Coley, Bradley Lancaster, 1892-1961

Scope Note: Doctor Bradley Lancaster Coley, born in the late 19th Century, was a distinguished cancer surgeon who held positions on the staff of multiple institutions in addition to Memorial Hospital, including Hospital for Special Surgery, James Ewing Hospital, University Hospital, Bellevue Hospital, and Flower & 5th Avenue Hospital. He graduated from Yale in 1915 and received his medical degree from Columbia University in 1919. Coley’s career focused on neoplasms of the bone and related conditions. He joined the staff of Memorial Hospital in 1921, where he was later appointed Chief of Bone Service until his retirement in 1959, after 44 years of service. In the same year he became a Member Emeritus. His father, Doctor William B. Coley, began his association with the hospital in 1893 and worked there for 43 years. He was also as a prominent educator, holding professional posts at the Cornell University Medical College, New York University-Bellevue College of Medicine, and New York Medical College. During WWII, he served as surgical consultant in the Army Medical Corps with the rank of colonel and was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1945. He also held the position of Chief Surgeon of the New York Central Railroad for over 25 years. Among his other accomplishments, he co-founded the Amputees Alliance in the late 1940s and published a book, Neoplasms of Bone and Related Conditions: Their etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment in 1949. Bradley Coley died in June of 1961.

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