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.