Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1918-2016 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1.9 m of textual material (16 boxes), photographs, artifacts
1 VHS cassette,
1 DVD
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Judith Fern Friedland (nee Pless, b. 1939) is an occupational therapist, author, and Professor Emerita in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto (UofT). Professor Friedland’s research has covered a number of areas with particular focus on the history of occupational therapy and the psychosocial aspects of physical illness and injury.
Born and raised in Toronto, Prof. Friedland attended the University of Toronto where she received her Diploma in Physical and Occupational Therapy (1960). Following her initial studies, Friedland worked in mental health facilities including the Fulbourn Psychiatric Hospital in Cambridge, England (1960-1961) and the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital (1961-1963). From 1977 to 1982, Friedland worked at Community Occupational Therapy Associates as a front-line clinician. While there, she developed and ran The Brown School Stroke Program, among other initiatives.
Prof. Friedland returned to the University of Toronto where she received her B.A. (1976) after part-time studies through Woodsworth College. She received her M.A. (1981) and her Ph.D. (1988) from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (O.I.S.E.) Her Ph.D. thesis was entitled, Accessing language in agraphia: an examination of hemiplegic writing. Friedland taught at Seneca College (1976-1978) and was appointed lecturer at the UofT’s Department of Occupational Therapy in 1982.
Prof. Friedland has held both academic and administrative positions within the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (formerly the Department of Occupational Therapy and the Division of Occupational Therapy). Following her position as a lecturer, she progressed through the ranks as a faculty member and in 2002 was appointed full professor. Prof. Friedland served as the Director of the Division of Occupational Therapy from 1991 to 1993, and as the Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy from 1993 through 1999. This was a period of development and change for the Department. Prof. Friedland spearheaded projects to achieve departmental status, to change the structure of the BScOT program to prepare for transition to an MScOT program, revised the pedagogical approach to adopt problem-based learning, and received approval for the proposal to launch an entry-level professional master’s program. Officially retiring in 2004, Prof. Friedland has served on University committees in roles including Chair of the Health Sciences Research Ethics Board and Chair of the Research Ethics Policy and Advisory Committee, and continues her academic work as Professor Emerita. Since 2012, she has been the Chair of the Ethics Review Board for Public Health Ontario.
Prof. Friedland’s research has spanned diverse areas, from clinical investigations, such as the impact of social support on adjustment to illness and disability and the mental health issues of university students, to reflections on the history and development of the profession of occupational therapy. Friedland has written numerous scholarly articles and, in 2011, published a definitive work on the development of the profession, Restoring the Spirit: The beginnings of Occupational Therapy in Canada, 1890-1930.
In recognition of her work, Prof. Friedland has received multiple awards including the Muriel Driver Lectureship and Fellowship Award from the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, and the U of T’s Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Alumni Association’s Alumni Achievement Award. Prof. Friedland has also volunteered with organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society, her local Home and School Association and UofT’s Health History Partnership. She is married to Professor and former Dean of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, Martin Friedland and has three children and eight grandchildren.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of material documenting the professional life and work of Prof. Judith Friedland. Records focus on her education and career within academia, in particular as a professor, and former Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy. Material also covers some aspects of Prof. Friedland’s career working as an occupational therapist. Records include typescripts and presentation notes, administrative records from the Department of Occupational Therapy, teaching and course material, clinical notes, correspondence, awards, and biographical material.
The history of occupational therapy in Canada has significant coverage through records related to the research and publication of Prof. Friedland’s book, Restoring the Spirit, as well as through the collected records of Helene Primrose LeVesconte, Thelma Cardwell, and Isobel Robinson. Represented in Series 8 to 10, these three individuals each served as former heads of the UofT’s Department of Occupational Therapy, in addition to teaching and practicing occupational therapy. The collected historical material includes minutes, typescripts, correspondence, artifacts and teaching material.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
All files are open, with the exception of the files listed below. Please see series descriptions for additional information.
- Series 2: B2017-0003/002(11), B2017-0003/002(14), and B2017-0003(05)
- Series 3: B2017-0003/004(10)-(13)
- Sub-series 5.3: B2017-0003/007(09)
- Series 9: B2017-0003/013(11)
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Accession
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Original finding aid by Daniela Ansovini
Added to AtoM by Daniela Ansovini, November 2017