PSYCHIATRIC CENTER, QUEENS, NEW YORK. Archive of Patient Identification Cards with Portrait Photographs & Fingerprints, plus Select Clinical/Administrative Files. c. 1937–1970s (bulk 1950s–1960s).

Item #1601

**For additional photos, please ask.**

A small but exceptionally charged group of mid-century New York State psychiatric institutional records from Creedmoor, the vast Queens facility established in 1912 and reaching a peak census of roughly 7,000 inpatients by 1959.

Contents (as present)

29 patient identification cards / identification forms on State of New York, Department of Mental Hygiene / Creedmoor State Hospital stationery, typically featuring:

affixed portrait photographs (mugshot-style IDs and occasional snapshot-style portraits),

rolled fingerprint / thumbprint impressions on several cards,

admission and descriptive fields (demographics/physical description), and

period diagnostic/classification language (including obsolete terminology such as “dementia praecox” on at least one example).

Select clinical/administrative documents, including:

several shorter typed case reports (adult and pediatric),

and one substantial longitudinal clinical file (approx. 205 pp.) spanning decades, with periodic physician/ward notes, treatment planning, correspondence, and medical/lab inserts (including bacteriological slips mounted into the file).

LGBTQ+ research connection (publicly documented)

Notably, one individual represented in the Creedmoor material later appears in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project’s “Serving in Silence: LGBTQ+ Veterans” resources, which include an audio oral-history interview and transcript—an unusual opportunity to juxtapose institutional recordkeeping with a self-narrated life history from a publicly accessible federal collection.
(For ethical reasons, this listing intentionally avoids naming individuals.)

Physical description

Loose archive of typed and handwritten forms and reports, various sizes (chiefly standard letter-format NYS forms), many 3-hole punched (binder-held). Several items show office filing features (clips, holes, staple/fastener evidence). Photographs are affixed to forms; fingerprint impressions are clearly visible where present.

Condition

Good to very good as working clinical records: toning and handling wear throughout; scattered creases; frequent 3-hole punches with occasional small tears at holes; intermittent edge chips/short tears and clip impressions. Photographs generally clear; fingerprint impressions bold. The large clinical file shows softened edges and expected age wear but remains legible and cohesive.

Price: $1,250.00