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COLLECTION Identifier: 82-M259

Papers of Elizabeth Rosenberg Zetzel, 1943-1970

Overview

Correspondence, lectures, course notes, biographical data, etc., of Elizabeth R. Zetzel, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.

Dates

  • Creation: 1943-1970

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Elizabeth Rosenberg Zetzel is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in other 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

3.42 linear feet (3 cartons, 1 file box)

This collection consists of biographical data, personal and professional correspondence; Elizabeth Rosenberg Zetzel's lectures and course notes; published papers and reviews, and unpublished papers.

BIOGRAPHY

Elizabeth Rosenberg Zetzel, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, was born in New York City, March 17, 1907, the daughter of James and Babette (Herman) Rosenberg. She was graduated from the Ethical Culture High School in 1924 and from Smith College with an A.B. in economics in 1928. She attended the London School of Economics as graduate student; while there, she became interested in medicine. She took her degree in medicine from London University in 1937, completed her training in psychoanalysis in 1938 and qualified as a psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in 1939. She was employed as an army psychiatrist in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II and after demobilization worked at the London Institute of Psychoanalysis and the Maudsley Hospital. She married Erich Guttman, neurologist and psychiatrist, in 1944 and, after his death in 1948, returned to the United States with their infant son, James. In June 1949 she married Dr. Louis Zetzel, a widower with two daughters. In Boston, her professional career combined research, teaching and psychiatric practice. She lectured at Harvard Medical School, 1950-1970, at Simmons College School of Social Work, 1953-1960, and was director of the Psychotherapy Study Center of the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, 1963-1970. Having registered and been lisensed as a physician in Massachusetts in January 1950, Elizabeth Rosenberg Zetzel was appointed psychiatrist at the Massachusetts General Hospital, 1951-1970, and at McLean' Hospital, 1958-1965, and analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, 1951-1970. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the International Psycho-Analytical Association (of which she was vice-president at the time of her death), and the American Psychoanalytic Association, and a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and of the Royal College of Physicians, London. She wrote many research papers, participated in numerous professional meetings, and was the author of two books: The Capacity for Emotional Growth, 1970, and, with William Meissner, Basic Concepts of Psychoanalytic Psychiatry, published posthumously in 1973, She died unexpectedly on November 22, 1970.

Physical Location

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

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession number: 82-M259

This collection was given to the Schlesinger Library by Dr. Louis Zetzel in December 1982.

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Carton 1: 1-40v
  2. Carton 2: 41-91
  3. Carton 3: 92v-145
  4. Box 4: 146-160

Processing Information

Preliminary inventory: February 1983

By: Jane S. Knowles

Title
Zetzel, Elizabeth Rosenberg, 1907-1970. Papers of Elizabeth Rosenberg Zetzel, 1943-1970: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch00990

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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