Bad trip to Edgewood consists of, interview transcripts, research files and videos for a television documentary on US Army testing of chemical and biological warfare agents on human 'guinea pigs' between 1955 - 1975, and includes files of mainly photocopied documents, reports, scientific articles, letters and newspapers articles, with some printed brochures, as well as videotapes.There is also a video copy of Bad trip to Edgewood which was produced by Michael Bilton, Yorkshire Television, and broadcast as a First Tuesday film in March 1993.

The files focus on secret projects carried out by the US Army Chemical Corps at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, Maryland USA, between 1955-1975, in which US Army volunteers were used to test the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), benzilates such as BZ (3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, also known a QNB) and glycolates. The testing programs were suspended in 1975 when information about them became public. A number of volunteers claimed to have suffered long term mental health effects from the tests. They also claim they were not informed at the time of immediate or long term effects of the agents tested.

In 1977 US Army notified 686 volunteers who has been tested with LSD and conducted a follow up study of their health. The LSD follow-up study report released in 1980 found 'the majority of subjects evaluated did not appear to have sustained any significant damage from their participation in the LSD experiments'. There are notes and transcripts of interviews conducted with former US Army personnel who were volunteers in the research programmes, individuals involved in the running testing programs, medical experts and lawyers.

Several files relate to particular law suits including that of Sgt James B Stanley, US Army, volunteer at Edgewood during 1958. In 1977 he was informed by the army that he had been given LSD as part of the testing program. In 1987 a controversial judgement by the US Supreme Court found against Stanley, effectually granting immunity from liability for money damages for all federal officials who intentionally violate the constitutional rights of those serving in the military. Other notable cases frequently mentioned in the files include that of Frank Olson and Harold Blauer. Dr Frank R Olson, US Army scientist at Fort Detrick, apparently suicided, on 28 November 1953. In 1975 the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (the Rockefeller Commission) revealed Olson had been given LSD without his knowledge while attending a meeting of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel eight days before his death. A civilian, Harold R Blauer died on 8 Jan 1953 after being given a lethal injection of Experimental Agent 1298 supplied by the US Army Chemical Corps to the New York State Psychiatric Institute where he was a patient. A 1975 Senate investigation revealed the facts of his death. Files also contain material on bacteriological testing by the Army and the CIA carried out in Washington DC, Florida, San Francisco, and New York. Particular reference is made to the case of Edward Nevin, a civilian, who died on 1 Nov 1950 in San Francisco as a result of a rare bacterial infection Serratia Marcescens, which coincided with a significant and unexplained outbreak of this infection between Oct 1950 and Feb 1951. In 1976 it was revealed that the US Army had conducted bacteriological warfare experiments with Serratia Marcescens over San Francisco Bay during September 1950. There is a small amount of material relating to the role of American Citizens for Honesty in Government, a Church of Scientology sponsored organisation who campaigned during 1979 for a full investigation of the testing and storage of BZ and compensation for volunteers suffering long term effects from testing of the substance, and to chemical testing carried out in the UK at Porton Down, Wiltshire, UK and production of chemical agents at Nancekuke Base, Cornwall, and Anglo American cooperation in this area.

The papers of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman comprise three classes of material: the private papers of the sisters and the Coleman family, 1842-1957; records relating to the National Children's Home, 1935-1981 largely CLOSED; and the Pestalozzi Village Trust, 1948-1989. Personal papers include a diary and pharmacopoeias, correspondence, examination certificates, photographs and printed books, 1842-1957, notably including a detailed manuscript medical diary describing life on board ship and a medical practice in Africa, 1842-1844, probably compiled by John Albert Sidney Coleman, grandfather of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman; pharmacopoeias containing remedies and prescriptions, with printed pharmacopoeias, compiled by Mark Coleman and others, reflecting the transition of the Coleman family business from patent remedies to modern pharmacy, 1851-1894; correspondence with Kathleen and Millicent Coleman, mainly descriptions of daily life in the National Children's Home and describing psychological testing of the children, 1927-1948 (CLOSED); family correspondence and legal documents including letting agreements and deeds of partnership, the will of Mathew Coleman, the sisters' great uncle, and relating to their father and his career, letters containing family news and gossip, 1845-1928; examination certificates and prize lists relating to the education of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman, 1922-1933; photographs of the Coleman family during the 1890s, during World War One and of Kathleen and Millicent Coleman on holiday, [1928], of Lady Eleanor Holles School, 1921-1933, group photographs of students and staff in King's College London Department of History, 1929-1955, photographs of various National Children's Home establishments, 1934-1957; a small collection of printed books concerned with the history, customs and government of London and the Home Counties, [1945-1985] (Boxes 70-74, now on open access in the Archive reading room).

The CLOSED records of the National Children's Home, 1935-1981, notably comprising Vocational Guidance Record Sheets, consisting of files on individual children that included intelligence test results, memory tests and individual comments, arranged in alphabetical order, 1938-1964 (Boxes 1-23); test results and evaluations of named children for tests organised by the National Institute of Industrial Psychology including the Porteus Maze Test and scoring sheets, 1957-1960 (Boxes 24-28); psychological evaluations of children at different branches of the children's home, notably in Cardiff, Harpenden, Nottingham and Glasgow, including individual test results and assessments with broad statistics and educational recommendations by visitors, 1942-1963 (Boxes 29-40); pupil record cards containing biographical information, aptitude tests and psychological test results for children at various homes, [1948-1960] (Boxes 41-42); material relating to the Brentwood College of Education including a working party on syllabuses, staff lists, the relationship with the University of London Institute of Education, manuscript notes and some psychological test results of children engaged in the so-called Gifted Child Study, 1971-1974 (Boxes 43-44); material relating to vocational aptitude and the placement of older children in trades and professions such as the armed forces and Civil Service, notably including psychologists' reports, 1935-1965 (Boxes 45-56); questionnaires of 18 year-old former residents conducted in 1954-1956 (Box 57); material relating to European refugees resident in the NCH including named children and correspondence with the Central Committee for Refugees, 1942-1949 (Boxes 58-59); general correspondence with Millicent Coleman relating to local authorities, staff and the emigration of children to Australia, 1951-1962; manuscript visitation report book assessing particular homes, 1946-1949; report on the incidence of enuresis (incontinence) in homes, 1946-1950; publicity material mainly created at the time of the centenary and on other children's charities, 1951-1981; careers and apprenticeship literature, 1938-1954; photographs and negatives of students and buildings, 1938-1939 (Boxes 60-62); psychological testing materials including test cards displaying words and pictures, [1958] (Boxes 63-69).

The records of the Pestalozzi Village Trust, 1948-1989, comprise typescript notes compiled by Millicent Coleman, who served on its governing Council. These consist mainly of Council minutes and supporting material, 1948-1989; Committee minutes including Finance and Management Committees, 1953-1985; Annual Reports and Accounts, 1961-1974; policy reports on the development and strategic direction of the Village, 1959-1973; correspondence with Millicent Coleman regarding Trust business and liaison with the National Children's Home, 1953-1985.

Copies of papers relating to his life and career and other family members, 1911, 1915, 1932, comprising: letter from Lt Col Sir George Roos-Keppel, Chief Commissioner and Agent to the Governor General, North West Frontier Province, to the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, reporting the capture of a party of raiders at Tarnab and commending various army and police officers, including Michael Donlea, Inspector of Police, North West Frontier (brother of Patrick), for their services in the incident, 2 March 1911; photograph [of raiders referred to in the above letter, 1911]; press cuttings describing charge of 21Lancers at Shabkadr, Aug 1915; brief typescript account of opium production and the organisation of Opium Department, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, 1932; copy of letter to Mrs Lucy Sophia Le Marchand (aunt by marriage of Patrick's wife) from Maj Cecil Allanson, 1/6 Gurkha Rifles describing the death of her son, Lt John Wharton Jones Le Marchand, Gallipoli, 1915.

Chelsea Polytechnic, Chelsea College of Science and Technology and Chelsea College Examination Question Papers, 1933-1986. Records comprise printed general BSc question papers, 1960-1970; BPharm, BSc, MSc, MEd and DCC examination question papers for specific subjects including Pharmacognosy, 1933-1970, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Pharmacy, Pharmaceutics, Mathematics and Microbiology, 1960- 1986.

Papers, 1915-2000, relating to background research by Rob Evans for his book, Gassed: British chemical warfare experiments on humans at Porton Down (House of Stratus, London, 2000), including: copy Public Record Office papers, 1915-1919, relating to the development and use of poison gas on the Western Front, World War One; copy Public Record Office papers relating to meetings of the Chemical Defence Advisory Board of the Advisory Council on Scientific Research and Technical Development, 1947-1968; copy Public Record Office papers relating to the testing of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 1954-1967; Porton Down annual reports, 1991-1994; Public Record Office papers on the testing of V class nerve agents, 1961-1964; copy Public Record Office papers, 1921-1953, on the use of tear gas in the British Empire; papers on the development and use of CS tear gas, 1919-2000; papers on the use of pepper spray, 1922-1999; copy Public Record Office papers on the testing of radioactive material, 1956-1964; Public Record Office papers relating to biological warfare trials, 1953-1977; transcripts of interviews done by Observer Films for ITV documentary, Secrets of Porton Down , broadcast 1994; copies of parliamentary answers relating to chemical testing on volunteers, 1995-2000

Pharmacy material at the South-Western Polytechnic, Chelsea College and King's College London, comprises correspondence, minutes, theses, staff publications and exam question papers, 1935-1997. It includes correspondence relating to student prizes, examinations, enrolment of students, and the staffing and management of the Department of Pharmacy, Chelsea College and at King's College London, 1958-1995; minutes, papers and correspondence relating to the University of London Board of Studies in Pharmacy, Chelsea College Department of Chemistry, Departmental Board, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, 1939-1992; bound copies of postgraduate theses and dissertations for students of Pharmacy, Chelsea College, and of King's College London following the merger of 1985, 1965-1993; off-prints of publications by members of staff of the Department of Pharmacy, Chelsea College, including copies of the Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology and Biochemical pharmacology , 1957-1978; sessional and final exam question papers for students of pharmacy, Chelsea College and King's College London, 1935-1995; lists of exam results and pass lists for undergraduate and postgraduate students of pharmacy, 1976-1988.

Chelsea Polytechnic/College Pharmacy undergraduate record cards, [1910-1940] (Ref: CDPM/FP1), undergraduate record cards, [1930-1970] (Ref: KDPM/FP2), undergraduate record cards, [1965-1996] (Ref: KDPM/FP), undergraduate withdrawal record cards (Ref: KDPM/FP(W)), undergraduate files, 1989, 1992-1998 (Ref: KDPM/FP), postgraduate record cards, [1965-1994] (Ref: KDPM/FPPG), postgraduate withdrawal record cards (Ref: KDPM/FPPG(W)), postgraduate record cards, [1980-1990] (Ref: KDPM/FPPG2), postgraduate files, 1988-1997 (Ref: KDPM/FPPG), Pharmacy theses/dissertations, 1966-1993 (Ref: KDPM/TH), prize lists and examination results, 1965-1994 (Ref: KDPM administrative series). CDPM/FP1 refers to Apothecary Hall undergraduate students only. The undergraduate record card series covers BPharm degrees. The early record cards give very little information, typically name, address, session, date of qualification and some course marks. Later record cards include name, address, 'A' Level results, course unit marks, degree result and a photograph. Withdrawals typically include the same level of information plus the date of leaving. Records for students who graduated after 1990 and the subsequent file series contain application and enrolment forms, transcript information and correspondence. Postgraduate record cards cover MSc, PhD, ACC, DCC and Community Diploma courses. FPPG2 is divided into subject areas covering MSc Biopharmacy, Pharmaceutical Analysis, Pharmaceutical Technology and also includes some PhD students for the period 1950-1960. Information given includes date of birth, photograph and which course was passed. Theses/Dissertations are divided into MSc, PhD and miscellaneous. Although the bulk of material is listed under a King's reference the majority are pre-1985 and Chelsea Department of Pharmacy.

South-Western Polytechnic, Chelsea Polytechnic, Chelsea College of Science and Technology, and Chelsea College Serial Publications, 1904-1983. This class of material comprises College magazine and journal periodicals, and provides a snapshot of the academic and social life of students and staff from the early phase of the Polytechnic until shortly before the merger with King's in 1985, and includes the South Western Polytechnic Journal , 1904-1906; The Magazine of the Chelsea Polytechnic , 1929-1939; Chelsea College of Science and Technology Gazette , 1962-1969; The Bell , the magazine of the Chelsea Pharmacy Association, 1953-1968; and New Leaf , the Humanities Society journal, 1973-1982.

South-Western Polytechnic, Chelsea Polytechnic, Chelsea College of Science and Technology, and Chelsea College Syllabuses & Prospectuses contains sets of general undergraduate prospectuses for Chelsea courses, 1895-1985, and of general postgraduate syllabuses, 1967-1985; prospectuses for specific undergraduate and postgraduate component courses of study including physics, chemistry, electronics, pharmacy and science education, 1962-1985 (Ref: C/SYL)