Lawrence Kolb Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 279

Abstract

Dr. Lawrence Kolb was a pioneer in the medical approach to narcotics addiction treatment and in public health research and treatment of mental illness. He was one of the first to advocate treating drug addicts as patients, not criminals. The collection deals chiefly with the subjects of drug addiction, alcoholism, juvenile delinquency, and mental health.

Dates

1912-1972

Extent

5.8 Linear Feet (14 boxes)

Creator

Kolb, Lawrence, 1881-1972 (Person)

Physical Location

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

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Access Restrictions

Collection contains restricted material. Portions of the collection are restricted according to HMD's Access to Health Information of Individuals policy. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access. For access to the policy and application form, please visit https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/manuscripts/phi.pdf.

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

Dr. Lawrence Kolb was a pioneer in the medical approach to narcotics addiction treatment and in public health research and treatment of mental illness. He was born in Galesville, Md., Feb. 20, 1881, and graduated from the University of Maryland medical school in 1908. The next year he was commissioned an Assistant Surgeon in the Public Health Service. From 1913 to 1919, he was stationed at the Ellis Island, N.Y. Immigration Station specializing in the mental disease and illness of incoming aliens. During this same period, he also developed a program for the study and treatment of post-World War I patients suffering from war-caused neuroses. In 1923, Dr. Kolb came to Washington, D.C. and spent five years studying drug addiction and its relationship to crime. He was one of the first to advocate treating drug addicts as patients, not criminals. By 1934, Dr. Kolb was an international expert in the study of psychiatry and narcotics, and was appointed head of the PHS Narcotics Hospital in Lexington, KY. to lead the U.S. government's first experimental unit for treating drug addicts. His final duty station was as Chief of the PHS Mental Hygiene Division from 1938-1944. He was promoted to Assistant Surgeon General in 1942. His work there, along with that of Dr. Thomas Parran, led to the creation of the National Institute for Mental Health in 1946.

Collection Summary

Correspondence, reports, documents clippings, reprints and photos deal chiefly with the subjects of drug addiction, alcoholism, juvenile delinquency, and mental health. Among the correspondents are Clifford W. Beers, Rupert Blue, F. A. Carmelia, Hugh S. Cumming, Robert H. Felix, Richmond P. Hobson, Adolph Meyer, W. F. Ossenfort, Thomas Parran, C. C. Pierce, Carleton Simon, Walter L. Treadway, and Lloyd H. Ziegler.