Historical Note:
In 1838, a small group in Greenwich Village, dissatisfied with local churches, founded the Berean Church on the corner of Bedford and Downing Streets. Fifty years later, under the direction of Rev. Edward Judson (1844-1914), a new church was built and named Judson Memorial Church in memoriam to Edward's father Adoniram Judson (1788-1850), the first missionary to Burma. Edward Judson chose as the new location of his church the south side of Washington Square Park, because he wanted to reach out to the neighboring Italian community. His goal was not to convert, but to help supply this community, and any other community in need, with the necessary tools to become successful and independent.
Edward Judson's mission for the Judson Memorial Church was to create a ministry devoted to social outreach, which would meet the needs of the city and of its growing immigrant population. Some of the social service programs developed during Rev. Judson's tenure included a health center, an employment service, sewing and cooking classes, a community woodpile, and the delivery of fresh milk from New Jersey farms.
Judson Church's mission of social outreach continued throughout the years following Edward Judson's ministry. Beginning in the 1950's under the leadership of the Rev. Robert Spike and continuing under Rev. Howard Moody, Judson Memorial Church established programs designed to help those in need despite the controversial or sometimes, unpopular nature of that help. The church, for example, established local networks to aid women who needed abortions, housed and cared for drug addicts and runaway teens, established a Professional Women's Clinic for women engaged in prostitution, and helped provide medical resources for people with AIDS to name only a few of it's progressive programs.
The Judson Memorial Church supported a radical arts ministry. The groundwork for involvement in the arts had been laid by Edward Judson's gospel sings and moving picture shows during the early years of the church. However, the Judson Arts Ministry did not fully take shape until the late 1950's when church members polled local artists to determine how the church could best assist the arts community. The results of this inquiry indicated that artists needed space in which to create and show their work. The Judson Memorial Church responded by making the space of the church available to artists for art exhibitions, rehearsals, and performances. The church also assured that this space was to be a place where these artists could have the freedom to experiment in their work without fear of censorship.
In 1957, the Judson Memorial Church offered gallery space to Claes Oldenburg, Jim Dine, and Robert Rauschenberg, who were then unknown artists. In 1959, the Judson Gallery showed work by Pop artists, Tom Wesselman, Daniel Spoerri, and Red Grooms. The Judson Gallery became the first home to the "happenings" movement of the 1960's. Hosted by the Judson Group, these "happenings" included Ray Gun Spex and Jim Dines' presentation of an environment called Apple Shrines.
In 1959, the Judson Literary Quarterly, Exodus, was published under the aegis of the Judson Studio. This anthology of poetry edited by Howard Hart and sold in local bookstores, included poems by William Godden, Robert Hanlon, and John Williams. Volumes I, II, and II of Exodus were published in the spring of 1959, the fall of 1959, and the summer of 1960, respectively. Exodus later became The Judson Review, edited by Rev. Al Carmines and Don Katzman. Volume I of The Judson Review was published in 1963 and included the poetry of Jackson Mac Low, Diane Wakoski, and Joel Oppenheimer.
In 1961, the Judson Poet's Theater was founded by Robert Nichols and Chuck Gordone, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and a "free-wheeling" Sunday-school teacher at the church. The Judson Poet's Theater laid the foundation for "off off" Broadway theater, by producing plays by Rosalyn Drexler, Chuck Gordone, Maria Irene Fornes, Robert Nichols, Sam Shepard, and Lanford Wilson. In 1967, Rev. Al Carmines restructured the group and renamed it the Judson Musical Theater. The Judson Musical Theater produced musical theater performances throughout the late 1960's and the 1970's.
The Judson Dance Theater, which began in 1962, provided a venue for dancers and choreographers such as Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Steve Paxton, David Gordon, and Yvonne Rainer to create and show their work. Among others, these dancers and choreographers shaped dance history by creating post-modern dance, the first avant-garde movement in dance theater since the modern dance of the 1930's and 1940's. Judson Dance Theater was founded by a group of young choreographers who had taken Robert Dunn's choreography course at the Merce Cunningham studio from 1960-1962. These choreographers decided to present a concert of work they had created during the Dunn course. Judson Memorial Church welcomed the group and provided space for rehearsal and performance. A Concert of Dance #1, open to the public and free of charge, was presented at Judson Memorial Church on July 6, 1962. This concert proved to be the beginning of the evolution of post-modern dance.
The term Judson Dance Theater requires some additional clarification. In its most narrow sense, the term Judson Dance Theater refers to the choreographers associated with the cooperative group formed after the Dunn course that adopted this name and produced concerts at Judson Memorial Church. These concerts, which were titled numerically as A Concert of Dance #1 (July 6, 1962) through A Concert of Dance #16 (April 29, 1964), grew out of weekly workshops held at the church. However, the term Judson Dance Theater has been used in a broader sense to refer to choreographers who were associated with the Judson Memorial Church, although they were not part of this original group. It is in this broader sense that the term Judson Dance Theater is used in reference to this collection.
In the 1970's, the Judson Memorial Church hosted various art shows and multi-media events. Most notable among these multi-media events was the People's Flag Show of November 1970, a six-day exhibition of painting and sculpture on the theme of the American flag. The exhibit and the accompanying symposium, featuring speeches by Abbie Hoffman and Kate Millet, attracted widespread attention from the public, the press, and the police. During the final days of the exhibit, three of the contributing artists were arrested, Rev. Howard Moody was served with a summons, and the District Attorney closed the exhibit on charges of desecration of the American flag.
In the 1980's, the Judson Memorial Church sponsored various political theater performances, such as those by the Vermont-based Bread and Puppet Theater. These performances included Insurrection Opera and Oratorio, performed in February and March of 1984. In this performance, the Bread and Puppet Theater, under the direction of founder, Peter Schumann, used opera and the company's now signature oversized puppets to convey an anti-nuclear message.
The Judson Memorial Church celebrated its Centennial in 1990 with performances and symposia involving many of the artists who had been involved with the arts ministry in the 1960's and 1970's. The Judson Memorial Church continues its support of the arts and its social outreach to the community today. Among the church's present day arts-related activities is a free dance concert series coordinated by the dance organization, Movement Research, and held at the Judson Memorial Church on Monday evenings.
CHRONOLOGY
1838: Berean Church founded
1881-1913: Edward Judson Ministry
1890: Building of Judson Memorial Church
1914-26: A. Ray Petty Ministry
1922: Health Center Opens
1926-37: Lawrence Hosie Ministry
1930's: Social Action Fellowship
1948: Health Center Converted to Student House
1949-56: Robert Spike Ministry
1951: Community Center Opens
1956-1992: Howard Moody Ministry
1958: Judson Gallery Opens
1959: Judson Literary Quarterly: Exodus Published
1961-1981: Al Carmines Ministry
1961: Judson Poet's Theater Founded
1962: Judson Dance Theater Founded
1963: Judson Review: Volume 1 Published
1967: Judson Musical Theater Founded
1965-1969: Judson Chamber Concerts
1970: People's Flag Show
1975: Grace House Renovations
1977: Jubilee Renovations
1978: Prostitution Project Begins
1980: Bread and Puppet Theater Performances
1984: AIDS Task Force Established
1990: Centennial
1991-92: Centennial Renovations
1992-93: William Malcomson Interim Ministry
1993-2002: Peter Laarman Ministry
Return to topScope and Content Note
The Judson Memorial Church Archive is a diverse collection of materials which document the arts ministry, building plans and maintenance, church administration, community outreach/social action programs, early church history, client records, and financial records. These materials comprise correspondence, minutes, ephemera, financial records, publicity, production files, building plans, posters, photographs, ledgers, reels, tapes, and videos. The Archive is primarily organized by subject, such as Arts, Building, General Archives, and Early Church History. There are some exceptions to this arrangement by subject, such as the Judson Centennial.
The Judson Centennial is a large collection of materials within the Judson Memorial Church Archive and within the Accretion 2001. The Centennial records document a range of activities which took place in 1990 as part of the Centennial celebration of the Judson Memorial Church. Due to its large size and diverse nature, the Judson Centennial records have been divided by subject and have been arranged within the appropriate series. Therefore, the Centennial records pertaining to dance, theater, and the arts are included in series A, subseries 1, General Arts. The Centennial materials pertaining to the restoration of the church fae and stained glass windows have been arranged within series B, the Building Series, subseries 3, Centennial Renovations. There is also a substantial number of Centennial records pertaining to fundraising, which have been arranged within the Special Events subseries of the General Archives Series, series C.11. This division of the Judson Centennial records serves to preserve the original order and provenance of the collection established by the Judson Memorial Library Commission.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
Series A: Arts
Series A, subseries 1 is the general arts section. Box 1 is divided into three groups, Right-to-Sing, Grants and Funds Requests, and the Judson Centennial. Boxes 2 and 3, the Arts-General files, contain files of performances and events (mostly musical) including the Mahalia Jackson concert and the Bread and Puppet Theater.
Box 1 of the Accretion 2001 contains records of the Judson Centennial, including press releases, programs, reservation lists, reviews, and scripts of performances and art-related events from 1990. These records are arranged in chronological order, by the date of the event. Materials without a single or specific date are placed in alphabetical order at the beginning of this subseries. This box also includes the records of the performances of the Bread and Puppet Theater and the Judson Chamber Concerts. The records of the Bread and Puppet Theater in this subseries are mostly programs, flyers, and reviews of performances. A strength of this collection is that it includes several pamphlets called Bread and Puppet Newspaper, published by the Bread and Puppet Theater. These pamphlets consisting of hand drawn comics which address current events, such as the Vietnam War, have been removed from the collection and catalogued as part of the Downtown Collection. Poetry publications of the Judson Memorial Church, such as Exodus and The Judson Review, are also included in this subseries. The records in this subseries are arranged alphabetically by subject.
Series A, subseries 2 is the Judson Dance Theater section, which contains programs, reviews, publicity, correspondence and photographs of dance performances arranged chronologically. Performers include Lucinda Childs, Aileen Pasloff, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Carolee Schneeman, and others in performance dates beginning in the early 1960's. These files are followed by an alphabetized index of Dance Theater performers and a section of miscellaneous Dance Theater photographs, including those donated by Al Giese for Bennington College's Judson Project (video tapes from the Judson Project are in series G, subseries 3).
Boxes 2a and 2b of the Accretion 2001 consists of performance programs, reviews, flyers, photographs, resumes and obituaries of performers, arranged alphabetically by artist.
Series A, subseries 3 is the Judson Poets' Theater section. This section begins with files concerning the creation and administration of Judson Poets' Theater, followed by chronological production files of Judson Poets' Theater musical and theatrical performances, which include correspondence, programs, date and performer listings, and photographs. Next, there are files containing reviews of individual performances, followed by scripts of plays performed at Judson Poets' Theater, and concluding with scripts that were not produced.
Series A, subseries 4 contains the Judson Gallery files, arranged in chronological order, and including information on events and shows, correspondence, flyers, reviews, publicity and photographs. Judson Gallery was host to visual-art exhibitions as well as several events and happenings, including the Hall of Issues, DIAS, Claes Oldenberg's Ray-Gun, the Destruction Film Festival, Manipulations and the Flag Show, which featured artists including Jim Dine, Charlotte Moorman, Claes Oldenberg, Yoko Ono, and Robert Rauschenburg.
Box 3 of the Accretion 2001 contains records that document the exhibits of the Judson Gallery and the artists who were connected with the gallery. These records are arranged alphabetically by artist's name.
Series B: Building
Series B contains the Judson Memorial Church building files. Series B, subseries 1 contains chronologically arranged files concerning the Judson Memorial Church Building, which include information on building proposals, plans, committees, property negotiations (see also series C, subseries 14) and photographs of the church and its surroundings. Series B, subseries 2 contains the Grace House Renovations files, which include correspondence, committee minutes, proposals, and financial information. Series B, subseries 3 contains the Centennial Renovations files, which include correspondence, proposals, administrative files and photographs of the various renovation projects, including the La Farge stained-glass windows and marble, copper, and terra cotta repairs. For building plans see oversize flat boxes.
Box 3 of the Accretion 2001 contains records from series B, subseries 3, concerning the Centennial renovation projects. These records include proposals, administrative files, correspondence, information about foundations and fundraising, and photographs of the different renovation projects which were undertaken as part of the Centennial celebration. One of these projects was to restore the La Farge stained glass windows. Several color photographs of these windows are also included in series C, subseries 11, Special Events.
Series C: General Archives
Series C contains the general church archives. This series includes administrative records, committee minutes, worship materials, publications, correspondence, outreach programs, events, and photographs.
The following is a list of subseries in the general church archives:
.01 Baptism .02 Marriage/Death Records .03 Membership Records .04 Financial Information .05 Church Board/Committees .06 Worship Materials .07 Publications (in-house) .08 Minister-Generated Materials .09 Correspondence .10 Community/Social-Action Programs .11 Special Events .12 Publicity/Articles .13 Photographs .14 Legal Materials .15 Affiliations
Box 4 of the Accretion 2001 contains baptism records from series C, subseries 1 and marriage and death records from series C, subseries 2. Highlights of these records include original marriage bulletins which are small bound volumes with handwritten entries of wedding services performed at the Judson Memorial Church from 1957-1966. Files for the memorial services of various members of the Judson congregation and community include photographs of the deceased, programs for the memorial services, and handwritten eulogies by Rev. Howard Moody. Most of these memorial services were for members of the congregation, dancers, or artists, although some services were for famous people including Lenny Bruce and John F. Kennedy Jr.
Box 5 of the Accretion 2001 contains financial ledgers from 1965-1968 and receipt books from various years. Oversize financial ledgers from series C, subseries 4 are included at the end of the collection in the oversize section.
Series C, subseries 10, the community/social-action files, contain information on the AIDS Task Force, 1930's social-action, the Prostitution Project and various youth programs. Much of the information pertaining to Judson Memorial Church's involvement with abortion counseling coordinated by the Clergy Consultation Service (CCS) is in sealed boxes at the end of the archive. These boxes are sealed until 2025.
Box 6 of the Accretion 2001 contains records from series C, subseries 10. The AIDS Task Force records are comprised mostly of subject files. One file pertains to the curriculum of a workshop called "There's Always Something You Can Do" created by professional dancer, Eleanor Goff. The workshop is designed for people with AIDS and was offered at the Judson Church. Included in these records is a booklet of practices based on the Judson workshop which was distributed to hospitals for dissemination to patients. This workshop and others like it laid the groundwork for the "Move to Heal" dance class for people with HIV run by Movement Research at the Judson Church in the 1990's. Another file from the AIDS Task Force contains newspaper clippings and memos documenting the history of the controversial Compound Q study. In 1989, private doctors in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles treated people with AIDS with the drug, Compound Q, without implementing the usual scientific and ethical controls used in clinical trials. A poem by AIDS activist, Larry Kramer, dated September 20th, 1989 about the Compound Q trials is also included in this file.
Series C, subseries 10 also contains materials on pornography and Judson Church's involvement in the campaign against censorship. Records in this file consist of newspaper clippings and newsletters of Women Against Pornography (WAP) and of the Feminist Anti-Censorship Task Force (FACT). The WAP materials document the tours to 42nd Street led by feminist Susan Brownmiller in 1979 to protest pornography and the sex industry. The files also contain information on the 1985 Meese commission to study the control of pornography, the laws written by Andrea Dworkin and Katherine McKinnon to censor pornography, Andrea Dworkin's suit against Larry Flint of Hustler, an article against censorship written by Lisa Duggan, and flyers for Annie Sprinkle's performances.
Series C, subseries 11, Special Events, within the Accretion 2001 contains records pertaining to the Judson Centennial. These records include old photographs, drawings, and articles that were posted on the display board during the Centennial, contact sheets of photographs from Centennial events, fundraising information, and minutes from the Centennial committee meetings. A booklet called "Imagine Greenwich Village without Judson Memorial Church", published in honor of the centennial, provides an informative overview of the activities of the Judson Memorial Church since its inception. The Centennial records are arranged in their original order.
Series D: Scrapbooks
This series contains two boxes of Judson Memorial Church scrapbooks and yearbooks, followed by a third box containing miscellaneous New York City arts performances compiled by a friend of the church. Most of the scrapbook articles are also located in series C, subseries 12 or filed by subject throughout the collection.
Series E: Books
This series contains books that were a part of the Judson Memorial Church archive that are about the Church. Other books from the collection were removed and catalogued in the downtown collection.
Series F: Early Church History
This series contains files of early church history, including Berean Church (the original name of Judson Memorial Church) founded in 1838 and Mariner's Temple, a missionary institution, which was affiliated with Judson Memorial Church from 1902-03. Series F also contains church histories, including biographical information on Adoniram Judson, early articles about the church and brief church chronicles. Early membership, baptismal, and financial records are filed by subject in the general archives or located with the oversize ledgers.
A strength of the Accretion 2001 is its inclusion of several original documents related to early church history. These records had been compiled and organized within a binder by the Judson Memorial Church. In processing the Accretion 2001, these records have been kept together to preserve their provenance. The documents have been arranged within subseries 1, 2, and 3 of series F, but the original order used in the binder has been preserved. One original document of special note is the Articles of the Berean Church dated October 1838 which also lists the 21 original members of the Berean Church.
This series also contains several original fundraising letters and publicity pieces by Rev. Edward Judson from the early 1900's. One such piece, dated June 15th, 1910, outlines the Fresh Air, Cool Water and Flower Fund. The Fresh Air section of this fund provided for "tired shop girls, old people, children and mothers with little children" to spend two weeks in the country at the Fresh Air Home in Sommerville, New Jersey. This home and property had been given to the Judson Memorial Church as a Children's Home and it was used year-round for this purpose. The Cool Water section of the fund allowed Judson to operate five public ice water fountains in the city during the summer months. The Flower Mission oversaw the distribution of fresh flowers to the "homes of the poor and the bedsides of the sick at home and in hospitals."
Also included in this series are an original signed letter from John D. Rockefeller to Rev. Petty dated 1918 and an original worship service schedule written in Italian which demonstrates the church's early outreach efforts to the Italian immigrant population.
Series G: Media. [Research/ access copies are located in subseries 3C. An appointment is necessary to view material. Please contact the Fales Archivist.]
Series G contains the videos, cassettes, and reels from the Judson Memorial Church archive. These files are arranged alphabetically and include performances, interviews, speeches, sermons, church source material, and other miscellaneous recordings. Access videos of the Judson Project are located in series G, subseries 3C.
Cassettes of Rev. Al Carmines' Judson Cabaret Series, the Judson Poet's Theater, and the Judson Worship Services, including some ordination services, comprise series G, subseries 1 of the Accretion 2001. Videos in series G, subseries 3 include a Channel 4 News piece on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration held at Judson on January 14th, 1990 and a WCBS News piece on the Yoko Ono event held at Judson on January 19th, 1990. A WABC piece on stained-glass work in churches is also included in this subseries.
Sources: Books
Joan Jacobs Brumberg, Mission For Life (New York: The Free Press, 1980)
Sally Banes, Democracy's Body: Judson Dance Theater - 1962-1964 (Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1983)
Sally Banes, Terpsichore in Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980)
Journals and Periodicals
Jennifer Dunning, "A Church Celebrates Its First Century of Creative Growth," The New York Times, April 11, 1990.
"Exodus Quarterly Holds Reception," The Village Voice, November 11, 1959.
Bernard Holland, "Music: 'Insurrection'," The New York Times, February 20, 1984.
Clark Whelton, "Bars and Stripes Forever," The Village Voice, November 19, 1970.
FDA Cracks Down on Compound Q - Village Voice
Private Study of AIDS drug; Praise and Warning 9/20/89
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Related Material at the Fales Library and Special Collections
Return to topSeparated Material
Books that were part of Series E were removed from the archive and individually catalogued into the Downtown Collection of printed material. These materials can be located through Bobcat.
Return to topRestrictions
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers. There are restrictions on the use of client files in the Archive and the 2001 Accretion. These papers are sealed until 2025. Written permission must be secured from the rights holder prior to requesting photocopies of Peter Moore photographs. Appointments are necessary for the use of manuscript and archival materials.
Use Restrictions
Collection use is subject to all copyright laws. Permission to
publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Director of Fales
Library and Special Collections. For
more information, contact
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2596
Fax: (212) 995-3835
Email: fales.library@nyu.edu
URL: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/fales/cdfa.htm
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Administrative Information
Provenance
The Judson Memorial Church Archive was given to the Fales Library in April, 2000. The first accretion to this collection (hereafter referred to as Accretion 2001) was received by Fales in June, 2001, and was processed in 2001-2002. Initial sorting and organizing of the collection had been completed by the Judson Memorial Library Committee prior to the collection's transfer to Fales. This initial processing included establishing series and some subseries for the Archive in addition to the boxing and housing of some materials
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Judson Memorial Church Archive; MSS 94; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections
, New York University Libraries.