The papers of neurologist Walter Timme, including drafts of scientific papers; offprints of Timme's medical articles; and a manuscript draft of his memoirs. Topics documented include the "criminal type"; the history of multiple sclerosis; and the effects of saccharin on the nervous system. Also included is Timme's statement at the 1923 New York Governor's Narcotic Drug Control Conference in which he came out strongly against the criminalization of narcotics use. The memoir appears to be fragmentary and seems never to have been published.
History and Biography
Neurologist and endocrinologist. Timme was born in New York City, February 24, 1874, and educated at City College of New York and at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons from which he received his medical degree in 1897.
He was on the medical staff of the Vanderbilt Clinic of the College of Physicians and Surgeons for many years, serving as Chief Neurologist in 1914-1916. He was on the staff of the Neurological Institute of New York from 1911 to 1938, ending his career there as director of endocrinology, 1934-1938.
Timme was a pioneer in the field of neuroendocrinology and wrote extensively on the subject. In 1919, he described the pluriglandular disease later known as "Timme's syndrome."
Timme belonged to numerous scientific societies and was a founder and president of the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Diseases. He died February 12, 1956 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Organization
The papers document Timme's professional career: there are no family or personal papers. Included are drafts of scientific papers, offprints of Timme's medical articles, a manuscript draft of his memoirs; and programs of meetings at which Timme presented papers.
The drafts - which appear to be unpublished - include articles on the "criminal type," the history of multiple sclerosis, and the effects of saccharin on the nervous system. There is typescript of an abridged version of his "A New Pluriglandular Compensatory Syndrome," (or "Timme's syndrome"), the longer version of which was published in Transactions of Section on Nervous and Mental Diseases of the American Medical Association in 1919; the material here also includes the original photographs used in the article.
The records of Timme's involvement in the 1923 New York Governor's Narcotic Drug Control Conference include a letter of invitation from Gov. Alfred E. Smith and Timme's statement at the conference, during which he came out strongly against the criminalization of narcotics use.
The memoirs appear to be fragmentary and seem never to have been published. Because of Timme's handwriting, the manuscript is difficult to decipher.
| Box | Folder | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence, Miscellaneous, 1921 |
| 2 | Chart: "Course in Neurology for Officers of the Medical Reserve Corps, Neurological Institute, NY," undated, c. 1918? | |
| 3 | Criminality: drafts of papers on the "pro-criminal type," undated | |
| 4 | Governor's Narcotic Drug Control Conference, 1923 | |
| 5 | Memoirs, undated | |
| 6 | "Multiple Sclerosis - Historical Retrospect" : typescript; undated, but post-1920 | |
| 7 | "A New Pluriglandular Compensatory Syndrome" [Timme's Syndrome]: typescript of case histories, with photographs, from an article which appeared in 1919 | |
| 8 | Programs, scientific meetings, 1916-1938 | |
| 9 | Reprints, 1907-1936 | |
| 10 | Saccharin study: correspondence, statistics, drafts of articles, 1939, 1945- 1947 |
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Gift of the Neurological Institute/Dept. of Neurology of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 2005 (acc. #2005.04.15).