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.
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.
Correspondence, [185-]
Correspondence, 1860-1897
Correspondence, 1898-1911
Correspondence, 1912-1915
Correspondence, 1916-1922
Undated correspondence
Morse family papers, 1850-1886
Czolgosz case papers
Writings, essays, notes, articles, reports, etc., by Walter Channing, 1864-1920
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
French exercises, 1860
School diary, 1863-1864
Memoranda and diary entries, 1865-1866
Pocket diary, 1866
Diary kept in Germany, 18 July-25 Aug. 1872
Personal accounts kept while abroad, 1872-1873
Diary kept in Vienna (in German), 1873
Expenses, Sep. 1873-June 1874
Letterbook, 1879-1880
Notes on patients, 1884-1892
Petty cash advances for patients, 1889-1891
Notes on patients, 1892
Letterbook, 1913-1916
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.
Pocket diaries, 1868-1869
Pocket diaries, 1871-1873
Pocket diaries, 1875-1876
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.