Public Health Library

The Collections of the Milton Helpern Library of Legal Medicine

The Public Health Library of the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene holds the Milton Helpern Library of Legal Medicine and related archival materials from Dr. Milton Helpern's tenure as Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York was established by an act of the New York State Legislature on April 4, 1915. On January 1, 1918, the act took effect, replacing the political office of coroner with the civil service position of Chief Medical Examiner. The mission statement and additional information on the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is available from its website.

Milton Helpern, M.D.

Milton Helpern was the third Chief Medical Examiner for New York City. He was born on April 17, 1902 in East Harlem, New York, attended public schools, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from City College in 1922. He received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 1926. In 1931, after completing a clinical internship and a residency in pathology at Bellevue Hospital, he became an assistant medical examiner in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In 1943, he was promoted to deputy chief medical examiner. Helpern was appointed Chief Medical Examiner in 1954 and retired from that position in 1973. He died in 1977.

Helpern was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine at New York University's School of Medicine from 1954-1974 and was on the faculty of Cornell University Medical College. He served as president of the Medical Society of the County of New York, and was a cofounder of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the National Association of Medical Examiners.

Helpern wrote extensively for journals, contributed chapters to several publications, and spoke frequently at conferences and seminars. He brought attention to public health issues such as malaria among intravenous drug users, carbon monoxide poisoning, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. With Dr. Thomas A. Gonzales, New York's second Chief Medical Examiner, and Dr. Benjamin M. Vance, Helpern wrote the textbook Legal Medicine and Toxicology. He was editor-in-chief of the International Microfilm Journal of Legal Medicine and served on the editorial boards of medical journals in the United States and Europe.

The following references provide more information about Dr. Milton Helpern:

• • Milton Helpern, Ex-Chief Medical Examiner, 75, Dies. New York Times. April 23, 1977: 22.
• • Eckert, WG. He Learned from the Dead to Help the Living. Journal of Legal Medicine. 1977 Oct; 5(10): 54-56.
• • Helpern, M., with Knight, B. Autopsy: The Memoirs of Milton Helpern, The World's Greatest Medical Detective. New York: St. Martin's Press; 1977.
• • Houts, M. Where Death Delights: The Story of Dr. Milton Helpern and Forensic Medicine. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd; 1967.

The Milton Helpern Library of Legal Medicine

The Milton Helpern Library of Legal Medicine was established as an educational non-profit corporation on April 17, 1962, Milton Helpern's 60th birthday. It was the first library dedicated to legal medicine. Governed by a Board of Trustees of civil leaders and members of the legal and medical communities, the Library was granted a charter by the Board of Regents of New York State on November 16, 1966. The Library was supported by funding from New York University's School of Medicine, the New York Foundation, individual contributions, and fundraisers sponsored by the Friends of the Library. The Library also sponsored the publication of the International Microfilm Journal of Legal Medicine, later renamed the International Microform Journal of Legal Medicine.

The Library's collection contains books and journals relating to legal medicine, on subjects including medicine, law, pathology, physiology and toxicology, among others. Most are written in English, but there are publications in other languages, including Japanese, Russian, German, French and Portuguese. The collection also includes works of fiction with medico-legal themes.

The Collection at the Public Health Library

In July 2003, the collection from the Milton Helpern Library of Legal Medicine moved to the Public Health Library of the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. Journals from the Helpern Library are available for use by visitors and through interlibrary loan. The books are not yet cataloged, but are available for in-library use by visitors.

Dr. Helpern's archives are partially processed and contain festschrifts, reprints and manuscripts of Milton Helpern's publications, as well as selected works of his associates at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and collaborators at other institutions. The archives of the Milton Helpern Library of Legal Medicine contain correspondence and other information about the activities and maintenance of the Library. This archives is unprocessed. The collection also contains films and slides and other materials that have not been processed.

The collection was partially processed in the summer of 2004 by Sara J. Steen, an intern from the Palmer School of Library and Information Science of Long Island University.

Questions about the materials from the Milton Helpern Library of Legal Medicine can be sent to the Public Health Library at nycdohlb@health.nyc.gov. The Library is located at 455 First Ave., Rm. 1200, New York, NY 10016. For more information, visit the Public Health Library online, or call 311.