Collection P190 - Jefferson Lewis Collection

5.1 m of textual records. -- ca. 300 photographs. -- 11 magnetic tape sound recordings. -- 6 cassette tapes.

The materials in the collection were assembled by Jefferson Lewis for the purpose of writing his biography of Penfield, Something Hidden. The material belonging to Wilder Penfield was left in the care of his literary executors, Wilder Penfield Jr. and Ruthmary Penfield, who granted access to Jefferson Lewis (son of Ruthmary Penfield) to write an authorized biography of his life. Lewis gathered additional material directly from other members of the Penfield family. In the course of researching his biography he also solicited and received a small quantity of material from acquaintances of the Penfield family, which he added to the collection. When Lewis was finished with the material, he donated it together with the material he generated writing the biography to the Osler Library of the History of Medicine at McGill University in 1987.

This collection is divided into material either by, or about, Wilder Graves Penfield. The material was collected by Lewis in order to write his biography. The fonds also includes materials associated with Mr. Lewis' writing of the biography.

The Penfield material is organized by family member, with the largest portion belonging to Wilder Penfield and his wife Helen Penfield. This material is largely personal in nature. It consists of originals and photocopies of diaries, as well as personal correspondence between Penfield and his wife, family photographs, and ephemera from a variety of social and professional events. There is also a small selection of personal correspondence between family members.

Lewis created drafts, revisions, letters concerning the development of the screenplay, and research material. Correspondence between Lewis and the family is contained in the material covering personal family matters.