Wolfgang Köhler was an internationally recognized leader in experimental psychology. Along with Max Wertheimer and Kurth Koffka, he was a founder of Gestalt psychology, which strongly affected the development of psychology for more then half a century. The Wolfgang Köhler Papers consist of 8 linear feet and are arranged into eight series: correspondence, grant material, lectures, manuscripts, notes, reports of assistants, research notebooks, and photographs and slides. The material relates to Köhler's career as one of the founders of Gestalt Psychology, and work as a experimental researcher.

Leonard Carmichael was a psychologist whose most significant contributions were made in the fields of child psychology and biopsychology. Educated at Tufts and Harvard, he taught at Princeton, Brown, and Rochester, later returning to Tufts to serve as its President from 1938-1952. An outstanding administrator, Carmichael served as executive officer for the Smithsonian Institute from 1952-1964, and was subsequently vice president for research and exploration at the National Geographic Society. In his later years, he served as President of the American Philosophical Society from 1970-1973. This large and varied collection reflects the entire range of Carmichael's prolific career. It includes a variety of types of records, including correspondence, committee reports and records, long series of articles and speeches, drafts of papers and books, and pocket notebooks. All phases of his professional life are covered, from his years in academia, to his time at the Smithsonian Institute and the National Geographic Society, as well as his involvement in a large number of professional organizations.