The papers only partially document Lorenz's long and influential career in psychiatry. The collection received by the Historical Society in 1958 consists of files created and maintained by Lorenz's secretary at the institute, other files about his career apparently having been destroyed by fire. The collection best documents his life during the 1930s and 1940s. As a result, the papers are not particularly useful for examining Wisconsin's early involvement in the diagnosis and treatment of the mentally ill, although Lorenz was unquestionably a leader in that movement. The collection also emphasizes his personal and family life. Although medical and related professional interests are only incompletely represented, the collection is, nevertheless, of considerable interest. Not only does the correspondence provide insights into a medical field only seldom documented in personal collections, but the letters to writer Paul De Kruif and to Middleton, Blackwenn, Reese, and other physicians contain some references to the work of the institute. And although Lorenz's career focused on research and administration, the collection contains some documentation on the limited amount of clinical work he did. The writings section, which contains reprints of his medical articles, also contains an interesting transcript of the diary he made while imprisoned in Mexico in 1925 during a fishing trip. Service with the 32nd Division during World War I is undocumented except for a group of unprocessed photographs which, although unidentified, are presumed to refer to this unit.
The collection is arranged as biographical and family material, correspondence, writings, financial records, and patient files.
The BIOGRAPHICAL AND FAMILY MATERIAL consists of autobiographical and biographical data, xeroxed newspaper clippings, membership certificates, data concerning his military service, family miscellany, and pedigree registration papers for his dogs.
CORRESPONDENCE in the papers clearly represents files created and maintained by Lorenz's secretary at the institute, Mrs. Elsie Kearney. It best covers the 1930s and 1940s and ceases in 1952 when Lorenz retired from the university. The files are comprised almost entirely of carbons of outgoing letters, with only scattered examples of incoming letters. It is not known if the incoming letters were filed by Kearney or if they were removed at some other time prior to their donation to the Historical Society. The correspondence is arranged much as it was by Kearney: a general file arranged chronologically by year and an alphabetically-arranged name file. The general correspondence concerns a variety of topics ranging from routine financial correspondence to his interest in boating and boat models and his contacts with professional associates. Of special note are several letters exchanged with Frank Lloyd Wright (1945) pertaining to an architect Lorenz treated, and an exchange with August Derleth.
The alphabetical correspondence combines files on individuals, organizations, and businesses. Family correspondence, especially letters to his four sons and his stepson written during World War II, comprise the majority of this section, but other prominent correspondents include Leo T. Crowley, Paul De Kruif, William T. Evjue, Walter Goodland, Ralph Immell, William Middleton, Harry Sauthoff, and A. G. Schmedeman. The absence of incoming correspondence is pronounced in the family correspondence so that there is little direct information about his sons' service in the war. Some of this may he inferred, however, from the elder Lorenz' letters which were lengthy and frequent and which he devoted to recounting family news. Unfortunately his letters are a less useful source for examining general conditions on the home front, for he rarely commented on such topics. There is some information in the personal correspondence about activities at the Psychiatric Institute; these comments are more frequent in his letters to his nephew William Blackwenn and to William Middleton and Paul De Kruif. Also in this section are files on his association with the Wisconsin Board of Control, the Board of Mental Hygiene, the Veterans Administration, and other organizations which include small quantities of financial records, minutes, speeches, notes, and other types of administrative papers in addition to correspondence.
WRITINGS (1922-1950) consists of reprints of published articles on medical topics, manuscripts, speeches, notes, some identified material for whom the author is not known, and a transcript of the 1925 diary Lorenz made while imprisoned in Mexico after the fishing boat on which he was travelling went aground. (Lorenz had undertaken the trip to recover from a nervous breakdown; he returned from the incident entirely cured.)
FINANCIAL RECORDS include state and federal income tax forms and working papers, correspondence and other records concerning property management, and miscellaneous documents such as wills, leases, contracts, and deeds. The property management section includes miscellaneous documents pertaining to Normandy Farm on the west side of Madison which Lorenz leased to the university and a property in Douglas County where he was interested in reforestation.
The section entitled PATIENT FILES is not strictly speaking treatment records, but rather correspondence and notes concerning cases in which he was a consultant or a few friends and associates with whose treatment he was involved.
