Ivan D. London papers, 1934-2005

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Summary

Creators:
London, Ivan D., 1913-1983 and London, Miriam
Abstract:
Correspondence, writings, questionnaires, interview transcripts, notes, reports, memoranda, and printed matter relating to political science, social conditions in the Soviet Union and China, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the psychology of the Soviet people and émigrés from the Soviet Union, and the study of science, especially psychology, in the Soviet Union. Includes the papers of Miriam London, wife and collaborator of Ivan D. London.
Extent:
95 manuscript boxes, 2 card file boxes, 1 oversize box, digital media (42.2 Linear Feet)
Language:
In English, Russian and Chinese
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Ivan D. London papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers document the career of Ivan London, professor of psychology at Brooklyn College. The papers include correspondence, writings, questionnaires, interview transcripts, notes, reports, memoranda, and printed matter relating to political science, social conditions in the Soviet Union and China; the Chinese Cultural Revolution; the mindset of the Soviet people and émigrés from the Soviet Union; and the study of science, especially psychology, in the Soviet Union.

The Inwood Project on Intercultural Communication (European Group of Harvard University) Records series makes up the main body of the collection. The series is divided into three parts by interview type: A-Schedule (Problem of Communication between Peoples), B-Schedule (Special Topics Interviews), and D-Schedule (Soviet Psychological Research). The series consists of interview transcripts, completed questionnaires, reports, and working interview notes, and also includes Chinese refugees project documents consisting of responses to questionnaires and correspondence.

The Correspondence series mainly contains London's letters to and from refugees and researchers associated with the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System. The Writings series contains materials written, translated, and edited by London. These represent a variety of topics in sociology and psychology, including religion, education, and science in the Soviet Union, as well as a contemporary analysis of history and psychology.

The collection also includes the papers of Miriam London, wife and collaborator of Ivan D. London, including her correspondence and writings.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. Ivan London was an American psychologist. He began his career as a mathematician and then switched to psychology, attracted by the fresh methodological approach of applying mathematics to science.

London joined the Harvard Russian Research Center in 1950 to participate in the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System (Harvard Emigre Interview Project). Subsequently he joined the faculty at Brooklyn College. There, he and his wife, Miriam, developed their own academic research group that became the Institute of Political Psychology of Brooklyn College, where they carried out further research on Russian refugees, interviewing hundreds of refugees. London also taught social psychology and wrote extensively on the validity of refugee interviewing methods. During the 1960s he continued to interview refugees and published many articles on the subject. He was a leading expert on Soviet psychology with wide contacts with many Soviet psychologists.

In 1963, London decided to apply his interviewing method to Chinese refugees. He spent considerable time in Taiwan and Hong Kong, interviewing refugees and publishing the results. His work with Chinese refugees continued until his death in 1983.

Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1983.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Ivan D. London papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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