Open Collections

[Bookplate for Winfred Overholser]

This bookplate's design is a pictoral scene of a tall ship at sea, with gales of wind blowing at the sails and water. Bookplate text at base. In black ink.

Oceanography; Ships

Overholser, Winfred

Still Image

Winfred Overholser (1892-1964) was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and most well known as a psychiatrist. He studied economics, law, then medicine, at Harvard College and Boston University. Overholser was known for his involvement working for the rights of mentally ill criminals, and it was partly due to his efforts that the Briggs Law--which stipulated that mental evaluation be issued for serious crime offenders--was enacted in the early 1920s. He eventually gained the position as superintendent of a government mental-health hospital in Washington, D.C. through nomination by the American Psychiatric Association from 1937-62. Additionally, Overholser served as president of the American Psychiatric Association from 1947-48. A notable patient of Overholser was poet Ezra Pound. He is the author of various publications, including two books, The Handbook of Psychiatry (1947) and Psychiatry and the Law (1953), the latter of which is available from UBC Library.
References:
1) Winfred Oversolser: Psychiatrist (1892-1964). Notable American Unitarians. Accessed 8 Jan 2009 from http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/overholser.html

RBSC Bookplates

2009

Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from Rare Books and Special Collections: http://rbsc.library.ubc.ca

CONTENTdm