Overview
Papers and photographs concerning psychoanalyst Erik Erikson's early life in Karlsruhe, Germany, assembled by Dr. Herfried Frank.
Dates
- Creation: 1895-1986
Language of Materials
Collection materials are primarily in German, with a few in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
.25 linear feet (1 box)This collection was assembled by the donor, Dr. Herfried Frank, in connection with the naming of a building that is part of a hospital in Karlsruhe, Germany, the Erik Homburger Erikson Haus.
Includes autograph manuscript (signed) letters from Erik Erikson to Herfried Frank, as well as letters to Frank from Peter Blos and Ellen R. Katz-Homburger. Also includes photographs and copies of documents concerning Erikson's childhood in Karlsruhe. Much of the material also includes autograph manuscript notes, in English, by Herfried Frank, explaining details of each item.
Biographical / Historical
Erik Erikson (1902-1994) was an American psychoanalyst, educator, and author. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Danish parents who separated before his birth, but he grew up in Karlsruhe, Germany. He used his stepfather’s last name, Homburger, until the late 1930s. In 1930 he married Joan Mowat Serson, a Canadian dancer and artist. In 1933 they immigrated from Vienna to the United States. He was best known for his work in child development and life-span studies, coining the phrase "identity crisis", and in the field that became known as psychohistory.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Correspondence
- II. Documents and other papers
- III. Photographs
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2011M-42. Gift of Dr. Herfried Frank; received: 2011 August 31.
General note
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Erikson, Erik H. (Erik Homburger), 1902-1994. Erik Erikson additional papers, 1895-1986: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02213
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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