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William P. Camp Papers
Notifications
Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
William P. Camp was a Quaker psychiatrist, particularly concerned with ethics in the mental health field and very active in his profession in Pennsylvania and on Quaker boards. He was born April 8, 1917, in Bridgeport, Ct. He earned his B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1940 where he was editor of the student newspaper and a classmate of Katherine Lindsley who became his wife in 1941. Camp was awarded an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1950 and became a resident in psychiatry at Norristown State Hospital.
He worked at Norristown State Hospital from 1954-1963 and served as superintendent 1959-1963. From 1964-1967, he was appointed Commissioner of Mental Health and Deputy Secretary of Public Welfare for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. During his tenure, the Mental Health Act of 1966 was approved. From 1968-1979, he was the Director of Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. In addition to other professional responsibilities and serving as the president of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society, he served on the board of a many Quaker and medical organizations and associations and on the Ethics Committee of the American Psychiatric Association.
His wife, Kay Camp, was a teacher and peace activist who served as the president of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Both the Camps were active in Quaker concerns and members of Norristown Monthly Meeting. They had three sons. William Camp died in December 1999.
Contains the papers of William P. Camp, Quaker psychiatrist active in the ethics of the mental health field. The papers chronicle his life, especially his professional and volunteer activities.
The collection is divided into three series:
- Ser.1. Biographical and early life (education, military service)
- Ser.2. Professional life
- Ser.3. Quaker activities
- Ser.4. Miscellaneous
Donor: Catherine L. Camp, 1995-2000
The collection was given by the widow of William P. Camp.
Received in unsorted batches, roughly divided into different phases of William Camp's professional life. Copies of general institutional reports and other non-relevant papers removed from collection. Histories of Friends Hospital removed to PG1, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College reference files. Annual reports of Friends Hospital checked for duplicates in FHL collection. Papers sorted into series and stored in RG 5.
Reference material on Friends Hospital stored in PG 3 Reference files.
People
Organization
- Friends Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Norristown State Hospital (Norristown, Pa.)
- Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society
Subject
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- FHL staff
- Finding Aid Date
- 2011
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.
Collection Inventory
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