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Finding aid to the Leo L. Stanley scrapbooks and papers, 1849-1974
(bulk 1928-1965), MS 2061
MS
2061
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Title: Leo L. Stanley scrapbooks and papers
Date (bulk): 1928-1965
Date (inclusive): 1849-1974
Collection Identifier: MS
2061
Creator:
Stanley, Leo L. (Leo Leonidas), b. 1886
Repository:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Abstract: Comprises scrapbooks, correspondence, writings,
publications, and other materials created or collected by Dr. Leo Leonidas Stanley
documenting his personal research and professional work as a prison doctor, ship's
physician, and medical experimenter (1913-1974). The scrapbooks contain Stanley's
observations of conditions at prison hospitals and road camps in the United States
and abroad, as well as descriptions of his travels. Scrapbooks, autobiographical
writings, and other materials document the experimental testicular transplant
surgeries Stanley performed during his tenure at San Quentin. The collection also
contains Stanley's correspondence with prisoners, including J.P. "Bluebeard" Watson;
Watson's writings, including his novel
Tangled; and
official reports and records Stanley collected or transcribed from San
Quentin.
Documents in the Leo L. Stanley scrapbooks and papers (MS 2061) containing personally
identifiable health information are restricted during the lifetime of the person in
question. Individuals are presumed to be deceased 100 years after the date of their
birth or the date of record creation, whichever occurs first.
The following documents are sealed and closed until the date indicated:
1).
All Pacific Cruise: Australia (vol. VI), Box 5,
page 284: Sealed and closed until 2029.
2).
All Pacific Cruise: New Zealand, Fiji, Pago Pago,
Hawaii
(vol. VII), Box 5, pages [330-334]: Sealed and closed until
2029.
3).
Korea: San Francisco, Honolulu, Wake Island, Tokyo,
Seoul
: Sealed and closed until 2020.
4).
Inspection Tour of Road Camps, Box 22, pages [12]
and [19]: Sealed and closed until 2016. Page [13]: Sealed and closed until 2013.
Restricted documents have been separated and sealed in Box 27.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Director of Library and Archives, North Baker
Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco,
CA 94105. Consent is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the
owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from
the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of
digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
[Identification of item], Leo L. Stanley Papers, MS 2061, California Historical
Society.
Leo Leonidas Stanley reminiscences, MS 3505 [concerning the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake and fire].
The collection was given to the California Historical Society by Dr. Leo L. Stanley
in 1974.
This collection is arranged into three series: 1) Travel scrapbooks, which contain
daily descriptions of journeys in the United States and abroad, with accompanying
photographs and ephemera; 2) Prison scrapbooks and related material, which include
materials pertaining to San Quentin State Prison and prison road camp inspections in
California; and 3) Personal papers, articles, and writings, which contain several
autobiographical manuscripts, newspaper articles and magazine clippings,
correspondence, and a manuscript written by Stanley's father, Dr. Hartwell B.
Stanley.
Leo Stanley was born in Oregon in 1886 and raised in San Luis Obispo County,
California. After receiving his bachelor's degree at Stanford University in 1903 and
matriculating to Cooper Medical College in 1908, Stanley served his medical
residency at San Quentin State Prison. In 1913, Stanley accepted the position of
Chief Medical Officer at the prison, a position he held until his retirement in
1951. During his tenure at San Quentin, Stanley performed medical experiments on
prisoners involving testicular transplants, attracting national media attention (the
"Buck" Kelly case). This notoriety would cling to him until his death in 1976.
Throughout his life, Stanley traveled the world, working as a physician, studying
prison hospitals, and observing conditions at prison road camps. He penned a number
of articles for San Francisco Bay Area newspapers and medical journals and published
several books, including
My Most Unforgettable
Convicts
. The final years of his life were spent writing and working on
his farm ("Crest Farm") in Marin County, California, with his second wife Bernice
Holthouse.
Collection materials document Stanley's personal research and professional work as a
prison doctor, ship's physician, and medical experimenter (1913-1974). The
scrapbooks contain Stanley's observations of conditions at prison hospitals and road
camps in the United States and abroad, as well as descriptions of his travels. Much
of the material contains personal and professional anecdotes, and punctuated
throughout the collection are a number of autobiographical works (
News Men I Have Known,
Three Ways
To Win
,
A Long and Happy One: Autobiography of
Leo L. Stanley
, and
Twenty Years at San
Quentin
). Significantly, this material includes disparate versions of
the experimental testicular transplant surgeries Stanley performed during his tenure
at San Quentin. Also noteworthy is Stanley's correspondence with prisoners,
including J.P. "Bluebeard" Watson (1879-1939), who was incarcerated and ultimately
died at San Quentin State Prison after he was convicted of the murder of fifteen
women. As executor of Watson's estate, Stanley retained a number of his writings,
including poems, musings, and two versions of Watson's novel
Tangled, which are included in the collection. The collection also
contains a number of official reports and records Stanley collected or transcribed
from San Quentin, including a published register of convicts complete from 1851-1859
(
Register of State Prison at San Quentin 1889).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog:
California State Prison at San Quentin--Officials
and employees.
California State Prison at San Quentin.
Watson, J. P.
Convict labor--California.
Human experimentation in medicine--California.
Prison physicians.
Prisoners--California--San Quentin--Fiction.
Prisoners--Medical care.
Prisons.
Ship physicians.
Voyages and travels.
Voyages around the world.
Scrapbooks.
The following items were formerly cataloged as MS 1303:
Korea:
San Francisco, Honolulu, Wake Island, Tokyo, Seoul
, 1956; Reports of
State Prison Directors on San Quentin, 1855-1912;
Register of
State Prison at San Quentin 1889
; Federal Executions at the California
State Prison at San Quentin, 1895;
The Evolution of a State
Prison
, by James Wilkins; and
News Men I Have
Known
.