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COLLECTION Identifier: MC 460

Papers of Henriette T. Glatzer, 1908-1997

Overview

Papers of clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Henriette T. Glatzer.

Dates

  • Creation: 1908-1997

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

TERMS OF USE

Access. Case notes (#22-27) from individual and group therapy and case-related correspondence (#33) are closed until January 1, 2026.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. The donor has transferred any copyright she held in these papers to the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in some papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

2.71 linear feet ((6+1/2 file boxes) plus 1 folio folder, 5 photograph folders)

The collection consists primarily of papers relating to Glatzer's education and training, such as case notes (for individuals as well as for mothers' groups), thesis, papers; and correspondence and papers regarding her professional life. There are no papers from her private practice. Folder headings used by Glatzer are enclosed by { }; quotes " " are used for unpublished articles, speeches, typescripts (ts.) of working papers. Case notes (#22-27) as well as correspondence re: a case (#33) are closed to research until January 1, 2026.

Series I, Personal and biographical (#1-13), contains awards, biographical sketches, clippings, curricula vitae, photographs, and a folder of personal correspondence. There are two folders relating to William Glatzer and Helen Durkin.

Series II, Education and training (#14-27), consists of class notes (mss.), papers, and thesis; recommendations and transcripts, etc.; and notes from both individual cases and her mothers' groups in the 1940s to 1950s during her practicum. For the individual case notes, there were only folders for H-N.

Series III, Professional writing and correspondence (#28-87), is organized into four main sections: Correspondence, Notes (re: her writings and talks), Papers and Articles, and Reprints. Glatzer kept a separate group of folders labeled "Reprint requests" that is filed at the end of the Correspondence section, even though some of the correspondence in the main series contains reprint requests and thanks. The Papers and Articles section is primarily typescripts of her published articles (some containing manuscript (manuscripts) notes), workshop presentations, and talks (other papers are scattered throughout Series IV). There are also a few folders devoted to an unpublished manuscript, "Relationship Therapy," that Glatzer and Helen Durkin co-wrote but never finished (#78-80). A few folders at the end of this series contain articles, correspondence, and notes re: papers by other psychologists.

Series IV, Professional organizations (#88-126), is arranged chronologically by organization. In the sections for the American Group Psychotherapy Association and Postgraduate Center, there are a large number of conferences and workshops. Glatzer was either reading a paper at a conference or chairing a workshop. The papers include correspondence, notes, papers (typescripts), minutes, memos, newsletters, photographs, and programs. At the end of this series is a short group of unaffiliated talks and workshops, consisting of correspondence, papers, and notes.

BIOGRAPHY

Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Henriette T. Glatzer was born on November 1, 1906, in New York, New York, the daughter of Samuel I. and Jennie (Busloff) Gordon. She attended New York University (B.A., 1928), Columbia University (M.A., 1938), and the New School of Social Research (Ph.D., 1954). On December 21, 1934, she married William Glatzer; they had two children: Stephen Gordon and John Zachary. William Glatzer died in 1978.

Glatzer introduced group therapy to adolescents' and mothers' groups at a time (1939-1940) when this therapeutic approach was not yet well established. She was also a pioneer in working with transference and countertransference in group therapy. While at Columbia University, Glatzer did a practicum for Dr. John Levy's course at the Brooklyn Child Guidance Center of the Juvenile Protective Association in New York (1937-1947) where she met fellow students Helen Durkin and Jeanette Hirsch. Using Levy's relationship approach towards therapy, the three began conducting individual therapy sessions with children and group sessions with the children's mothers. They formed mothers into group for sessions instead of offering individual sessions primarily for staffing reasons, but they found the group sessions had great success.

Other positions held by Glatzer included senior supervising psychologist and head of the group therapy department, Guidance Center of New Rochelle (1942-1957); private practice (1946- ); director of the group psychotherapy program, New Hope Guild Psychiatric Center, Adelphi University (1957-1959); visiting lecturer (1956-1959) and supervising psychologist (1959- ) at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health in New York City (originally the Postgraduate Center for Psychotherapy); consultant at Associated Therapists in White Plains, New York (1962-1972); and assistant clinical professor, Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1967-1977). She was the first woman and first psychologist to be elected president of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA).

Glatzer was a fellow of the American Orthopsychiatric Association and the American Group Psychotherapy Association. She was also a member of the American Psychological Association, Council for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists, New York Society of Clinical Psychologists, Westchester Psychological Association, New York State Psychological Association, New York Academy of Science, and the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Association.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in four series:

  1. I. Personal and biographical
  2. II. Education and training
  3. III. Professional writing and correspondence
  4. IV. Professional organizations

Physical Location

Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 97-M150, 97-M165, 98-M30, 98-M48, 98-M110

These papers were given to the Schlesinger Library by Henriette T. Glatzer between December 1997 and June 1998. The last accession was sent by her daughter-in-law, Joan Goodman.

SEPARATION RECORD

Donor: Henriette T. Glatzer

Accession numbers: 97-M150, 97-M165, 98-M30, 98-M48, 98-M110

Processed by: Glynn Edwards

The following items have been removed from the collection and were returned to the donor in December 1999:

  1. Bulletin of Information: Postgraduate Center for Psychotherapy, 1956-1961
  2. Information Bulletin: Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, 1963-1971

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Box 1: 1-9, 14-21, 28-29
  2. Box 2: CLOSED (22-27, 33)
  3. Box 3: 30-32, 34-41
  4. Box 4: 42-64
  5. Box 5: 65-80
  6. Box 6: 81-101
  7. Box 7: 102-106, 108-126

Processing Information

Processed: October 1999

By: Glynn Edwards

Title
Glatzer, Henriette T., 1906-2001. Papers of Henriette T. Glatzer, 1908-1997: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
Sponsor
This collection was processed with funds from Henriette T. Glatzer.
EAD ID
sch00030

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

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