Guide to the Elizabeth Elmer Papers, 1959-1993 UA.90.F86
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Elizabeth Elmer Papers
Creator
Elmer, Elizabeth
Collection Number
UA.90.F86
Extent
5.84 Linear Feet(6 boxes)
Date
1959-1993
Abstract
This collection contains the professional papers of Elizabeth "Betty" Elmer, University of Pittsburgh faculty member, psychiatric social worker, and pioneer in the study of child abuse. Records include personal writing, data and case files for a number of grant-funded studies into the short and long term effects of child abuse, and the organizational records related to the Parental Stress Center and its Bright Beginnings program. The material in the collection dates from 1959 to 1993.
Language
English
.
Author
Sean Kilcoyne.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Biography
Elizabeth "Betty" Elmer was born in Black Rock, Arkansas, in 1911. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 1932 from Syracuse University. During World War II she worked at a military hospital in Guam as a member of the Red Cross, a role which drew the praise of colleagues and deepened her interest in humanitarian concerns. Following the war, Elmer enrolled in the Smith College School of Social Work, where she received a Master's Degree in Psychiatric Social Work in 1948. She initially worked for family agencies in both Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Rochester, New York, before relocating to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to pursue a research opportunity.
Elmer began as an instructor at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Social Work in 1954, and it was while supervising students at the Children's Hospital a few years later that she happened upon an incident of infant trauma that would affect a reorientation of her career. Attempting to pursue further details on what she believed to be a unique trauma from the previous night, Elmer was shocked to learn that the hospital had numerous records of a infants admitted with similar injuries. Her initial concern over the regularity of infant abuse grew, as further research confirmed that no legal apparatus prevented the return of such cases to parental custody. Literature on the subject of child abuse was nearly non-existent in the 1950s, and the little that was available was thoroughly obscured by the clinical language and limited audience involved with publication in medical journals.
Elmer moved from the Graduate School of Social Work to the School of Medicine in 1962, where she first taught in the Department of Pediatrics and subsequently, the Department of Psychiatry until her 1981 resignation. Elmer retained the distinction of Emeritus Professor of Child Psychiatry, but was focusing on other professional activity. Primarily she was busy with the Parental Stress Center (PSC) which she co-founded in 1975. The PSC was designed to educate and assist families with abused and at-risk children by providing resources, training and intervention. During her time at both the University of Pittsburgh and the PSC, Elmer conducted a number of pioneering studies into child and infant abuse. The results of several of these studies formed the material for her two books, Children in Jeopardy: a study of abused minors and their families and Fragile Families, Troubled Children: the aftermath of infant trauma. She also initiated Bright Beginnings, a parental education program for similar purposes. In her retirement from teaching and the PSC, Elmer served on the board of directors for Safe and Sound, the Western Pennsylvania Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
Elmer passed away in April of 2007 at the age of 96. Family Resources Inc., a Pittsburgh child abuse prevention organization, presents an annual Betty Elmer Award.
Scope and Content Notes
This collection documents Elizabeth Elmer's various professional activities around issues of infant and child abuse. Material consists of academic and professional writing, case files of child abuse studies, recorded interviews, instructional videos, annotated publications, and various organizational records of the Parental Stress Center, Bright Beginnings, and Safe and Sound, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, chapter of the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
A significant portion of this collection involves comprehensive documentation of long term grant funded studies into child abuse. Elmer's 1964-1969 Infant Accident Study and the subsequent Follow up Study of Traumatized Children of 1974 to 1975 are heavily represented, as is her later study Children in Jeopardy, which revisits the infant subjects of her 1962 to 1964 Fifty Family Study in adulthood.
The materials are arranged in five series. More detailed descriptions follow in individual series scope and content notes.
Arrangement
Series I. Articles and Speeches, 1959-1989
Series II. Child Abuse Studies, 1964-1988
Series III. Child Abuse Organizations, 1975-1993
Series IV. Publications, 1965-1990
Series V. Audiovisual Formats, 1975-1988
Access Restrictions
Case files are restricted. A signed confidentiality agreement is required for access.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Elizabeth Elmer on February 28, 2006.
Previous Citation
Elizabeth Elmer Papers, 1959-1993, UA.90.F86, University Archives, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Elizabeth Elmer Papers, 1959-1993, UA.90.F86, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Sean Kilcoyne in January 2009.
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
Subjects
Corporate Names
Safe and Sound (Pa.)
Western Pennsylvania Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse
University of Pittsburgh
Bright Beginnings (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse (U.S.)
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook