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Theodore J. Curphey Papers: Finding Aid
mssCurphey papers  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Theodore J. Curphey Papers
    Dates (inclusive): 1921-1976
    Bulk dates: 1941-1967
    Collection Number: mssCurphey papers
    Creator: Curphey, Theodore J.
    Extent: Approximately 9,250 items. 50 boxes, plus one oversize album.
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2129
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: This collection contains the papers of Dr. Theodore J. Curphey (1897-1986), who served as the first medical examiner-coroner of Los Angeles County from 1957 to 1967. The chief topics of the Curphey papers are: his work as Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Battered Child Syndrome, air pollution, smoking and smog, aircraft accidents, suicide and suicide prevention, drug addiction and overdose, causes of death, homicides, asphyxia, autopsy, drowning, forensic pathology, forensic science, oral contraceptives, and violent deaths.
    Language: English.

    Access

    Due to the nature of the collection and the amount of personal, medical information that is present in the collection, many parts of the collection are sealed for 50 years (opening in 2062). This material is noted in this finding aid and consists of Box 6 (Folders 1, 3-4, 8-9) ; Box 16; Box 17 (Folders 1, 8-10, 12); Box 28; Box 29 (Folders 8-9) [moved to Box 45]; and Boxes 32-43. This material has been removed from the collection.
    The non-seealed material is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Administrative Information

    Publication Rights

    The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Theodore J. Curphey Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    On permanent deposit from the Los Angeles County Medical Association, 1992. In 1992, the Los Angeles County Medical Association put several collections on permanent deposit at the Huntington Library.

    Cataloger's Notes

    Due to the nature of this collection and the subjects covered, there may be material (including documents and images) that some may find disturbing. The collection contains autopsy information and photographs, crime scene photographs, etc.
    Some restrictions were lifted in May 2013 when the Chief Cataloger went through specific folders and items and deemed them okay for scholars to see.

    Biographical Note

    Theodore Joscelyn Curphey was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on October 25, 1897. He received his M.D., C.M. in 1921 from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. After receiving his medical license from the Medical Council of Canada in 1921, Curphey moved to New York to begin a fellowship at New York University Bellevue Medical College, where he worked as a resident in pathology from 1923-1926, and later as a an instructor, lecturer, and assistant professor of pathology. In 1935 Curphey became a naturalized U.S. citizen, and was appointed Director of Clinical Laboratories at Meadowbrook Hospital in Nassau County, New York. Shortly thereafter, Curphey was appointed Chief Medical Examiner of Nassau County, a position he held from 1938 to 1957. While acting as Nassau County Medical Examiner, Curphey also held positions as a pathologist for various local hospitals, served as an officer of multiple professional medical organizations, and published a number of medical publications.
    In 1957, Curphey left New York for California when he was appointed the first Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for the County of Los Angeles (Curphey actually declined an appointment as Chief Deputy Coroner in 1956, but returned the following year after a county referendum approved the appointment of a professional medical examiner). After a brief honeymoon period, Curphey quickly became embroiled in a number of controversies regarding his policies as Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner. Curphey's attempts to modernize and professionalize the L.A. County Coroner's Office first ran afoul of county morticians who complained in early 1958 that Curphey's autopsy policies complicated embalming procedures and delayed the issuance of death certificates. These issues (along with internal Office disputes) quickly took on added proportions when later that year it was revealed that Curphey had ordered that the Coroner's Office retain tissue samples removed during autopsy. L.A. County Board of Supervisors Chairman Burton W. Chance denounced the policy as a violation of the rights of bereaved family members, and Chief Deputy District Attorney Manly J. Bowler requested that a grand jury investigate the legality of the policy. Despite formal accusations of professional misconduct by the grand jury, Curphey's policies were publicly praised as good professional practice by coroners and physicians across the state and nation, and legalized shortly thereafter by the California State Legislature; the California Supreme Court would also rule in Curphey's favor, finding that the grand jury had no jurisdiction over civil service matters.
    Despite his early troubles, Curphey's tenure as Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner was one of widespread renown and respect. Curphey's Coroner's Office, however, did again become the subject of intense public interest after the death of Marilyn Monroe in 1962. While Thomas T. Noguchi, Curphey's controversial successor as Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, performed the autopsy on Monroe, it was Curphey who oversaw the investigation and ruled, in part through the innovative use of a psychological autopsy, Monroe's death a suicide. As Medical Examiner of Nassau County, Curphey was also involved in the investigation of the sensational death of William Woodward, Jr. in 1955.
    Curphey retired as L.A. County Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner of Los Angeles in 1967 at the age of 70, the mandatory age of retirement for County civil servants. After retirement, Curphey worked as a consultant in forensic pathology and continued to work in the field of suicide prevention, particularly through his long-time association with the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center.
    Curphey married Aies Norrild of Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1928. They had two children, Thomas John (b. 1934) and Marina Patricia (b. 1936). Curphey died in Pasadena, California, on November 27, 1986.

    Scope and Content

    This collection contains the papers of Dr. Theodore J. Curphey (1897-1986), who served as the first medical examiner-coroner of Los Angeles County from 1957 to 1967. The chief topics of the Curphey papers are: his work as Los Angeles County Medical Examiner- Coroner, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Battered Child Syndrome, air pollution, smoking and smog, aircraft accidents, suicide and suicide prevention, drug addiction and overdose, causes of death, homicides, asphyxia, autopsy, drowning, forensic pathology, forensic science, oral contraceptives, and violent deaths. The collection contains several boxes of glass lantern slides Curphey created for talks that he would give to other physicians.
    Prior to cataloging, most of the papers were stored in manila file folders with subject headings written in Curphey's handwriting. The current organizational structure of the collection for the most part replicates the classification system of Curphey's folders. In most cases, the contents of Curphey's folders were transferred in the order and under the conditions in which they were found. When appropriate and possible, the titles and sequence of Curphey's folders were retained. The original sequence of folders was not retained in those instances where no organizational schema seemed apparent, or when larger thematic groupings seemed preferable. For instance, all of Curphey's papers on air pollution and smoking, suicide, the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, battered child syndrome, and aviation accident investigations have been grouped together within the collection. While the contents of the folders on each of these topics generally replicate the contents of Curphey's individual folders, the folders themselves have been consolidated for organizational purposes and ease of access.
    Notable participants include: author Erle Stanley Gardner, medical examiner Thomas T. Noguchi and psychologist Edwin S. Shneidman as well as the following organizations American Association of Suicidology, American Board of Pathology, American Medical Association, American Society of Clinical Pathologists, California's Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, Theodore J. Curphey Papers - Finding Aid - 5 California's Department of Public Health, California Medical Association, the Institute for Studies of Destructive Behaviors and the Suicide Prevention Center, Los Angeles County Office of Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, and Dept. of Public Health, Los Angeles County Medical Association, National Institute of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, and the United States Dept. of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged in the following 11 series:
    • 1. Papers, addresses, and correspondence (Boxes 1-4)
    • 2. Miscellaneous documents and correspondence (Boxes 5-10, 18-19, 29)
    • 3. Professional and institutional documents and correspondence (Boxes 11-15)
    • 4. Documents and correspondence on Sudden Infant Death and Battered Child Syndrome (Boxes 16-17)
    • 5. Institutional correspondence and documents (Box 20)
    • 6. Documents and correspondence on Air Pollution and Smoking (Boxes 21-22)
    • 7. Documents and correspondence on Suicide, Drugs, Drug Addiction (Boxes 23-27)
    • 8. Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office documents (Box 28)
    • 9. Ephemera (Boxes 30-31)
    • 10. Lantern Slides (Boxes 32-43)
    • 11. Oversize (Boxes 44-50 and one item)

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Subjects

    Curphey, Theodore J., -- Archives.
    Los Angeles County (Calif.). Office of Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner.
    Air -- Pollution -- California -- Los Angeles County.
    Aircraft accidents.
    Asphyxia.
    Autopsy.
    Battered child syndrome.
    Coroners -- California -- Los Angeles County -- Archives.
    Death -- Causes.
    Death certificates -- California -- Los Angeles County.
    Drowning.
    Drugs -- Overdose.
    Forensic pathology -- California -- Los Angeles County.
    Forensic science and medicine -- United States.
    Forensic sciences -- United States.
    Homicide -- California.
    Medical examiners (Law) -- California -- Los Angeles County.
    Medicolegal investigators -- California -- Los Angeles County.
    Oral contraceptives.
    Pathology -- Study and teaching.
    Smoking.
    Smog -- California -- Los Angeles County.
    Sudden death.
    Sudden infant death syndrome.
    Suicide.
    Suicide -- Prevention.
    Undertakers and undertaking -- California.
    Violent deaths.
    Los Angeles County Medical Association Collection.

    Forms/Genres

    Articles -- United States -- 20th century.
    Lantern slides -- United States -- 20th century.
    Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 20th century.
    Manuscripts -- United States -- 20th century.
    Photographs -- United States -- 20th century.
    Reports -- United States -- 20th century.

    Additional Contributors

    Gardner, Erle Stanley, 1889-1970.
    Noguchi, Thomas T., 1927-.
    Shneidman, Edwin S.
    American Association of Suicidology.
    American Board of Pathology.
    American Medical Association.
    American Society of Clinical Pathologists.
    California. Bureau of Maternal and Child Health.
    California. Dept. of Public Health.
    California Medical Association.
    Institute for Studies of Destructive Behaviors and the Suicide Prevention Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
    Los Angeles County (Calif.). Office of Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner.
    Los Angeles County (Calif.). Public Health.
    Los Angeles County Medical Association, former owner.
    National Institute of Health (U.S.)
    National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.)
    United States. Department of Health and Human Services.
    United States. Food and Drug Administration.