Melvin Sabshin Library & Archives
Named in honor of Melvin Sabshin, M.D., APA Medical Director from 1974 to 1997, the Melvin Sabshin Library & Archives has a primary mission to preserve and organize the official records of the Association.
The Library
The Sabshin Library serves as a state-of-the-art medical specialty library providing reference, research and document delivery services to APA members and staff. Click HERE for an historical overview of the Melvin Sabshin Library & Archives.
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The Bernstein Reference Center is the gateway to APA information as well as other resources useful to APA members. Dorothy M. Bernstein, M.S., M.D., was an esteemed member of the APA Committee on History & Library. A generous bequest from the estate of Drs. Dorothy and Irving Bernstein supports the Library's virtual library making APA DOCUMENTS available to members online (with selected documents also available to the public). The Bernstein Center also includes a full-text psychoanalytic library and a tests & measurements collection to support members' research. |
The Archives
The Archives is available to staff and members who need historical information to conduct APA business or for other research purposes. As staff time and resources permit, access to Archival materials is also granted to qualified researchers exploring the history of the APA or American psychiatry in general. For nonmembers, please see the APA Archives Access Policy and the Archives Access Request procedures. Click HERE for an historical overview of the Association.
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Archival Collections Overview
The APA Library & Archives was formally established in 1961 with the hiring of the first librarian. The collections date primarily from the mid-20th Century. For example, the records of the APA Council (now the Board of Trustees), established in 1891, are held from 1944 to present. The earlier history of the Association may be found in the "Official Actions" and other relevant sections of The American Journal of Psychiatry and its predecessor, The American Journal of Insanity, which are available from Volume 1 (1844) to present through online subscription to the Psychiatry Legacy Collection. See the fnding aids for APA governance bodies for more detailed information.
In addition to governance records, there are collections from the tenures of two long-serving APA Medical Directors, Walter Barton, M.D. and Melvin Sabshin, M.D., as well as several collections for APA departments and projects. For example, the Archives contains approximately 35 linear feet of materials related to the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders covering the DSM-III and DSM-III-R (materials related to more recent editions are still retained as active files by the Office of Research).
Additionally, the Archives houses the manuscripts/personal papers of several prominent 20th Century psychiatrists as well as other influencial mental health advocates. There are also a few small collections related to other organizations such as the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the Association of Mental Health Clergy, and the Washington Psychiatric Society. |
The Marion E. Kenworthy Media Center
The Kenworthy Media Center was established in memory of Marion E. Kenworthy, M.D., pioneer in psychiatry and the first woman vice president of the Association. The Media Center houses the Library and Archives audiovisual collections, including the Video Library (most of this collection originated as the Institute on Psychiatric Serivces Video Rental Program) and Oral History Collection audiotapes.
The Garfield and Helen W. Tourney Rare Books Collection
The Tourney Rare Books Collection focuses on early works in medicine and the portrayal of mental illness. The core collection was donated to the APA by the Tourney family with additional major donations from Marion E. Kenworthy, M.D., and Adolf Meyer, M.D.