John Armstrong Chaloner papers, 1876-1933

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Summary

Creator:
Chaloner, John Armstrong, 1862-1935 and History of Medicine Collections (Duke University)
Abstract:
John Armstrong Chaloner was a celebrity and writer known for coining the catchphrase “Who’s looney now?” in the aftermath of psychiatric experiments and own legal troubles regarding his sanity. Great-grandson of John Jacob Astor; from Cobham (Albemarle County), Virginia. Collection includes business and personal correspondence, legal papers, writings and drafts by Chaloner, printed materials primarily composed of newspaper clippings, and some personal financial documents and photographs. The letters, almost half of the collection, are concerned with Chaloner’s attempts to have himself declared sane after a four-year involuntary internment in Bloomingdale Asylum at White Plains, New York.
Extent:
12 Linear Feet
Approx. 6,500 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00208

Background

Scope and content:

The John Armstrong Chaloner papers have been arranged into five series: Correspondence, Legal Papers, Writings/Drafts, Printed Materials, and Personal Materials. Correspondence, almost half the collection, comprises business and personal correspondence. Most the content consists of Chaloner’s communications and consultations with various attorneys in New York, North Carolina, and Virginia that address his multiple legal battles. Legal Papers consists of legal briefs, appeals, court transcripts, depositions, memos, and notes from Chaloner’s various legal petitions and trails. Writings/Drafts comprises manuscript drafts, notes, and some published versions of Chaloner’s assorted publications. Printed Materials includes an assortment of magazine articles, advertisements, invitations, flyers, and newspaper clippings. Personal Materials includes some personal photographs and an assortment of financial documents such as bills, receipts, cancelled checks, and ledger sheets.

Biographical / historical:

John Armstrong Chaloner (1862-1935) was a celebrity and writer known for coining the catchphrase “Who’s looney now?” in the aftermath of psychiatric experiments and own legal troubles regarding his sanity. Known in his youth as Archie Chanler, Chaloner was the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor. When Chaloner’s family learned he believed he possessed a new sense that he called the “X-Faculty,” they had him committed in March 1897 to a psychiatric hospital in New York. In June 1899, a court declared Chaloner insane and ruled he be permanently institutionalized. Chaloner escaped in November 1900 and entered a private clinic, where doctors declared him competent and able to function in society. He spent the next two decades crafting legal strategies to challenge his New York verdict and lunacy laws in general. His case became the cause célèbre for many leading psychologists. Continually at odds with his family, in 1908 Chaloner legally changed his name from Chanler to what he believed to be its original spelling. Chaloner reconciled with his family in 1919, when they no longer opposed his petition for a New York court to certify him legally sane, but kept his changed surname.

Throughout his legal battles, Chaloner published almost two dozen books and articles on his experiments with psychotherapy and his stay in the insane asylum. Books like The Lunacy Law of the World (1906) attacked psychiatric medicine, which proved controversial within the field. Chaloner had also married the novelist Amélie Rives in 1888, but the couple divorced in 1895. After his escape from the asylum, Chaloner lived near her Albemarle County home for most of his remaining life on his own estate, the Merry Mills. Chaloner died of cancer in 1935.

Acquisition information:
The John Armstrong Chaloner Papers were acquired by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library from 1936-1954.
Processing information:

Processed by Paul Sommerfeld, April 2017

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 36-828 and later accessions.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials


Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Armstrong Chaloner Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.