Merrill Moore Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2011 Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms012044 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm78033373 Prepared by Manuscript Division Staff Collection Summary Title: Merrill Moore Papers Span Dates: 1904-1979 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1928-1957) ID No.: MSS33373 Creator: Moore, Merrill, 1903-1957 Extent: 131,750 items ; 504 containers plus 86 oversize ; 234 linear feet Language: Collection material in English Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Psychiatrist and poet. Diaries, correspondence, notebooks, biographical material, family papers, genealogical records, literary papers, scrapbooks, printed matter, and other papers relating to Moore's career as a psychiatrist and poet. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Adler, Alexandra, 1901- --Correspondence. Bock, Arlie V. (Arlie Vernon), 1888- --Correspondence. Cobb, Stanley, 1887-1968--Correspondence. Davidson, Donald, 1893-1968--Correspondence. Fitts, Dudley, 1903-1968--Correspondence. Moore family. Moore, Adam G. N.--Correspondence. Moore, Merrill, 1903-1957. Murray, Henry A. (Henry Alexander), 1893-1988. Henry A. Murray papers. Overholser, Winfred, 1892-1964--Correspondence. Ransom, John Crowe, 1888-1974--Correspondence. Sachs, Hanns, 1881-1947--Correspondence. Solomon, Harry C. (Harry Caesar), 1889-1982--Correspondence. Tate, Allen, 1899-1979--Correspondence. Untermeyer, Louis, 1885-1977--Correspondence. Wells, Frederic Lyman, 1884- --Correspondence. Organizations Boston City Hospital. Harvard University. Harvard Psychological Clinic. United States. Army--Medical care. Washingtonian Hospital (Boston, Mass.) Subjects Alcoholism. American literature. American poetry. Americans--China. Bromides. Drug abuse. Jews--Germany. Literature. Medicine--Practice--Massachusetts--Boston. Military psychiatry. Neurology. Poetry. Merrill Moore Papers 2 Psychiatry. Sonnets, American. Suicide. Syphilis. War--Psychological aspects. World War, 1939-1945--Germany. World War, 1939-1945--Medical care. World War, 1939-1945--New Zealand. World War, 1939-1945--Oceania. Occupations Poets. Psychiatrists. Administrative Information Provenance The papers of Merrill Moore, psychiatrist and poet, were given to the Library of Congress by the Moore family in 1937-1972. Additions were given by Adam G. N. Moore in 1979 and Henry A. Murray in 1984. Processing History The papers of Merrill Moore were arranged and described in 1984. The finding aid was revised in 2011. Additional Guides In 1972 the Library published Merrill Moore, a Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress, which includes an index of selected correspondents. A copy of the index is also available in the Manuscript Division Reading Room and as a PDF document. Transfers Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some photographs, drawings, and prints have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Recordings have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Merrill Moore Papers. Copyright Status Copyright in the unpublished writings of Merrill Moore in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public. Access and Restrictions The papers of Merrill Moore are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Preferred Citation Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Merrill Moore Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Biographical Note Date Event 1903, Sept. 11 Born, Columbia, Tenn. Merrill Moore Papers 3 1924 B.A., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. 1928 M.D., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. 1928-1929 Intern, St. Thomas Hospital, Nashville, Tenn. 1930 Married Ann Leslie Nichol 1930-1931 Teaching fellow in neurology, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass. Neurological house officer and resident neurological physician, Boston City Hospital, Boston, Mass. 1931-1932 Assistant in neuropathology, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass. 1932-1935 Assistant physician, Boston Psychopathic Hospital, Boston, Mass. 1933-1934 Graduate assistant, Psychiatric Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass. 1935 Began private practice in Boston, Mass. 1936-1942 Research fellow in psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass. 1942-1946 Military service, mainly in Southwest Pacific and China 1947 Resumed private practice 1957, Sept. 20 Died, Quincy, Mass. Scope and Content Note The papers of Merrill Moore (1903-1957) span the period 1904-1979, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the years 1928-1957. The collection consists primarily of correspondence and writings, supplemented by diaries, notebooks, scrapbooks, printed matter, clippings, and miscellany. Documenting Moore's career as a psychiatrist and poet, the papers are organized into nine series: Diaries, Reminiscences, and Notebooks; Family Correspondence and Special File; General Correspondence; Subject File; Literary File; Scrapbooks (Oversize); Clippings; Miscellany; and Addition. Moore made sporadic efforts to keep a diary, but his notes are extensive only for the period he spent in New Zealand during World War II. These notes are accompanied by memoranda and miscellaneous items that he collected in anticipation of writing a book based on his experiences. This material, which documents his service as a medical officer as well as his literary activities and plans, is most exhaustive for November 1942, when he sailed from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand, and for June 1943, when he made a brief visit to Guadalcanal. Material concerning Moore's medical career, which spanned almost three decades, is contained in the General Correspondence and Subject File series. Graduating from Vanderbilt Medical School in 1928, Moore served his internship in Nashville and then entered an extensive period of training in neurology and psychiatry in the Boston area. During the course of his training, Moore came into contact with several leading neurologists and psychiatrists, including Alexandra Adler, Arlie V. Bock, Stanley Cobb, Winfred Overholser, Hanns Sachs, Harry C. Solomon, and Frederic Lyman Wells. All are represented by correspondence. Moore also devoted much time to original research, particularly in areas directly related to mental illness and neurological disease. His extensive writings on the subjects of alcoholism, suicide, syphilis, drug addiction, and related topics are located in the Subject File. Four years of military service in the Pacific theater failed to dampen his productivity. His work in the Merrill Moore Papers 4 areas of shell shock and alcoholism among military personnel, as well as his efforts to encourage and improve neurological services in military hospitals, is amply represented in both series. Other subjects in the papers include Moore's efforts in 1938-1940 to aid Jewish doctors who were fleeing Nazi Germany. Moore's role as a consultant in 1940-1941 with companies making bromides, as well as controversies concerning the products' effectiveness, is also documented, especially in correspondence with Walter Compton (1912-1955) and George Ross Veazey in the Subject File series. The papers also contain substantial material relating to Moore's tour of duty in China in 1946 and correspondence in subsequent years with friends who remained in China or were deeply concerned about conditions there. In the tradition of Oliver Wendell Holmes and William Carlos Williams, Moore coupled his medical career with an equally successful literary career. He derived much of his early interest in literature from his father, John Trotwood Moore, a poet, novelist, essayist, and historian. While still in high school, Moore developed his lifelong enthusiasm for the sonnet as a medium of expression. Soon after entering Vanderbilt University, he joined a group of fellow students and some of their teachers who were to form one of the most distinctive and cohesive literary groups of the twentieth century. Adopting the name Fugitives, the group made its contribution through the pages of The Fugitive (1922-1925), a magazine of verse. As a contributor to the magazine, Moore first revealed the propensity for experimentation and innovation that would mark his subsequent work and lead his biographer to characterize his poetry as “an essentially new and a highly significant experiment.” [1] At the same time, he cemented his commitment to sonnets. [1] Henry Willis Wells, Poet and Psychiatrist: Merrill, M.D. (New York: Twayne [1955]), 2. In the following years, Moore became something of a literary phenomenon by writing over fifty thousand sonnets, only a small portion of which were published. A large part of this production is represented in the Literary File. The series includes drafts, revisions,