COLLECTION GUIDES

1850-1922

Guide to the Collection

Restrictions on Access

The Walter Channing (1849-1921) papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of the correspondence and professional papers of psychiatrist and hospital administrator Walter Channing.

Biographical Sketch

Walter Channing (1849-1921) was a psychiatrist and hospital administrator. He opened a psychiatric hospital in Brookline, Mass. in 1879, served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Boston State Hospital from 1908 to 1914, and built a new Channing Sanitarium in Wellesley in 1916.

Dr. Channing was the son of poet William Ellery Channing (1818-1901) and Ellen K. Fuller, the sister of the transcendentalist journalist, writer, and critic Margaret Fuller. He was one of five children of the couple; his siblings were Margaret Fuller Channing (1844-1932), Caroline Sturgis Channing (1846-1917), Giovanni Eugene Channing (1853-1921), and Edward Perkins Channing (1856-1931). Dr. Channing married Anna K. Morse in 1878, and the couple had five children: Walter (born 1879), Henry Morse (born 1880), Hayden, Rosalie, and Barbara.

Collection Description

This collection consists of the correspondence and professional papers of psychiatrist and hospital administrator Walter Channing. Among Channing's correspondents were numerous physicians, psychiatrists, and other professional men, including Harvey Humphrey Baker, Walter E. Fernald, Henry P. Frost, L. Vernon Briggs, Henry LeFavour, and Elmer E. Southard. Family correspondents include Channing's wife, Anna K. (Morse) Channing, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, his uncle and guardian. The collection also contains drafts and typescripts of Channing's writings, including short stories and a pamphlet on Leon F. Czolgosz, assassin of President William McKinley. Included is a letter from anarchist Emma Goldman regarding whether Czolgosz was an anarchist, as well as scattered reports of the Boston State Hospital and diaries of Walter Channing and Anna K. (Morse) Channing.

Acquisition Information

Large portions of the entire Channing family collection were donated to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1965 by the children of Henry M. Channing. It is assumed this collection formed part of that donation.

Restrictions on Access

The Walter Channing (1849-1921) papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.

Detailed Description of the Collection

I. Loose papers, 1850-1922

The bulk of this series consists of the personal and professional correspondence of Walter Channing. The series also contains Morse family papers, papers related to Leon F. Czolgosz, writings and reports by Channing, and printed matter.

Carton 1SH 1ADW

Correspondence, [185-]

Carton 1SH 1ADW

Correspondence, 1860-1897

Carton 2SH 1ADX

Correspondence, 1898-1911

Carton 3SH 1ADY

Correspondence, 1912-1915

Carton 4SH 1ADZ

Correspondence, 1916-1922

Carton 5SH 1AE0

Undated correspondence

Carton 5SH 1AE0

Morse family papers, 1850-1886

Carton 5SH 1AE0

Czolgosz case papers

Carton 5SH 1AE0

Writings, essays, notes, articles, reports, etc., by Walter Channing, 1864-1920

Carton 6SH 1AE1

Printed matter

II. Volumes, 1860-1921

This series contains diaries, accounts, notes, and other volumes of Walter Channing, as well as diaries of his wife Anna K. (Morse) Channing.

A. Walter Channing volumes, 1860-1921

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 1

French exercises, 1860

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 2

School diary, 1863-1864

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 3

Memoranda and diary entries, 1865-1866

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 4

Pocket diary, 1866

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 5

Diary kept in Germany, 18 July-25 Aug. 1872

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 6

Personal accounts kept while abroad, 1872-1873

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 7

Diary kept in Vienna (in German), 1873

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 8

Expenses, Sep. 1873-June 1874

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 9

Letterbook, 1879-1880

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 10

Notes on patients, 1884-1892

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 11

Petty cash advances for patients, 1889-1891

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 12

Notes on patients, 1892

Carton 6SH 1AE1Vol. 13

Letterbook, 1913-1916

Carton 7SH 1AE2

Pocket diaries, 1904-1921

These 18 pocket diaries kept by Walter Channing contain brief entries describing the weather; appointments with patients, probably at the Channing Sanitarium and Boston State Hospital; social events and engagements; a trip to Italy and France; cultural institutions visited while abroad; and daily activities.

B. Anna K. (Morse) Channing volumes, 1868-1878

This subseries contains eight pocket diaries kept by Anna K. (Morse) Channing at Dorchester and Jamaica Plain, Mass. describing social engagements, functions and church services attended, school, trips to Massachusetts towns, family news, daily activities, and her marriage to Dr. Walter Channing on 25 June 1878.

Carton 7SH 1AE2

Pocket diaries, 1868-1869

Carton 7SH 1AE2

Pocket diaries, 1871-1873

Carton 7SH 1AE2

Pocket diaries, 1875-1876

Carton 7SH 1AE2

Pocket diary, 1878

Preferred Citation

Walter Channing (1849-1921) papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Baker, Harvey Humphrey, 1869-1915.
Briggs, L. Vernon (Lloyd Vernon), 1863-1941.
Channing, Anna K. Morse, 1852-1921.
Czolgosz, Leon F., 1873?-1901.
Fernald, Walter Elmore, 1859-1924.
Frost, Henry Pinkney, 1869-1917.
Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940.
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 1823-1911.
LeFavour, Henry, 1862-1946.
McKinley, William, 1843-1901.
Morse family.
Southard, Elmer Ernest, 1876-1920.

Organizations:

Boston State Hospital.
Channing Sanitarium.

Subjects:

Anarchists.
Assassins.
England--Description and travel--1801-1900.
Medicine.
Physicians--Massachusetts.
Psychiatric hospitals--Massachusetts.
Psychiatrists.