Lobotomy Knives

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Description (Brief):

Doctors used these instruments to perform the lobotomy procedure on patients diagnosed with particular psychiatric conditions. The procedure was introduced in 1935 and popularized in the United States by Walter J. Freeman in the 1940s. The doctor inserted the instrument into the frontal lobe of the brain to destroy its connection with other regions.

Henry A. Ator (1906-1995), the donor of this orbitoclast, was a machinist who manufactured Watts-Freeman lobotomy instruments.

Ref: Walter Freeman and James Winston Watts, Psychosurgery (Springfield, Ill., 1950).

“HENRY AVON ATOR,” Washington Post (April 2, 1995), p. B5.

“Dr. Walter Freeman Dies; Introduced Lobotomy Here,” Washington Post (June 1, 1972), p. C5.

“Neurosurgeon James Winston Watts Dies; Helped to Pioneer the Lobotomy,” Washington Post (Nov. 9, 1994), p. C4.

Jack El-Hai, The Lobotomist (Hoboken, 2005).

Date Made: ca 1950Date(S) Of Previous Ownership: 1986-03-04

Maker: Ator, Henry A.

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: District of Columbia, Washington

Subject: DisabilitiesInsanity

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Medicine, Health & Medicine, Disabilities

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of Henry A. Ator

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1986.0376.02Accession Number: 1986.0376Catalog Number: 1986.0376.021986.0376.02.A1986.0376.02.B

Object Name: orbitoclastorbitoclastsOther Terms: orbitoclast; Medicine

Physical Description: steel, stainless (insturments material)leatherette (case material)black (case color)Measurements: part: case (open): 13 7/8 in x 8 3/4 in x 1/4 in; 35.2425 cm x 22.225 cm x .635 cmoverall, case, closed: 7/8 in x 9 1/2 in x 3 1/8 in; 2.2225 cm x 24.13 cm x 7.9375 cmpart: case (closed): 9 3/8 in x 3 1/4 in x 7/8 in; 23.8125 cm x 8.255 cm x 2.2225 cmpart: instruments: 9 in x 5/16 in x 1/4 in; 22.86 cm x .79375 cm x .635 cm

Metadata Usage: CC0

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ae-0dce-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_738842

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