Sylvester papers
SFCP.MSS.006
Finding aid prepared by Chris Gordon and Eric Rosen
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis
444 Natoma St.
San Francisco, California, 94103
(415) 563-4477
chris.gordon@sf-cp.org
7-11-2017
Title: Sylvester papers
Identifier/Call Number: SFCP.MSS.006
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
12.0 Linear feet
18 cartons
Date (inclusive): 1924-1995
Abstract: The Sylvester papers include work done by Sylvester both in the realm of child psychology and without, primarily dedicated
to patient files from fifteen years of child therapy practice and manuscripts both written by and collected by Sylvester.
Smaller sections of child psychology include notes, case discussions, business finances, and work with the Child Analysis
Committee. Also collected are records from Sylvester's work with the Mt. Zion nursery school, California State Personnel Board,
Marin Health Services and teaching material from her time as an educator. Personal items included correspondence, both personal
and professional, biographical material, therapy toys used in practice and and small collection of photos, slides and negatives.
Language of materials: All materials in English.
creator:
Sylvester, Emmy
Conditions governing access
For use by researchers and students of psychoanalysis subject to archive rules and regulations.
Conditions governing use
Subject to copyright restrictions.
Preferred citation
'The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis Archives' Record Unit/Accession # and/or Collection Title.
Biographical note
Emmy Sylvester was born in Vienna on August 4th, 1910. Her father worked as a civil engineer for the Austrian government as
a bridge builder who died during her early adult years. She attended the University of Vienna and received her Ph.D. in psychology
in 1932. As a psychologist she worked with Charlotte Buhler on, among other things, an early study of infant sleep patterns.
She continued to study medicine, receiving her medical degree in 1937 before interning at the Children's Hospital in Vienna
in 1937.
Sylvester left Vienna for the United States in 1938 shortly before the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. Traveling to
Chicago, she served another internship at Michael Reese hospital in 1938 followed by a residency there in 1938 and 1939. She
continued her analytic training begun in Vienna at the Chicago institute. She was also associated with the Orthogenic School
and worked for some time with Bettelheim on a number of projects. She remained with the Michael Reese Hospital during the
40's on the staff and as a teacher before moving to San Francisco in 1951.
Becoming a training analyst shortly after arriving in the Bay Area, she served on the teaching staff at Mt. Zion and Letterman
Hospitals where she practiced with friends and colleagues Emmanual Windholz and Norman Reider and was a Clinical Professor
at Stanford Medical School. Moving to Mill Valley in the 60's, she continued her psychological work with children as evidenced
by her nearly two hundred patient files over fifteen years of child psychotherapy.
Though married twice she never had children. Retiring in 1990, Emmy Sylvester died on August 9th, 1994 just five days after
her 85th birthday, after a four year long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Arrangement note
The collection has been arranged in the following series: Child Psychology, Non-child psychology work, Manuscripts, Correspondence,
Patient files, biographical material, and Miscellaneous. Photographs, negatives and slides and therapy toys are housed separately
from the main collection.
Scope and contents note
The Sylvester papers include work done by Sylvester both in the realm of child psychology and without, primarily dedicated
to patient files from fifteen years of child therapy practice and manuscripts both written by and collected by Sylvester.
Smaller sections of child psychology include notes, case discussions, business finances, and work with the Child Analysis
Committee. Also collected are records from Sylvester's work with the Mt. Zion nursery school, California State Personnel Board,
Marin Health Services and teaching material from her time as an educator. Personal items included correspondence, both personal
and professional, biographical material, therapy toys used in practice and and small collection of photos, slides and negatives.
The materials in the collection span the years 1924-1995 and feature work done by Sylvester and contemporaries. The vast majority
of the collection is dedicated to nearly two hundred patient files from her work as a child psychoanalyst. Material is arranged
by date where dates exist with patient files organized alphabetically by patients last initial and manuscripts collected by
Sylvester arranged alphabetically by author's last name. Collections of brochures from treatments centers and psychoanalysis
schools, reprints and handwritten note are undated and arranged only at the series level. Correspondence with Dr. Egan is
in German and has been filed separately from English correspondence. Dated material primarily spans the dates 1960-1984.
Photos, negatives and slides and therapy toys are housed separately from the main collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Child analysis
Children -- Research
Correspondence
Photographs
Psychoanalysis -- Case studies
Psychoanalysis--Study and teaching
Reprints
Toys
Child Psychology
1940-1982
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
8.0 Folder
Box 1, Folder 1-5
Notes
1960-1975
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5.0 Folder
Box 2, Folder 1
Case Discussions
1940-1942
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 2, Folder 2
Child analysis committee
1948-1950
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 2, Folder 3
Business finances
1967-1982
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Non-child psychology work
1944-1973
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
4.0 Folder
Box 2, Folder 4
Nursery school grant proposal
Undates
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 2, Folder 5
Mt. Zion nursery school
1966-1973
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 2, Folder 6
California State personel board
1944-1951
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 2, Folder 7
Marin Health Services
1966-1967
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Manuscripts
1936-1987
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
35.0 Folder
Box 2, Folder 8, Box 3, Folder 1-4, Box 4, Folder 1-5
Manuscripts written by Sylvester
Undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
10.0 Folder
Box 5, Folder 1
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester A-DEL
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 5, Folder 2
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester DEV-GIL
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 5, Folder 3
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester GLE-HOL
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 5, Folder 4
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester HOR-KIL
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 6, Folder 1
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester KIL
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 6, Folder 2
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester KIL-KOR
undated
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 6, Folder 3
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester KOR-O
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 6, Folder 4
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester- Papers from the Meninger Clinic
1936-1937
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 7, Folder 1
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester PEL-WAL
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 7, Folder 2
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester WAN-WEI
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 7, Folder 3
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester WEI-Z
undated
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 7, Folder 4, Box 8, Folder 1-5
Manuscripts collected by Sylvester- Unknown author
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 9, Folder 1
Teaching, seminar and course material 1946-1958
1946-1958
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 9, Folder 2
Teaching, seminar and course material 1959-1962
1959-1962
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 9, Folder 3
Teaching, seminar and course material 1962-1968
1962-1968
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 9, Folder 4
Teaching, seminar and course material 1968-1987
1968-1987
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 10, Folder 1-2
Teaching, seminar and course material undated
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2.0 Folder
Box 10, Folder 3-4
School and treatment brochures
1965-1984
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2.0 Folder
Box 10, Folder 5
Reprints
1967-1974
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Correspondence
1924-1990
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
7.0 Folder
Box 11, Folder 1
Correspondence 1924-1967
1924-1967
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 11, Folder 2
Correspondence 1967-1974
1967-1974
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 11, Folder 3
Correspondence 1974-1989
1974-1984
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 11, Folder 4
Correspondence undated
undated
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 11, Folder 5, Box 12, Folder 1
Correspondence- Postcards
1955-1990
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 12, Folder 2
Correspondence with Dr. Egan in German
1970-1975
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Patient Files
1964-1984
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
189.0 Folder
Box 12, Folder 3-28, Box 13, Folder 1-34, Box 14, Folder 1-55, Box 15, Folder 1-29
Patient files
1964-1984
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
143.0 Folder
Box 17, Folder 1-21, Box 15, Folder 30-36, Box 16, Folder 1-18
Patient files with drawings
1964-1984
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
46.0 Folder
Box 17, Folder 22
Biographical material
1943-1995
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 17, Folder 23
Miscellaneous
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box 18, Folder 2, Box 18, Folder 1
Manuscripts in German
Language of Material:
German
Physical Description:
2.0 Folder
Box 18, Folder 3-4
Photographs, negitives and slides
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
