Sharon Sanatorium
Scope and Contents
The Sharon Sanatorium records were kept by John G. Brooks, attorney at Peabody and Arnold and long-time secretary/legal advisor of the Sharon Sanatorium. His filing system was well preserved, and folder names reflect the original arrangement. The archivist determined the series. Inclusive dates of the collection spans 1891 to 1988, with the bulk of the collection falling between 1926 and 1976. The collection consists of five series: Business Records, Secretary’s Records, Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and a Subject File. Items are arranged chronologically within each series and folder.
Business Records includes financial statements, annual, and audit reports from 1892 to 1984 arranged chronologically. Also included are files pertaining to Real Estate holdings, 1891-1947. This includes deeds, titles, maps, and plans. Files pertaining to individual trust fund estates that donated funds to the Sanatorium are arranged
alphabetically by donor’s last name and range from 1924 to 1955. Finally, Business Records Correspondence ranges from 1949 to 1980.
Secretary’s Records include a bound volume of minutes, 1923-1946, with some preservation problems. Also included are minutes spanning the years 1926 to 1988, which were originally housed in two leather binders. Loose documents found in the bound volume of minutes were removed and placed individually in folders and arranged chronologically (1940-1949). A note regarding the removal of the documents was placed
in the appropriate location of the bound volume.
The Children’s Hospital series includes contracts and contract drafts from 1922 to 1949, correspondence (1947-1949), Supreme Court Decrees from 1927 to 1949, and miscellaneous memos from 1946-1949. The information pertains to Sharon’s merger with Children’s Hospital, and was originally arranged by John Brooks.
The Children’s Hospital Medical Center series includes files pertaining to the annual meetings of 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, and 1958. Also included are votes and minutes from 1946 to 1951, correspondence from 1947 to 1961, literature (1947-1953), and miscellaneous which includes reports, memos, by-laws, and charters from 1948 to 1959. The information pertains to the integration of Sharon Sanatorium with Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and again, the original folder names were kept.
Lastly, the Subject File series contains files on the Bay State Society (1946-1947), Certificates of Organization and Incorporation (1891), Change of Purpose and Name certificates (1938, 1904 respectively), Sharon Sanatorium Correspondence (1942-1987), History of Sharon Sanatorium, Permanent Charity Fund Yearbook (1946), “Report to Dr.
Hubbard and Sleracki,” 1946, and Rheumatic Fever Literature, 1941-1946.
Dates
- 1891 - 1988
- Majority of material found within 1926 - 1976
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is unrestricted.
Conditions Governing Use
Request for permission to publish material from the collection should be discussed with the hospital archivist.
Historical Note
The Sharon Sanatorium opened its doors in February 1891, the first such facility of its kind in New England. Known as the Sharon Sanitarium for Pulmonary Diseases, the open-air facility was located on Moose Hill in Sharon, Massachusetts. Alfred Bowditch was named the Sanatorium’s first president, and Dr. Vincent Y. Bowditch and Dr. Robert W. Lovett were its first medical directors. The Sanatorium’s purpose was to provide
affordable care for patients suffering from tuberculosis and other pulmonary diseases. Treatment at the Sanatorium included sleeping on porches in the fresh air year-round, which was a unique and unusual way to treat patients with pulmonary diseases.
In July 1901, the Sanatorium procured the services of a resident director, Dr. Walter A. Griffin. In 1904, the facility changed its name from Sanitarium to Sanatorium. The Harvard Medical School eventually asked Dr. Griffin to join its faculty, and the Sanatorium was used as a teaching facility for Harvard’s medical students. Around 1916, the facility opened its Children’s Pavilion, which was reserved for children under fourteen years of age suffering from tuberculosis. By 1938, the threat of tuberculosis was under control, and the Sanatorium began admitting patients suffering from arthritis and rheumatic fever.
In 1947 the Sanatorium closed its doors and became affiliated with Wellesley Convalescent Home and House of the Good Samaritan. In 1949, the Sanatorium integrated with Children’s Hospital. In 1950, the Children's Hospital Medical Center opened the Sharon Cardiovascular Unit. The Sharon Sanatorium Board of Directors folded by the 1980’s. The Sharon Sanatorium Corporation merged with Children’s Hospital Medical Center Corporation in 1988 and ceased to be a separate entity.
Extent
2.2 Linear Feet (2 cartons)
Language of Materials
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The bulk of the collection was donated in 1992 by John Brooks, of the law firm Peabody and Arnold. The rest of the collection was received in 1993 from the Children's Hospital Finance Department.
- Title
- SHARON SANATORIUM
- Subtitle
- RECORDS, 1891-1988 (bulk 1926-1976).
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Frances Maria Medina, Intern, Simmons College Graduate School of Library Science
- Date
- October 1999
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Boston Children’s Hospital Archives Repository
300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115
Boston MA 02115 United States
(617) 355-5286
archives@childrens.harvard.edu