National Anthropological Archives

Guide to the Vivian E. Garrison papers, circa 1930-2009 (bulk 1960-1993)

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.2017-19
Creators:
Garrison, Vivian, 1933-2013
Dates:
circa 1930-2009
bulk 1960-1993
Languages:
Collection is primarily in English and Spanish. Additional material in the collection is in French and Haitian Creole. Some collection materials are written in shorthand.
Physical Description:
108.29 Linear feet
Repository:
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

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

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

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)
1962-1963
Administrative Assistant, Peace Corps, North Borneo (now Sabah, Malaysia)
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

Administration

Author
Katherine Madison
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
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.
Processing Information
The Vivian E. Garrison papers arrived at the National Anthropological Archives organized loosely by research institution and record type, which the archivist has translated into respective series.
Extensive weeding was undertaken within this collection to remove duplicate material and personal material (such as bank statements and shopping lists). These materials were removed and destroyed. In Series 9: Scholarly literature and bibliographies, only the material that was annotated or rare/unpublished was retained.
Processed and encoded by Katherine Madison, 2017-2018.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by the estate of Vivian Garrison Arensberg in 2017.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
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.
Conditions Governing Use
Contact repository for terms of use.
Preferred Citation
Vivian E. Garrison papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Related Materials
Conrad M. Arensberg papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

More Information

Orthography

Orthography
This finding aid uses "Vodou" as the primary term when referring to the African diasporic religion developed in Hait. However Vivian Garrison sometimes used the racist term "Voodoo" in her research materials. Garrison's descriptions on the physical folder have not be altered.

Selected Bibliography

Selected Bibliography
1971. Social Networks, Social Change and Mental Health Among Migrants in a New York City Slum. Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University Department of Anthropology.
1972. with G.L. Tischler, J. Henisz, and J.K. Myers. "Catchmenting and the use of mental health services." Archives of General Psychiatry 27: 389-392.
1972. with G.L. Tischler, J. Henisz, and J.K. Myers. "The impact of catchmenting." Administration of Mental Health 1: 22-29.
1973. with J. Henisz, J.K. Myers, and G.L. Tischler. "Matching social areas for evaluation research on community mental health centers." Yale University Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Health Services Research Program, WP 26.
1973. with P. Goldblatt, L. Brauer, J. Henisz, and M Malcombe-Lawes. "A chart review checklist for utilization review in community mental health centers." Hospital and Community Psychiatry 24(11): 753-756.
1974. with J.E. Henisz, P.P. Goldblatt, and H.R. Flynn. "A comparison of three approaches to patient care appraisal based on chart review." American Journal of Psychiatry 131(10):1142-1144.
1974. "Sectarianism and psychosocial adjustment: A controlled comparison of Puerto Rican Pentecostals and Catholics." In Religious Movements in Contemporary America. Irving I. Zaretsky and Mark P. Leone, (eds.). Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 298-329.
1975. with C.S. Thomas. "A general systems view of community mental health." In Progress in Community Mental Health, Vol. III. L. Bellak and H.H. Barten (eds.). New York: Bruner/Mazel, pp. 265-332.
1976. with C.M. Arensberg. "The evil eye: Envy or risk of seizure? Paranoia or patronal dependency?" In The Evil Eye, C. Maloney (ed.). New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 279-328.
1976. with C.S. Thomas. "A case of a Dominican migrant." In Contemporary Perspectives on Alienation, B. Laporte and C.S. Thomas (eds.). New York: Praeger, pp. 216-260.
1977. with Vincent Crapanzano (editors). Case Studies in Spirit Possession. New York: Wiley.
1977. "The Puerto Rican syndrome in Espiritismo and psychiatry." In Case Studies in Spirit Possession, V. Crapanzano and V. Garrison (eds.). New York: John Wiley.
1977. "Doctor, Espiritista, or Psychiatrist? Health-seeking behavior in a Puerto Rican neighborhood of New York City." Medical Anthropology 1(2): 65-191.
1979. with C. Weiss. "Dominican Family Networks and United States Immigration Policy: A Case Study." The International Migration Review 13(2): 264-283.
1978. "Support systems of schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic Puerto Rican migrant women in New York City." Schizophrenia Bulletin 4(4): 561-596. Reprinted in The Sociology of Mental Illness: Basic Studies, Oscar Grusky and Melvin Pollner (eds.). New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1981.
1979. with C.I. Weiss. "Dominican family networks and U.S. immigration policy: A case study." International Migration Review 13(2): 264-283.
1980. "Ecological anthropology in community mental health." American Psychological Association, Division of Community Psychology, Newsletter, Special Edition, Social Ecology in Community Psychology 13(3): 18-19.
1980. with Judith Podell. "'Community support systems assessment' for use in clinical interviews." Schizophrenia Bulletin 7(1): 101-108.
1982. "Folk healing systems as elements in the community: Support systems of psychiatric patients." In Healing Human Systems, Uri Rueveni, Ross V. Speck, Joan L. Speck, (eds.). New York: Human Sciences Press, pp. 58-95.
1986. Review: Spiritualist Healers in Mexico: Successes and Failures of Alternative Therapeutics by Kaja Finkler. American Anthropologist 88(4): 963-964.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
New York (State) -- New York City Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Jersey -- Newark Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Applied anthropology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clinical sociology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Medical anthropology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Medical policy Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Traditional medicine Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Espiritismo (Cult) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Spiritualism Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women anthropologists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arensberg, Conrad M. (Conrad Maynadier), 1910-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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