What to Do with the Adler Study

 

The Adler Study at NYSEC

Ever since my trip to New York last fall and the overwhelming discoveries in the areas where the archives are kept in the NYSEC building near Central Park, I have been thinking of how we can manage to preserve, document, and increase access to as many of those discoveries as possible.  Someone recently asked me if I knew whether a particular book was in the Adler Study.  😶  That's when I realized that I had not been including this seriously important repository of history and knowledge in my plans and strategies.  

The Adler Study is a historical space within the NYSEC building, which itself is a historical space for New York City and the nation.  It was Felix Adler's study--office--conference room--center of action--from its construction in 1910 until his death in 1933.  It houses books that he wrote, that he consulted for reference, that he read for study and further cultivation of his--and his followers'--Ethical being.

When I visited Room 514 last September, I could hear the pride--and a degree of reverence--in my guide's voice.  I recognized that I had entered a space where great thoughts and deeds had occurred.  But I also saw that this was a working space for the New York Society.  A place for meetings.  A place for gathering.  But not necessarily a place for study.  With all four walls filled with tall bookcases, the wealth of information and inspiration to be found there was behind locked glass doors.

I have no desire to see those doors thrown open for the everyday use of the resources there.  Much of what is there--as far as I have seen--is unique or in fragile condition or of historical value beyond measure.  I do, however, want to know what is behind those glass doors.  I also want to read and study what is behind those glass doors.  And I want to share it with others in some way that does not damage the physical condition of the contents.

I was privileged to examine the contents of just one of those cabinets.

Cabinet A, Adler Study, 2023

Among the treasures there were bound copies of Ethical Addresses and Ethical Record as well as its successor, The Standard.  There were books that Adler might have consulted in preparing for a lecture about Lincoln, and there were books published long after his death.  The Adler Study served other Leaders in the ensuing years.  

Well, this room and its contents have to be considered as part of the NYSEC Ethical Culture Archives (I just made up that name), and I have a few thoughts about what to do next.  While I am drafting a more detailed proposal reflecting those thoughts, here's a list for starters:

• Locate or create a Statement of Purpose for the Adler Study which serves to guide policy for its preservation and use.
• Photograph the entire Study, with detailed photo-documentation of the cases and each shelf.
• Locate any past inventories of the contents of the bookcases.
• Label the bookcases and shelves for location references.
• Develop a detailed inventory/bibliography of the contents of the Study, using photo-documentation to convey records to remote analysts/compilers (guess who? 🤠).
• Identify which items in the Study have already been digitized, and determine which, of the remainder, should be digitized.
• Develop an online repository for Ethical Culture's history of thought, including at least the inventory of this collection.  Add more items as allowed by US copyright laws.
• Develop policies related to use, retention, and dissemination of the contents of the Study.
• Write a history of the space prior to its current use as both archive and meeting space.

And, apparently, the list could go on.  Now that I think about it, the same list should apply to the room across the hall from 514:  The Elliott Library.  Work to be done.  More hands needed.  Just saying.