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Finding Aid to the Harry Benjamin Licenses and Awards, 1915-1975 Coll2014.063
Coll2014.063  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
Licenses to practice medicine and awards from medical groups for Dr. Harry Benjamin, 1915-1975. Benjamin was a clinical specialist in transexualism and an advocate for transgender people.
Background
Dr. Harry Benjamin was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1885. He moved to New York in the 1920s and started a practice focusing on endocrinology and gender identity. Up to the 1960s, he was the go-to person for transgender people seeking medical treatment in the United States. Dr. Benjamin assisted Christine Jorgensen, Reed Erickson, Renée Richards, and numerous others to medically alter their physiology. He also provided them and other transgender people with social and legal support. In the 1960s, Benjamin helped establish the Harry Benjamin Foundation to assist transgender people in obtaining surgery. Benjamin retired in the 1970s and the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA) was named in his honor.
Extent
1.3 Linear Feet 1 archive flat box
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Availability
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.