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Maurice Edwards papers documenting the work of graphologist Klara G. Roman

 Collection
Identifier: NA-0010-01

Abstract

This collection primarily consists of correspondence, articles, and proofs related to the publication of graphologist and New School faculty member Klara Roman's (1881-1962) book, Encyclopedia of the Written Word. The materials were assembled by actor, director, and author Maurice Edwards (1922-2020) in his capacity as Roman's assistant and posthumous co-editor (with Rose Wolfson). The files also hold items related to Edwards's theater career.

Dates

  • 1949 - 1973

Creator

Extent

.1 Cubic Feet (14 folders)

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents

These files were kept by Maurice Edwards in his role as assistant to Klara Roman and as posthumous editor, with Rose Wolfson, of Roman's Encyclopedia of the Written Word. The collection includes one file of publicity and materials documenting other ventures of Edwards, in particular his involvement with the Cubiculo Arts Center.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use. Files containing case studies and evaluations that include full names of patients are restricted for 120 years after person's known or estimated birth. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.

Use Restrictions

To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.

Biographical Note

Klara G. Roman (1881–1962) was born and raised in Budapest, graduating from the Hungarian Royal State Institute for Abnormal Psychology in 1928, and later founding the Hungarian Institute of Writing Research. After suffering severe deprivation and losing her husband to the Nazis during World War II, Roman immigrated to the United States in 1947, where she began to work against the grain of American skepticism to establish a space in which graphology would be taken seriously as a scientific and diagnostic tool. In 1948, Roman was invited to offer a course at the New School for Social Research. She continued teaching at the school until shortly before her death, at which time she entrusted her classes to a protégé, Daniel Anthony. In addition to teaching, Roman invented the "graphodyne," an instrument to measure writing speed and pressure. She lectured widely and served as a consultant, including stints as research consultant to the Treatment Clinic of the Manhattan Criminal Court and clinical psychologist and graphologist for the Children's Health Council of the Mid-Peninsula, Palo Alto, California. Among Roman's books in English are Handwriting, a key to personality (1952), Handwriting, etc. (1961), and the Encyclopedia of the written word; a lexicon for graphology and other aspects of writing published posthumously in 1968, edited by Rose Wolfson and Maurice Edwards.

Source: Encyclopedia of the written word; a lexicon for graphology and other aspects of writing, introduction by Rose Wolfson.

Maurice Edwards is a Broadway actor, singer, Off-Broadway director and author. Born Maurice Levine in Amasa, Michigan to Lithuanian parents in 1922, Edwards joined the U.S. Army in 1933 and served until 1946 seeing the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. He received his bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1949 and received his master of arts degree from Columbia University in 1955. In the late 1940s Edwards studied at the New School's Dramatic Workshop, performing in a number of productions under his birth name, Maurice Levine. (He changed his name when he joined the Actors' Equity Association, because there was another actor with his name).

After finishing his studies at NYU, Edwards worked for graphologist and New School instructor Klara Roman, helping to anglicize her lectures and writings (she had emigrated from Hungary after World War II). After Roman's death, Edwards edited, with Rose Wolfson, her Encyclopedia of the written word; a lexicon for graphology and other aspects of writing, published in 1968. Edwards' Broadway performances include Happy as Larry (1950), The Golden Apple (1954), and Fiddler on the Roof (1964 to 1972). He also had a rich career off Broadway, both acting and directing. He helped found the Cubiculo Experimental Theater in 1968 and worked there as a program coordinator. He joined the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra in 1954 and worked there for decades, in roles such as executive and artistic directors, and as archivist. His published books include How Music Grew in Brooklyn, A Biography of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra (2006), evelatory Letters to Nina Cassian (2011), and Christian Dietrich Grabbe: His Life and His Works (2014).

Maurice Edwards died on September 23, 2020 in Englewood, New Jersey from complications related to COVID-19 (novel coronavirus).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was donated to the archives by Maurice Edwards in 2015.

Related Materials

Klara Roman's New School courses are described in the New School course catalogs (NS.05.01.01) and New School Bulletins (NS.03.01.02). These collections may be accessed online at http://digitalarchives.newschool.edu. Additional materials related to her teaching and to Maurice Edwards' participation in the Dramatic Workshop will be found in the New School Publicity Office records (NS.03.01.05). An oral history interview with Maurice Edwards, in which he recounts his experience working for Klara Roman, will be found in the New School Oral History program interviews (NS.07.01.01). The papers of Daniel Anthony, who took over Roman's graphology course at The New School, will be found in the Newark Public Library's Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center: http://www.npl.org/Pages/Collections/CFCNJIC/FAids/Anthony_FA.html.

Title
Guide to the Maurice Edwards papers documenting the work of graphologist Klara G. Roman
Status
Completed
Author
New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
Date
May 9, 2016
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • September 29, 2021: Jenny Swadosh updated Biographical Note to reflect Maurice Edward's passing. Jason Adamo authored an abstract.