http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c84j0hcd No online items Finding Aid for the Louis Jolyon West Papers LSC.0590 Finding aid prepared by Jolene Beiser, 2009. UCLA Library Special Collections Online finding aid last updated 2019 August 2. Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library Box 951575 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575 [email protected] URL: https://www.library.ucla.edu/special-collections Finding Aid for the Louis Jolyon LSC.0590 1 West Papers LSC.0590 Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections Title: Louis Jolyon West papers Creator: West, Louis Jolyon Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0590 Physical Description: 106 Linear Feet(265 boxes) Date (inclusive): 1890-1998 Date (bulk): 1948-1998 Abstract: Louis Jolyon (Jolly) West, M.D. (1924-1999) was a well-known Los Angles psychiatrist who served as the chair of UCLA's Department of Psychiatry and as director of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute from 1969 to 1989. He was an expert on cults, coercive persuasion ("brainwashing"), alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, and terrorism. The collection contains Dr. West's research materials, lecture and presentation materials, personal and professional correspondence, and documents related to his professional associations and academic positions. Language of Material: Materials are in English. Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page. Conditions Governing on Access Open for reserach with the following exceptions: Boxes 250-265 are not available due to HIPAA restrictions. Please contact Special Collections reference ([email protected]) for more information. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance through our electronic paging system using the request button located on this page. Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use. Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library Special Collections. The library can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. Commercial use may require additional rights that must be determined and obtained by the researcher. All requests for copyright permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Library Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Louis Jolyon West papers (Collection 590). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA. Processing Note Jolene Beiser in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Bachli, June 2009. UCLA Catalog Record ID UCLA Catalog Record ID: 6218560 Biography/History Louis Jolyon (Jolly) West, M.D. (1924-1999) was a well-known Los Angeles psychiatrist who served as the chair of UCLA's Department of Psychiatry and as director of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute from 1969 to1989. He was an expert on cults, coercive persuasion ("brainwashing"), alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, and terrorism. He served as an expert witness in the trial of Patricia "Patty" Hearst, and examined Jack Ruby, the murderer of JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Dr. West was born in New York City on October 6, 1924 and grew up in Madison, WI. After a year of college, he enlisted in the U.S. Army hoping to serve combat duty in World War II, but was instead sent to the State University of Iowa for Army Specialized Training in medicine. He met his wife, Kathryn "K" Louise Hopkirk in Iowa, and the two married on April 29, 1944. Together they had three children, Anne Kathryn, Mary Elizabeth, and John Stuart. Dr. West continued his studies at the University Of Minnesota School Of Medicine, and received his M.D. in 1949. He completed his psychiatric residency at the Payne Whitney Clinic of the New York Hospital (Cornell Medical Center) in 1952. Dr. West served Lieutenant to Major in the U.S. Air Force from 1948 to 1956, and after completing his residency at Payne Whitney, he became the Chief of Psychiatric Service at the 3700th USAF Hospital at the Lackland Air Force Base. At Lackland he worked with returning POWs from the Korean War who had falsely confessed to germ warfare. His experiences with these men sparked a lifelong interest in helping victims of imprisonment, torture, and coercive persuasion ("brainwashing"). He also helped develop a highly successful method of alcoholism treatment dubbed "The Lackland Model," and he took a humanitarian approach to understanding homosexuality in the military. Finding Aid for the Louis Jolyon LSC.0590 2 West Papers LSC.0590 In 1954, at only 29, Dr. West was appointed professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oklahoma, being "perhaps the youngest full professor in an American medical school." In Oklahoma City he demonstrated his support of the civil rights movement by attending sit-ins and rallies, and bringing along his friend, actor Charlton Heston, to aid in the publicity of such events. Dr. West's research interests continually expanded, always incorporating the changes taking place in society. During a 1962 study on the effects of LSD on a bull elephant, Dr. West and his colleagues accidently killed the elephant by administering too high of a dosage of either LSD or a tranquilizer. This incident was often brought up by his adversaries when they attempted to portray him as irresponsible and as a "crack pot." In 1967, he led a group of researchers to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district where they rented an apartment and studied the hippie culture, particularly as it related to sex and drugs. In 1969, Dr. West seized the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and become the chair of UCLA's Department of Psychiatry and director of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. In terms of his research interests, Dr. West felt that a rapidly expanding and diverse city like Los Angeles was most appropriate. Shortly after arriving at UCLA, he set out to create a "Center for the Study and Reduction in Violence," "the world's first and only center for the study of interpersonal violence." His plans for the Center were never actually realized because there was "such an outcry against it?based on arguments that to study violence was essentially to experiment on underprivileged people,?, doing brain operations, putting electrodes in their heads, or making guinea pigs out of them… This was the most frustrating experience of my career." Dr. West's career included many remarkable events, including his participation in the highly-publicized 1976 trial of newspaper heiress Patricia "Patty" Hearst. Dr. West, an expert on coercive persuasion, testified for the defense that Ms. Hearst was not in her right mind when she participated in the bank robbery with the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). In 1977, he traveled to South Africa to testify on behalf of a group of Zulus who had been forced, through torture and other inhumane tactics, to confess to crimes they did not commit. He returned to South Africa in 1983 and 1984 to testify on behalf of a political prisoner suffering from post-traumatic stress. Throughout his career Dr. West was interviewed for newspaper articles and television reports on a variety of topics including cults, coercive persuasion, violence, alcoholism and drug abuse, kidnapping and terrorism. He received many honors including a 1959 nomination as one of the "Ten Most Outstanding Young Men in America," the 1973 Benjamin Rush Gold Medal Award from the American Psychiatric Association, a dedication--the "Louis Jolyon West House" treatment facility at the Oklahoma Center for Alcohol-Related Studies, the 1987 Vestermark Award from the American Psychiatric Association and the National Institute of Mental Health, the 1989 Leo J. Ryan Award from the National Cult Awareness Network, and in 1990 an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the Hebrew Union College. West retired from his positions as chair and director in 1989, but continued as a professor in the Psychiatry department, and continued to write articles and present papers at conferences around the world. West passed away on January 2, 1999 at the age of 74. In 2009, his son, John Stuart West published a memoir about being asked to assist in the suicides of each of his parents, Jolly and K. 1 Dean of Oklahoma medical school 2 West quoted in the Los Angeles Times, 1985 3 Ibid. Scope and Content The collection consists primarily of paper materials, but also includes newspaper and magazine clippings, audio cassette recordings, and slides. The collection includes research materials; lecture and slide presentation materials; writing; correspondence with colleagues and friends; materials related to his involvement in professional organizations; and materials related to his positions as chair of the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute. Dr. West's collected newspaper and magazine clippings related to a vast array of research interests, and clipped seemingly every newspaper and magazine article regarding the Patty Hearst case between 1975 and 1977. The collection does not contain any of Dr. West's patient records. Organization and Arrangement The collection is organized into seven series: Lectures, Writing, Office Files, Personal, Professional Activities, Academic Career, and Research Files. Series 1. Lectures. Materials are grouped according to the subject of the lecture. The materials include slides and notes about slides, research materials, travel information and correspondence related to presentations, audio recordings and transcripts. Related materials can be found in Professional Activities and Research Materials. Filing sequence is by contents: Slide materials (no slides) --> Slides and slide materials'Slides only, contains slides people, facilities, and celebrations at UCLA --> Audio cassettes, reel tapes and transcripts. Finding Aid for the Louis Jolyon LSC.0590 3 West Papers LSC.0590 Series 2.