Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary Register and Records, A Guide to the

An effort to isolate treatment of the eye and ear was fi rst made byDr. Charles Kipp in 1870 with the start of a special eye and ear clinicat St. Michael's Hospital, Newark. The Newark Charitable Eye andEar Infi rmary was formally established January 31, 1880, in theRankin mansion on High Street and Springfi eld Avenue by Dr. Kippand a Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees consisted of Dr.Kipp, Robert H. Ballantine of Ballantine Brewery, William Clark ofthe Clark Thread Company, Frederick Frelinghuysen, Esq., and Dr.William Rankin from a family of hat manufacturers. A second location at 77 Central Avenue was donated and built byRobert Ballantine from 1904-8 as a memorial to Dr. Kipp, whoplayed a leading role in the Infi rmary until his death in 1911. Wells P.Eagleton, another prominent physician, who was the fi rst tocomplete an internship and residency at the Infi rmary, was toremain with the Infi rmary until his death in 1946. In 1952, the fi rst plastic surgery clinic in the state was initiated at theInfi rmary under the direction of Dr. Eagelton's successor, Dr.Richard Swain. He also established the fi rst glaucoma clinic as wellas the Henry C. Barkhorn Memorial Hearing Center in 1953. In 1957, the Infi rmary and three other Newark organizations formed United Hospitals Medical Center. In1969, the Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infi rmary along with Children's Hospital and PresbyterianHospital moved their operations to the Medical Center Campus at 15 South Ninth Street. The forthmember of the consolidation, The Hospital for Crippled Children, is now United Hospitals OrthopedicDivision at Park Avenue and Clifton Street. The Eye Institute of New Jersey, an outpatient unit treatingophthalmologic subspecialties, is also a member of United Hospitals Medical Center. A Centennial Anniversary of the Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infi rmary at United Hospitals MedicalCenter was celebrated with a hospital reception on January 31, 1980. At that time, the Infi rmary'soriginal incorporation papers as well as surgical instruments were donated to the New Jersey HistoricalSociety. The 100th Anniversary was also celebrated in May 1980, at the Meadowlands Hilton, with a gala dinnerand formal tribute to Dr. Kipp to honor his founding role in the Infi rmary.

Dr. Charles J. Kipp (1838-1911) Biography Dr. Charles John [Jacob] Kipp was born October 22, 1838, in Hanover, Germany, to Henry and Minna (Dietrich). He came to the United States in 1854 and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in 1861. He worked as a surgeon for the United States Army until 1868. In 1870, he started the eye and ear clinic at St. Michael's Hospital, Newark, and in 1880, he helped establish the Newark Charitable Eye and EarInfirmary, where he remained its founding father.

Dr. Kipp achieved many accomplishments. He served as president of Babies' Hospital, Newark, the Society for Relief of Widows and Orphans of Medical Men of New Jersey, the Medical Society of New Jersey (1886), the American Ophthalmological Society (1907), the American Otological Society (1908),and as Vice President of the American Medical Society (1909).

In 1980, on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, tribute was paid to Dr. Kipp to honor his service and commitment to the Infirmary.

Dr. Wells P. Eagleton (1865-1946) Biography Wells Phillips Eagleton was born September 18, 1865, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Thomas Eagleton, MD and Mary Emma Phillips Eagleton. He began his studies at Brooklyn's Polytechnic Institute and completed his medical training at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, in 1888. In the same year, starting as their first intern and resident, he began a lifelong association with the Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. After Dr. Kipp's death in 1911, the Infirmary appointed him Medical Director, Superintendent, Chief of Staff and General Manager and would honor his achievements for fifty years of service and leadership by presenting him with the first Edward J. Ill Award on May 23, 1939.

During World War I, Dr. Eagleton was chief of head surgery at Camp Dix, New Jersey, and continued to specialize in neurosurgery as a civilian working as a consultant to many of the northern New Jersey hospitals. Two major works define his expertise in the pathology of brain infections and surgerytechniques: Brain Abscess: Its Surgical Pathology and Operative Treatment (1922) and Cavernous Sinus Thrombophlebitis (1929).

Dr. Eagleton played an active role in many medical societies. He served as president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, the American Otological Society, the New York Otological Society, the Medical Society of New Jersey, the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey, and of the Essex County Medical Society.

His interests extended to a variety of liberal health, education and welfare movements. He was a trustee of the State Commission for the Blind and The Newark Museum, President of the Newark Council of Social Agencies, and he promoted an amendment to the Workmen's Compensation Law in 1922.

Additionally, Dr. Eagleton actively shared and supported the interests of his wife, Florence Peshine, for women's rights and world peace. To this end, he gave the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey a brownstone adjacent to their own to house to be used as the Eagleton Civic Center and after his death in 1946, his wife established the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.