Adolf Meyer correspondence

Abstract: This sub-collection consists of copies of letters from Adolf Meyer to Mr. Wilson, an administrative officer of Clark University of Worcester, Mass., and to Dr. G. Stanley Hall, president of Clark. The correspondence regards Meyer's work with the Worcester Lunatic Hospital and his teaching responsibilities at Clark.

Summary: Copies of letters from Adolf Meyer to Mr. Wilson, an administrative officer of Clark University of Worcester, Massachusetts, and to Dr. G. Stanley Hall, president of Clark University. The correspondence regards Meyer's work with the Worcester Lunatic Hospital and his teaching responsibilities at Clark.

Biog. Sketch (Full): Adolf Meyer was born 13 September 1866 in Niederwenigen, near Zurich, Switzerland. He received his medical degree in 1892 from the University of Zurich and emigrated to the United States the same year, where he began his career in psychiatry. He worked at the Kankakee, Illinois state hospital; the New York State Hospital Service Pathological Institute; the University of Chicago; Cornell University; Clark College (or University) of Worcester, Mass.; and was eventually appointed as psychiatrist-in-chief at John Hopkins in 1908, directing the development of the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic located there, which opened in 1913.

Meyer took a holistic approach to psychiatry, believing that a medical practitioner must fully understand a patient before he can begin treating the patient. He began using case histories in order to fulfill this goal and was an early member of the mental hygiene movement.

He married Mary Potter Brooks in 1902, and they had one daughter, Julia Lathrop Meyer. Adolf Meyer died 17 March 1950 at his home in Baltimore, Maryland.

Associated materials: Adolf Meyer collection, Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives, John Hopkins Medical Institutions. http://www.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/sgml/amg-d.htm