McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Wilder Penfield Diary, Oct. 1968 to Jan 21 1969
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- Textual record
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File
Repository
Reference code
CA OSLER P142-Diaries-Personal-22
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Physical description
1 cm of textual records
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Name of creator
(1891-1976)
Biographical history
Born in Spokane, Washington, Wilder Penfield received his B.Litt. from Princeton University in 1913 and was a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford (B.A.1916). He received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1918. Studying under Sir Charles Sherrington at Oxford, Penfield became interested in the brain. From 1921 to 1928 he engaged in research and neurosurgery at the Presbyterian Hospital and served on the Medical Faculty of Columbia University. Appointed to the Medical Faculty of McGill University in 1928, he was Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery from 1934 to 1960. An endowment from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled him to establish the Montreal Neurological Institute (M.N.I.), which opened in 1934. At the M.N.I. Penfield made many innovations in neurosurgery including a surgical treatment for epilepsy. He devoted much of his research to the study of the physiology of the brain, speech memory and sensation. Besides his numerous scientific publications, Penfield wrote two novels and participated in a large number of professional organizations. Dr. Penfield was a member of the Board of Curators of the Osler Library.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The file contains the diary of Wilder Penfield for October 1968 to January 1969. The front cover is inscribed “Oct 1968 to Jan 21 1969 Japan + Reflections re mind + br”. The diary primarily contains Penfield’s trip to Japan for the Okayama Congress of Japanese Brain Chemists and Physiologists and includes commentary on the meeting, the Japanese, Japan, who he met, where they stayed and a full itinerary of their trip. In addition, there is a list of Japanese doctors he met, newspaper clippings showing the 1968 cultural medal winners and aerial view of the new imperial palace, an image of the Nara Daibutsu Shrine, and a Japanese maple leaf. Other topics included in the pages are a history of the Wright brothers activities, an account of the last days of Georges Vanier, Board of Governors news, the preparation of speeches and addresses and his work on preparing forwards and prefaces of volumes. Penfield has gone through and corrected his grammar and spelling or has expanded upon his initial thoughts, usually in pencil or pen.