Carnegie Lectures and Ethical Addresses

Octavius Frothingham, NYSEC Member

One step in determining whether and what to publish from the body of lectures presented at Carnegie Hall (1894 -1896) is checking whether an individual address has already been published elsewhere.  Using keywords to search between the list of Carnegie Lectures and a summary of the Contents of Ethical Record and Ethical Addresses, I have identified 9 Carnegie lectures that may have been published in EA&ER.  

1.    December 2, 1894, Felix Adler delivered the address "Prayer and Worship" at Carnegie Hall.  The same address was published in Ethical Addresses in 1895, First Series, pp. 159-176.

2.    February 17, 1895, William M. Salter delivered the address "The Ethics of Agnosticism" at Carnegie Hall.  The same address was published in Ethical Addresses, Second Series (1896), as "Ethical Agnosticism" (pp. 49-64).  

3.     April 14, 1895, Felix Adler delivered the address "The Teachings of Jesus" at Carnegie Hall.  An address with a similar title was published in Ethical Addresses, Sixth Series (1900), i.e., "The Teachings of Jesus in the Modern World," pp. 105-120.  The latter, however, carried the footnote that its text is from "An Easter discourse before the Society for Ethical Culture of New York, April 2nd, 1899."  A comparison of these texts might prove interesting.  Indeed, given the number of addresses that focus on the life, teaching, or ethics of Jesus given by various speakers and published over the years in various publications associated with the Movement, I daresay an article on "Four (or More) Ethical Views of Jesus" would be just as interesting as an indication of how thought has evolved--or not--regarding Jesus.

4.    November 24, 1895, Felix Adler delivered the address "The Attitude of the Modern Mind Toward the Belief in God" at Carnegie Hall.  An address (actually a compilation of three addresses) was published in Ethical Addresses, Tenth Series (1903) with the title "Changes in the Conception of God" (pp. 47-90).  A closer examination will be needed to determine whether the earlier address in incorporated into the later article or, indeed, whether and/or how Adler's thinking may have evolved over the years between these addresses.

5.    December 8, 1895, Edmund C. Stedman, George Haven Putnam, George C. Barrett, and Felix Adler provided addresses in honor of Octavius Brooks Frothingham at Carnegie Hall. The same addresses were published as "Octavius Brooks Frothingham Memorial Exercises" in Ethical Addresses, Second Series (1896), pp. 169 - 194. Reported in the New York Times on December 9, 1895, p. 6.

6.  January 5, 1896, Felix Adler delivered the address "The Monroe Doctrine and the War Spirit in the United States" at Carnegie Hall.  The same address was published in Ethical Addresses, Third Series (1897) pp. 1-20.  Reported in the New York Times (December 3, 1896), p. 3.

7.    May 10, 1896, Felix Adler, along with Camille Solomons and John Lovejoy Elliott, delivered the "Anniversary Exercises" at Carnegie Hall.  This address was followed by additional "exercises," also at Carnegie Hall on Friday, May 15.  The evening ceremony featured addresses by Alfred R. Wolff, William M. Salter, and M. M. Mangasarian as well as Adler.  The May 15 addresses were published in Ethical Addresses, Third Series (1897), pp. 99-116.  However, no typescript for these addresses seems to be included in the collection for Carnegie Hall.  Reported in the New York Times on May 16, 1896, p. 5.

8.    December 26, 1896, Felix Adler delivered the address "The Spiritual Meaning of Marriage" at Carnegie Hall.  A revised version of this address is published in Ethical Addresses, Sixth Series (1900), pp. 17-36.  Again, a textual comparison might prove interesting.

Since Ethical Addresses was being published at the same time as the Ethical Record before being merged into a single serial, both were succeeded by The Standard, and various books and collections of addresses were also being published around this period, more research is yet needed to confirm the publication history of these addresses.  At this point, my focus is on pushing forward with the Bibliography and entering the Carnegie Lectures.  More volunteers to assist in the publication research would be quite welcome!