McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Wilder Penfield Diary, Dec 1970 to May 1972
File
1.6 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 the diary of Wilder Penfield for December 24 1970 to May 17 1972. The diary documents Penfield’s thoughts on current and past events and includes topics such as Helen’s health; the Vanier of the Family; commemorative stamps for Sir William Osler and Stephen Leacock; death of colleagues, Don McEachern and Dr. William Cone; travel accounts to House and Elba; officially moving from the house to the apartment; progress on No Man Alone, including deciding on the title and narrative style; Ted Rasmussen’s retirement; and family events, like Christmas. In addition, the diary contains the beginning of a journal entry by Helen, additional entries pasted into the pages, the account of weeding their personal papers, comment on the Lev Landau case, and letters, and potentially the plan to make a quilt out of his academic hoods. Penfield has gone through and corrected his grammar and spelling or has expanded upon his initial thoughts, usually in pencil or pen.