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Physicians for Social Responsibility Records

 Collection
Identifier: SCPC-DG-175

Scope and Contents

This collection includes correspondence, financial files, memoranda, newsletters, legislative files, publicity materials, and videocassettes.

Series I, Box 8 and Series II, Boxes 37, 50, 70, 76, and 79 only contained audiovisual materials.

Dates

  • 1970-

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access Note

All or part of this collection is stored off-site. Contact Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu at least two weeks in advance of visit to request boxes.

Copyright and Rights Information

None.

Historical Note

Founded in 1961 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by a group of physicians. PSR is an organization, and association of doctors concerned with the challenge of the nuclear age: "man's scientific knowledge now provides an unprecedented opportunity for medical and social advance; yet thermonuclear war poses a supreme threat to the health and survival of mankind." Since prevention is the only effective remedy, and therapy, these physicians are attempting to explore a new area of preventive medicine: the prevention of nuclear war. Their aims are to "provide for the medical community the scientific data on which political decisions must in part be based; to alert physicians to the dangerous implication of the arms race; to involve physicians in serious exploration of peaceful alternatives..."

Extent

239 Linear Feet (239 linear ft.)

Overview

Founded in 1961 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by a group of physicians. PSR is an organization, and association of doctors concerned with the challenge of the nuclear age: "man's scientific knowledge now provides an unprecedented opportunity for medical and social advance; yet thermonuclear war poses a supreme threat to the health and survival of mankind." Since prevention is the only effective remedy, and therapy, these physicians are attempting to explore a new area of preventive medicine: the prevention of nuclear war. Their aims are to "provide for the medical community the scientific data on which political decisions must in part be based; to alert physicians to the dangerous implication of the arms race; to involve physicians in serious exploration of peaceful alternatives..."

Arrangement

The Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) records have not yet been processed by the staff of the Peace Collection. The materials have been refoldered, but remain in the exact order they were sent. Files are not in completely chronological or alphabetical order. The collection is divided into several sections, reflecting how and when each section was received by the Peace Collection. Each section is labeled by its Accession number, the internal Swarthmore College Peace Collection record number each time PSR records are received.

Custodial History

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is the official repository for these papers/records.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Physcians for Social Responsbility, 1994 [Acc. 94A-073]; 1997 [Acc. 97A-003]; 2000 [Acc. 00A-037]; 2001 [Acc. 01A-007, Acc. 01A-034, Acc. 01A-044]; 2003 [Acc. 03A-009, Acc. 03A-068]

Archived websites for Physicians for Social Responsibility

These web sites were created by the Physicians for Social Responsibility national office. Beginning in 1997 the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive periodically captured Peace Action's web site.

The links provided here are for the convenience of researchers interested in the history of the Physicians for Social Responsibility's web presence. The Swarthmore College Peace Collection has no control over the web sites or how they are saved by the Internet Archive.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.psr.org/

http://wayback.archive-it.org/223/*/http://www.psr.org/

Separated Materials

Audiovisual items were moved to the Audiovisual Collection.

Legal Status

Copyright to the Physicians for Social Responsibility records created by the organization has been transferred to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Copyright to all other materials is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Processing Information

This collection is unprocessed.

Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2018: The file list was standardized in Summer 2017 by Mary Olesnavich in preparation for importing into ArchivesSpace. Elisabeth Miller added the notes in Fall. Some updates by Wendy E. Chmielewski, October 2020. 2017.

Find It at the Library

Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting reproductions from Swarthmore College Peace Collection Library

Contact:
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore 19081-1399 USA US
610-328-8557
610-328-8544 (Fax)