Arensberg, Conrad M. (Conrad Maynadier), 1910-1997 Search this
Extent:
108.29 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
New York (State) -- New York City
New Jersey -- Newark
Date:
circa 1930-2009
bulk 1960-1993
Summary:
Vivian E. Garrison was an applied medical anthropologist who researched the cultural understandings and community treatment structures surrounding mental illness and mental health care among low-income, minority, and migrant communities of the New York metropolitan area. The Vivian E. Garrison papers document this research and consist of clinical and case files; research policies and protocols; presentations and workshops notes; manuscripts and drafts; publications and working papers; correspondence; grant applications; administrative files; sound recordings and films; annotated scholarly literature; and personal biographical material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Vivian E. Garrison, circa 1930-2009 (bulk 1960-1993) document her work as an applied medical anthropologist in the New York metropolitan area. Garrison studied and published on the cultural understandings and community treatment structures surrounding mental illness and mental health care among low-income, minority, and migrant communities. The collection includes clinical and case files, sound recordings, and films; research policies and protocols; presentations and workshop notes and recordings; manuscripts and drafts; publications and working papers; correspondence; grant applications; administrative files; annotated scholarly literature (reprints and books); and personal biographical material.
The bulk of material in the collection relates to Garrison's research under and administration of different research grants focusing on community mental health care in the greater New York City area. As a research scientist at the Lincoln Hospital Mental Health Services (LHMHS), Garrison undertook anthropological research under the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grant, "Study of Neighborhood Centers and Mental Health Aides" (1965-1969). The research completed at LHMHS was used in her dissertation (1971). Garrison continued her studies of the South Bronx populations at the Columbia-Bronx Research Center as principal investigator under the NIMH grant, "Folk Healers and Community Mental Health Programming" (1972-1975). She built upon that research as the director and principal investigator of the U.S. Public Health Grant "Inner-City Support Systems" (ICSS) from 1976-1982, run through the College (later University) of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (C/UMDNJ). Within the Resource Center for Multicultural Care and Prevention (RCMCP) at UMDNJ (born out of the ICSS program), Garrison administered the NIMH grant "Community Support Systems of Haitian Immigrants," (CSSHI) which transferred to Columbia University in 1984. Garrison's research under these and other grants was typically undertaken in concert with anthropological colleagues, community consultants, and medical professionals. The materials in this collection reflect the collaborative nature of this research process, as well as Garrison's administrative role at the ICSS project at UMDNJ. Some research notes, case files, and manuscript drafts of colleagues and contributors are present in this collection.
The collection also contains personal biographical, medical, and historical material documenting the lives of Vivian Garrison and her husband, anthropologist Conrad M. Arensberg. Much of this material relates to Arensberg's medical history and care in the last years of his life, as meticulously recorded and analyzed by Garrison. Personal material in the collection also relates to the preservation and destruction of her historic home in Rumson, New Jersey (the Morris-Salter-Hartshorn-Tredwell House).
Arrangement:
The Vivian E. Garrison papers are arranged into the following 10 series:
Series 1: Lincoln Hospital Mental Health Services, circa 1960-1973
Series 2: Columbia University Bronx Research Center, circa 1968-1977
Series 3: Inner-City Support System Project, circa 1968-1997
Series 4: Community Support Systems of Haitian Immigrants, circa 1973-1988
Series 5: Publications, manuscripts, and associated research files, circa 1960-2005
Series 6: Presentations, workshops, and conferences, 1969-2000
Series 7: Professional development files, 1955-2008
Series 8: Personal files, circa 1930-2009
Series 9: Scholarly literature and bibliographies, circa 1970s-1980s, undated
Series 10: Unprocessed material
Biographical Note:
Vivian Eva Garrison, known as "Kelly" to friends and colleagues, was an applied medical anthropologist who researched the cultural understandings and community treatment structures surrounding mental illness and mental health care among low-income, minority, and migrant communities the New York metropolitan area. She worked predominantly with African American, Hispanic, and Caribbean migrant populations in the South Bronx and in Newark, New Jersey.
Garrison was born on August 28, 1933 in Butte, Montana. She earned a B.A. in Spanish and psychology from New York University in 1961 and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University in 1972. Her dissertation, Social Networks, Social Change and Mental Health among Migrants in a New York City Slum, was completed in 1971.
Garrison conducted her research under the purview of various federal and state grants to examine community mental health care. The majority of her research was completed at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, at the College/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and at Columbia University.
Throughout her career, Garrison acted as a consultant in matters of folk healing and community health care and published frequently on folk healing, espiritismo, psychiatry, and psychiatric methodology. She taught intermittently, including teaching one semester of Margaret Mead's "Problems and Methods in Anthropology" course at Columbia University (1979). She also contributed to the President's Commission on Mental Health in 1977-1978.
Garrison married anthropologist Conrad M. Arensberg in 1973 and died in April 2013 at the age of 79.
Chronology
1933 August 28 -- Born in Butte, Montana
1961 -- B.A. New York University (Spanish and Psychology)
1965-1969 -- Research Scientist, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grant "Study of Neighborhood Centers and Mental Health Aides," Lincoln Hospital Mental Health Services, Yeshiva University Albert Einstein College of Medicine
1969-1972 -- Assistant Professor and Staff Member, Program Information and Assessment Section, Connecticut Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
1972 -- Ph.D. Columbia University (Anthropology)
1972-1973 -- Senior Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University
1972-1975 -- Senior Research Associate and Principal Investigator, NIMH Grant "Folk Healers and Community Mental Health Programming," Department of Anthropology, Columbia University
1973 -- Married Conrad M. Arensberg
1974-1985 -- Assistant to Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Mental Health Science, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), New Jersey Medical School
1976-1982 -- Principal Investigator, U.S. Public Health Grant "Inner-City Support Systems," UMDNJ
1979 -- Senior Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University,
1980-1984 -- Director, Resource Center for Multicultural Care and Prevention, UMDNJ
1982-1984 -- Principal Investigator and Director, NIMH Grant "Community Support Systems of Haitian Immigrants," UMNDJ
1982-1984 -- Project Director, "Culturally Sensitive Case Management Training," State of New Jersey, Division of Mental Health and Hospitals, UMDNJ
1983-1986 -- Associate Research Scholar, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University
1984-1985 -- Principal Investigator, U.S. Public Health Grant "Community Support Systems of Haitian Immigrants," Columbia University
1984-? -- Visiting Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School, King/Drew Medical Center
1986-? -- Senior Research Associate, Teachers College, Columbia University, Institute for Urban and Minority Education
2013 April 2 -- Died
Related Materials:
Conrad M. Arensberg papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Separated Materials:
The films in this collection have been transferred to the Human Studies Film Archives, accession number HSFA/NAFC 2017-013. They are described in this finding aid.
Provenance:
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by the estate of Vivian Garrison Arensberg in 2017.
Restrictions:
The Vivian E. Garrison papers are open for research.
Certain materials in the collection contain personally identifiable information (PII) and personal health information (PHI). These materials are restricted for 80 years from the date of their creation. Restricted materials are noted in the following finding aid and have been removed to boxes 54-61.
Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings.
Access to the Vivian E. Garrison papers requires an appointment.
