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.

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.