John A. Larson Papers
The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
© 2005
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Guide to the John A. Larson Papers
Collection number: BANC MSS 78/160 cz
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Contact Information:
- Processed by:
- Guide written by Elizabeth Stephens
- Date Completed:
- March 2005
- Encoded by:
- James Lake
© 2005 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: John A. Larson Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1922-1965
Collection Number: BANC MSS 78/160 cz
Creator:
Larson, John A. (John Augustus), b. 1892
Extent:
Number of containers: 3 boxes, 6 cartons
Linear feet: 8.3
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: The John A. Larson papers contain material primarily compiled by Larson and possibly others as background for papers and books.
Includes correspondence, writings, material related to his professional career, polygraphs, subject files, and clippings.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of copies.
Languages Represented:
Collection materials are in English.
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], John A. Larson Papers, BANC MSS 78/160 cz, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Separated Material
Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Criminology--History--20th century--Sources.
Lie detectors and detection.
Forensic psychology.
Polygraph operators.
Criminal psychology.
Chronicle Publishing Company.
M.H. De Young Memorial Museum.
Palo Alto (Calif.)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition, (1915 :, San Francisco, Calif.)
San Francisco chronicle.
Real estate--California.
De Young, M. H. (Michael Harry), 1849-1925.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The John A. Larson Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Robert F. Borkenstein on April 4, 1977.
Processing Information
Processed by Elizabeth Stephens in 2005.
Biography
In 1921 John A. Larson, a young medical student at the University of California Berkeley, assembled the first American polygraph
lie detector for Berkely Chief of Police, August Vollmer. Larson went on to specialize in criminal psychology working with
police departments and mental hospitals in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, New Mexico, and South Dakota.
Scope and Content of Collection
The John A. Larson papers contain material primarily compiled by Larson and possibly others as background for papers and books.
Includes correspondence, writings, material related to his professional career, polygraphs, subject files, and clippings.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of copies.
Container List
Boxes 1-2
Series 1:
Correspondence,
1923-1965
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by last name and chronologically where appropriate.
Contains primarily copies of letters to Larson from colleagues.
box 1, folder 1
Borkenstein, Robert F.
1940-64
box 1, folder 3
Castellanos, Israel
1937-60
box 1, folder 5-8
Housholder, Quentin L.
1960-65
box 1, folder 10
Kooken, Donald L.
1933-49
box 1, folder 13
Marston, William M.
1936-38
box 1, folder 14
McCormick, Charles T.
1926-27
box 1, folder 17
Waterbury, Frank L.
1935-57
box 2, folder 1-17
Chronological files
1923-65
Carton 1
Series 2:
Writings,
1922-1963
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged hierarchally by genre and then chronologically.
May contain drafts, typescript copies, reprints, clippings, and related material.
carton 1, folder 1-2
Single Fingerprint System
1923-24
carton 1, folder 3-11
Lying and its Detection
1932-63
carton 1, folder 12
"The Cardio-pneumo-psychogram and its Use in the Study of Emotions with Practical Application"
1922
carton 1, folder 13
" The Cardio-pneumo-psychogram in Deception"
1923
carton 1, folder 14
"Deception and Lie Detectors"
1923
carton 1, folder 15
"Present Police and Legal Methods for the Determination of the Innocence or Guilt of the Subject"
1924
carton 1, folder 16
"A Study of Deception in the Penitentary," with Herman Adler
1925
carton 1, folder 17
"Polygraph and Deception"
1927
carton 1, folder 18
"Deception and Self Deception"
1928
carton 1, folder 20
"Cardio-respiratory Variations in Personality Studies"
1932
carton 1, folder 21
"Single Fingerprint Classifications
1934
carton 1, folder 22
"Dactyloscopy and Psychopathology"
1937
carton 1, folder 23
"Modus Operandi and Personality Study"
1937
carton 1, folder 24
"The Truth About the Lie Detector"
1937
carton 1, folder 25-26
"The Lie Detector: Its History and Development"
1938
carton 1, folder 27
Psychiatric Significance of the Modus Operandi"
1939
carton 1, folder 28
"Psychiatry and the Driver"
1950
carton 1, folder 29
"Present Limitations and Possibilities of Deception Tests"
1951
carton 1, folder 30
"Psychosurgery in the Logansport State Hospital"
1954
carton 1, folder 31
"The Clinical Team Approach" with R. F. Borkenstein
1957
carton 1, folder 33
"Classification of Polygraphic Records in the Evaluation of Emotional Reactions"
n.d.
carton 1, folder 34
"The Dangerous Truth about Truth Sera"
n.d.
carton 1, folder 35
"The Physiological Basis of Emotion"
n.d.
carton 1, folder 36
"The Truth About the Lie Detector: An Emergency Situation"
n.d.
carton 1, folder 37
"Use of a Screening Technique in the Development of a Modern Treatment in a State Hospital"
n.d.
carton 1, folder 38
Forwards and prefaces
n.d.
Cartons 2-6
Series 3:
Research and Background Files,
1920-1964
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged hierarchally.
Contains miscellaneous material from various work places, polygraph samples, biographical files, subject files, articles by
others, reprints, and clippings.
carton 2, folder 1
Central South Dakota Mental Health Center
1961-62
carton 2, folder 2-3
Detroit Police Training School
1961
carton 2, folder 4-5
Detroit Razor Blade Test
1938-39
carton 2, folder 6-9
Illinois State Department of Criminology
1930-35
carton 2, folder 10
Iowa State Penitentiary, Psycopathia Hospital
1930
carton 2, folder 11
Iowa Inter-state Conference on the Care and Management of the Criminially Insane
1958
carton 2, folder 12-18
Logansport State Hospital
1949-64
carton 2, folder 19-21
New Mexico State Hospital
1935-47
carton 2, folder 22-31
Polygraph case files
1932-37,
n.d.
box 3
Polygraphs (14 rolled)
n.d.
carton 4, folder 22-25
Biographical files
1947-65
carton 4, folder 26
Academy for Scientific Interrogation
1956-61
carton 5, folder 1
Berkeley Psychograph
1923-24
carton 5, folder 9
International Association for Indentification
1925-36
carton 5, folder 10
Juvenile Delinquency
1930-32
carton 5, folder 26
Physiological responses
1949-51
carton 5, folder 27
Pneumographic tracings
n.d.
Publications and clippings
carton 5, folder 31
Report of Research on Detection of Deception by D. G. Ellison
1952
carton 6, folder 8
Police publications
1937-51
carton 6, folder 9
Publications, miscellaneous
1941-63
