McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Reproductive Rights Collection
Collection
0.3 cm textual records
Dr. Clarence B. Farrar (1874-1970) was an American psychiatrist born in Cattaraugus, New York. Farrar earned an arts degree from Harvard University in 1896, and then pursued his medical degree at John Hopkins University, graduating with an M.D. in 1900. While studying at John Hopkins, Sir William Osler was one of his professors and mentors. During the First World War, Farrar left the United States for Canada and became medical director of the newly built Toronto Psychiatric Hospital in 1926, as well as Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto until his retirement in 1947. Farrar was also appointed Chief Psychiatrist for the Canadian Army, focusing his research on cases of shell shock. A distinguished member of many societies throughout his career, Farrar was also editor of The American Journal of Psychiatry for thirty-four years, from 1931-1965.
Dr. Franklin G. Ebaugh (1921-1990) was a graduate of Dartmouth College (1944) and earned his medical degree from Cornell Medical College in 1946. Ebaugh was a colonel in the Army Reserves and became Chief of Staff at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Palo Alto, California in 1972. Previous to that, Ebaugh was Associate Dean for Veterans Affairs and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School, Dean of the University of Utah School of Medicine (1970), and Dean of the Boston University School of Medicine (1964).
Purchased by the Osler Library in 2016 from David Mason Books, 366 Adelaide Street West LL04/LL05 Toronto, Ontario.
The collection consists of written correspondence between Dr. Clarence B. Farrar and Dr. Franklin G. Ebaugh concerning reproductive rights for victims of rape in relation to the case of a Denver woman who was the victim of rape in 1955. The woman ended up giving birth to a child after she was denied an abortion by doctors and lawyers. The collection also includes a three-page editorial titled "Legal Abortions" that cites Chapter 40, Article 2, Section 23 of the Colorado Revised Statutes 1953.
Documents are in English.
May be subject to restriction based on medical privacy legislation.