Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record: Final Series

I CAN'T FIND A PICTURE OF

FLORENCE KIPER

BUT

I WANTED TO

The final series--the twenty-first--of Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record was published in 1914.  The American Ethical Union immediately launched a new serial publication--The Standard.  The AEU also announced that it would no longer publish the International Journal of Ethics, a more scholarly publication that began as the Ethical Record and continues today as Ethics.

The addresses included in this final issue represent a wide range of focus.  The first is "Must We Believe in Immortality?" by Henry Neumann (pp. 1 -19), summed up in the sentence:  "While life remains, live nobly."  In a similar philosophic vein, David Saville Muzzey questions "Have We Religious Duties?" (pp. 67-79).  Shifting to current events and practical issues, Felix Adler talked about "False Ethics in Social Reform Movements" (pp. 45-56).  In this he focused on good intentions that have a bad outcome, e.g., when violence is used to gain justice. Horace J. Bridges focused on "The Victorious Death of Captain Scott," (pp. 91-106) referring to the death of Robert Falcon Scott on (or about) March 29, 1912 as he returned from the South Pole.  Bridges' message speaks to us today:

May we so live that at the last — in utter desolation, if so it must be — both we and those who look to us for example and strength, shall be able to find nothing for regret in our journey through the wilderness of this world. (p.106)

John Lovejoy Elliot and Florence Kiper focus on what I believe we can call "equity," or, just as easily, "women's rights."  Elliott speaks of working women and their (inadequate) wages.  Florence Kiper's essay was reprinted from The Forum.  While the title is "The Jewish Problem in America," her argument for an end to discrimination against Jews is presented with careful parallels with discrimination against women.  NOTE:  Florence Kiper [Frank], poet and playwright, does not have a Wikipedia page, but her husband, Jerome Frank, does.  (Just saying.)

There are still some "loose ends" to tie up regarding this serial; later posts will do that, I hope.  Then comes the question of "What next for the Bibliography?"  An obvious step would be to begin documenting the two serials that bracket EA&ER, that is, the short-lived Ethical Record or the somewhat longer-lived The Standard.  However, there is some urgency in documenting our living thinkers and writers while we can still discuss their work with them.  As well, there is the matter of hundreds of archive boxes waiting for documentation at NYSEC and AEU.  

The current focus on EA&ER had a beginning and an end in the space of 21 volumes.  A similarly finite project relates to the so-called "Carnegie Lectures."  These are the addresses delivered at Carnegie Hall during the 1895 and 1896 seasons at NYSEC.  A handful of them have already been published in EA&ER and possibly elsewhere.  How to make the others both readable and accessible to more readers in a significant part of that project.  

The next few weeks will tell us more about "more hands and more eyes" as well as funding/institutional support for the ongoing work.  

For now:  Happy New Year (almost)!

Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record - Twentieth Series (1913)

 

Sheldon Memorial Hall, dedicated in 1912

The Twentieth Series of Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record was published in 1913.  The issue provides extended focus on the dedication of the Sheldon Memorial in St. Louis and for the Moral Education Conference held in The Hague.  In addition, the volume shows the transition to a new generation of leaders for the Movement.

Felix Adler's "Ethical Development Extending Through Life" (pp. 1-19), two posthumous addresses from Walter L. Sheldon ("Hawthorne's 'Scarlet Letter'" (pp. 51-74) and "The Spirit of Human Fellowship" (pp. 191-199), and a brief note from Stanton Coit ("The Ethical Movement Explained" [pp. 233-235]) represent the first group of leaders.  In the second "wave" of leaders we see:

• Horace J. Bridges - Chicago (1913-1945)
• "From Custom to Conscience:  The Trend of Twentieth Century Religion" (pp. 90-106);
• "Mary Antin's 'Promised Land'" (pp. 127-147);
• Percival Chubb - New York, Associate (1897-1910) and St. Louis (1911-1932);
• "Religion and Social Reform" (pp. 201-218);
• Alfred W. Martin - New  York, Associate (1907-1932)
• "The Ethical Message of Robert Browning" (pp. 75-89);
• "Distinctive Characteristics of the Ethical Movement" (pp. 149-175);
• David Saville Muzzey - New  York, Associate (     );
• "Discipleship" (pp. 219-232);
• Henry Neumann - Brooklyn (1911-1961)
• "Our Ultimate Obligation, or What Gives the Moral Law Its Authority" (pp. 177-190).

Algernon D. Crapsey, a former Episcopal minister who became a frequent visitor and lecturer for Ethical Culture, spoke to the Philadelphia Society about "Commercialized Vice in Cities" (pp, 107-126).  

The copy of this volume archived online by the Internet Library includes some lists of publications by the AEU or by Society leaders.  I have confirmed that all of the items listed are in documented in the Bibliography except for two books by Walter L. Sheldon.  These books are:  Class Readings in the Bible and The Life of Jesus for the Young.  The St. Louis Society may have more information for us.  In the meantime, the search for these books online was productive in other ways.  Class Readings was reviewed in The American Journal of Philology.  Continued searching showed Sheldon also published two editions of The Story of the Bible, From the Standpoint of Modern Scholarship.  Originally published in 1899, his wife called on Morris Jastrow, Jr., and James A. Montgomery to assist with revisions and updates, which Nathaniel Schmidt discussed in his review of the second edition in the International Journal of Ethics.  As time permits, I hope to seek out more reviews of the works of Ethical writers for the perspective they provide on the context in which these writings were being considered.

Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record (1912) Nineteenth Series

 

William H. Lewis

The Nineteenth Series of Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record (published in 1912) includes information about Ethical Societies outside of the US, the Summer School of Ethics, the American Ethical Union Convention, and a conference at Glenmore.  Some of the addresses are reprints; other articles are reports and proposals for various new programs for the AEU.  The whole volume shows continued work to refine the definition of Ethical Culture and expand its capacity in regard to both personal development and expansion of the Movement.  

Two new programs were discussed at the Glenmore Conference and then approved at the AEU Convention.  James H. Leuba discussed "Symbolism and Ceremonial Expression in the Sunday Morning Meetings of the Ethical Society" (pp. 4-10) at the Glenmore Conference and then at the AEU Convention, held at the New York Society on November 20, 1911.  In response, the AEU delegates appointed a committee to "inquire into the desirability and feasibility of taking steps towards the enrichment of our meetings, a committee that should collect material already used and make it accessible to our inspection." W. H. Lighty similarly proposed "A Correspondence Bureau for the American Ethical Union" (pp. 11-23), which was also adopted by the Convention along with an appropriation of $2,000.  The Correspondence Bureau (lending library and point of sale for publications) was to be sited in Madison, Wisconsin, and managed by Professor Lighty and his wife.

Gustav Spiller, Secretary of the International Ethical Union, provided several reports for this volume.  The Union of English Societies (which included multiple independent Ethical Societies throughout the country) and the German Ethical Society (which included several local affiliated discussion groups throughout the country) each provided statements of their Principles.  

A substantial portion of the volume provides practical resources for Society programs.  A naming ceremony is presented with no author, but an introductory note says that it is based on ceremony originated by Stanton Coit and modified by Charles Zueblin (pp.146-148).  The curriculum for the St. Louis Children's Sunday Assembly includes several "charts" created for exhibits at the Religious Education Association and for a Child Welfare conference.  Again, no author is identified, but Percival Chubb, St. Louis Leader, also served as Superintendent of the program.  Of note is the emphasis given to making the Sunday "School" an "Assembly" to distinguish it from the weekday schools.  Interestingly, Alfred W. Martin's presentation on the "Non-Sectarian Sunday School" given at the Summer School of Ethics, raises the issue of how to promote the continuous participation in an Ethical Society from childhood on to adulthood.  His suggestions may be apt for present day consideration (p. 56):

1. By introducing into the constitution of the Sunday school under the article "objects" a clause to the effect that one of the purposes of the pupils shall be to fit themselves for worthy membership in the adult society, thus giving the scholar from the start, the conviction that the Sunday school is in this sense the means to an end.

2. By occasional Sunday exercises in the adults' auditorium for and by the school.

3. By the organization as a connecting link of a class of the young men and young women graduates to study the principles and ideals of the organization they have fitted themselves to join.

4. By providing for pupils of this class a share in the responsibilities of the adults' society, for nothing is so conducive to the fixing of interest in a cause as practical participation in its activities.

Two addresses in this volume stood out for me.  One is C. Delisle Burns' address on the "Misuse of the Bible." It's on my "to read" list.  The other is Henry Neumann's address "The Spirit of Persecution and Prejudice" (pp. 149-165).  William H. Lewis was appointed by President Taft in 1911 to be an Assistant US Attorney General.  There was opposition from Southern Senators, but Taft refused to withdraw his nomination, and Lewis was approved.  He was, soon after, also nominated for admission to the American Bar Association.  Once his "race" was discovered, a massive effort to remove him ensued.  Henry Neumann took this issue as the opportunity to discuss how prejudice and persecution affect both the victim and the perpetrator.  While his reasoning may be dated, his conclusion is spot on.

Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record 18 (1911)

The 18th Series of Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record was published in 1911.  A substantial portion of the volume was devoted to the speeches offered at the dedication of the Meeting House of the New York Society for Ethical Culture.  Another substantial portion of the volume includes discussion of moral education and actual lessons for the mid-primary grades.  As well there is news of the Ethical Summer School, the Universal Races Conference, and other initiatives.  

The dedication of the NYSEC Meeting House is covered in three parts (history of the project, dedication for ethical and religious purposes, dedication for civic uses) with multiple speeches, poems, and descriptions of the music and symbolic activities.  Bibliographic issues arise in how to document the varied sections and credit the speakers.  In the end, I used the three parts listed above and cited the various parts under "No Author."  The pagination was not consecutive over the various issues of this volume; the binding of the volume scanned for the Internet Library placed them together (but out of order from the remainder of the volume).

One address that caught my attention was William Mackintyre Salter's "The Culture of the Moral Nature" (199-214).  This address had originally been given in 1883 but recently "rewritten" to be given again before the Societies in Chicago, St. Louis, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and New York.  Salter takes time to explore the meaning of "ethical" and "culture" before he focuses on the difference between action that is for one's own benefit or for one's fellow human--the latter being inherently more moral than anything one does for oneself.  He then talks about the "shape" of morality--wherein does it manifest itself?--as he talks about truth (and keeping truth, or faithfulness), mercy (or pity) manifesting as charity, and public spirit.  In the latter, Salter talks very pointedly about public policies that have a negative effect on the community and the lack of public spirit that might otherwise inspire Ethicals to challenge those policies (and thereby grow in their own moral nature!).  It doesn't take much to read this address as clear justification for contemporary Ethical Action and greater involvement in the world around us.

In addition, Henry Moskowitz' address on "The Moral Challenge of the Industrial Struggle" (223-241) bears some further investigation by those interested in the early influence of Ethical Culture on public policy.  He mentions the establishment of a Joint Board of Sanitary Control, "suggested by one of the members of our Society" (p. 233).  This Board appears to be an early attempt to investigate and establish standards for worker health and safety.  It would be interesting to know how deeply members of the Society became involved in this work.

On a sadder note, two reports by Anna Garlin Spencer appear to mark her exit from this serial.  She reported on the Summer School of Ethics (23-32, 242-247) and gave an address at the Summer School on "The Need for Schools of Ethics" (1-12).  Having read elsewhere that she may have felt constrained by the narrow role that Felix Adler allowed her to play in the Ethical Society and left the Society around this time, I checked the final volumes in Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record and see no further items listed to her credit.  That discovery led me to look further for her work, since so little is evident at this point in my research into Ethical Culture.  I found, with help from Hathi Trust and the Internet Library a lengthy trail to AGS and the "social housekeeping" movement (related to the Sanitary Board described in Moskowitz' address?) as well as an extensive body of work by her and about her.  

Regarding the two covers included in this bound copy which show lists of books and pamphlets, almost everything listed has been shown in the Bibliography as it was published separately or in Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record.  Several addresses that were part of a memorial or anniversary program have not been listed separately in the Bibliography.  Without seeing the pamphlet listed as "O. B. Frothingham--Memorial Address," for example, we cannot know whether the pamphlet includes only Felix Adler's address on that occasion or the entire body of the memorial program.  A similar situation exists for the pamphlet listed for "Twentieth Anniversary of the Society for Ethical Culture of New York"  Some pamphlets show changes in titles from what was published in EA&ER:

• "The International Ethical Congress" may be "The Recent Congress of American and European Ethical Societies at Zurich" from the Third Series;
• "Our Hopes for the Twentieth Century" is published as "Our Hopes for Humanity in the Twentieth Century" in the Eighth Series;
• "The Moral Value of Science," an apparent typo, continues to be listed rather than "The Moral Value of Silence," published in the Ninth Series; and
• "Immortality:  Whence and Whither?" seems to be "A Modern Scientist's Answer to the Questions:  Whence and Whither?" published in the Twelfth Series.

I had quite a search to locate Percival Chubb's "Ruskin's Message to Our Time."  Without belaboring the drama of the hunt nor the nobility of my own perseverance, I found the address--all two parts of it--in the Seventh Series of Ethical Addresses, published in 1901.  I was entering the addresses from this volume in the Bibliography in the summer of 2022, but something seems to have distracted me from the work enough to completely omit most of them!  Once I finally located Chubb's address(es) on Ruskin, I checked all of the entries for that volume (and they are all now fully entered).  Ironically, I blogged at length about addresses from Walter L. Sheldon in the Seventh Series and never posted those items in the Bibliography--before now.  Clearly this work needs more eyes as well as more hands.

Bibliophilic Quandaries: Alfred W. Martin

Alfred W. Martin, c. 1915

I'm in a bit of a quandary now.  My goal with this Bibliography is, as I see it, to document the literature of Ethical Culture.  That is going to eliminate sound recordings, video recordings, and various graphic arts.  I'm not happy about that, but the project is already much bigger than I had originally imagined.  If we can get to those other media--or if someone else joins in the work--we'll just have to see.  In the meantime, my quandary is with the writings of those we know were part of the Ethical Culture Movement for some period of time.  The quandary is whether to try to document everything that those folks wrote or just what seems to be in the realm of Ethical Culture "thought."

A case in point arises with the work of Alfred W[ilhelm]. Martin.  Martin appears (in my research) in Series Fifteen (1908) as having delivered an address entitled "The Spiritual Greatness of the Real Jesus" (Philadelphia, December 15, 1907).  By 1910, he is listed on the faculty of the 1910 Summer School of Ethics, sponsored by the American Ethical Union, and identified there as an Associate Leader for the New York Society for Ethical Culture.  When searching online for biographical information, I found an extensive list of publications from Martin, both before and after that "watershed" listing on the Summer School faculty when he is clearly identified within the Ethical Culture tent.  

So far, I have found very little online that reveals more about his life and his connection with Ethical Culture.  (A Wikipedia article would be handy at this point!)  His earliest publication (that I can find) is a collection of responsive readings and hymns published in 1890 (Character and Love:  Responsive Readings for Sunday School and the Home).  The volume has a distinctly Christian feel to it, but it includes Adler's poem (frequently sung as a hymn):  "The City of Light."  (For more on the publication history of this poem, see Aharan Varady's Open Siddur Project.)  This suggests that Martin was already exposed to some of the literature of Ethical Culture at that early point in his career.  Even clearer evidence of that exposure comes in the later volume, published in 1901, Not to Destroy, But to Build.  A chapter near the end of the book--"Unitarianism and Why It Fails to Satisfy"--makes direct reference to William M. Salter's address of the same title.

Should I document Martin's writing from the period before we can clearly associate him with Ethical Culture?  Should I document Martin's writing on comparative religion that is not clearly identified as having been originally delivered in an Ethical Culture forum (i.e., not a collection of platforms but his own personal research conclusions)?

I would tend to want to be as inclusive as possible, but that will certainly broaden the scope of the Bibliography.  Without annotation, doing so may be misleading to those wish to learn more about Ethical Culture (my target audience!) rather than the broader perspective of thought and discovery that others pursued in their intellectual and spiritual journeys.  Doing so would also expand the work of documentation quite significantly.  Nevertheless, there is insight to be gained from exploring the entire corpus of someone's work--and sometimes useful context shows up in odd places.  

Here's what I know about Alfred W. Martin--so far.

• According to the Hathi Trust, these are his dates:  1862-1933.
• No clue about where he was born or his earlier life.
• He married Eliza Frothingham, nicknamed Lillie.  Eliza may have been the daughter of Octavius Brooks Frothingham, a "radical Unitarian" and first president of the Free Religion Association.
• He served as minister for the First Free Church in Tacoma, WA, editing The Free Church Record at least through December, 1900.
• He seems to have had a close philosophical relationship with Felix Adler.
• He appreciated the "no creed" freedom of the Ethical Culture platform, but he was careful always to disclaim any intention to represent his views as those of his Ethical Society.
  

Beyond that, I got nothing.  Except.  In checking through the list of works catalogued by the Hathi Trust, I noted this:  Worship in the Sunday School for Workers in Small Schools (by A. W. Martin).  The publication date (1918) puts this work in the time frame when Martin was active in Ethical Culture.  The tone is heavily Christian, not the universal or comparative tone of his other works.  More online searching suggests that this book is the work of A[lbert] W[illiam] Martin, Senior, a Methodist minister in Arkansas.  So add this:

• Martin's roots may have been in Unitarianism, but they probably were not Methodist.  

I will hope to find out more on my next visit to NYSEC.