The Library of Congress has announced the appointment of Miss Anna Freud as its first Honorary Consultant in Sigmund Freud Studies. The daughter of Sigmund Freud is recognized as a pioneer in the development of child analysis, and founder-director of the Hampstead Child Therapy Course and Clinic in London. A founding editor of the Psychoanalytic Study of the Child and a prolific writer, her The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense was singled out by the Library for its significant impact on behavioral science. She will serve a three-year term.
Miss Anna Freud is the recipient of many honorary degrees, including an M.D. from the University of Vienna, and is a Commander of the British Empire. She is Honorary President of the International Psycho-Analytical Association, and
the only Honorary Member of the American Psychoanalytic Association. In recognition of her 80th birthday on December 3, 1975 Francis McLaughlin, M.D., President of the American, wrote to members of the Association last fall and suggested that financial contributions be made to the Hampstead Clinic as a special tribute to her and her work.
Accolades have marked Anna Freud's visits to the United States. She has lectured, participated in seminars and special projects, received an honorary Sc.D. from Jefferson Medical College, and an LL.D. from Clark University, where her father also received an honorary LL.D. on September 1, 1909. On October 12, 1965 she was received at the White House and presented the first Dolly Madison Award of the Hillcrest Children's Center.
In 1951 the Sigmund Freud Collection was initiated at the Library of Congress through an agreement with the Sigmund Freud Archives, Inc. of New York. In addition to the major contributions by the Sigmund Freud Archives, the Library of Congress itself and other donors have added to the Collection. In 1970 Anna Freud gave the Collection her father's correspondence. Negotiations are currently under way to transfer ownership of Sigmund Freud manuscripts owned jointly by the American Psychoanalytic Association and Miss Freud to the Library of Congress.
The Library's Freud Collection contains approximately 50,000 letters, documents, photographs and other materials. There are thousands of letters handwritten by Sigmund Freud. In keeping with the wishes of some of the donors, all but a small portion of the Collection is restricted until the year 2000 or later.
In addition to those of Sigmund Freud, the Library of Congress has some or all the papers of Karl Abraham, Alfred Adler, Siegfried Bernfeld, Marie Bonaparte, Berta Bornstein, Abraham A. Brill, Paul Federn, Anna Freud, Maxwell Gitelson, Philipp Sarasin, Edoardo Weiss and others, and some records of the International Psycho-Analytical Association.
Dr. Ronald S. Wilkinson, Manuscript Historian, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540, will respond to requests for further information.
Arcangelo D'Amore, M.D.