from the collection of the New York Public Library
Having recently graduated from the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Drs. Edward Delafield and John Kearny Rodgers established the New York Eye Infirmary on August 14, 1820. The first such facility in the Western Hemisphere, it was incorporated in March 1822. By the 1850s, it had expanded its services, becoming the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.
In 1855, having moved several times and achieved several more medical milestones, the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary broke ground for a new hospital at the northeast corner of Second Avenue and 13th Street. The New-York Tribune made note of the "decidedly fashionable neighborhood." On April 26, 1856, The New York Times reported, "Last evening the building recently erected in Second-avenue, corner of Thirteenth-street, specially for the purposes of an Eye and Ear Infirmary, was formally inaugurated by a public meeting in one of its spacious and elegant saloons."
The new Italianate style building was three bays wide on Second Avenue, its slightly protruding central section terminating in a triangular pediment. The two-story upper portion was separated from the base by an intermediate cornice.
from the 1908 The Development of Ophthalmology in America 1800 to 1870. (copyright expired)
The examination and admissions rooms were bustling scenes. The 1864 Catalogue of Columbia University noted, "Over 8,000 cases of diseases of the eye and ear are treated annually at this Infirmary, including all varieties of Conjunctivitis, Amaurosis, Cataract, Tumors of the Orbit, Strabismus, and other affections of the organ of vision." Patients who were unable to pay were not charged for treatment. On August 5, 1869, The New York Times pointed out that of the 6,815 patients with eye diseases and the 1,526 treated for ear disorders the previous year, "5,207 were of foreign birth." Most were treated as out-patients. "The infirmary accommodates fifty patients," said the article.
from the collection of the New York Public Library
The facility was, as well, a teaching institution. The Catalogue of Columbia University added, "Every pains [sic] is taken to make this a great and valuable school of Clinical instruction in this important branch of special surgery."
An enlargement to the building was begun in 1870, and on July 3, 1872, The New York Times reported, "another story has been put upon the building, and the rooms have been fitted for the better accommodation of patients. There are now about sixty beds in the institution." The architect designed the new fourth floor as a stylish mansard.
from the collection of the New York Public Library
In reporting on the improvements, the newspaper reminded readers, "no fees are ever received by the surgeons as their own perquisite for services done at the Infirmary...Persons who are not absolute paupers, and who desire to make such compensation as they can for professional attendance, are invited to do so."
The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary received rare negative publicity in May 1875 when it was sued for $100,000 damages by the guardian of Edward P. Doyle. The youth was brought in for treatment of an eye disease. Dr. Derby used a contaminated brush on the boy's eyes, resulting in his being infected with gonorrheal ophthalmalia (better known as gonococcal conjunctivitis today) and losing his eyesight.
Shockingly today, Judge Van Brunt of the Supreme Court instructed the jury on May 13, "It was not every member of the profession that was supposed to be gifted with the highest degree of knowledge and skill. All that was to be expected was that he should be ordinarily well acquainted with the appliances and usages customary in such cases, and should give his best exertions to render them successful." The jury found Dr. Derby innocent.
Modern technology was installed within the Eye & Ear Infirmary in 1881. On New Year's Day 1882, The New York Times reported, "By means of an Ericsson motor and double boiler, water is now forced to the fourth floor of the building, thus affording suitable bathing accommodations for the patients on that floor." During the previous year, 524 patients were admitted, while 12,086 out patients were treated--8,368 for eye problems and 2,799 for hearing. The difference, explained the newspaper were the "919 [suffering] from throat diseases."
King's Handbook of New York City, 1892 (copyright expired)
At the time, the venerable facility was overstretched. On April 28, 1887, The New York Times said it, "has long been in want of more room and better accommodations." Fund raising for $275,000 to erect a "good new hospital and dispensary" had been begun. In order to keep the facility operating throughout the construction, a two-phase building plan was arranged.
On March 15, 1890, former First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland laid the cornerstone to the first section, directly behind the old building. Designed by Robert Williams Gibson, The New York Times explained, "The new building is so arranged as to combine with the old one until money can be had to replace it. The complete hospital will be in three pavilions placed across the lot with open spaces between."
The cornerstone for the second phase, replacing the 1856 building, was laid later that year. In 1891, as reported by King's Handbook of New York City, "a hospital wing containing 70 beds was opened for the free treatment of patients." The complex was enlarged with the building of the Schermerhorn Pavilion in 1903.
photo by Irving Underhill from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
At this writing, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary has vacated the Romanesque Revival complex (which does not have landmark designation), leaving its fate unclear.
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