Scope and arrangement
The Michael Horowitz collection on Timothy Leary was created and maintained by Horowitz. Much of the correspondence and other writings are attributed to Leary. The collection documents Leary's relationship with his archivist and Horowitz's role as archivist, especially after the Leary archives were seized by the FBI. Overall, the files demonstrate Horowitz's care in maintaining the collection.
The majority of the correspondence is with Horowitz, Rosemary Woodruff, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Barker, Robert Anton Wilson, B.H. Friedman, and Wayne Benner.
Writings include those by Leary (many are original typescripts with annotations by Leary) and reflections by Horowitz on how he got involved with the archives, the events surrounding the seizure, the history of the archives, and notes on his interactions with Leary including visits to prison and Switzerland. Horowitz's Archivist's Bill of Rights and ARCANA (Archival Reality Conference Advocating Neutrality of Archivists) reflect his opinion on the professional ethics of archivists.
One of Leary's earliest writings, written in 1932 at age twelve, is a list of his ambitions located in box 1; in 1983 Leary checked off the items he had accomplished. His other writings include "Neurologic," "7 Liberations," "7 Oppressions," and "The Periodic Table of Energy" and various published and unpublished drafts from the 1980s. Horowitz's Timothy Leary bibliography project and Leary's Chaos and Cyberculture are well-represented with multiple drafts, notes, and correspondence.
A grouping of materials pertains to Leary's ideas on futuristic migration to space, specifically files on Starseed, Terra II, and the CHIP project. Two small silicon chips imprinted with a binary code message from higher intelligence, "The Starseed Transmission" are located in box 1.
There is one photo album in box 8 containing mostly personal photos of Leary, Horowitz, and their families. Boxes 14 to 16 contain clippings about Leary from mainstream and underground publications; Horowitz arranged these in chronological order by year. Other materials compiled by Horowitz include posters, flyers, and ephemera.
A detailed listing of items included in the collection can be found as an Additional Resource.
Arrangement
The collection is loosely organized into four sections based on Horowitz's description of the materials.