David Levy MD Papers, 1914-1977, bulk 1930-1950

Summary

Creator:
Levy, David M. (David Mordecai), 1892-
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of David M. Levy, a child psychiatrist who introduced the Rorschach test to the United States, was Chief of Staff at the New York Institute for Child Guidance, coined terms such as “sibling rivalry” and “maternal overprotection," and is credited with originating “activity play therapy,” in which children are encouraged to act out their emotions through play. The collection has 3 series: Personal Materials, General Correspondence, and Research Papers and Files, which has the sub-series Research Papers 1920s, Research Files 1930s and 1940s, Research Files 1940s and 1950s, Maternal Feelings, Maternal Overprotection/Rejection, Sibling Rivalry, Attitude Study, Kips Bay Attitude Study, Needle Study, Rorschach, Levy Movement Blots, Nazi Studies Information Control Division, Nazi Studies, Nazi Studies Postwar Germany, Tulane University, Society for Research in Child Development, Smith College Student Theses Reports of studies done at Institute for Child Guidance 1929-1932, Miscellaneous Research Files, and Miscellaneous Test Materials.
Extent:
126 boxes 53.13 linear feet
Language:
English German

Background

Scope and content:

The David M. Levy Papers, with the exception of some early college notebooks, date from approximately 1921 to the late 1960's, with the bulk of the collection falling between 1930 and 1950. In addition to correspondence with individuals and organizations and material related to Levy's many publications, the major portion of the collection deals with the research Levy engaged in over the years. The first series of the collection comprises Levy's Personal Materials, followed by professional correspondence alphabetically arranged in broad chronological sections in the series General Correspondence. Following this is the third series, Research Papers and Files, beginning with his general research notes of the 1920's through 1950's. The third series deals with large individual research projects, such as maternal feelings, maternal overprotection and rejection, sibling rivalry, his Attitude Study Project, which covered several years, and studies with the Rorschach Test and the Levy Movement Blots. In the third series, following the major research projects are sections on Levy's US Army experiences after World War II and work done at Smith College and Tulane University, as well as the Society for Research in Child Development. The collection closes with sections devoted to miscellaneous research and test materials as well as his files of case studies from the Institute for Child Guidance. The use of these case records is restricted. This third series has the following sub-series: Research Papers 1920s, Research Files 1930s and 1940s, Research Files 1940s and 1950s, Maternal Feelings, Maternal Overprotection/Rejection, Sibling Rivalry, Attitude Study, Kips Bay Attitude Study, Needle Study, Rorschach, Levy Movement Blots, Nazi Studies Information Control Division, Nazi Studies, Nazi Studies Postwar Germany, Tulane University, Society for Research in Child Development, Smith College Student Theses Reports of studies done at Institute for Child Guidance 1929-1932, Miscellaneous Research Files, and Miscellaneous Test Materials.

Biographical / historical:

David Mordecai Levy (1892-1977) was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, graduated from Harvard University in 1914, and received his M.D. from the University of Chicago in 1918. Dr. Levy's professional career was largely devoted to child psychiatry. After working with the Illinois Institute for Juvenile Research and the Children's Mental Hygiene Clinic at Michael Reese Hospital, he moved to New York in 1927, where for several years he was Chief of Staff of the New York Institute for Child Guidance. In 1933, he established his private practice in New York City.

In 1926-1927, David Levy worked and studied in Switzerland, after which he introduced the Rorschach Test into the United States, and he married Adele Rosenwald in 1927. He then developed the Levy Movement Blots, a variant on the Rorschach idea that was designed to introduce the concept of movement into the subject's responses to the inkblot -test, but the use of this test was not widely established. In his work with children, Dr. Levy originated play therapy, which he also called "release therapy." He also dealt with the concepts and problems of maternal overprotection, maternal rejection, and maternal deprivation. He was deeply interested in the mother-child relation­ship.

Following the Second World War, Dr. Levy spent almost two years in Germany, working for the U.S. Army, first as a consulting psychiatrist to the Office of Strategic Services, and later as the director of an Infantry Control Division Screening Center in Bad Orb, Germany. Here he was involved with the interviewing of German civilians who were applying for licenses to practice various professions that required approval by the occupying forces. From this experience came Dr, Levy's work on the subject of anti-Nazism. In addition to teaching at Columbia University and the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, as well as lecturing at Smith College and the New School for Social Research, Dr. Levy was a member of numerous professional organizations and president of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He was the author of five books and many journal articles and died in New York City in March 1977.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Richard Deutsch in 1977 and 1978.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Individual folders and boxes, including boxes 101 to 124, contain Protected Health Information restricted by HIPAA.

Terms of access:

Written permission must be obtained from the Oskar Diethelm Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Location of this collection:
DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry: History, Policy and the Arts
Weill Cornell Medical College
525 East 68th Street, Box 140
New York, NY 10065, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
212-746-3728