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New School faculty vertical files collection

 Collection
Identifier: NS-08-02-02

Summary

Consists of published journal articles, typescripts, unpublished essays, lectures, and seminar notes, as well as handwritten notes and resumes by or pertaining to New School faculty members from 1908 to the 2000s. Assembled by librarians at the Raymond Fogelman Social Sciences and Humanities Library (now the List Center Library, part of The New School Libraries and Archives), the collection is arranged alphabetically by faculty member last name.

Dates

  • 1908-2000s

Creator

Extent

16.9 Cubic Feet (13 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

German

French

Italian

Russian

Chinese

Scope and Content of Collection

"Vertical files" are defined by the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus as:

"Collections of materials, such as pamphlets, cuttings, and pictures, which are ephemeral in nature. The documents are often of varying sizes and typically unbound, stored in drawers or on their edges in special supports that allow vertical rather than horizontal storage."

The collection includes published journal articles (offprints and clippings), typescripts of articles, lecture and seminar notes, unpublished essays, handwritten notes, and resumes by or pertaining to the individual faculty member. Some individuals may have been research associates at The New School's various centers rather than traditional faculty members.

The New School Archives staff presumes that librarians in the Raymond Fogelman Social Sciences and Humanities Library (now renamed the List Center Library and a part of The New School Libraries and Archives) of the New School for Social Research assembled the files in this collection. Collection criteria are unknown, although Parsons School of Design and Mannes College of Music faculty are not included. Fogelman Library closed in 2014, and no new files or materials have been added since that time.

Because of the relatively arbitrary method by which they were originally assembled, the faculty vertical files are undated at the folder level. The material ranges from 1908 to the 2000s, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1930s University in Exile to the 2000s.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use. 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 and Special Collections. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.

Historical Note

The New School for Social Research was founded in 1919 with the primary mission of providing adult education. In 1943, NSSR was divided into two schools, the School of Politics, and the School of Liberal Arts and Philosophy. At this time, in response to the needs of returning veterans wishing to take advantage of the GI Bill, the school began a program called Senior Year at the New School. Geared toward adults who had previously completed some cousework, the program offered undergraduate credits for some courses and awarded bachelors degrees. However, the majority of students continued to take non-credit courses.

In 1997, the New School for Social Research was officially renamed New School University. The founding division, still devoted to adult education, was given the general name The New School, now comprising one of seven divisions of New School University. In 2005, the school underwent another series of name changes, which led to the overarching organization being called The New School, while the adult education program was named The New School for General Studies. This name was changed in 2011, when the adult education program was called The New School for Public Engagement and combined with the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy, which until that time had been a separate division.

In 1933, the New School for Social Research established the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science. Also known as the "University in Exile," the division was founded in order to host German and other European scholars who left their countries to escape political and racial persecution. The Board of Regents of the State of New York granted a provisional charter in 1934, allowing the Graduate Faculty to confer Master of Social Science and Doctor of Social Science degrees. This was the first time the New School for Social Research offered credit to students in any of its programs. The New School was fully accredited as a university. In 2005, the Graduate Faculty changed its name to The New School for Social Research, reclaiming the founding name of the entire institution which had been dropped eight years before. As of 2017, NSSR is one of five divisions that comprise The New School.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by faculty member name.

Custodial History

The materials in this collection were assembled by staff of The New School libraries at the Raymond Fogelman Social Sciences and Humanities Library (now renamed the List Center Library and a part of The New School Libraries and Archives).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred from Raymond E. Fogelman Library to the New School Archives and Special Collections upon establishment of the archives in 2012.

Related Materials

There are a plethora of collections pertaining to the faculty of the New School throughout its history. Researchers can begin with the Clara Mayer papers (NS.02.01.02), 1879-1976, which document the formation and growth of The New School and its faculty during its early years. This collection contains correspondence and faculty files.

Researchers should also consult the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research collection (NS.02.02.01) and the New School for Social Research Office of the Dean records (NS.02.02.03). The bulk of the records in the latter collection (NS.02.02.03) document the New School for Social Research from 1990-2005. The two collections occasionally overlap in time periods and subject matter. Faculty files can also be found in the New School Adult Division Office of the Dean records (NS.02.02.01).

Materials originating from and related to the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science will be found in many other collections held by The New School Archives. Of particular interest may be the Alvin S. Johnson papers (NS.01.01.01); Graduate Faculty minutes collection (NS.02.02.02); Institute of World Affairs records (NS.02.16.01); several collections of working papers produced by New School for Social Research (NSSR) institutes and centers (NS.02.23.01 through NS.02.23.05); New School scrapbook collection (NS.03.01.01); New School Bulletin collection (NS.03.01.02); New School Publicity Office records (NS.03.01.05); NSSR financial ledgers and accounting records (NS.03.07.01); and New School course catalogs (NS.05.01.01). Additionally, The New School Archives holds periodicals published by the Graduate Faculty as an administrative unit and by students and departments within the division.

Records relating to individual faculty members include the Hannah Arendt correspondence with students (NS.02.12.01), 1966-1975. Additionally, the Hannah Arendt papers, which are held at the Library of Congress, are accessible through a portal at The New School's List Center Library.

The papers of a number of the original members of the University in Exile are held by the German and Jewish Intellectual Emigre Collection in the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives at the University at Albany, State University of New York: http://library.albany.edu/archive/ger, and by the Center for Jewish History, among other institutions.

Processing Information

New School Archives staff transferred all books encountered in the collection to The New School Library Special Collections. Additionally, journals and other periodicals published by The New School, such as Social Research, have been removed for inclusion in the New School periodicals collection (NS.05.06.01) and The New School Library Special Collections.

Title
Guide to the New School faculty vertical files collection
Status
Completed
Author
New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
Date
December 4, 2017
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Revision Statements

  • April 27, 2018: New School Archives staff added Other Finding Aids note.