hospital, Metropolitan Hospital, Almshouse, Hospital for Consumptives, City Home Hospital, Farm Colony, Marine Hospital, Sea View Hospital, Cancer Hospital, Welfare Hospital, Goldwater Memorial, Bird S. Coler Memorial, Elmhurst General, Cumberland Hospital, King County Hospital, Samaritan Hospital, Delafield Hospital, Coney Island Hospital, Harlem Hospital, and College View Nursing Home.

The Bible and Fruit Mission was largely run on donations and volunteers, until 1900. In 1900 the organization incorporated and started to use interest from investments to operate and hire people to visit patients. Investment money came mostly from bequests from various people in the New York area. In 1975, the Internal Revenue Service decided that the Bible and Fruit Mission no longer met the criteria for a non-for-profit foundation under the law. The Internal Revenue Service decided that the Bible and Fruit Mission was a private foundation and would have to pay taxes on its income. The charity was to pay 4% income tax on its investments, unless 10% of the charity's income came from public funds instead of investments. The East Midtown Protestant Chaplaincy Inc. offered to help the Bible and Fruit Mission reach its goal of 10% income from public funds. The Bible and Fruit Mission was able to reach its goal and did not have to pay taxes that year. In 1977, the Bible and Fruit Mission's board unanimously agreed to merge with the East Midtown Protestant Chaplaincy, Inc and dissolved the charity.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in three series:

Series I. Administration Records, 1924-1978
Series II. Financial Records, 1907-1977
Series III. Seals, undated

Materials are filed chronologically within each series.

Scope and Contents

The records of the Bible and Fruit Mission to the Public Hospitals of New York City consist of the financial records of the charity from 1907-1978 (bulk dates 1960-1970's). The collection is made up mostly of bank statements, checks, bills, receipts, donations, custodian accounts, accounting books, and financial summaries focusing on expenditures and investments of the charity.

There is very little information on the daily activities and operations of the Bible and Fruit Mission, and of the merger with the East Midtown Protestant Chaplaincy Inc. There are a few meeting minutes from the monthly meetings and correspondence from 1920-1977. The records also include the estate records of Mabel G. Moorman Goddard who donated a large sum of money to the Bible and Fruit Mission and other charities in New York in 1970. There is no information on the organization before it was incorporated in 1900 except for multiple copies of one article from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper from 1877.

Access Restrictions

One folder restricted until 2050. The rest of the collection is open to qualified researchers. Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the Bible and Fruit Mission to the Public Hospitals of New York City Records, MS 59, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit. One folder restricted until 2050. The rest of the collection is open to qualified researchers.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Peter S.P. Dimsey, 1984.

Related Materials

The New-York Historical Society has the annual reports of the Bible and Fruit Mission to the Public Hospitals of New York City in their main collection (F128 BV4585 .B5 Non-circulating) The Annual Reports are from 1876-1974 with some years missing.

Collection processed by

Ann Christiansen

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:46:41 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding Aid is written in English.

Processing Information

The collection was first processed in 1985, with refinements and finding aid completed by Ann Christiansen in 2012. Two oversize documents were added to the finding aid in 2020.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024