The Robert Matz Hospital Postcards Collection consists of about 2000 postcards organized into three sub-collections: New York City (NYC), New York state (sans NYC), and United States (sans NY). The postcards range in date from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. Dr. Robert Matz donated the collection to The New York Academy of Medicine Library in several installments between 2015 and 2019.

The postcards were printed using a variety of printing technologies, including photo-reproduction, lithography, chromolithography, etc. Some of the postcards were mailed and include messages. The messages vary from a simple note (Veterans Administration Hospital…) to an elaborate conversation ([New York Hospital]) and can be found written on the front, back, along the sides, and wherever the author found space.

This pilot project represents a small portion of the NYC sub-collection of the Robert Matz Hospital postcards digitized by the New York Academy of Medicine Library. It showcases 118 hospital postcards from New York City. Hospitals from all five boroughs (The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island) are represented, including public, private, not-for-profit, government, and military hospitals. This initial group of postcards was selected to highlight the wide variety of hospitals that existed in the city, to show how hospital and academic medical center buildings changed over time, to demonstrate the cultural value that the postcards can provide to the NYC metropolitan community and the public at large. A cross-section of images from various time periods was selected to enable users to explore these postcards in multiple ways. The collection shows images of hospital buildings, new and old, as well as images of doctors and patients, and of people representing different historical moments. These images allow researchers to gain a better understanding of the hospital, its patients, and staff. For example, “A Typical Ward, U.S. Army Hospital No. 1, Williamsbridge, N.Y.” provides the viewer with an image of what can be considered a typical ward in the Army hospital, including the patients.

The Robert Matz Hospital postcards offer an opportunity to create a digital collection that can help researchers, local communities, and the public to better understand the evolution of hospitals from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries, how they relate to current hospitals, the role of postcards in advertising, the conversations that one shares on a private, yet public medium, the printing process, and many more topics related to this collection. The pilot project only scratches the surface and the hope is to continue to add to this digital collection.

Please contact us at library@nyam.org if you would like to explore the collection beyond what is currently available digitally.

Robert Matz Hospital Postcards Collection, late 19th century–mid-20th century.