- unitid
-
{"value"=>"20726", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 141", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b11868584", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1946-1981", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1946/1981"}
{"value"=>"1946-1958", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1946/1958"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Lafargue Clinic records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"5 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1.67 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Lafargue Clinic was founded in 1946 as the first mental health clinic in Harlem by the well-known psychiatrist Fredric Wertham (director of the mental hygiene clinic at Queens General Hospital), along with novelist Richard Wright and Earl Brown, a staff writer for <span class=\"title\">Life</span>. The collection consists of material regarding the founding and operation of the clinic."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Lafargue Clinic (New York, N.Y.)", "type"=>"corpname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Lafargue Clinic was founded in 1946 by the well-known psychiatrist Fredric Wertham (director of the mental hygiene clinic at Queens General Hospital), along with novelist Richard Wright and Earl Brown, a staff writer for <span class=\"title\">Life</span>. Reverend Shelton Hale Bishop, rector of St. Philip's Episcopal Church, offered free use of the basement space in the parish house, where the clinic remained until its closing in 1959. The clinic was named after the nineteenth century Cuban physician, philosopher and social reformer, Paul Lafargue.</p> <p>As the first mental hygiene clinic in Harlem, Lafargue was established to provide low cost treatments (25 cents per visit for those who could afford it) to a primarily Black population. At the time, Black people in need of psychiatric care could not obtain treatment in most New York City hospitals and clinics due to racial discrimination. As originally conceived, the clinic was to concentrate on juvenile cases, as Dr. Wertham hoped to treat children to reduce the percentage of juvenile delinquency cases in Manhattan. Although it was assumed that the vast majority of the patients would be Black, the founders were determined that no color line would be drawn regarding either their patients or staff. In practice, Lafargue treated Black and white, adults and children, and aided patients from other parts of New York as well as Harlem.</p> <p>The emphasis of the Lafargue Clinic was not on testing, but on practical, intensive, and if necessary, prolonged psychotherapy. The clinic determined that in addition to mental disturbances induced by the special problems of a segregated minority, there were many diagnoses of neuroses and psychoses common in other communities. The staff was adamant that the patients be treated at Lafargue as they would by psychiatrists elsewhere. No referrals for appointments were necessary and although some patients were sent by the Veterans Administration and the State Department of Social Welfare, treatments at the clinic were voluntary.</p> <p>Lafargue Clinic received no public funding though it accepted contributions. By 1947, its all volunteer staff consisted of fourteen psychiatrists, twelve social workers, and other specialists and clerical workers. Among the professional staff were Dr. Hilde Mosse (Physician-in-Charge), Katherine Williams Battle, Peter Beron, Charles Collins (Black psychotherapist), Ernst Jolowicz, Andre Tweed (Black psychiatrist), and Luise Zucker. Dr. Wertham saw all new patients. The clinic was open only two evenings a week as the staff had private practices or worked for other institutions. In the early 1950s, Lafargue Clinic participated in one of the many legal cases leading up to the landmark Brown vs Board of Education decision to abolish school segregation. Based upon a 1951 study of Black and white children in Delaware undertaken by the Clinic, Dr. Wertham and the staff determined that school segregation caused mental health problems. Lawyers for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, representing a group of children and their parents who were contesting segregation in Wilmington, used the results of the study in that court case. The judge decided in favor of the plaintiffs, and African American children were admitted to two schools in Delaware which were not previously integrated. Several psychiatrists on staff published clinical studies based upon their experiences, among them Hilde Mosse and Fredric Wertham.</p>"}
- custodhist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The files were rescued and kept by Dr. Hilde Mosse following the closing of the clinic.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Lafargue Clinic records consist of material regarding the founding and operation of the clinic and includes correspondence, memoranda, statistics, articles, manuscripts, news clippings about the clinic, and news articles by or about the professional staff. Half the collection consists of patient records and files on the professional staff. There is also a transcript of an interview with Reverend Shelton Hale Bishop that discusses the history of the Church and Clinic.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Lafargue Clinic records are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20726#c648946'>ADMINISTRATIVE FILES</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1946-1958</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The ADMINISTRATIVE FILES series, 1946-1958 (.8 lin. ft. ) contains information about the establishment and operation of the clinic. Much of the correspondence concerns invitations for Drs. FredricWertham and Hilde Mosse to address school groups and organizations, primarily in New York City. Topics they spoke about include various aspects of mental health, discipline for children, and Dr. Wertham's 1954 study about the harmful effects of violent comic books on children and their relationship to juvenile delinquency, discussed in his book entitled Seduction of the Innocent. A letter dated September 1, 1956 written to Kenneth Clark by Dr. Mosse deplores the lack of mention of the 1951 desegregation study conducted by the Lafargue Clinic, at a conference about desegregation chaired by Clark in 1956.</p> <p>The folder \"Statistics, 1946-1956\" lists numbers of patients broken down by race, gender, adult or child, number of visits, and patient fees. The diagnoses and whether the individual improved are also provided, as are the names of the patients. The professional background of the staff is also indicated. The folders \"Clinic Routine\" contain information concerning the way the staff should take the patient's history, critiques of staff and related comments, 1949-1953.</p> <p>The professional staff record, 1947-1966, contain applications and letters of recommendation for clinic employees, curriculum vitae and/or resumes, performance evaluations, conference programs, and letters of recommendation Dr. Mosse wrote for her own staff, some personal letters to her, notes she prepared, and other correspondence. The staff represented in these files include Kathryn Williams Battle, Charles Collins, and Ernst Jolowicz. Several of the staff immigrated to the United States from Europe before and during World War II, and they relate their experiences in these files.</p> <p>This series also includes printed information prepared by Lafargue Clinic; this publicity encompasses reprints and news clippings, 1946-1958.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20726#c648985'>PATIENT RECORDS</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20726#c648987'>WRITINGS</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>In the series WRITINGS, 1946-1981 (.3 lin. ft.) additional descriptions can be found concerning the clinic written by the staff, particularly several drafts of a chapter for an unpublished book by Mosse, \"Child Psychiatry and Social Action,\" 1981. There are also published articles by Mosse and Wertham. An NBC television script \"The House I Enter: A Portrait of the American Doctor\" includes a scene of an interview with Wertham at Lafargue Clinic in 1957. This series also contains reviews of his book, Seduction of the Innocent.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Arranged into 3 series: (1) Administrative files; (2) Patients; and (3) Writing.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of George Mosse, 1982.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Transferred to General Research and Reference Division: books and magazines</p> <p>Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs</p> <p>Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division: audio materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Janice Quinter, 2005.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Readers must sign a confidentiality form for access to patient case files and personnel records.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1946
- keydate
-
1946
- date_end
-
1981
- date_inclusive_start
-
1946
- date_inclusive_end
-
1981
- date_bulk_start
-
1946
- date_bulk_end
-
1958
- extent_statement
-
1.67 linear feet (5 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], Lafargue Clinic records, Sc MG 141, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}