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David R. Kessler papers
1993-24  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biography/Administrative History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Indexing Terms
  • Additional collection guides

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: David R. Kessler papers
    Dates: 1972-1993
    Collection Number: 1993-24
    Creator/Collector: Kessler, David R.
    Extent: 7 cartons (7 linear feet)
    Repository: GLBT Historical Society
    San Francisco, California 94103
    Abstract: This collection documents the professional and political life of David Rudolph Kessler, M.D. (born April 1, 1930 - died November 24, 2022). The collection contains a small amount of correspondence, speeches and lectures regarding homosexuality and psychiatry, materials relating to Dr. Kessler’s professional and political activities, and numerous subject files on the AIDS epidemic and other topics related to the LGBT community in San Francisco.
    Language of Material: English

    Access

    Collection is open for research. Funding for processing this collection was provided by the National Historical Publications Commission (NHPRC) and the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. David R. Kessler papers. Collection Number: 1993-24. GLBT Historical Society

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of David R. Kessler in November 1993.

    Biography/Administrative History

    David R. Kessler, M.D. (born April 1, 1930 - died November 24, 2022) was the first elected president of the San Francisco-based gay doctors organization—Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights (BAPHR). After completing his medical degree and residency at Yale, he served on the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School. He was also on the staff of the Langley-Porter Institute from 1962 until his retirement in 1986. Dr. Kessler was past president of the Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the American Psychiatric Institute and served on the board of directors for the NAMES Project and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. In 1991-1992 Dr. Kessler endowed the David R. Kessler Lecture award at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at the City University of New York. Dr. Kessler's partner, Steven Del Re, died of complications from AIDS in 1986.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    This collection documents the professional and political life of David R. Kessler, M.D. The collection contains a small amount of correspondence, speeches and lectures regarding homosexuality and psychiatry, materials relating to Dr. Kessler’s professional and political activities, and numerous subject files on the AIDS epidemic and other topics related to the LGBT community in San Francisco. The papers reflect Dr. Kessler’s research on homosexual relationships within the context of psychiatry and include writings by prominent gay authors and also papers by Charles W. Socarides and Harold M. Voth, who fought against the removal of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-III. The collection contains very little personal material. The collection is divided into six Series: Correspondence; Speeches and Lectures; Professional and Political Activities; AIDS Subject Files; General Subject Files; and Writings by Others. GSSO Linked Terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000521; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001813; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000374

    Indexing Terms

    AIDS (disease)
    Health
    Gay men

    Additional collection guides