Professional matters, 1902, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1932

File — Container: 2, Folder: 24

Scope and Contents note

From the Collection: The Daniel Joseph McCarthy Papers document portions of McCarthy’s medical career, particularly his writings and addresses on psychiatry and medical jurisprudence. The collection contains three series: “Writings and Addresses,” “Subject Files,” and “Correspondence” arranged by the amount of material in each series. The collection’s date range is 1902, 1921 to 1933, and undated. Researchers interested in the medical career of Daniel Joseph McCarthy, or in early-twentieth century medical jurisprudence and psychiatry practice will find relevant material in this collection.

The “Writings and Addresses” series contains writings and addresses on a range of psychiatric and legal issues, written mostly by McCarthy. The series contains two subseries: “By Daniel Joseph McCarthy” and “By Others,” arranged by the amount of material in each subseries. The series dates from 1921 to 1933, and undated. The “By Daniel Joseph McCarthy” subseries contains writings and addresses from McCarthy’s career, covering topics such as depression psychosis, psycho-neurotic reactions to war, dementia praecox, functional neurosis, morphine addiction, and legal responsibilities in medicine. This is the largest group of records in the collection. The subseries also includes manuscript notes and newspaper articles written by McCarthy. In several instances McCarthy wrote essays and delivered speeches on the same topic, therefore folders in this subseries are not separated by their format. Instead, folders are arranged alphabetically by title and subject regardless as to whether they were intended as a speech or essay. The majority of folders are labeled according to McCarthy’s original title, however some were left untitled. In these instances the folders were labeled by the writing’s subject if it could be easily identified. A few folders could not be identified, in which case they were placed at the end of the subseries and labeled “unidentified.” The subseries dates from 1921 to 1933, and undated.

The “By Others” subseries contains three writings by other authors. The subseries includes an article from Collier’s Magazine, titled "Happiness, Like Health, is for Everybody," where the authors reference the work of Daniel Joseph McCarthy. There is also a folder containing several newspaper articles with references to McCarthy, particularly his theory on the process of aging. The folders are arranged alphabetically, and date from 1924 to 1925, 1929 to 1930, and undated.

The “Subject Files” series contains four folders of patient information and meeting notes. Included is a list of one hundred patients seen by McCarthy, as well as some notes from a Neurological Society meeting. The final folder contains “Miscellaneous notes,” which were found in the collection without information on their context. The folders are arranged alphabetically, with miscellaneous notes appearing at the end of the series. The series in undated.

The “Correspondence” series contains three folders of letters exchanged between Daniel Joseph McCarthy and others. One folder contains letters of “Professional matters,” largely regarding requests to participate in professional events or review medical literature. The other folder of interest includes several letters sent to McCarthy reacting to his article on aging in 1929. The folders are arranged alphabetically and date from 1902, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1932, and undated.