Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
J. Allen Gilbert Papers, circa 1888-1990
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Gilbert, J. Allen (1867-1948)
- Title
- J. Allen Gilbert Papers
- Dates
- circa 1888-1990 (inclusive)
- Quantity
- 1.5 linear feet (3 document cases and 1 scroll)
- Collection Number
- Mss 2987
- Summary
- J. Allen Gilbert (1867-1948) was a medical doctor and physiology professor. The papers consist of correspondence (1926-1948) from Gilbert to his daughter Dorothea Gilbert. The correspondence also includes brother Jess B. Gilbert, father-in-law Jacob G. Zerwekh, Abbie Plum, Nan Britton, and various friends and acquaintances. The collection contains photocopies of Gilbert's correspondence with Dr. Carl Gustav Jung and related materials (1926-1967), and photocopies of a few letters between Gilbert and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1922). The material includes several of Gilbert's published and unpublished articles for professional journals (circa 1897-1938), an unpublished manuscript "The Curse of Intellect" (1934), and a copy of his book, True and False Sex Alarms (1916). A Gilbert family genealogy (circa 1910) and ephemera are contained in the collection.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open to the public.
- Languages
- English, German
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
J. Allen Gilbert (April 5, 1867-April 18, 1948) was a medical doctor and physiology professor who resided in Portland, Or. Raised in Dayton, Ohio, Gilbert attended several schools, including the Union Biblical Seminary and Yale University. He attained his medical degree in 1901. In 1901, after Gilbert married Florence A. Zerwekh, the couple relocated to Portland, Or., where he started his career as a Professor of Physiology at the Dental School of North Pacific College (later the University of Oregon Dental School). Their daughter, Dorothea, was born in 1906. Florence Gilbert died on December 17, 1917, which prompted her husband to undertake a worldwide search for her spirit. However, after seven years he called off the quest, declaring it a failure. Gilbert and his daughter wrote extensively to each other from the 1920s to the 1940s. He corresponded with various individuals during his lifetime, including Dr. Carl Gustav Jung and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Materials consist of correspondence (1926-1948) from J. Allen Gilbert to his daughter Dorothea Gilbert. Letters document Gilbert's professional and personal relationships and provide details about his travels around North America and Europe. Other correspondents include brother Jess B. Gilbert, father-in-law Jacob G. Zerwekh, Abbie Plum, Nan Britton, and various friends and acquaintances. The collection contains photocopies of Gilbert's correspondence with Dr. Carl Gustav Jung and related materials (1926-1967), and photocopies of a few letters between Gilbert and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1922). Gilbert's correspondence with Dorothea addresses many topics, including medical techniques, psychology in social work, personal relationships, and family affairs. Letters also contain Gilbert's opinions on sociology, philosophy, spiritualism, public welfare, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and racism in the South. The material reflects his somewhat volatile relationships with Dorothea, other family members, and friends. The collection includes several of Gilbert's published and unpublished articles for professional journals (circa 1897-1938), and an unpublished manuscript "The Curse of Intellect" (1934). Gilbert's articles address the topics of psychology, human values in education, spiritualism, and treatment of homosexuality. A copy of Gilbert's book, True and False Sex Alarms (1916), a Gilbert family genealogy (circa 1910), and ephemera are included in the collection.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any publication use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Preferred Citation
J. Allen Gilbert Papers, Mss 2987, Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The correspondence and professional writings are arranged chronologically in folders.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Dr. Frederick E. Ellis, 1995 and 1998 (Accession numbers 22443 and 23770).
Processing Note
Papers were originally received in two donations and assigned two manuscript numbers, Mss2987 and Mss2987-1. Materials have been consolidated under manuscript number Mss2987. The correspondence in folders 2/5, 2/6 and 2/7, and the book True and False Sex Alarms were originally designated as Mss2987-1.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1/1 | Correspondence--San Francisco
trip
J. Allen Gilbert to Dorothea Gilbert and Eugene C. and Evelyn L.
Horton
|
July-August 1926 |
| 1/2-4 | Correspondence--London
trip
J. Allen Gilbert to Dorothea Gilbert
|
September 1926 |
| 1/5-7 | Correspondence--London and Scotland
trips
J. Allen Gilbert to Dorothea Gilbert
|
October 1926 |
| 1/8 | Correspondence--London, Paris &
Zurich trips
J. Allen Gilbert to Dorothea Gilbert
|
November-December 1926 |
| 1/9 | Correspondence
J. Allen Gilbert and Annie L. Sears to Dorothea Gilbert
|
1928-1929 |
| 1/10 | Correspondence
J. Allen Gilbert to Dorothea Gilbert
|
1930-1939 |
| 1/11 | Postcards from cross-country trips
& Portland, Or.
J. Allen Gilbert and Annie L. Sears to Dorothea Gilbert
|
1926, 1935-1939 |
| 1/12 | Correspondence
J. Allen Gilbert to Dorothea Gilbert
|
1940-1947 |
| 1/13 | Correspondence
J. Allen Gilbert to Dorothea Gilbert and Eugene C. and Evelyn L.
Horton
|
undated |
| 2/1 | Correspondence--J. Allen
Gilbert
Photocopies of correspondence with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr.
Charles Clark Sweet of Sing Sing Prison
|
1922, 1931 |
| 2/2 | Correspondence--Dr. Carl Gustav
Jung
Photocopies of correspondence between J. Allen Gilbert and
Jung.
Correspondence between Dorothea Gilbert and Dr. Gerhard Adler.
|
1926-1967 |
| 2/3 | Correspondence--J. Allen Gilbert & Abbie M. Plum | 1936-1937 |
| 2/4 | Correspondence--J. Allen
Gilbert
H. Godwin Baynes, Nan Britton, Katherine L. Bush, Ruth Gilbert
(?), Eleanor Gile, Arthur Stanley Riggs, Mr. Skiff, publishing company
representatives, and others
|
1921-1947 |
| 2/5-7 | Correspondence
J. Allen Gilbert to Dorothea Gilbert, Jess B. Gilbert, Mr. and
Mrs. Skiff, Jacob G. Zerwekh, and others. Jess B. Gilbert to J. Allen Gilbert.
Jacob G. Zerwekh to J. Allen Gilbert and unidentified niece.
|
1939-1948 |
| 2/8 | Correspondence--Dorothea
Gilbert
Harriet Bartlett, Harry S. Bressler, Annie L. Sears, and
others.
Photographs of Dorothea, house, and nurse with baby.
|
circa 1929-1956 |
| 2/9 | Professional writings--Dorothea
Gilbert
"The Dilemma of Social Work" and notes
|
circa 1937-1945 |
| 2/10 | Correspondence and
obituaries--Florence Gilbert
Florence Gilbert to Annie L. Sears
|
1904-1917 |
| 2/11 | Writings--Florence
Gilbert
"Spiritual Development of the Child in the Home" and notes
|
circa 1910 |
| 2/12 | Correspondence--Jacob G.
Zerwekh
Zerwekh, father of Florence Gilbert, to J. Allen & Dorothea
Gilbert
|
1941 |
| 2/13 | Correspondence--fragments | circa 1925-1945 |
| 2/14 | Professional writings--J. Allen
Gilbert
Articles in University of Iowa Studies in
Psychology. Reprints of articles from American
Medicine, Medical Record, Medical Sentinel,
and unidentified journals.
|
circa 1897-1921 |
| 2/15 | Professional writings--J. Allen
Gilbert
Article in the Journal of the American
Society for Psychical Research, draft of preface and first chapter for
unidentified manuscript, and fragments of articles.
|
circa 1910-1938 |
| 2/16 | Professional writings--J. Allen
Gilbert
Manuscripts of articles, "The Discouragements of Social Work" and
"Am I a Church Member?"
|
circa 1910-1920 |
| 3/1 | Professional writings--J. Allen
Gilbert
Reprint of article from the Journal of
Nervous and Mental Diseases, "Homo-sexuality and its Treatment," in
which Gilbert describes his treatment of Alberta Lucille Hart/Dr. Alan L. Hart.
Photocopy of manuscript of article, "Human Values in the Public School."
|
circa 1920 |
| 3/2 | Manuscript, "The Curse of
Intellect" by J. Allen Gilbert
Preface by Dr. Carl Gustav Jung
|
1934 |
| 3/3 | Book, True and False Sex Alarms by J. Allen Gilbert | 1916 |
| 3/4 | Newspaper clippings
Article about Dorothea Gilbert and editorials
|
circa 1926-1956 |
| 3/5 | Degrees and academia
Otterbein University, Almae Universitatis Lipsiensis, and
Univerfität Leipzig
|
1889, 1897-1898 |
| 3/6 | Ephemera
Materials include London tour map, photograph of Dorothea Gilbert
and others at party, and photograph of child
|
circa 1888-1967 |
| 3/7 | Poems
Poems by M. H. Wallace and unidentified
|
undated |
| 3/8 | Cosmopolitan
Magazine article clippings
"How Does One Really Touch a Man?" and "Money & Marriage"
|
circa 1985-1990 |
| scroll | ||
| Gilbert family genealogy by J.
Allen Gilbert
Data recorded on scroll.
|
circa 1910 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Clinical health psychology--Oregon--Portland.
- Educational psychology.
- Physicians--Oregon--Portland--Correspondence.
- Psychiatric social work--Oregon--Portland.
- Psychoanalysis and homosexuality.
- Public welfare--Oregon--Portland.
- Racism--Southern States.
- Sex instruction--Oregon--Portland.
- Southern States--Race relations.
- Spiritualism--Oregon--Portland.
Personal Names
- Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930--Correspondence.
- Gilbert, Dorothea---Correspondence.
- Gilbert, J. Allen (Joshua Allen), 1867-1948--Correspondence. (creator)
- Gilbert, Jess B.--Correspondence.
- Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav), 1875-1961---Correspondence.
- Plum, Abbie---Correspondence.
- Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.
Corporate Names
- University of Oregon. Dental School.
Family Names
- Gilbert Family.
Form or Genre Terms
- Articles.
- Genealogies.
- Letters.
