Scope and Content Note
The papers of William G. Niederland (1904-1993) span the years 1810-1982, with the bulk of the material dating from 1952 to 1982. The collection documents Niederland's work in the field of psychoanalysis as an author, educator, and clinician. The papers consist of correspondence, patient files, drafts of writings and lectures, research files, and material from professional organizations. They are organized in five series: Correspondence , Patient File , Subject File , Writings File , and Miscellany .
Niederland, a native of Germany, practiced medicine in Europe for ten years before immigrating to the United States in 1940. He was born in 1904 in Schippenbeil, East Prussia, the son of an orthodox rabbi. After receiving a medical degree from the University of Würzburg in 1929, Niederland worked for several years in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Gailingen. In 1934, he fled Nazi Germany and established a private psychiatric practice in Milan. With the signing of the Italian-German military alliance in 1939, Niederland once again fled fascism. After a brief stay in a refugee camp in England, he secured a position as a doctor and surgeon on a British merchant ship. In December 1940, American officials permitted him to enter the United States.
Between 1947 and 1953, Niederland underwent formal psychoanalytic training at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. For over thirty years, he maintained private practices in New York and New Jersey and held professional positions at Mount Sinai Hospital, Altro Health and Rehabilitation Services, and Haversack General Hospital. He taught for twenty years at the Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Niederland served as coeditor of Psychoanalytic Quarterly from 1958 to 1980 and president of the Psychoanalytic Association of New York from 1971 to 1973.
Niederland researched and wrote on numerous topics. In 1951, he published his first work on Daniel Paul Schreber, a case made famous by Sigmund Freud's analysis of Schreber's memoirs in 1911. Niederland's analysis focused particularly on Schreber's childhood and his relationship with his father, Dr. Daniel Gottlieb Moritz Schreber. Niederland wrote numerous papers on the subject and in 1974 published The Schreber Case: Psychoanalytic Profile of a Paranoid Personality. Beginning in the early 1960s, Niederland developed the concept of the "survivor syndrome" in working with survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. He found that survivors experience unresolved feelings of guilt and grief that lead to depression, anxiety, insomnia, personality change, and hyperamnesia.
Niederland also applied psychoanalytic research methods to the study of creativity and the creative process. He noted the frequency of perplexing and often tragic experiences, such as illness or physical disabilities, encountered by creative people during childhood. He found that such experiences enhanced their emotional reactivity and responsiveness to internal and external stimuli. Niederland also coined the term "psychogeography," a field of study that examines underlying psychological forces operative in geographical pursuits such as exploration and analyzes the anthropomorphic nature of explorers' views of the earth.
The Correspondence series consists largely of letters sent and received from colleagues in the United States and Europe. The correspondence is primarily personal and largely concerns Niederland's research and writings. Prominent correspondents include Jacob A. Arlow, Lotte Köhler, Bertram D. Lewin, Ella Lingens, Wolfgang Loch, and Jacques M. Quen.
The Patient File includes notes from therapy sessions conducted largely in the 1960s. The case of Arline Blackman is particularly well documented and was used by Niederland to study the psychological effect of facial disfigurement.
The largest group of papers in the Subject File concerns the Kris study group established by Ernst Kris at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. These files consist of minutes, case presentations, and memoranda dating just prior to Kris' death in February 1957 and continuing into the 1970s. Niederland's work in Europe is documented through correspondence while he was in Milan and a series of reference letters written for him between 1930 and 1940. The series also contains research material on such topics as creativity and psychogeography. The Subject File also includes Niederland's research on Heinrich Schliemann, the "father" of modern archeology. Included are photocopies of original Schliemann correspondence given to Niederland by a member of Schliemann's family.
The Writing File contains drafts, notes, and correspondence related to Niederland's writings. The largest group of material concerns Niederland's research on the Schreber case, focusing in particular on Schreber's family and childhood. The series also includes published and unpublished writings by others collected by Niederland or sent to him by colleagues.
The Miscellany series includes information about Niederland's education, awards, and appointments. The series also includes examples of the artwork of Dietlind Kinzelmann who sent her work to Niederland after reading his analysis of the creative process. Also included is printed matter largely from professional conferences and organizations.