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Abraham Flexner
A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress


Prepared by Michael Spangler 
2000
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress 
Washington, D.C.
Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html 
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress 
Manuscript Division, 2003


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Collection Summary

Title:    Papers of Abraham Flexner , 1865 - 1989 (bulk 1900 - 1959 ) 
ID No.:    MSS20834 
Creator: Flexner, Abraham, 1866-1959 
Extent:    12,500 items ; 35 containers ; 14 linear feet 
Repository:    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 
Abstract:    Educational reformer and author. Correspondence, research files, speeches
and writings, and miscellany pertaining to Abraham Flexner's work in medical education
and administration of educational foundations.

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject
or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. 
Names:
Flexner, Abraham, 1866-1959 
Bamberger, Louis, 1855-1944--Correspondence 
Barrett, John D., 1903-1981--Correspondence 
Bluestone, E. Michael (Ephraim Michael), 1891-1979--Correspondence 
Bosworth, Welles, 1869-1966--Correspondence 
Boyd, W. R. (William Robert), 1864-1950--Correspondence 
Buttrick, Wallace, 1853-1926--Correspondence 
Cairns, Huntington, 1904- --Correspondence 
Clark, Evans--Correspondence 
Courant, Richard, 1888-1972--Correspondence 
Cullen, Thomas Stephen, 1868-1953--Correspondence 
Dodds, Harold W. (Harold Willis), 1889-1980--Correspondence 
Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955--Correspondence 
Flexner, Anne Crawford, 1874-1955--Correspondence 
Flexner, Bernard, 1865-1945--Correspondence 
Flexner, Eleanor, 1908- --Correspondence 
Flexner, Hortense, 1885- --Correspondence 
Flexner, James Thomas, 1908- --Correspondence 

Flexner, Jean Atherton--Correspondence 
Fosdick, Raymond Blaine, 1883- --Correspondence 
Getty, Robert J. (Robert John)--Correspondence 
Gottmann, Jean--Correspondence 
Hanus, Paul H. (Paul Henry), b. 1855--Correspondence 
Haskins, Caryl Parker, 1908- --Correspondence 
Hyde, James Hazen, 1876-1959--Correspondence 
Learned, William S. (William Setchel), 1876-1950--Correspondence 
Lehman, Herbert H. (Herbert Henry), 1878-1963--Correspondence 
Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1902-1974--Correspondence 
Lowe, E. A. (Elias Avery), 1879-1969--Correspondence 
Mantoux, Paul, 1877-1956--Correspondence 
Markham, Violet R. (Violet Rosa)--Correspondence 
McKittrick, Thomas H.--Correspondence 
Mellon, Paul--Correspondence 
Meritt, Benjamin Dean, 1899- --Correspondence 
Nevins, Allan, 1890-1971--Correspondence 
Rockefeller, John D. (John Davison), 1874-1960--Correspondence 
Rosenwald, Julius, 1862-1932--Correspondence 
Rosenwald, Lessing J. (Lessing Julius), 1891-1979--Correspondence 
Rusk, Dean, 1909- --Correspondence 
Sedgwick, Ellery, 1872-1960--Correspondence 
Welch, William Henry, 1850-1934--Correspondence 
Weyl, Hermann, 1885-1955--Correspondence 
Woodward, E. L. (Ernest Llewellyn), Sir, 1890- --Correspondence 
United States. Light-House Board 
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 
Ford Foundation--Correspondence 
General Education Board (New York, N.Y.) 
Pritchett, Henry S. (Henry Smith), 1857-1939. Correspondence of Henry S. Pritchett
(1901-1910) 

Subjects:
Education 
Educational change 
Medical education--Canada 
Medical education--United States 
Research 

Occupations:
Authors
Educators
Reformers

Administrative Information
Provenance:
The papers of Abraham Flexner, educational reformer and author, were given to the
Library of Congress by Flexner in 1954. Additional material was given by Flexner's
daughters, Eleanor Flexner and Jean Flexner Lewinson, from 1961 to 1990. The Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching gave additional items to the Library in
1965.

Processing History:
The papers of Abraham Flexner were organized in 1965. Additional material given in
1974 was processed in 1984. Unprocessed restricted material given in 1961 and items
received between 1986 and 1990 were incorporated into the collection in 2000.

Copyright Status:
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Abraham Flexner in these papers and in other
collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the
public.

Preferred Citation:
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information:
Container number, Abraham Flexner Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note
Date Event 
1866 , Nov. 13 Born, Louisville, Ky. 
1886  B.A., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
Appointed teacher, Louisville High School, Louisville, Ky. 
1890 - 1905  Established and directed college preparatory school, Louisville, Ky. 
1898  Married Anne Laziere Crawford (died 1959) 
1906  M.A., Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 
1907 - 1908  Studied at the University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany 
1908  Published The American College: A Criticism (New York: The Century Co. 237
pp.)
Joined the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 
1910  Published Medical Education in the United States and Canada (New York:
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 346 pp.) 
1913 - 1925  Assistant secretary and secretary, General Education Board 
1925 - 1928  Director, Division of Studies and Medical Education, General Education
Board 
1928  Delivered Rhodes Trust memorial lectures, Oxford, England 
1930 - 1939  Director, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. 
1940 - 1959  Director emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. 
1952  Published with the collaboration of Esther S. Bailey Funds and Foundations: Their
Policies Past and Present (NewYork: Harper & Bros. 146 pp.) 
1959 , Sept. 21 Died, Falls Church, Va. 

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Abraham Flexner (1866-1959) span the years 1865-1989 with the bulk of
the material concentrated in the period 1900-1959. The collection is organized into the
following series: Correspondence, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, Miscellany, and Addition. 
The Correspondence File includes family and general correspondence. Family
correspondence consists primarily of Flexner's letters to his wife, playwright Anne
Crawford Flexner, and their daughters Jean Atherton Flexner and Eleanor Flexner.
General correspondence includes letters exchanged with a wide range of correspondents
reflecting Flexner's activities in educational reform and his work with foundations to
expand research and educational opportunities. Significant and frequent correspondents
include Louis Bamberger, John D. Barrett, E. Michael Bluestone, Welles Bosworth, W.
R. Boyd, Wallace Buttrick, Huntington Cairns, Evans Clark, Richard Courant, Thomas S.
Cullen, Harold W. Dodds, Albert Einstein, Bernard Flexner, Raymond Blaine Fosdick,
Robert J. Getty, Jean Gottmann, Paul H. Hanus, Caryl Parker Haskins, James Hazen
Hyde, William S. Learned, Herbert H. Lehman, Charles A. Lindbergh, E. A. Lowe, Paul
Mantoux, Violet R. Markham, Thomas H. McKittrick, Benjamin Dean Meritt, Allan
Nevins, John D. Rockefeller (1874-1960), Julius Rosenwald, Dean Rusk, Ellery
Sedgwick, William Henry Welch, Hermann Weyl, and Sir E. L. Woodward.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching series contains material
pertaining to Flexner's work with the foundation and includes research files for his work,
Medical Education in the United States and Canada (1910). Impressed with Flexner's
critical writings on higher education, Carnegie Foundation president Henry S. Pritchett
hired Flexner in 1908 to study and report on the status of education in the medical
profession. Significant for its frank and unflattering appraisal of medical training, the
report effected numerous changes in medical schools and established Flexner as an
authority in the field. The medical education files include correspondence, reports, and
notes relating to the universities and schools Flexner examined. The general
correspondence chiefly documents Flexner's continuing relations with the foundation
after he had been appointed secretary of the General Education Board, an educational
fund created by John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937). The series also includes
correspondence of Henry S. Pritchett pertaining to his service as a civilian representative
on the Light-House Board of the Department of Commerce and Labor from 1901 to 1910.
Flexner published Henry S. Pritchett: A Biography in 1943. Pritchett's papers are also in
the Manuscript Division.

The Addition series has extensive family correspondence and includes letters between
Flexner and his wife and daughters. The correspondence is mostly personal with
occasional discussions of world and national politics, literary publications, cultural
events, and research projects. Correspondents include Bernard Flexner, Hortense Flexner,
and James Thomas Flexner. A small group of general correspondence primarily from
Flexner's retirement years documents his undiminished interest in educational
foundations and their activities. Significant and frequent correspondents include the Ford
Foundation, Paul Mellon, Lessing J. Rosenwald, and Sir E. L. Woodward. A speeches
and writings file contains printed and typescript versions of articles and lectures, a
memoir of the Flexner family, and writings about Flexner.

Organization of the Papers
The collection is arranged in four series:

Correspondence File, 1876-1961, n.d. 
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1873-1935, n.d. 
Miscellany, 1865-1962, n.d. 
Addition, 1888-1989, n.d.