Series V. CLIENT FILES, 1985-2010 (#86.1-108.15, E.5)
Scope and Contents
Series V, CLIENT FILES, 1985-2010 (#86.1-108.15, E.5), includes correspondence; adoption narratives, fiction, and poetry sent by clients; client session notes; clippings; completed questionnaires; notations regarding session schedules and payments; notes from supervised counseling sessions; etc. The bulk of this series consists of correspondence, client session notes; notations regarding session schedules and payments; etc., from counseling sessions (by phone or in person) of adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents who saw Lifton as patients in order to address adoption-related issues. They are highly personal in nature and often include discussions of other family members, adoptive children, etc. With the exception of the files of two patients who are now deceased, the bulk of these files are closed to research for ninety years from the birth of the patient. Many patients also completed questionnaires that Lifton used to gather information for her adoption-related writing. Original patient questionnaires are closed to research. Electronic access to redacted copies of these questionnaires is provided in folder #E.2. Patients also frequently sent Lifton adoption narratives, poetry, and narratives thinly disguised as fiction which are included in their patient files. Additional material included in this series consists of what Lifton referred to as "supervised counseling." Lifton saw several therapists during her career as an adoption therapist in order to discuss patient sessions and her diagnoses. She used these "supervisory" therapists to more clearly formulate her diagnoses in order to better assist her clients. Since clients are clearly identified in these files, they are also closed. Original folder titles were retained. The series is arranged alphabetically by client beginning with closed client files, followed by open client files and general files related to counseling.
Dates
- Creation: 1884-2010
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1939-2010
Language of Materials
Materials in English, Polish, Hebrew, German, or Japanese.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Most of the collection is open for research. An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.
Folders #28.7, 28.9, 28.11-28.12, 31.4, 31.6, 31.13-31.14, 32.1, 32.4-32.5, 32.8-32.10, 32.13, 32.16, 33.10, 33.12, 34.2, 34.5-34.6, 34.21, 35.4, 35.7, 36.1-36.2, 36.5, 36.7-36.10, 36.15, 36.17, 37.3, 37.6, 38.3, 38.5, 38.14, 39.14, 43.4, 44.1, 44.6, 45.8, 45.15, 46.6, 17.6, 47.7, 50.7 are closed until January 1, 2020 though January 1, 2080 as noted below. These files, where access would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy for third party individuals, are closed for a period of 90 years from the date of birth of the individual discussed in the file.
Folders #86.1-107.20 are closed until January 1, 2027 through January 1, 2096 and folders #108.6-108.15 are closed until January 1, 2042 through January 1, 2070 as noted below. Client files are closed for a period of 90 years from the date of birth of the youngest client discussed in the file.
Extent
45.04 linear feet ((108 file boxes) plus 3 folio folders, 2 folio+ folders, 1 oversize folders, 25 photograph folders, 58 audiotapes)Physical Location
Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.
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.