Overview
Composition and correspondence written during Leary's first prison stay and after his escape.
Dates
- 1967- 1977
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
.5 linear feet (1 box)This collection contains a composition written by Timothy Leary during his initial time in prison and letters to and from Leary while in prison and after his escape from prison. The correspondence concerns family matters, publishing issues, and some legal matters and includes some letters to or from Leary's wives, Rosemary Woodruff and Joanna Harcourt-Smith. Some envelopes show marks of having been inspected by prison officials. Also in the collection are some documents from Leary's time in prison and photographs of Leary, Woodruff, and Harcourt-Smith.
Biographical / Historical
Timothy Leary (1920-1996) was an American psychologist and author, well-known for his experiments on the use of psychodelic drugs. In January 1970, Leary was sentenced to 20 years in a California state prison. In September of that year, with the help of the Weatherman, Leary escaped from prison and fled the country on a fake passport. He was apprehended and returned to prison in 1973.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- I. Composition.
- II. Letters to Timothy Leary.
- III. Letters from Timothy Leary.
- IV. Correspondence of others.
- V. Documents.
- VI. Photographs.
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
92M-23. Purchased with the Amy Lowell fund; received: 1992 July 29.
Processing Information
Processed by: Susan Wyssen
- Title
- Leary, Timothy, 1920-1996. Timothy Leary papers, 1967-ca. 1977: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02384
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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