Helen FitzGerald Cserr was born on June 23, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts. She married Robert Cserr and the two had one daughter, Ruth Cserr. Ruth later donated Helen's papers and a posthumous oral history about her mother to the Pembroke Center Archive in 2018.
Helen Cserr joined the Brown University faculty in 1970 after serving as a researcher at Harvard University, where she received a Ph.D. in physiology in 1965. She was also a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont where she received her B.A. in chemistry.
During her time at Brown, Cserr conducted extensive research on brain anatomy, AIDS research, and the blood brain barrier. Though an award-winning woman in science, Cserr was unjustly denied tenure by Brown University in approximately 1975. Cserr subsequently joined Louise Lamphere, Claude Carey, and Patricia Russian, in suing Brown for sex discrimination. At the time, Cserr was assistant professor of biomedical sciences. In a landmark settlement, Cserr and fellow plaintiffs prevailed and Cserr was awarded retroactive tenure in 1978. She became Professor of Physiology at Brown where she continued to focus her research on the anatomy and mechanism of the human brain.
Cserr was a co-editor of Fluid Environment of the Brain (1975) and author of The Neuronal Microenvironment (1987). In 1992, Brown honored her excellence in teaching and research by naming her the Esther Elizabeth Brintzenhoff Professor of Medical Science.
In an unfortunate irony, Cserr developed a brain tumor in approximately 1992, from which she first fell ill while traveling to Melbourne, Australia for a brain science fellowship. Cserr died of the tumor at age 57 in August 1994. A symposium on lymphatic drainage of the brain was held in England in her honor. Brown established a Helen FitzGerald Cserr fellowship position as well as the Helen FitzGerald Cserr Memorial Fund.
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Helen F. Cserr, Brown University Professor of Physiology from 1970 to 1993 and scholar of the anatomy and mechanism of the human brain. A notable woman in science, Cserr also made history in 1975 when she joined Lamphere v. Brown University - a class action sex discrimination suit - when she was unjustly denied tenure. In a landmark settlement, Cserr and fellow plaintiffs prevailed and Cserr was awarded retroactive tenure in 1978. The collection includes biographical information, personal and professional correspondence, teaching materials, writings, laboratory research, and legal files stemming from the case and dating from 1965 to 1994.
Series 1, PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, 1968-1994, includes clippings about Lamphere v. Brown University, photographs, tributes to Cserr following her death, and a "to-do" list that evidences the effect of Cserr's brain tumor on her handwriting. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Series 2, CORRESPONDENCE, 1974-1994, contains personal and professional correspondence, including that which documents Cserr's sudden illness in Melbourne, Australia and responses from friends and colleagues to Cserr's health crisis. Series 2 is arranged by subject.
Series 3, TEACHING, 1980-1991, includes a small set of exams and exam keys for the courses of Biology and Biomedicine. This series is arranged alphabetically by course.
Series 4, WRITINGS, 1971-1994, includes articles by Cserr, a bibliography of her writings and publishing correspondence. Cserr wrote extensively about Immunology and hyperosmolality. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Series 5, RESEARCH, 1965-1994, contains research committee work, conference files, laboratory experiment plans and glass slides, presentation slides, research articles, and a large set of grant files detailing Cserr's laboratory research pertaining to AIDS and humoral immunity and mechanisms of brian volume regulation, among other research topics. Series 5 is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Series 6, ELECTRONIC RECORDS ON REMOVABLE CARRIERS, 1994, is comprised of one file folder containing three audio cassettes. Two of the cassettes are recordings of Bodil Schmidt Neilson's tribute to Helen Cserr following her death from a brain tumor. The third cassette is unlabeled.
Series 7, RESTRICTED: LAMPHERE V. BROWN UNIVERSITY LEGAL FILES, 1969-1992, includes correspondence, transcripts of depositions, photocopies of Brown University records, memoranda, notes, and other related material documenting Cserr's involvement in the class action sex discrimination lawsuit against Brown University. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type and is closed until January 1, 2025 at which point the materials will open without restriction.
All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Helen F. Cserr papers, Ms.2018.004, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
This collection is arranged into 7 series.
There are some restrictions on access, though most of the collection is open for research. Series 7, Restricted: Lamphere v. Brown University legal files, is closed until January 1, 2025 at which point the materials will open without restriction. The collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested. Advance notice is required to view any audiovisual media or born-digital records that may exist in this collection. Audiovisual media and born-digital records in this collection may not have been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. Access to original physical audiovisual or born-digital media is restricted.
Gift of Ruth Cserr in 2018.
This collection was part of the Pembroke Center's Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive until 2024 when collections were recataloged. All collections previously grouped under that title are now searchable under the subject headings "Women and Gender at Brown University" or "Feminist Activism in Rhode Island."