Frank Luton Papers

Collection

Identifier: EBL-0042

Staff Only

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Personal papers of psychiatrist and Vanderbilt professor Frank Luton (1898-1979). Materials include: correspondence, biographical material, manuscripts, lectures, notes, grant applications, reprints, clippings, programs, brochures, photographs, and subject files on alcoholism and professional organizations. Correspondents include: Merrill Moore, Smiley Blanton, William F. Roth, and Marc H. Hollender. Collection also contains materials related to Dr. Luton's work with the state of Tennessee and with Vanderbilt.

Dates

1925 - 1979

Creator

Luton, Frank Harper (Person)

Notes about Access to this Collection

All collections are subject to applicable Vanderbilt University privacy and confidentiality policies. Collection specific restrictions: No Restrictions.

Reproduction Rights

Copyright is retained by History of Medicine Collections, Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University or is retained by the authors of specific published items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Historical or Biographical Note

Dr. Frank Luton (1898-1979) was a psychiatrist and professor. He was the first formally trained psychiatrist in Tennessee and an early advocate for the mentally ill, and he was a founder and participant in various organizations and clinics devoted to mental health.

He received his MD from Vanderbilt University in 1927. He worked as staff at the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1927-1931. He also was an instructor in Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins from 1930-1931. Then he returned to Vanderbilt, first as an Assistant Professor then as a Professor of Psychiatry from 1930-1964. He also served as a Neurologist and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at the Vanderbilt Hospital from 1942-1956. Dr. Luton also served as a Consulting Psychiatrist (1944-1960), and Clinical Director (1960-1979) for the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute. From 1969-1974 he served as Commissioner of Mental Health for the State of Tennessee. In 1969, he was the President of the American College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Luton died in Nashville on May 24, 1979.