McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Travel Journal of Ray Jackson, 1925
File
2.5 cm of textual records
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.
The file contains a travel journal by Ray Jackson for 1925. The spine reads “Travel Journal Ray Jackson 1925 “adopted” son of Jean J. Penfield LD”. The inside cover reads “This is a travelogue of Ray Jackson recording his trip to England and Oxford in 1925 and on to Europe. My mother [Jean J. Penfield] met Ray on a ship voyage through the great lakes and they became enthusiastic correspondents - W.P.”. The travelogue is comprised of 294 pages written in blue ink and is in a cloth bound metal binder and contains diary entries but also includes literary topics, recounts of history, and lists of things he misses while travelling. In addition, there is an extremely water damaged letter written in blue ink.