JCA: Sinai Hospital Records
Collection
Identifier: UR001813
Part 1.
Series 1: Administration, 1953-1998,
Series 2: Committees, 1953-1994,
Series 3: History, 1916-1999,
Series 4: Shapero School of Nursing, 1954-1984,
Series 5: Promotional and publicity materials, 1954-1993,
Series 6: Oral history project and Staff Executive Committee minutes, 1953-1990
Dates
- 1900 - 1999
- Majority of material found within 1950 - 1999
Creator
- Sinai Hospital of Detroit (Organization)
Access
Collection is open for research.
Use
Refer to the Walter P. Reuther Library Rules for Use of Archival Materials.
Extent
36 Linear Feet (33 SB, 5 MB, 1 OS)
Abstract
Sinai Hospital was created out of a demand for a hospital that would provide staff affiliations for Jewish doctors and care for patients in Detroit, free of the discrimination found in hospitals in the early 1900s. Through considerable fund raising over many decades, the hospital broke ground in 1951, opened in 1953 and underwent tremendous growth and development over the years. Sinai Hospital was sold to the Detroit Medical Center in 1997. It was closed in 1999 and merged with Grace Hospital to form Sinai-Grace Hospital. The records document the Detroit Jewish community's history of commitment to medical care, including the North End Clinic, and the eventual development of a full in-patient hospital and research facility. This finding aid includes Parts 1 and 2 of the records. Three boxes of AV materials have been transferred to the Reuther AV Department.
History
Medical services for Detroit's Jewish population began in 1900 when free clinical care was provided under the auspices of the Ladies Society for the Care of Widows and Orphans. Later, services to indigent people and new immigrants were dispensed at a clinic in the Hannah Schloss Building, a settlement house. On March 12, 1912, Orthodox Jews of Detroit marched down Hastings Street with signs proclaiming "Buy a Brick to Save the Sick." The rally ended with a meeting at which the Jewish Hospital Association was organized. Discrimination against Jews at existing hospitals was evident, and a Jewish hospital was deemed essential to provide staff affiliations for Jewish doctors and kosher food for patients.
The North End Clinic opened in 1926 at the Leopold Wineman Memorial Building on Holbrook Avenue, providing free medical care for those unable to pay for private care. The clinic also afforded young physicians the opportunity to acquire clinical experience.
In 1937, through the efforts of local Jewish physicians and the Jewish Hospital Association, the Mt. Sinai Hospital Association was organized. The Jewish Welfare Federation, the umbrella body of the organized Jewish community, also pledged its cooperation and sponsored a needs assessment. Fund raising for Sinai Hospital began in 1944; by 1945, $2,300,000 was raised.
Ground was broken on January 14, 1951. The hospital opened in 1953 with 238 beds and a kosher kitchen, the only one of its kind in Michigan.
Arrangement
Arranged in 10 series. Series 1 (Boxes 1-9), Series 2 (Boxes 10-18), Series 3 (Boxes 19-20), Series 4 (Boxes 21-22), Series 5 (Box 23), Series 6 (Boxes 24-25), Series 7 (Box 26), Series 8 (Boxes 27-33), Series 9 (Boxes 34-37), Series 10 (Boxes 38-39). Folders are arranged in original order--alphabetically within each subject area and chronologically within each segment. Boxes 25, 38, 39 contain audio-visual materials and have been transferred to the Reuther AV Department.
Acquisition
Acquired from the Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives, 2008 and 2009.
Other Copies
Microfilms of bound volumes of Staff Executive Committee minutes in Reuther Audiovisual Department.
Transfers
Three boxes of videotapes, audiotapes, and microfilms were transferred to Reuther Audiovisual Department.
Processing History
Processed and initial finding aid by Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives, revised by Walter P. Reuther Library, in November 2015 and April 2019.
Creator
- Sinai Hospital of Detroit (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the JCA: Sinai Hospital Records
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Processed by Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives, revised by Walter P. Reuther Library.
- Date
- 2015-11-05
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
Revision Statements
- 2015-11-05: Entire Finding Aid revised, including addition of Part 2
- 2019-04-10: Inventory and text revised
Repository Details
Part of the Walter P. Reuther Library Repository
Contact:
5401 Cass Avenue
Detroit MI 48202 USA
5401 Cass Avenue
Detroit MI 48202 USA