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Humanities and Social Sciences Library > Collections > Manuscripts > Finding Aids > Erich Fromm Papers, 1929-1980 Erich Fromm Papers, 1929-1980 Part 3Scope and Content NoteThe papers (1929-1980) reflect Fromm's career as author, psychoanalyst, scholar, educator and social philosopher mainly from the year 1932 until 1949, except for a hiatus for the years 1944-46 for which there are no papers other than a few miscellaneous financial papers. A few miscellaneous papers date back to 1929. For most of the period Fromm's life was centered in New York City. The papers provide substantial documentation of his academic associations and activities, his writings and his research at the International Institute for Social Research and to a lesser extent at Sarah Lawrence College; his theoretical contributions to the fields of psychology, sociology, social psychology, and psychoanalysis; and his relationships with notable American scholars who were influenced by his work including the sociologists Robert S. Lynd, Helen Lynd and David Riesman, and the anthropologists Margaret Mead and Ashley Montagu. His career as a practicing psychoanalyst is also documented, but as noted above the papers which involve the privacy and confidentiality of the therapist-patient relationship have been removed and sealed until the year 2049. His earlier career in Europe is touched upon by a smattering of papers relating to his university lectureships in Germany and to his sojourn in Switzerland in the summer and fall of 1932. There is relatively little documentation of his social and personal life outside of his career activities. The papers also reflect to some extent the plight of European Jews several of whom sought Fromm's aid in emigrating from Germany, France and Poland just before the outbreak of World War II. In sum the papers represent an indispensable source for scholars and others seeking to deepen their knowledge of Fromm, his life in America, and the impact of his ideas upon the social sciences. Series Descriptions
SERIES l. CORRESPONDENCE (CONTAINERS #1-3)The correspondence which is in English and German is arranged alphabetically by personal name or organizational title into two subseries. Subseries "A" contains correspondence in the period 1932-1943; and subseries "B" in the period 1947-1949. The arrangement is chronological within the name or title. Some files contain collateral papers in addition to correspondence. No correspondence is present for the period 1944-1946. The correspondence is both in-coming and out-going, the latter in the form of typed carbon copies. Filed at the end of each subseries are a few unidentified letters. The correspondents are listed in the Alphabetical Index of Correspondents following the container list. The correspondence reflects mainly the period when Fromm was residing in New York and in Bennington, Vermont. His correspondents include professional and academic colleagues, psychologists, psychoanalysts, anthropologists, sociologists, university professors, physicians, editors of scholarly journals, publishers, refugees, refugee aid organizations, graduate students and others. There is some family correspondence filed under "Fromm Family". The correspondents are scattered in many countries including Bolivia, China, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Latvia, Mexico, Poland, Soviet Union, Switzerland and Turkey. The correspondence relates to a variety of subjects from mundane matters of Fromm's personal life to his professional, scholarly, and academic interests, associations and relationships. Included is correspondence relating to the International Institute for Social Research, his books Escape from Freedom and Man for Himself, his scholarly articles and book reviews, matters of psychoanalytic theory and its implications for cultural analysis, the status of non-medical psychoanalysts, speaking engagements, conferences and seminars. Notable correspondents include Angelica Balabanoff, John Dollard, Max Horkheimer, Ernest Jones, Harold D. Lasswell, Paul Lazarsfeld, Helen Lynd, Robert Staughton Lynd, Margaret Mead, Ashley Montagu, Robert Redfield, Wilhelm Reich, David Riesman, Harry Stack Sullivan, and Carl August Wittfogel. The Paul Lazarsfeld file contains textual criticisms by Lazarsfeld of Autorität in der Familie which Fromm was preparing for publication. Included in the Robert S. Lynd file is a letter by Fromm in which he inadvertently hits upon the title for his book Escape from Freedom. Included in the Margaret Mead file are two autograph letters written by her while she was en route to Bali and in which she announces her marriage to Gregory Bateson and mentions her colleagues Geoffrey Gorer and Helen Lynd. The correspondence also reveals her debt to Fromm for the concept of surplus in primitive societies. Included also are her notes on character formation which she submitted to Fromm for his comments. The Ashley Montagu file relates to Montagu's search for a university appointment in anthropology and to a proposed popular edition of Freud's writings. The Wilhelm Reich file relates in part to the methodology of mass psychology and to the use of psychology in sociology. The correspondence which is in German is addressed to Fromm at Davos and Lausanne, Switzerland. Included is a copy of a letter to Freud requesting his advice on a replacement for Fromm who was too ill to continue his work at the Institute for Social Research (Frankfurt). The David Riesman file relates in part to Riesman's sociological research, his need to gain experience in interviewing techniques, and to his acceptance of a position as director of research for the Committee on National Policy at Yale. Included is a copy (1941) of a paper which Riesman gave at the Roundtable on Public Opinion and Propaganda of the American Political Science Association. The Carl A. Wittfogel file contains a lengthy letter (1936) from Wittfogel at Peking, China where he was conducting research on the Chinese family. Wittfogel acknowledges Fromm's influence on his own work. Fromm's reply contains a critique of Freud's theory of sublimation. The correspondence relating to refugees is contained mainly in the files of Heinz Eduard Brandt, Peter Gluck, and Kurt Wertheim. The Brandt file concerns a cousin of Fromm's who sought to emigrate from Germany and to the plight of Mrs. Gertrude Brandt, in Posnan, Poland. The Gluck and Wertheim files relate to persons residing in France and Germany, respectively, who also sought Fromm's help in coming to the United States. Included in the Fromm family correspondence is correspondence of Joseph Gurland, Fromm's brother-in-law relating to his search for employment as a chemical engineer. Other noteworthy correspondence includes the Elizabeth G. Brown file which contains comments by Brown written from Moscow on the Purge Trials and her reflections on Soviet society; The Family (periodical) which contains a review by Fromm of Margaret Mead's Sex and Temperament... and correspondence relating to Autorität in der Familie as well as a review of it by Otto Fenichel; and the file Psychiatry (a quarterly published by the William Alanson White Psychiatric Foundation) which includes a copy of an address by Fromm given at a memorial meeting (1940) for Harry Stack Sullivan, and copy of his review of Sullivan's Conceptions of Modern Psychiatry. SERIES 2. WRITINGS (CONTAINERS #4-9)The writings are arranged into four subseries: subseries "A", Books by Fromm; subseries "B", Articles in English by Fromm; subseries "C", Articles in German by Fromm; and subseries "D", Writings by Others. Subseries "A" contains manuscript and typescript drafts of Chapters V, VI, VII, and VIII of Escape from Freedom (New York, Farrar & Rinehart, 1941); and drafts also in manuscript and typescript form of Man for Himself; An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics (New York and Toronto, Rinehart & Co., 1947). Neither work is complete in draft form. Chapter VII of Escape from Freedom is an early manuscript draft. The other chapters are in typescript. Included are manuscript notes by Fromm on the history of the concept of freedom. There are numerous incomplete drafts of chapters, sections, and parts of Man for Himself which illustrate the creative and editorial methods of the author. Many of the draft pages are in the form of manuscript emendations to a typewritten text. The text and pagination are frequently unclear or illegible and most of the drafts have numerous gaps in the texts and pagination. There are also numerous unsorted pages and fragments of texts present. There are, in addition, numerous notes and textual criticisms of portions of the manuscript in the hand of Patrick Mullahy whom Fromm acknowledged in the foreword of the book as having aided in the preparation of the manuscript. Subseries "B" and "C" contain manuscript and typescript drafts of miscellaneous articles by Fromm which are arranged by title and which are listed on the container list. Included is an autobiographical narrative (in German) describing Fromm's stay at a sanitarium in Switzerland in 1932. Subseries "D" contains miscellaneous writings in the field of psychology by other persons many of whom were colleagues of Dr. Fromm's. These are listed on the container list.SERIES 3. INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH (Containers #10-15)This series consisting of two subseries contains manuscripts and collateral papers relating to Die Autorität in der Familie (subseries "A"); and The German Workers under the Weimar Republic (subseries "B"), two studies which Fromm was preparing for publication during the time of his employment at the International Institute for Social Research. Included is a typescript draft in German with corrections and emendations of Die Autorität in der Familie representing the fifth volume of research reports of the Institute for which Fromm contributed a section on the psychological aspects of authority and the family from the standpoint of Freudian theory. Included are bibliography, notes, and typed transcript copies of questionnaires in French and German which were utilized in the study and which were returned by respondents (judges, teachers and social workers) residing in Austria, Belgium, France, Holland and Switzerland in the period 1933-34. Subseries "B" contains typescript drafts (in English) of Chapters I, II, III, IV and Appendix of The German Workers under the Weimar Republic which was the working title of a study which Fromm had begun in Germany and which he completed in New York. Although never published by the Institute the study was subsequently published in English and German language editions (The Working Class in Weimar Germany: A Psychological and Sociological Study, translated by Barbara Weinberger and edited by Wolfgang Bonss (Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, Berg Publishers, ca.1984); and Arbeiter und Angestellte am Vorabend des Dritten Reiches .bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Wolfgang Bonss (Stuttgart, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, c1980). There are also unsorted fragments of drafts in German. Included is a large mass of tabulations of the results of the questionnaires which were used in the study. The questionnaires were returned in the period 1929-1931 by German workers in Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Munich and in other cities in Germany. The tabulations, which are arranged in numerical sequence, contain typewritten responses in German to numerically coded questions. Each numbered unit in the numerical sequence which runs from #3-#602 (with gaps) consists of five to seven pages in original typescript form. The tabulations are contained on extremely brittle, legal-size note paper which is deteriorating badly. In many instances portions of the text of the tabulations near the margins have disintegrated entirely. SERIES 4. RESEARCH NOTES AND PAPERS (CONTAINERS #16-17)This series consists of a subject file of research notes made by Fromm; and papers which he collected relating to a study on authority and on the family, in which he participated at Sarah Lawrence College. The research notes which are arranged by subject and which are mainly handwritten include notes on authoritarian character, character and society, conscience, ethics, family, masochism, nazism, radio, readings, the Sabbath, and sadomasochistic character. Included is one folder of miscellaneous and fragmented notes. The Sarah Lawrence College research papers relate to an experimental study on authority utilizing freshmen students in psychology; the study was conducted by Fromm and members of the college faculty including W. Fisher, E. Lerner, and Lois B. Murphy. Included are papers relating to the courses "Introduction to Psychology" and "Personality and Social Behavior" consisting of typed transcript copies of students' reports of field trips, daily activities, books read, responses to personal questionnaires, and records of free association tests. Included are instructors' evaluations of students' performance and personality. The students are anonymous (identified by code name). There are also papers relating to a study of the family, consisting of a report (ca.1932) by an interviewer recording the results of his interview of members of an unidentified family of six who were on relief; a few completed questionnaires recording reactions to changes in relief by anonymous respondents the Frankford, Kensington and Schuylkill districts of New York; and minutes (1934) of a roundtable meeting conducted by Fromm at Washington, D.C. at which he reported on the results of the study. SERIES 5. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS (Container #18)The miscellaneous papers (1929-47) are arranged chronologically and by record type. Included are papers (1929-32) relating to Fromm's lectureship at the University of Frankfurt; leases (1935-37); list and roster (1942,1946) of his students at the New School for Social Research; notes of meetings (1942) of the Psychology of Faith Group in which Fromm participated; papers (1946) of the Advisory Panel on Research in Human Relations, (U.S. Department of the Navy) on which Fromm served; pocket memo books (1947); Fromm's seminar notes and bibliography (1947) at William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry. Included also are two photographic portraits of unidentified persons; printed ephemera; and a photocopy of a case record (undated) of an unidentified patient of Fromm's from which personal names and other identifying information have been deleted (the original record is filed in Series 7. Restricted Papers). SERIES 6. FINANCIAL PAPERS (Containers 19-21)The financial papers (1934-49) consist of bank deposit and debit slips, bank statements, bank loan records, bills and receipts, records of cable transfers, income tax papers, cancelled checks, check stubs, and miscellany. SERIES 7. RESTRICTED PAPERS (Containers #22-24)The restricted papers which are sealed until the year 2049 consist of case records relating to Fromm's professional practice as psychoanalyst; and papers relating to studies on authority and on the family, in which Fromm participated at Sarah Lawrence College. The case records consist of Fromm's correspondence (1934-43, 1947-49), arranged alphabetically, with his patients, with persons seeking therapy, and with physicians and others regarding his patients. Included are extensive records of dreams of several of his patients, recorded by them and sent to Fromm for his interpretation. There is also a lengthy record of a psychoanalytic examination of a male patient; a case record in shorthand; and a few records (1938, 1949) of fees received. The Sarah Lawrence College papers consist of records of students who participated in a study on authority, conducted by Fromm and colleagues on the faculty. Included are typed transcript copies of papers submitted by the students in several courses mainly in psychology; transcript copies of admission applications of participants; and copies of reports of students' registration interviews. The courses were given by Elizabeth Brown, W. Fisher, E. Lerner, Helen M. Lynd, and Lois B. Murphy. Included also are reports (1933-34) of case studies of families in the Frankford district of New York including a few questionnaires recording the families' reactions to changes in relief. SERIES 8. ADDITIONAL PAPERS (Container #25)
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