Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Northampton, MA

From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information

About this item

Caleb Cooley Dickinson (a distant relative to Amherst’s Emily Dickinson) was a successful farmer from Hatfield, Massachusetts. In his 1882 will, he left the majority of his estate – $100,000 – to Northampton, a town just south of Hatfield, for the construction of a hospital. His relatives contested the will and managed to pry $13,000 away, but the $87,000 that remained was used to construct the Cooley Dickinson Hospital, completed on January 1, 1886. The terms of Dickinson’s will mandated that the hospital serve the communities neighboring Northampton “either gratuitously or at a moderate charge according to the circumstances.”  The hospital still exists and has remained a nonprofit institution.

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Details

Item typePostcard
PhotographerHugh C. Leighton Company, Manufacturers
Dateafter 1886
PlaceNorthampton, Massachusetts
TopicMedical, Health, Disease
EraRise of Industrial America, 1878–1899
Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928
Great Depression and World War II, 1929–1945
Counterculture, Civil Rights, and Cold War, 1946–1989
New Millennium, 1990–Present
MaterialPaper
Process/FormatPhotography; Printing
Dimension detailsHeight: 3.50 in Width: 5.50 in
Catalog #1997.08.01.0113
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Hugh C. Leighton Company, Manufacturers, photographer. Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Northampton, MA. Photograph. after 1886. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1997-08-01-0113/. Accessed on October 7, 2024.

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