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Hollywood Hospital program and lecture notes

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MSP 90

Scope and Contents

The Hollywood Hospital program and lecture notes contains an original typescript of talks delivered by Al Hubbard, U. P. Byrne, D. C. MacDonald, J. Ross MacLean and R. L. Skwarok  for a panel discussion on LSD-25.

Dates

  • 1959
  • Other: Date acquired: 2011-06-01

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material is in English.

Access Information

The collection is open for research.

Copyright and Use Information

The copyright of some items in this collection may be held by their respective creators.

Historical Information

During the 1950s, Hollywood Hospital was known mainly as an alcoholic treatment center.  The hospital was a mansion surrounded by holly trees located in New Westminster in British Columbia, Canada.  However, by 1959, staff writer Ben Metcalfe at The Province heard strange stories about a drug being used and tested at the hospital.  Metcalfe decided to look into Hollywood Hospital and not soon after ingested 400 micrograms of LSD and took a twelve hour guided trip with Al Hubbard inside the walls of the hospital.  The B.C. College of Physicians petitioned against the hospital’s medical director, Dr. J. Ross MacLean, and wanted the government to revoke the hospital’s funding.  Apparently, this is what brought Metcalfe to the hospital; they needed some good press. Metcalfe quickly realized after his trip that LSD therapy worked best when the trip was guided by a good therapist.  Hubbard and MacLean claimed rather impressive successes with their patients after receiving LSD therapy; however, the numbers and statistics were considered debatable.  MacLean then brought Frank Ogden on board as another staff member at the hospital.  It was Ogden who stated that the hospital had a large clientele from California; Cary Grant and Ethel Kennedy were among the assumed clientele.  By 1975, Hollywood Hospital had all of its funding pulled by the province.  MacLean sold the property to developers and the hospital was torn down six months later and replaced by Westminster Mall.  Apparently, the hospital’s files were left in Frank Ogden’s care before MacLean passed away; however, very few have seen the files.  This is quite possibly the reason why very little is actually known about the inner-workings of Hollywood Hospital.                                                                 Source: “B.C.’s Acid Flashback.” Vancouver Sun. December 8, 2001. 15 December 2011. http://www.maps.org/media/flashback.html

Extent

0.22 Cubic Feet (One half-width letter size manuscript box.)

Arrangement

Material is arranged by author.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Michael Horowitz of Flashback Books, June 1, 2011.

Existence and Location of Copies

Digital reproductions of materials are available for research use. See our digital collections database e-Archives: Hollywood Hospital program and lecture notes
Title
Hollywood Hospital program and lecture notes
Status
Under Review
Author
Stephanie Schmitz, Kristin Leaman and Serena Potter
Date
2018-02-02
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English
Edition statement
Second edition. Collection description was first completed December 2, 2011.

Repository Details

Part of the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections Repository

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