The Freud/Hall Letters

Clark University's 1909 conference, which took place September 6th through September 19th, was a celebration of the institution's Twentieth Anniversary. The conference is most notable for the participation of Sigmund Freud who, along with Carl Jung, would take their first and only trip to America to attend. The five lectures Freud gave, collectively titled “The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis” and subsequently known in print as “Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis”, mark the formal introduction of his theories to the United States.

This series contains all known correspondence between Sigmund Freud and G. Stanley Hall. Hall, Clark University President, educator, and noted psychologist, was known to have been interested in Freud’s work as early as 1901 and was responsible for Freud's participation in the conference. Their correspondence primarily took place in 1909 but began in 1908 and ended in 1923.

There are thirty-two letters in total, including two postcards and one calling card. Translations of Freud's letters were prepared for Hall and are provided as supplemental downloadable documents. There are a few translation documents we have been unable to locate and, in one case, an incomplete letter. For these gaps we rely on the letters and translations as they appear in Freud, Jung, and Hall the King-Maker: The Expedition to America (1909) by Saul Rosenzweig (1992). These exceptions are individually noted, with translations appearing in the item description in lieu of a supplemental document.