James Wenceslas Papez Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 416

Abstract

Neuroanatomist, member of the faculty of Emory University, 1914-1920, and Cornell Medical School, 1920-1950, and Director of the Laboratory for Biological Research, Columbus State Hospital, Ohio, 1951-1958. Contains correspondence, photographs, typescripts, diagrams, drawings, notes and printed matter chiefly documenting Papez' work in comparative neuroanatomy from 1920 to 1958, as well as his curatorship of the Wilder Brain Collection at Cornell University.

Dates

1898-1987

Extent

7.5 Linear Feet (7 boxes + oversize)

Creator

Papez, James W., b. 1883 (Person)

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Restrictions

Collection is not restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Donor's copyrights were transferred to the public domain. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

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Biographical Note

James W. Papez served on the faculty of Emory University, 1914-1920, and at the Cornell University Medical School in Ithaca, 1920-1950. From 1951 to 1958 he was Director of the Laboratory for Biological Research, Columbus State Hospital, Ohio. While at Cornell, Papez served as curator of the Wilder Brain collection and taught courses in anatomy and human development. Papez is probably best remembered for his 1937 article, "A Proposed Mechanism of Emotion" Archives of Neurology and Pathology 38 (1937): 725-743, which proposed that emotion is a physiological process dependent on definite anatomical mechanisms and thus added to the contemporary debate between psychologists and neuroscientists over the nature of emotion.

Collection Summary

The papers of neuroanatomist James W. Papez were acquired from Mrs. Kenneth E. Livingston in 1985. Her husband, Kenneth E. Livingston, assembled the Papez materials to document Papez' contribution to neuroscience and conducted oral histories with Papez' colleagues. (These oral histories can be found in HMD's oral history collection). The bulk of the material covers the period from 1920 to 1958, and includes correspondence, photographs, typescripts, diagrams, drawings, notes and printed matter. The collection documents Papez clinical work, publishing activities, and relationships with other neuroscientists, such as A.R. Vonderahe, Glenn Russell, Webb Haymaker and Paul Yakovlev. Correspondence from 1975 to 1982 deals with the gathering of Papez' papers and oral histories by Livingston. The collection also includes reprints by and about other prominent neuroscientists such as Harvey Cushing and Wilder Penfield. A card index to correspondence, books, and Papez's reprints is included in the collection.

Much of the collection consists of materials collected about Papez and the general field of neuroscience rather than Papez's original personal papers.