Dick-Read, Grantly

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0120 PP/GDR
Held at	: Wellcome Library   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://wellcomelibrary.org/ ›
Full title	: Dick-Read, Grantly
Date(s)	: c 1906-1971
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 69 boxes, 3 oversize items
Name of creator(s)	: Read | Grantly | Dick- | 1890-1959 | exponent of natural childbirth
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Grantly Dick Read is primarily famous for his work as a propagandist for 'natural childbirth'. This is the belief that in all but a small minority of cases labour is a normal physiological event, which in the case of properly instructed women can be carried out with a minimum of obstetric intervention. It includes the methods by which women can be trained to conduct labour as a conscious participant rather than a drugged patient. Dick Read's teachings were a matter of some controversy among the medical profession, as he was not a qualified obstetrician and even after his teachings had become widespread and his methods employed, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists refused to admit him to membership. However he gained considerable support from among women themselves.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Grantly Dick-Read, c 1906-1971 including family correspondence and papers, letters from mothers and doctors, papers relating to dissemination of doctrine, personal material.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Most of this collection was in considerable disorder and no original arrangement could be ascertained for much of the material (apart from the files of correspondence from mothers and doctors on natural childbirth). It has therefore been arranged in a way that it is hoped will make it accessible to the user. There is a small collection of personal and biographical items, including Dick-Read's writings on literary and philosophical subjects, which can be found in Section A. Items relating to his medical practice and research (this includes fields other than obstetrics) are to be found in Section B. Papers relating to the various means by which the doctrine of natural childbirth was disseminated are to be found in Section C: publications, film, broadcasts, lectures, courses, tours, press publicity, etc. Section D contains the public response to Dick-Read's teachings, with correspondence from all over the world from lay persons and doctors, from the mid 1930s up to his death. This is a particularly valuable source for the study of attitudes to childbirth and obstetric theories and practices during this period. Section E contains items on legal and business matters, including Dick Read's lawsuit against the South African Medical and Dental Council for refusing to register him. Section F contains various items, published and unpublished, by other hands, mainly but not exclusively on natural childbirth or related topics. There are some gaps in these papers, which can perhaps be accounted for by the number of moves they must have undergone in the course of Dick-Read's career.

SUMMARY LIST
A Personal and biographical, 1905-1960
B Medical, 1909-1958
C Publishing, Press, Lectures, Films, Tours, etc., 1932-1962
D Natural Childbirth Correspondence, 1932-1969
E Legal , Financial and Business Matters, 1923-1958
F Works by Others, 1912-1971
G Additional Papers From Family, c.1906-1950s

Conditions governing access:

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking. In addition please note the following: Files B.15, B.17, B.18/1 and B.19-22 are subject to a 100 year restricted access rule, as are files D.1-247. Readers wishing to consult these files must complete a Restricted Access application form to apply for permission to consult this material. Files B.24-46 comprise patient record cards and are closed for 84 years from the last date of the records. Please note that the reader copies of PP/GDR/C.149-151 (reel-to-reel audio tapes of 'Natural Childbirth Lecture no 2', parts 1-3) are missing.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Readers are restricted to 100 photocopies in twelve months. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

Finding aids:

Online Archives and Manuscripts database, and hard copy catalogue in the Wellcome Library. The catalogue is available on microfiche via the National Inventory of Documentary Sources (NIDS).

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

These papers were given to the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre in 1981 by Dick-Read's widow Jessica Bennett, via Laurence Pollinger Ltd, his literary executors. The papers had been in storage for some 20-odd years. A preliminary sifting of the material took place at the warehouse where the papers were stored. A few further items were received directly from Lawrence Pollinger Ltd. Some additional personal material was received from the children of his first marriage to Dorothea ('Thea') Cannon in April 1996, through the good offices of Professor Mary Thomas.

Allied Materials

Related material:

In the Wellcome Library: A number of Dick-Read's works, though not, unfortunately a complete set, are held by the Library. A bibliography of Dick-Read's work can be found as an appendix to the hard-copy catalogue in the Wellcome Library.

At other repositories: A copy of his film Childbirth Without Fear is held by the National Film Archive.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Copied from the Wellcome Library catalogue by Sarah Drewery.

Rules or conventions:
In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Jan 2009