Other Ethical Culture Bibliographies

 

AEU Lending Library Catalog

The project to document the entire series of Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record will continue (soon), but it is worth pausing to look at progress in other areas.  One area reflects my good fortune to receive documents that include previous work on documenting Ethical Culture writings.  A case in point is shown above.

The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture is moving to a new location and clearing out its previous location.  The volunteers working to organize their archives passed along two existing bibliographies to me for preservation and documentation in the Bibliography of Ethical Culture.

The first is the 2002 Catalog of the AEU's Religious Education Library.  This catalog is one long list of resources for Ethical Education from pre-school to adult, labeled as to topic and sub-topic and origin in Ethical Culture or otherwise.  The resources originating in Ethical Culture are comparatively few, but the entire catalog is 59 pages of resources that a Society could (then) borrow--or buy.  

Of course there are questions:

• Are there more catalogs?  Please let me know if you have any.
• How long did this lending library function?  Please share your recollections, if your Society used this resource.
• Where are the resources intended for "opportunities for examination and trial of curricula and other materials for up to six weeks not for long-term use or for relieving Societies/Fellowships of purchasing their own curriculum materials and books" now?  One would expect that they are archived . . . somewhere.  

In the meantime, this catalog will be documented as a product of Ethical Culture.  Since I have a new toy (Canon IRIScan Pro 6), I have scanned it as a PDF file.  Unfortunately, the file is 49 megabytes, so finding a home for this beast will be the next chore.  It is, however, now digitally preserved.  Thanks, BSEC!

A second bibliography is more challenging in its organization and more delicate in it physical format.  The Library Committee of the New York Society for Ethical Culture compiled "A List of Books and Pamphlets by American and British Leaders of the Societies for Ethical Culture" at the request of the National Women's Conference (now National Ethical Service) in 1950.  The list is typewritten and appears to be reproduced in mimeograph format (printed on one-side).  The list is densely formatted, 8 pages long.  Interestingly, the entries are all coded for location:

*          In the Leader's Study. (For reference only).

**        In the Elliott room.  (For circulation).

***      In both Elliott room and Leader's study.

No asterisk - Not in the New York Society's collection.

This can be compared with an inventory recently compiled by NYSEC member, Elinore Kaplan.  Few pamphlets are included in the list, but the bibliography mentions "a large collection" available by special permission.   (I live in hope!)

I will add this list as a resource to the Bibliography and scan it.  "Mining" it for the relevant content will be tricky.  Many works had been translated into other languages, but the list can be a bit short on the publication information we'd normally include.  Scanning will also be tricky, given the fragility of the document.  

Are there other bibliographies and lists out there?  Hidden in filing cabinets or storage boxes?  Feel free to let me know in the comments.