Nicholas Webb, M.S.I.S., Preserves New York Medical College’s Medical History One Item at a Time
The Historical Collections Curator Shares How He Brings the College’s History to Light
Nicholas Webb, M.S.I.S., wears many hats as the archivist and digital preservation librarian at New York Medical College (NYMC). He manages the College’s archives and curates the Phillip Capozzi, M.D., Library's rare books and historical medical instruments collections. His days are filled with updating catalog records, answering inquiries and creating displays to showcase NYMC's rich history.
Webb worked on medical archives for his entire career. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history, which gave him a fascination for archival research, followed by a master’s degree in archives and records administration. After working with New York State political collections as a postgraduate assistant, Webb was introduced to the history of medicine when he was hired by the Mount Sinai Health System to establish a digital archives program.
“It really opened the world up to me,” Webb said. “I realized what a fascinating subject it could be, because the history of medicine in New York is the history of New York. Whether it’s immigration or the Industrial Revolution, you can look at anything in New York through the lens of the history of medicine, because everyone in New York will need medical care at some point in their lives, and so many major medical discoveries have been made here.”
From going shelf to shelf his first day taking inventory to having his hand in creating museum-like displays, for nearly five years Webb continues to uncover forgotten pieces of the College’s 163-year legacy. The posters and placards placed near historic sites and artifacts around campus are written by Webb who spends hours researching, fact-checking and writing about the history of NYMC and its collections.
When he isn’t updating catalogue records or creating exhibits, Webb answers historical inquiries for members of the College community and for outside researchers who are writing about NYMC’s contribution to medicine. “I spend a lot of time now corresponding with academics who are working on books about subjects related to the College,” said Webb. He also receives inquiries from the families of alumni who want to learn more about their relatives. “One of the most satisfying things about my job is when someone can say, ‘We know my great grandfather went to your college in 1950. What can you tell me about him?’ I can research it and send them that information. They're always really appreciative.”
Before Webb became the College’s first full-time professional archivist, the first person to collect NYMC’s history was Leonard Paul Wershub, M.D. ’27, professor of urology. During the College’s centennial in 1960, he became interested in the history of the College and started collecting material, seeking out rare letters in departmental files, and asking faculty if they had anything to contribute to the collection. He kept all the archives in his office in the Flower-Fifth Avenue Hospital, NYMC’s teaching hospital in Manhattan and the first teaching hospital in the country to be owned by a medical college. With all his artifacts and knowledge, Dr. Wershub later wrote a book titled, One Hundred Years of Medical Progress; a History of the New York Medical College, Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals. When he retired, and the College moved up to Westchester, his archives went into storage. A decade later, Jay D. Tartell, M.D. ’82, then a medical student interested in the College’s history, organized Dr. Wershub’s collection as a fourth-year elective project. From then until 2019 when Webb was hired, the library staff would use the collection to answer questions and retired librarians would contribute to managing the collection on a volunteer basis.
“At New York Medical College, we really have a lot to be proud of in our history,” said Webb. His detective work has shed light on many pioneering accomplishments. While it was known that NYMC was the first medical school in Manhattan to admit Black students in the late 19th century, Webb dived deeper into the contributions of Black alumni.
“A lot of the leading figures in medicine during the Harlem Renaissance had been graduates, including Eugene Percy Roberts, M.D., Class of 1894. By the 1950s, he had been in practice for more than 50 years and was known as ‘the Dean of Harlem physicians’ because he had trained so many other doctors. He had been involved in the early civil rights movement and city politics, and he was the first Black member of the New York City Board of Education. Just realizing that there was a lot of history that we could be proud of as a school that had was sort of lying there in the archives waiting to be uncovered is a great feeling,” said Webb.
One of the many prized possessions of the archives is NYMC’s rare book collection, whose oldest items date to the early years of the printing press in the 16th century. The rare books are the oldest collection the College has. One of the oldest artifacts the institution has pertaining to itself is a course catalog that is 159 years old from 1864 and faculty meeting minutes from a few years later.
For Webb, each day brings new opportunities to reveal NYMC's contributions and share them with others. As he continues cataloging collections, answering research inquiries, and creating displays, Webb takes pride in ensuring the legacies of past NYMC students, faculty and staff are preserved. "It's an amazing history," he said, "and to get to be the person who understands it all and gets to share it with people is deeply satisfying."