Descriptive Summary
	Creator:	Norman Cantor
	Title:	Records of the Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities
	Date Span	1965-1984
	Abstract:	In 1965 the New York State Board of Regents awarded New York State University the funds to create an Albert Schweitzer chair in the Humanities as part of a state-wide attempt to improve higher learning. Several chairs, five of which were designated by the State Legislature as the Albert Schweitzer Chair and five as the Albert Einstein Chair in Science, were intended to attract the world's most renowned scholars to New York State's higher educational community. The inventory to the Records of the Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities chronicles the records of this position from 1965-1984. The recipients of the additional chairs were City University of New York, Cornell University, the University of Rochester, State University of New York at Stony Brook and Fordham University, however such chairs are not recorded in this inventory.
	Quantity:	7.0 linear feet (12 boxes, 25 tapes)
	Call Phrase:	RG 21.1

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Historical Note

The Albert Schweitzer Chair falls partly into the domain of Comparative Literature and partly into that of the history of ideas. Features which distinguish the focus of the Schweitzer Chair are the emphasis on relevance to present-day concerns and the nature and quality of inter-racial awareness.

At New York University a faculty committee was formed to select the first Albert Schweitzer Professor and chose Conor Cruise O'Brien. The announcement was made by Dr. James M. Hester, then President of New York University, on June 2, 1965. Professor O'Brien held the chair from 1965 to 1969. Following O'Brien's term, Ralph Ellison held the chair from 1971 to 1979. Professor Aileen Ward held the position from 1979-1990.

Conor Cruise O'Brien was formerly the United Nations Representative in Kantanga, Africa, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana. His published works include Power and Consciousness, (co-editor); United Nations : Sacred Drama; "Introduction to Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France"; and numerous articles in The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, and The Listener. While he occupied the Albert Schweitzer Chair, he organized and participated in the annual Schweitzer Public Lecture Series, taught both graduate and undergraduate courses annually, and lectured throughout the country.

The funding for the Albert Schweitzer Chair also allowed for visiting scholars and writers to be brought to New York University. Professor O'Brien built a strong interdisciplinary program in the Humanities, offering four or five courses per semester on topics such as "Art and Politics," "The Black Writer in America," "Contemporary Writing in Africa," and "Revolution and Literature."

While Professor O'Brien was at New York University he was responsible for bringing numerous scholars to lecture, read, or teach. A list of participants in the program during O'Brien's term follows the box and folder listings. In 1969 O'Brien left the Schweitzer program to take an elected seat in the Irish Parliament.

Successive chair holders brought their own special talents and interests to the Schweitzer Program. Ralph Ellison, chair holder from 1971-1979, is primarily a writer of fiction and criticism. His special interest is Modern American writing, including literature, poetry, linguistics and politics. Besides his book, The Invisible Man, for which he received the National Book Award, he has written essays, short stories, articles, book reviews, syndicated columns and novels. While he was at New York University, under the auspices of the Schweitzer Chair, he developed an educational program for both the University community and the public, which included public lectures, symposia, discussions, seminars, graduate and undergraduate interdisciplinary courses and lectures by distinguished visitors. His first course at New York University, entitled "The American Vernacular as Symbolic Action," focused on the role played by the American vernacular language and style in shaping American culture and society. In the early 1970's the Chair sponsored a series of lectures for a national audience on "Law and Morality" which was widely televised. Professor Ellison brought many poets to New York University for readings and conferences, and in 1977 a panel discussion with eminent Yugoslavian scholars was held. Professor Ellison was consultant to students in creative writing, doctoral students, and served on oral examination committees. He taught courses in the English Department as well as undergraduate and graduate interdisciplinary courses and was actively involved in University and community-related activities.

Some of the other courses offered by the Schweitzer Program during Ellison's term were "American Fiction and American Democracy" (taught by Anatole Broyard), and "Writers who Reshaped the American Experience After World War II" (taught by Professor Ellison). For a synopsis of Professor Ellison's activities see his summary "Schweitzer Program in the Humanities," April 23, 1973 (Box 3, Folder 1).

Professor Aileen Ward was the chair holder of the Albert Schweitzer Program from 1979 to 1990. A widely published and distinguished scholar, she authored several books and many articles. Areas of interest included English Romantic Literature and Poetic Theory, Literature and Mythology, Literature and Psychology, and Literary Biography. In the early 1980s, the Schweitzer Program combined resources with the Poetics Institute (M.L. Rosenthal, founder) to provide special events open to the public. A list of those who have participated in events organized by Professor Ward in the early 1980s is included as an appendix following the box and folder listings.

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Scope and Content Note

The records of the Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities consist primarily of the records, albeit incomplete, generated during the term of Professor Conor Cruise O'Brien, 1965 to 1969. The collection also contains a few of the annual reports written by Professors Ellison and Ward. These are located in the file "Report on the Schweitzer Chair" (Box 3, folder 1).

The records include correspondence, manuscripts, news clippings, student papers (both doctoral and undergraduate), and copies of some public lectures and tape recordings. Papers presented by fellow scholars were removed from the Series I: Program Files and organized as Series III: Public Lectures.

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Arrangement
	The records are arranged categorically in six series which include files, manuscripts, lectures, student papers, and sound recordings.
	The records are organized into six series: I. Program Files; II. Conor Cruise O'Brien's Manuscripts; III. Public Lectures; IV. Student Papers; V. Julian Mayfield Manuscripts; and VI. Lecture Series. The lectures and paper series contain several subseries.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact
New York University Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012

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Access Points
	Subject Topics:
		Afroamerican Literature --Study and Teaching
		Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities
		Education --Humanities
		New York University --Curricula --History
		New York State Regents Einstein and Schweitzer Chairs
		New York University --Administration --History
		New York University --Faculty --History
		New York University --Graduate Students --Periodicals
		New York University --History --Addresses, essays, lectures
		New York University, Dept. of Literature --History
		New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences --History
	Subject Names:
		Burton, J.W.
		Cantor, Norman
		Chomsky, Noam
		Ellison, Ralph
		Erdman, David
		Gordon, Max
		Hampshire, Stuart
		Hester, James M.
		Hiss, Alger
		Kelly, Charles, P.
		Kolko, Gabriel
		Marcuse, Herbert
		Mayfield, Julian
		Mirsky, Johnathan
		Neuberg, Paul
		O'Brien, Conor Cruise
		Quasha, George
		Schweitzer, Albert, 1875-1965
		Thompson, Edward
		Ward, Aileen
		Wilkins, Thomas Hart
	Document Types:
		Annual Reports
		Manuscripts
		Records
		Tape Recordings, Visual

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Administrative Information

Provenance

The records of the Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities were transferred to the University Archives on June 23, 1980 by Norman Cantor, Dean of Faculty of Arts and & Science.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); [unittitle of collection]; collection number; box number; folder number; &;, New York University Libraries.

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Additional Information

List of participants in events sponsored by Aileen Ward:

David Kaelstone

Galaway Kinnel

Louise Gluck

W.S. Merwin

William Meredity

Richard Howard

Richard P. McCormack

Robert E. Elliot

Wing-tsit Chan

Elizabeth Badinter

Harry Levin

Faun Brody

Quintin Bell

Diana Josselson

Richard Dyer-Bennet

Christopher Richs

Vincent Buckley

David Malouf

Les Murray

Shirley Hazzard

Dennis Donoghue

Derek Walcott

Paul Zweig

Kofi Awooner

Shatis Haviaris

Louis Simpson

Gregory Orr

Mark Strand

Shirley Williams

George Kelly

Saul Touster

Frederich Karl

Nicholas Wahl

Morton Cohen

Richard Sennett

Dustin Griffin

Frederick Morgan

Elizabeth Spires

Barbara Howes

Yehuda Amichai

David Ignatow

Philip Schultz

Walter J. Ong

Denis Johnson

Ruth Stone

Alice Fulton

Lawrence Joseph

Gary Soto

Joseph Brodsky

Adrienne Rich

Marvin Bell

Derek Walcott

Hillis Miller

Alfred Kazin

J. Nicanor Parra

Richard Rorty

Michael Scammell

Joan Peyser

Steven Stowe

George Perle

Estelle Leontief

Eileen Simpson

John Mayher

Gordon Praddl

Anthony Low

M.L. Rosenthal

Daniel Javitch

Lucien Stryk

Charles Wright

List of Participants in Conor Cruise O'Brien's Lecture Program (an asterisk indicates that the person is represented in this collection either by a scholarly paper or a tape of their lecture):

I.F. Stone

Grattan Freyer

Thompson Bradley

Johnathan Mirsky

William Garret

Leonard Boudin

Gidon Gottlieb

Julian Mayfield*

Noam Chomsky*

Peter Nettl

Eric Gently

David Erdman*

Edward Thompson*

Stuart Hampshire*

L. Zanderer*

Paul Neuberg*

Goerge Steiner

David Caute

John Arden

Goerge Quasha*

Thomas Hart Wilkins*

Max Gordon*

Gabriel Kolko*

Alger Hiss*

Charles P. Kelly*

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Container List

Series I: Program Files, 1965-69
Scope and Content: Includes Professor O'Brien's files, 1965-1975, andmaterial from later chair holders. It contains a wide range of materials that pertain both to eventsand courses under the auspices of the Schweitzer Chair. Series I is particularly broad in scopepartly due to the various functions of the Chair and partly to the depth of Professor O'Brien'sinterests. Because of his focus upon politics, society, literature and the humanities, he shapedcourses and lecture series to reflect these interests. Professor O'Brien's original organizationremains with only a few alterations.
Box	Folder	Title	Date
1	1	Visiting Professors I	1965-1966
		bar code: 3 1142 04225709 0
1	2	Visiting Professors II	1966-1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225709 0
1	3	Visiting Professors III	1967-1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225709 0
1	4	Visiting Professors IV	1968-1969
		bar code: 3 1142 04225709 0
1	5	SpeakingInvitations Accepted I	1965-1966
		bar code: 3 1142 04225709 0
1	6	Speaking InvitationsAccepted II	1966
		bar code: 3 1142 04225709 0
Box	Folder	Title	Date
2	1	Speaking Invitations Accepted III	1966
		bar code: 3 1142 04225710 8
2	2	Speaking Invitations Accepted IV	1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225710 8
2	3	Speaking Invitations Accepted V	1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225710 8
2	4	Speaking Invitations Not Accepted	1966-1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225710 8
2	5	Undergraduate Exam Papers	1966-1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225710 8
2	6	The Condition of Jewish Belief	1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225710 8
2	7	Mayfield Correspondence	1969
		bar code: 3 1142 04225710 8
Box	Folder	Title	Date
3	1	Reports on the Schweitzer Program	1969-1984
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	2	United Nations Seminar	1968-1969
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	3	Schweitzer Confidential Matters	1967-1971
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	4	One FifthAve.	1966-1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	5	Graduate Asst. and Temp. Office Help	1967-1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	6	Schweitzer Program--Ph.D Students	1966-1969
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	7	Conor Cruise O'Brien: Requests forreferences, jobs, interviews, etc.	1965-1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	8	Ralph Ellison	1970-1973
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	9	Bradley Thompson, "Disenchantment orDefault" (see Series III., "Power and Consciousness")	1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
3	10	Schweitzer Program - student affairs	1967-1970
		bar code: 3 1142 04225711 6
Box	Folder	Title	Date
4	1	Notes for Undergraduate Students	1965-1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
4	2	Johnathan Mirsky	1965-1966
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
4	3	SchweitzerProgram Courses I	1965-1966
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
4	4	Schweitzer Program CoursesII	1968-1975
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
4	5	Schweitzer Program Courses: eveningdiscussions I	1966-1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
4	6	Schweitzer ProgramCourses: evening discussions II	1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
4	7	Schweitzer Program:Public Lectures I	1966-1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
4	8	Schweitzer Program: PublicLectures II	1968-1972
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
4	9	Martin Luther King Institute	1969
		bar code: 3 1142 04225712 4
Box	Folder	Title	Date
5	1	Committee on "Workshop" (Blackexperience)	1967-1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	2	Conor Cruise O'Brien'sInvitations to accept visiting Professorships	1965-1966, 1969
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	3	Special Invitations (Clubs)	1965-1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	4	Miscellaneous	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	5	"Fan" Letters	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	6	Miscellaneous	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	7	Schweitzer Program Reading Lists	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	8	"Literature and Society" Lecture Notes	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	9	PaulNeuberg's Public Lecture (see Public Lectures, box 8)	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	10	Donald Lowe, "Dream of Chinese Communism"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	11	Manuscripts of a book on political alignments by six authors: Kenneth Kaunda, J.W.Burton, R. Sidhanta, M. Caldwell, Margaret Legum, Lucy Mair, L. Mates	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	12	Contemporary African Writing	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	13	Correspondence with Wilfred Flemming of the University of Leicester	1966
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	14	Correspondence/Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	15	Student Evaluations	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2
5	16	Cornell's Humanities Program	1966
		bar code: 3 1142 04225713 2

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Series II: Conor Cruise O'Brien's Manuscripts
Scope and Content: Boxes 6 and 7 contain only those manuscripts writtenby Conor Cruise O'Brien. These consist of two plays, two books, plus various articles andreviews. This series includes only a small portion of O'Brien's work to date.
Box	Folder	Title	Date
6	1-2	"Murderous Angels" (a political play)	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225714 0
6	3	United Nations as Sacred Drama: typescript	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225714 0
6	4	UnitedNations as Sacred Drama: mimeograph copy	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225714 0
6	5-7	UnitedNations as Sacred Drama: handwritten copy	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225714 0
6	8	UnitedNations as Sacred Drama: typescript and typed carbon sections of the manuscript	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225714 0
6	9	United Nations as Sacred Drama: Notebook of handwritten notes	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225714 0
Box	Folder	Title	Date
7	1	"Solome and the Wild Man" or "The Quiet Man ofGalalean"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	2	Albert Camus (a critical work)	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	3	"Politics in West Africa"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	3	"Christmas Books--the last and the highest?"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	3	"Autonomy andAcademic Freedom in Britain and Africa"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	3	"Address to theUnited Nations"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	3	"Nkrumah--the man I knew"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	3	"A Negotiator on Negotiation"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	4	"On Yeats"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	4	"Black Revolutionary"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	4	"Churchill and MacMillan"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	4	"Universities: British, Indian, African"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	4	"AStudy in the Ecology of Higher Education"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	4	"Struggles forAfrica"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	4	"Partisan Review Questionnaire"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	4	"Soldiers and Politics"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	5	"Politics and Drama as Politics"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	5	"The Writer and thePower Structure"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	5	"Albert Schweitzer andContemporary Africa"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	5	"The Function and Many Rolesof the Critic"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"The Church of the People"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"Communists and Anti-communists"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"Beware of Melancholy"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"Analysis asSymptoms"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"Burke Annotation"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"A People Condemned"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"Satirical Pastoral"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"Marx and History"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"Morality of Scholarship"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	6	"Princeton Colloquim"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	7	"The Calculus of Pain, of Peace, and Prestige"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	7	"The Intellectuals and McCarthy"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	7	"A Combined Operation: the End of Ideology Debate"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	7	"King Herod Explains"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	7	"Epilogue: Illusions andRealities of Non-Alignment"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	7	"Accessories to the Fact: theWarren Commission, Authorities and the Report"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	8	"ArtIs Man's Nature: Burke, Yeats and Conservative Imagination"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	8	"The United Nations and World Social Revolutions"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	8	"Edmund Burke"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	8	"Tribe Nation State"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	8	"Ireland at the United Nations"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	9	"Intellectuals, Public Opinion and International Relations"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	10	"Politics and Yeats"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	10	"Burkeand Marx"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	10	"Soldiers and Politics"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	10	"At Home in Hell"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	10	"Politics andMorality of Scholarship"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"Order, Justice andRevolution"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"After Manila"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"Modern Language Association Address"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"Address to English Speaking Union in Support of Senator McCarthy for President"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"African Unity"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"The Future ofAfrican Democracy"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"Racial Conflict--PeacefulResolution"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"The United States, The United Nations andVietnam"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"The United Nations as a PoliticalInstitution"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7
7	11	"The United Nations in Real Life"	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225715 7

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Series III:Public Lectures
Scope and Content: This series contains copies of relativelyfew of the lectures given under the auspices of the Schweitzer program since 1965. Theselectures include Power and Consciousness Seminar; The Prince 1969; United Nations Seminar;and Miscellaneous (this does not reflect the complete set of lectures within each series.). Most ofthe United Nations Seminar lectures were tape recorded (on 8-track reel to reel) and are housedin the Archive's tape collection.
Box	Folder	Title	Date
8	1	Power and Consciousness Seminar (1968): Power and Consciousness--introduction, Conor CruiseO'Brien	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225716 5
8	2	Power and Consciousness Seminar (1968): (Untitled)	undated
		bar code: 3 1142 04225716 5
8	3	Power and Consciousness Seminar (1968): "Power and the Intellectual," Peter Nettl	Dec 6, 1967
		bar code: 3 1142 04225716 5
8	4	Power and Consciousness Seminar (1968): "Objectivity and Liberal Scholarship," Noam Chomsky	Mar 13, 1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225716 5
8	5	Power and Consciousness Seminar (1968): (Copy--folder 4)	Mar 13, 1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225716 5
8	6	Power and Consciousness Seminar (1968): "Politics and the Morality of Scholarship," Conor Cruise O'Brien	Mar 13, 1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225716 5
8	7	Power and Consciousness Seminar (1968): "Government and University in America," Gabriel Kolko	Feb 14, 1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225716 5
8	8	Power and Consciousness Seminar (1968): "Disenchantment or Default," Edward Thompson	Mar 20, 1968
		bar code: 3 1142 04225716 5
8	9