Hospital of Saint Raphael

COLLECTION HISTORY

The people behind the place.

The Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth and physicians led by William Verdi founded Saint Raphael in 1907, according to the hospital’s institutional history. The original building at 1442 Chapel Street and Saint Mary’s building behind it represent successive stages of growth. NHFPL dates those openings to 1907 and 1910. Its postcard is historically undated; the recent catalog date belongs to the digital record. [ED081-S01] [ED081-S02]

The 1910 annual report offers a contemporary source to compare with the later institutional account. Reports and postcards were created for different purposes: the report explained administration and work, while a postcard presented a recognizable place. Neither speaks for every patient. Their comparison can begin a history of nursing education, facilities and public presentation without inventing details about unidentified people in a photograph. [ED081-S02] [ED081-S03]

The 1918 report belongs to another moment in the institution’s history. It is included as a primary-source lead, but numerical claims about influenza or patient mortality should be made only after the relevant pages are checked. The presence of a report in the catalog does not mean every possible finding in it has already been verified. [ED081-S04]

Yale-New Haven acquired the hospital in September 2012. That change did not make the earlier Saint Raphael identity disappear from its surviving records. The collection keeps the founding community, early buildings and later organizational transition in one chronology, while distinguishing the official history from the experiences that patient, nursing and neighborhood accounts could add. It is particularly useful for asking how a hospital can retain a place-based identity within a larger health system. [ED081-S01]