Records of the New York University College of Dentistry
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Abstract
The New York College of Dentistry was founded in 1865 with 31 students and ten faculty members. In 1925, the College merged with New York University (NYU) and developed into a leading center for dental care, research and policy. This collection allows the viewer to understand the school's development through a series of student notebooks and administrative files from the late 1800s and early 1900s. It also contains a wide array of antique dental tools and memorabilia.
Historical Note
The New York College of Dentistry was established in 1865 in a small rental space on 22nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The mission of the College was to promote altruism in dentistry while providing first-rate education. Upon its inception, the school had 31 students and 10 faculty members. Only 9 of the original 31 students graduated in the first graduating class.
When the New York College of Dentistry merged with New York University in 1925, it became known as the New York University College of Dentistry. The merger led to the creation of a dental school at the forefront of research and postdoctoral education.
Today, the College of Dentistry has approximately 1,600 students from across the world. About fifty percent of the student body is female, and fifty percent are minority students. The greater aim of the College is to improve the health of underserved populations, and more generally, to improve health worldwide.
The New York University College of Dentistry offers D.D.S., B.S. and A.A.S. degrees. It is now the third oldest and the largest private dental school in the United States.
Arrangement
General administrative documents are filed chronologically by subject. Student materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the student. Accreditation materials are in their original order.
The files are grouped into four series:
Series I: General Administration
Series II: Memorabilia
Series III: Student Records
Series IV: Accreditation Records
Scope and Contents
The collection includes administrative and student records, memorabilia, and a large collection of dental tools and models.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Administrative records and unpublished reports of New York University are closed for a period of 20 years from the date of their creation. Access to files spanning multiple years will be opened to researchers based on the date of the most recent materials. Board of Trustees records are closed for 35 years from the date of creation. Materials related to personnel, grievances, job and fellowship searches and applications, and all files that fall under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) are permanently restricted. Additional restrictions may apply to other materials in this collection. For questions regarding specific restrictions, please contact the University Archives.
Some materials in this collection are extremely fragile and require preservation treatment before being made accessible to researchers.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the creator are maintained by New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from New York University Archives. Please contact university-archives@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; The Records of the New York University College of Dentistry; RG 25; box number; folder number or item identifier; New York University Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred to the University Archives by the Waldman Library of the New York University College of Dentistry in August 2000; additional materials were transferred in December of 2015. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 80-011, 94-021, 03-006, 2016-002. An accretion was added in 2022.
Separated Materials
Promotional materials, bulletins, annual reports, publications, commencement records, audiovisual materials, and photographs were incorporated into the general University Archives collections for those formats.
About this Guide
Processing Information
In 2015, an addition to the collection was transferred to the archives and incorporated into the collection as Series IV. Accreditation Records based on the content of the materials and in keeping with previous arrangement and description decisions.
Film reels which were housed in boxes 11 and 12 were transferred to box 43 by John Zarrillo in March 2019. An illustration of the NYU College of Dentistry building (circa 1940s) was found in box 11. The illustration had not been described in the collection's finding aid. This item has been added the Memorabilia series and rehoused in University Archives Shared Box 010.
In 2019, some materials were rehoused by Preservation staff and sent to offsite storage.