Countway Library’s Center for the History of Medicine invites you to celebrate our recent acquisition of the literary and professional papers of psychiatrist, writer, and activist Stephen Bergman. Better known by his pen name, Samuel Shem, Bergman is the author of several medically-themed novels and plays, including The House of God (1978), Mount Misery (1996), and (with Janet Surrey), “Bill W. and Dr. Bob” (2007). Bergman recently completed his The House of God quartet, with Man’s 4th Best Hospital (2019) and Our Hospital (2025). A Harvard Medical School graduate, Bergman served as Professor of Medicine in Medical Humanities at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and was a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy of Rome. The collection also documents Bergman's collaborative work with his partner, clinical psychologist Janet Surrey, uniting their writings, research, written and recorded talks, correspondence, and event documentation over the course of their individual careers.   

The celebration likewise marks the 50^th anniversary of the writing of The House of God, and Harvard Medical School Dean George Daley and Center for the History of Medicine Director Scott H. Podolsky will offer remarks followed by commentary on the impact of the publication of The House of God by Sarah Hagaman, Ph.D., University of Rochester, and Andrew S. Lea, M.D., D.Phil., University of Rochester. Congratulatory messages from Dr. Michael Rosenblatt and Dr. Richard Anderson will also be shared. 

Reception to follow.

You can learn more about Bergman in Harvard Magazine’s 2024 Alumni Profile, Diagnosis by Fiction.

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