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General.

Approximately one-fifth of these papers consist of general files of correspondence and informational material. These files cover James' career from the Wharton period until his death. Different file sequences appear at different stages of James' life, but there are chronological overlaps.

Files from the Wharton period (approx.1 m) largely concern his research, academic affairs at the University of Pennsylvania, and relations with personal friends.

Three meters of files arise from his McGill years. They contain correspondence of a non-administrative nature, for example, invitations to speak or dine, from McGill departments, organizations and individuals, but also include James' inaugural addresses as Principal and papers pertaining to seminars conducted by Lord Cobbold at McGill in 1961. Other correspondents include learned societies (for example, American Academy of Political and Social Sciences), individuals writing to him in his capacity as economist or international educationist, people requesting articles and speeches, and friends and members of his family, including his wife. Some personal financial materials are intermingled. Supplementing this series are bound volumes of non-administrative correspondence from 1937 to 1948. For the most part, these letters are of a private or family nature, but there are surprising incursions of official McGill business, e.g. a letter from John Fraser declining Deanship of Medicine (1944), and a curriculum vitae and press release on the appointment of James Sutherland Thomson as Dean of Divinity at McGill.

The character of his post-retirement files is three-fold. Personal materials comprise letters from family and friends (some going back as far as 1938), papers concerning domestic finances and associations of which James was a private member. Most of the McGill section consists of correspondence with old university associates on their and his current activities, McGill affairs and Canadian politics. There are letters to and from Stanley Frost, Lorne Gales, Bertie Gardner, H. Rocke Robertson, E.A. Collard, Dorothy McMurray and many others. However, this series also contains a few important items from an earlier period, e.g. correspondence with Vincent Massey, Lester Pearson, Mackenzie King, Winston Churchill (concerning the painting of the Québec Convocation), Principal Lewis Douglas and Sir Edward Beatty (concerning salary and pension), as well as a file on James' proposed visit to the People's Republic of China (1960-1964). There are also communications with the McGill University Archives and with the McGill Society of Great Britain. Finally, a large percentage of these files arose from James' active involvement in associations. Administrative correspondence with the International Association of Universities, particularly with its secretary H.M.R. Keyes, concerns membership, programs, conferences, and the study of international educational exchanges. A separate run of files contains information on education in various countries visited by James in his official capacity. Other educational associations in this series include colleges of which James was a fellow or trustee, the International Association for a Federal Union, the International Social Sciences Council, the Royal Society of Canada (concerning scholarships) and various inter-university bodies. Approximately 1.7 m of OXFAM files complete this series.

Teaching.

Materials relating to James' teaching career fall into two chronological categories, the Wharton period and the McGill period. The Wharton period is illustrated by office files (1927-1939) containing incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports and memoranda concerning the administration of the school and professional matters. There are also lecture notes for James' courses in finance (1926-1927), money and credit (1924-1949), theory of money and banking (ca 1939), statistics, and life insurance. The McGill material comprises lecture notes for introductory economics (1944-1949), together with some worked examination papers and approximately 15 cm of correspondence regarding the course, as well as James' relations with Québec economic groups; there are also lecture notes for a course in economic history (1940, 1954-1959).

Research.

Most of James' research papers stem from his Philadelphia period. The bulk of this material is research files. Approximately 7.5 m of general research files contain notes, extracts, printed materials, correspondence and some teaching materials, largely on economic history with special emphasis on banks, but also including some papers from the 1940s on education and war-time problems. A second category (approximately 1 m) is devoted to the history of banking. Again, these consist largely of notes and extracts, including extensive typed extracts from the business papers of Chicago banker James B. Forgan (active 1900-1917), but there is a component portion of original materials, for example, office correspondence of Pinkerton's Detective Agency (1870s-1880s) and essays and addresses by consulting economist William Wallace Goforth (approximately 1930s). A third category comprises about 15 cm of notes on research methods. Finally, James created three large card-files: one a bibliography-index on economic topics, history and institutions, the second a chronology of 18th and 19th century economic history, and finally a series of larger, more discursive note cards on economic history. There are manuscripts and typescripts of the various drafts and revisions of many of James' publications, particularly The Economics of Money, Credit and Banking, Growth of Chicago Banks, England Today and The Road to Revival. There are also copies of his M.A. and Ph.D. theses, as well as drafts of about half a dozen articles, largely on shipping, from ca 1925 to ca 1933.

Most of the materials pertaining to James' work as an economic consultant are from the post-war period. These include 12 cm of speeches, correspondence and reports on post-war economic issues, 5 cm of draft reports and briefs for the Tremblay Commission (1953), 30 cm of correspondence, notes and reports pertaining to the Conseil d'Orientation Economique du Québec (1961-1962), and documentation illustrating James' involvement in the appraisal and re-organization of the Wharton School (1956-1957).

Addresses.

Approximately 40 volumes of addresses given between 1939 and 1967 to audiences both within and outside McGill cover a wide range of educational and social topics. Press releases, obituaries and messages (e.g. for Old McGill) are included. The unbound addresses cover James' pre- and post-retirement years. The first category is largely concerned with education, including McGill history. This category also contains information files used for preparing speeches. The post-retirement category focuses on broader subjects, such as the nature of the university and the work of OXFAM.

Miscellaneous Materials.

Miscellaneous materials include citations, visitors' books, calling cards and printed matter. Papers given to James by W.H. Birks comprise 2 cm of letters documenting his involvement in McGill affairs, eg. (Graduates' Society, Y.M.C.A.) from 1900 to 1938, and include letters from William Peterson and Stephen Leacock. Chancellor Sir Edward Beatty also gave private files to James concerning the Medical Faculty and government aid to hospitals.

Pictorial Materials.

Snapshots taken by James or his family and friends during his University of Pennsylvania years illustrate Philadelphia scenes, fellow students and friends, and voyages to Europe and South America. Photographs of a summer vacation in 1944, the Convocation dinner of 1949 and a journey to Hong Kong and Japan in the early 1960s round off this part of the collection. The greater part of these photographs are formal or professional pictures. These include prints from the press and NFB photographs of McGill convocations during World War II, scenes of student life (1959 and 1961) and McGill buildings (1945), McGill scenes (1962), the dedication of the Morgan Arboretum (1949), the High Altitude Research Project, the closing ceremonies of Dawson College, special events, and visitors to the campus. There are also formal portraits of James and his wife, including a series of studies done for the McGill News in 1962, and photographs taken at convocations conferring honorary degrees on James.

Research activities

This series documents Jasper’s research activities, primarily from his years at the Centre de Recherches en Sciences Neurologiques at the Université de Montréal, although some material from his years at the Montreal Neurological Institute is included as well.

Files relating to conferences and symposia provide insight into Jasper’s research interests over his career, some of the major contributions he made to the field, as well as his extensive involvement in organizing and chairing events. Record types include correspondence, conference proceedings, drafts of papers submitted, and lecture notes. These materials are arranged chronologically by date of conference, 1949-1999 (Container 1, Files 1-79; Container 2, Files 80-129; Container 15, Files 403, 406, 407).The conference and symposia materials also reflect Jasper’s international influence in the research community, as well as his wide network of contacts. For example, the file relating to the 1970 International Symposium in Neuroscience in honour of H. H. Jasper contains many letters from internationally-renowned neurophysiologists and researchers (Container 1, File 48); a related item is the signature book from the same event, 1970 (Container 8, File 356).

Professional correspondence files are arranged alphabetically and chronologically within the files, 1938-1999 (Container 3, Files 130-146, 148-170; Container 4, Files 171- 180, 182-199). Again, these reflect Jasper’s extensive network in the international research community, his research activities, as well as his editorial work. Most of the correspondence is from Jasper’s time with the Université de Montréal and his subsequent retirement, however there is some earlier material relating to the Montreal Neurological Institute, specifically correspondence with Wilder Penfield, 1948-1983 (Container 4, Files 179-180), and Ted Rasmussen, 1949-1970 (Container 4, File 186). Jasper also carried out a long correspondence with friends and fellow researchers Ali and Andreé Monnier, 1938-1993 (Container 3, Files 168-170).

Subject files, which are arranged alphabetically, provide information about the many societies and organizations of which Jasper was a member and active participant. Of particular note are the files relating to the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), which Jasper helped found in 1960. He was the first Executive Secretary of IBRO, and maintained honorary positions with the organization for the rest of his life, 1958-1993 (Container 5, Files 240-242). Also included are files relating to Jasper’s
publishing and editorial activities for scientific journals. In particular, Jasper was the founding editor and publisher of the EEG Journal; layouts for the first issue, as well as correspondence, are included, 1949-1979 (Container 5, Files 233-234). Materials relating to Jasper’s publications, including drafts of published and unpublished manuscripts, research notes, and correspondence with colleagues and publishers are arranged in a block of files, 1929-1997 (Container 5, Files 280-292; Container 6, Files 5 293-332; Container 7, Files 333-341; Container 15, Files 400-401). A comprehensive list of Jasper’s publications is available, 1929-1991 (Container 5, File 280). Reprints of Jasper’s published materials up to 1977 are bound in four volumes, 1929-1977 (Container 7, Files 337-340); reprints of later publications are also available, 1979-1995 (Container 7, File 341). His army medical research, carried out during his service in WWII is collected in two volumes, 1942-1947 (Container 6, Files 329-330); publications carried out on a grant from the Medical Research Council of Canada are also collected, 1967-1972 (Container 7, File 336). There are also a number of drafts of unpublished manuscripts, including those related to learning and consciousness, 1951 (Container 6, Files 310, 312, 315, and 317), and drafts of an autobiographical piece, 1996 (Container 15, Files 400-401). Many files contain scientific illustrations and EEG recordings used in Jasper’s publications, 1951-1986 (Container 1, Files 7, 9, 12, 17, 19, and 20;
Container 2, Files 101, 104, 105, 122, 124, 126, and 127; Container 3, File 163; Container 4, Files 203 and 216; Container 5, File 261; Container 6, Files, 294, 297, 299, 300, 307, 309, 311, 314, 315, 326, and 328; and Container 8, File 352). Experiment protocol and notes, including human microelectrode and cooling studies, are found in binders, 1966-1968 (Container 6, Files 331-332, and Container 7, Files 333-335).

Also included are eight film reels, labeled as footage from experiments, and two audio reels, one of which is a recording of an EEG experiment, 37 glass lantern slides of EEG tracings and other illustrations, and instruments used for experiments.

Teaching

A small number of files relate to Jasper’s teaching activities in the department of Physiology at the Université de Montréal, 1966-1975 (Container 8, Files 342-354). These contain class outlines, exams, and lecture notes. A list of graduate and postdoctoral students supervised by Jasper is also available, 1933-1976 (Container 8, File 348). Some administrative correspondence from the Universite de Montreal also relates to Jasper’s teaching activities, 1978-1993 (Container 4, File 194).

Personal

This series of personal materials is arranged by subject. These include biographical information and curriculum vitae, 1964-1996 (Container 8, Files 362-366); genealogical information, n.d.-1982 (Container 8, Files 368-369); poems written by his father, Frank Jasper, n.d. (Container 8, File 367), a yearbook from Reed College, 1927 (Container 8, File 357); and university degrees, 1927-1983 (Container 8, Files 358-360, and Container 13, Items 14, 24, 28, 49, and 52). Of particular interest is Jasper’s Travel Diary from a 1958 trip to Russia, in which he records many personal reflections on the country and the researchers he meets (Container 8, File 373). Several travel diaries written by Margaret Jasper, spanning the years 1949-1978, also provide information about the family’s travels to international conferences and symposia (Container 8, Files 374-382). Also included are official documents, such as citizenship and army papers, passports, leases, property deeds, and wills 1940-1993 (Container 9, Files 384-393, 396, 408-409, 411). Medals, plaques, awards, and certificates of recognition for Jasper’s contributions to brain research are also included in this series; medals, 1961- 1998 (Container 16); plaques and awards, 1940-1996 (Container 11); and certificates, 1931-1998 (Container 13); documentation of awards, including correspondence and programs from award ceremonies, 1969-1996 (Container 4, Files 205-207; Container 5, Files 219, 228, 229, 237, 250, 253, 255-256, 268, and 279).

Personal correspondence is included in this series; correspondence with family members, especially his sister Clara, circa 1980s-1990s (Container 3, File 147); and personal correspondence with the Penfields, 1944-1946 (Container 4, File 181). It should be noted that much of the correspondence included in the research series also has a personal element to it, since Jasper had close and long-standing friendships with many of his colleagues. Of particular note is the correspondence with Alexandre and Andrée Monnier, which may be considered personal as well as professional, 1938-1993 (Container 3, Files 168-170).

Photographs

This series is mainly composed of photographs relating to Jasper’s professional life, including portraits, group portraits with colleagues, and scenes from symposia, conferences, and award ceremonies. Some personal photographs, including portraits of family members, and scenes from ski outings and travel, are included as well (Container 10).

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