Michael and Cynthia Horowitz collection on psychedelics, 1954-2006

Summary

Creators:

Horowitz, Michael, 1938- and Palmer, Cynthia

Extent:

3.5 linear feet (2 cartons, 2 flat boxes, 1 box)

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

Michael and Cynthia Horowitz collection on psychedelics, BANC MSS 2023/235, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

The Michael and Cynthia Horowitz collection on psychedelics contains letters, manuscripts, inscribed offprints and photographs of notable psychedelic scientists, researchers and counterculture figures associated with personal psychedelic drug experimentation. See scope and contents notes throughout the finding aid for additional information.

Biographical / historical:

Michael Horowitz (b. 1938) is an historian, archivist, and writer. Raised in Brooklyn, he moved to San Francisco in 1967, and then to Vancouver in 2006. He served as Timothy Leary's archivist from 1970 until Leary's death in 1996. This work involved both preserving and disseminating Leary's works. Cynthia Palmer Horowitz (b. 1940) is a director and actress, known for The Darwin Awards (2006) and AIDS Video Project (1987).

In 1970, Michael Horowitz merged his collection of psychedelic books and papers with those of Robert Barker and William Dailey and created the Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library in San Francisco--the largest library of psycho-active drug related material in the world. Michael Horowitz and Cynthia Horowitz served as directors of the library. In 2003, The Ludlow Library became part of the Ludlow Santo Domingo Library in Geneva, Switzerland.

Michael Horowitz is the co-author of the High Times Encyclopedia of Recreational Drugs, and the Annotated Bibliography of Timothy Leary. With Cynthia Palmer Horowitz, he is co-editor of Moksha: Writing on Psychedelics and Visionary Experience, and Sisters of the Extreme: Women's Writings on the Drug Experiece. Horowitz operates Flashback Books, an online bookstore specializing in printed materials on psycho-active drugs.

Acquisition information:

Some materials in this collection were purchased from Michael and Cynthia Horowitz in 2023. Some materials were a gift of Michael and Cynthia Horowitz in 2023.

Processing information:

Processed by archivist Lara Michels at the folder/item level. Archivist incorporated notes provided to The Bancroft Library by Michael and Cynthia Horowitz throughout the finding aid (sometimes verbatim). The archivist judged these notes to be key to understanding Michael Horowitz's and Cynthia Horowitz's own appraisal of the materials in the collection.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged into 5 series: Correspondence and other related documents; Harvard Psychedelic Research Project reports; Moksha materials; Lysergic World materials; and photographs.

Physical location:

Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Rules or conventions:

DACS

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Hallucinogenic drugs -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Psychotropic drugs -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Psychology, Experimental -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Hallucinogenic drugs -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Hallucinogenic drugs -- Psychological aspects

Names:

International Conference on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms
Harvard Psilocybin Project
Harvard University. Department of Psychology and Social Relations
Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library
Horowitz, Michael, 1938- -- Archives
Palmer, Cynthia -- Archives
Aldrich, Michael R.
Ram Dass
Beck, Jerome, 1957-
Bigwood, Jeremy, 1948
Beresford, J.D. (John Davys), 1873-1947
Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997
Cohen, Ira
Di Prima, Diane
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence
George, Jean-Pierre
Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997
Gips, Elizabeth
Golas, Thaddeus, 1924-
Halpern, John H.
Harris, Bob, 1946-
Hastings, Arthur (Arthur Claude), 1935-2014
Herman, Jan, 1942-
Hofmann, Anita, 1913-2007
Hofmann, Albert, 1906-2008
Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963
Huxley, Francis
Jenks, Shepherd Martin, 1926-2014
Kesey, Ken
Krassner, Paul
Leake, Chauncey Depew, 1896-1978
Leary, Timothy, 1920-1996
Lee, Martin A.
Lewis, David C. (David Christopher), 1956-
Zinberg, Norman E., 1922-1989
McKenna, Terence
Metzner, Ralph
Meyerzove, Leland S.
Orlovsky, Peter, 1933-2010
Osmond, Humphry
Ott, Jonathan
Baker, Jeannine Parvati, 1949-
Poland, Jefferson F.
P-Orridge, Genesis, 1950-2020
Robbins, Tom, 1932-
Riedlinger, Thomas J.
Rudahl, Sharon
Savage, Charles, 1918-2007
Schultes, Richard Evans
Shulgin, Alexander T. (Alexander Theodore)
Shulgin, Ann
Wasson, R. Gordon (Robert Gordon), 1898-1986
Wilson, Robert Anton, 1932-2007

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies.

Preferred citation:

Michael and Cynthia Horowitz collection on psychedelics, BANC MSS 2023/235, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

Website