Navajo-Cornell Field Health Research Project records
name: label: Creator
content: United States. Public Health Service
label: Creator
content: Cornell University. Medical College. Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
place: label: Place
content: Navajo Indian Reservation
label: Place
content: North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Public health
label: Topic
content: Medical anthropology
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by Clifford Barnett.
creator: label: Creator
content: United States. Public Health Service
label: Creator
content: Cornell University. Medical College. Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
culture: label: Culture
content: Diné (Navajo)
physloc: label: Note
content: The collection is stored off-site. Advanced notice must be given to view the collection.
bioghist: label: Historical note
content: The project resulted from a contract between the Indian Health Division of the United States Public Health Service and the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine of the Cornell University College of Medicine. Its primary purpose was to provide modern health care to Navajos and to determine the effects of their culture on health care. Its broader purpose was to serve as a pilot for providing health care to people in other undeveloped areas. The project operations in the Many Farms-Rough Rock area of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. The records here were involved in one of the first problems encountered by the project, that of the inadequacy of ordinary means of matching patients to case files.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 44.5 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1956-1960
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.1989-63
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into 3 series: (1) Camp records; (2) referral and other records; (3) camp members book collection.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection is unprocessed.  Contact the repository for more information.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of case files. The camp files, which are individual files organized by numbers assigned to Navajo camps, are the fullest files. They generally include records of clinic visits, checklists of routine studies, personal records, diagnostic sheet, medical history questionnaires, physical examination forms, notes, immmunization records, laboratory reports, and referral notices. Some have a few additional records. Some folders are marked to indicate that the patients were part of a congenital hip study. The other folders often include only a record of clinic visits and notes.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Medical Center Archives of New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell holds related materials in the Records of the Navaho Cornell Field Health Project.