Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Archives related to: Wark, Ralph Henry

title	Hans Caspar Syz papers, 1911-1991
repository	Yale University Library
description	The Hans Caspar Syz papers document Syz's career as a psychiatrist and scholar, and highlight his research and professional activities as secretary (1927-1950) and president (1951-1991) of the Lifwynn Foundation. Through Syz's extensive correspondence, notes, reflections and writings, the papers document the development of the foundation from its inception as an experimental community in 1923, through many changes in its mandate and membership, until Syz's death in 1991. They chronicle Syz's efforts to publicize and promote the foundation's alternative approaches to mental health and interpersonal conflict. Researchers interested in the establishment and work of the Foundation will find it helpful to use this collection in conjunction with the Trigant Burrow Papers and the Lifwynn Foundation Records in Manuscripts and Archives. The papers are organized into six series. Aside from Series VI, Ceramics files, which relates to Syz's activities as a prominent ceramics collector, the papers all relate to Syz's activities as a psychiatrist. General Files, Series I, which includes correspondence and memoranda of meetings documents Syz's contacts in the psychiatric and psychoanalytic communities. Series II, Notes, and III, Writings and Research Materials, which constitute one half of the collection, traces Syz's intellectual development, both in conjunction with and independent from Burrow. Series IV, Clinical Files, consists primarily of case notes and clinical observations, which document the traditional approaches to psychiatric work Syz encountered in hospital clinics in Baltimore and New York. Series V, Lifwynn Foundation Files, record the day-to day administration and ongoing research of the foundation and its staff. There is only a small amount of material in the papers representing Syz's years as a medical student in Zürich, Munich and Geneva. Limited correspondence with Alfred Alder, Eugen Bleuler, Ludwig Binswanger and Oskar Pfister documents Syz's contacts and interests during this period (Series I). Syz's book Of Being and Of Meaningis based upon philosophical and mystical reflections recorded during his years in Switzerland. Notes from this period can be found in Series II, while manuscripts for the book are found in Series III. Syz's psychophysiological research, psychiatric practice and instruction under Adolf Meyer at the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic of the Johns Hopkins University is documented in Series III and IV. Several sources of information outline Syz's own professional affiliations. Series V contains a compilation of biographical data on Syz. Series IV and several correspondence files in Series I document Syz's work in major New York hospitals. Conference notes found in Series V give an indication of Syz's involvement with numerous professional organizations, as do the correspondence files pertaining to these organizations in Series I. There are numerous sources for researchers interested in the establishment, ideals and early activities of Burrow's experimental community in Series I, II, and V. Correspondence in Series I, Syz's autobiographical notes in Series II, and staff papers and inter-office correspondence of Series V depict a closely-knit and highly dedicated group of students and staff. In the first two decades of the Lifwynn Foundation's life, these included Trigant Burrow and his family, Charles Shields (associate), Charles Baker Thompson (associate), Alfreda Payson Sill (student and manager of facilities), her daughter Alfreda Sill Galt (student, later Secretary), her husband William Egleston Galt (associate), Miriam Bredow (staff), Rosalind Bruce (student), Aimee and Flora Guggenheimer (students and volunteers), Nelly Holljes (student) and Florence Weingartner (staff). The activities of the foundation during the 1950s can be traced through the work of two active associates, Lloyd Gilden and Björn Merker, in files in series I and IV. The foundation's work to systematically distribute Burrow's publications, as well as their own interpretations and extensions of his work, can be seen in correspondence with numerous individuals and communities concerned with psychosocial interventions in intergroup conflict. Syz's colleague Alfreda Galt, who succeeded him as secretary of the foundation, initiated much of this correspondence, which is filed in Series V. For correspondence documenting the attention paid to Burrow's work in the late 1950s by a new generation of psychologists and therapists interested in group processes, consult the files in Series I for discussions with colleagues such as Alfred Korzybski, J.L. Moreno, S.H. Foulkes, Nathan Ackerman, and Nina Bull. These files shed light on Burrow's influence on fields such as family therapy and group psychoanalysis. Language Note: The materials are in English. Associated Materials: Trigant Burrow Papers (MS 1370). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. Lifwynn Foundation Records (MS 1681). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
extent	36.75 linear feet
formats	Business Papers Personal Papers Correspondence Notes Writings
access	Boxes 77 and 78 and folder 91 in CF5 are restricted until 2026 June 1.
record link	http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1624
record source	http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1624
finding aid	Online and in repository.
acquisition information	The Hans Caspar Syz Papers were a gift of the estate of Hans Syz. Manuscripts and Archives appreciates the work done by Penny White of the Lifwynn Foundation, who initially organized the papers and prepared them for transfer to Yale University. Funding for the processing of these papers was made possible through the generosity of the estate of Hans Syz.
updated	03/16/2023 10:30:06
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