Harold Taylor (1914-1993) Papers
RG 2.1.3

Summary Information

Repository
Sarah Lawrence College Archives
Creator
Taylor, Harold, 1914-1993
Title
Harold Taylor (1914-1993) Papers
ID
RG 2.1.3
Date [inclusive]
1938-1998
Extent
10.5 linear feet 4 record cartons, 1 card file, 4 oversize boxes
Language

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Sarah Lawrence College Archives 2002-2008

Sarah Lawrence College Archives
1 Mead Way
Bronxville, NY, 10708
914-395-2480
archives@sarahlawrence.edu

Revision Description

 Finding Aid entered in Archivists' Toolkit by Emma Cameron September 2013

Conditions Governing Access note

The papers are open for research with minor exceptions to protect the privacy of individuals still living. For further information, see the Archivist.

Acquisition note

Unknown. Includes accession 2011-018

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Biographical note

Harold Taylor, who first came to national prominence in 1945 when at the age of thirty he was appointed as the third president of Sarah Lawrence College, is known as one of the most provocative and original thinkers in the field of American education.

Taylor received the B.A. and M.A. degrees in 1935 and 1936 for honors work in philosophy and literature at the University of Toronto, where funding for his graduate work was awarded through the university’s Moss Scholarship for accomplishments as an athlete, musician, writer, and student. From 1936 to 1939, Taylor attended the University of London in England in pursuit of a Ph.D. in philosophy; the degree was conferred upon Taylor in 1938 on completion of his dissertation, "The Concept of Reason and Its Function in 17th and 18th Century Philosophy and Literature".

In 1939, Dr. Taylor joined the philosophy faculty at the University of Wisconsin, teaching courses in social philosophy, aesthetics and the philosophy of George Santayana, for a period of six years, with a leave of absence for war service in psychological research for the National Defense Research Council.

As the president of Sarah Lawrence College, he continued his scholarly interests and taught philosophy both at the New School for Social Research and at Sarah Lawrence College. The author of "Art and Intellect" (1960), "On Education and Freedom" (1953), and "Essays in Teaching" (1952), and of more than 300 articles on philosophy and education published from 1945 to 1962 in journals and magazines, Dr. Taylor developed theories for the radical reform of education. During his tenure at Sarah Lawrence, Taylor also developed a number of experimental educational programs, including an amalgamation of the work in music, theatre, and dance into a new curriculum in the performing arts, a program of children’s theatre, music, and dance, and a program in graduate studies in which each student’s graduate work is individually planned. He also launched an experimental teacher preparation program in which students’ practical experience with children in the local schools was combined with their regular work in the liberal arts in the fields of philosophy, psychology, history, literature, and the social sciences. Furthermore, during the McCarthy era, Taylor was a vigorous leader in the struggle to maintain academic freedom for teachers and students.

Following his resignation from Sarah Lawrence College in 1959, Dr. Taylor continued writing and traveled extensively in the United States, the Soviet Union, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia, lecturing in universities and research institutes on topics in the arts, education and social philosophy, and conferring with political leaders, writers, artists, students, and intellectuals on problems of contemporary world society. In the 1960s, Taylor served as founder and chairman of the Committee on Peace Research sponsored by the Institute for International Order and the National Research Council on Peace Strategy, and co-founded the Peace Research Institute, later amalgamated with the Institute for Policy Studies. In the 1970s, Taylor continued to direct pioneer educational experiments, among them a pilot project for a World College in collaboration with twenty-three United Nations countries, and founded and chaired the United States Committee for the United Nations University.

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Series description

The Papers are organized into two series: Series I. General Papers and Series II. Sarah Lawrence College Papers.

Series I. General Papers consist of bibliographic information, biographical information, a manuscript of Taylor’s doctoral dissertation with hand-written notes in the margins, and post-retirement correspondence with Sarah Lawrence College and press clippings on Taylor in the years after his tenure at Sarah Lawrence College.

Series II. Sarah Lawrence College Papers consist of subject files, see folder list. Includes correspondence, memos, news clippings, published materials, and scrapbooks. Note: a number of subject files deal directly with Taylor’s defense of academic freedom during and after the McCarthy era of red-baiting. The folder on Interim Week includes correspondence with Interim Week speakers such as William Carlos Williams.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • American Jewish Committee. Correspondence.
  • American Legion. National Americanism Committee.
  • American Legion. New York.
  • Sarah Lawrence College. Accreditation.
  • Sarah Lawrence College. Administration.
  • Sarah Lawrence College. Alumni and alumnae.
  • Sarah Lawrence College. Board of Trustees.
  • Sarah Lawrence College. Faculty.
  • Sarah Lawrence College. Office of the President.
  • Sarah Lawrence College. Presidents.
  • Sarah Lawrence College. Students.
  • United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary.

Genre(s)

  • Administrative reports
  • Clippings (information artifacts)
  • Correspondence
  • Memorandums
  • Speeches

Geographic Name(s)

  • Bronxville (N.Y.)

Personal Name(s)

  • Aron, Paul Harvey, 1921-1991
  • Bozeman, Adda B., (Adda Bruemmer), 1908-
  • Cousins, Norman
  • Ferry, W.H. (Wilbur Hugh)
  • Garcia-Lorca, Isabel
  • Goldman, Irving, 1911-
  • Graves, Marion Coats, 1885-1962
  • Hohly, Harold
  • Johnson, Alvin Saunders, 1874-1971
  • Kohlberg, Alfred, 1887-1960
  • Lynd, Helen Merrell, 1896-1982
  • MacCracken, H. N. (Henry Noble), 1880-1970
  • Meiklejohn, Alexander, 1872-1964
  • Raushenbush, Esther
  • Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
  • Slonim, Marc, 1894-1976
  • Spender, Stephen, 1909-1995
  • Trilling, Lionel, 1905-1975
  • Trinkaus, Charles Edward, 1911-1999
  • Woodhull, Daniel Ellis, 1908-

Subject(s)

  • Academic Freedom
  • Educational fund raising
  • McCarthyism, 1940-1950
  • Minorities - Education (Higher)
  • Veterans - Education - New York

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Collection Inventory

Inventory titles and locations

Series I. General Papers 

Title Card-File

Index of Publications, Committees, Sponsorships undated through 1959 

1
Title Carton

Bibliography undated 

2

Biographical Information 1945-1959 

2

Correspondence with SLC 1984-1993 

2

Edited Manuscript of Dissertation, "The Concept of Reason and Its Function in 17th and 18th Century Philosophy and Literature" June, 1938 

2

Harold Taylor Papers at the Museum of Education, University of South Carolina Finding Aid 1998 

2

Post-SLC Press 1961-1993 

2

Retirement from the College of Staten Island 1982 

2

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Series II. SLC 

Title Carton

Academic Freedom (Folder 1 of 3) 1950-1954 

2

Academic Freedom (Folder 2 of 3) 1950-1954 

2

Academic Freedom (Folder 3 of 3) 1950-1954 

2
Title Oversize

Academic Freedom - Alfred Kohlberg Papers Re SLC from Hoover Institution 1950s 

6
Title Carton

Academic Freedom - American Jewish Committee 1951-1952 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion, Bronxville 1949-1956 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Chronology) 1951-1952 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Commander Woodhull, Bronxville) 1951-1952 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Faculty Meetings) 1951-1952 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Re: Hiring Muriel Rukeyser) 1958 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Letter from Marion Coats Graves) 1959 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Letters) 1952 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Henry Noble MacCracken) 1952 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (New York State Legislature) 1956 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Press) 1951-1957 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Reports to Trustees) 1951-1959 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Saunders and Americanism Committee) 1951-1952 

2

Academic Freedom - American Legion Controversy (Yonkers Association of Social Workers Speech held by Harold Taylor) 1954 

2
Title Oversize

Academic Freedom - American Legion Hat 

9
Title Carton

Academic Freedom - Civil Liberties (includes American Civil Liberties Union) 1952-1954 

2

Academic Freedom - Faculty Committee on Academic Freedom 1951-1959 

2

Academic Freedom - Faculty Meeting Minutes 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Fifth Amendment 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - John Gates Talk at SLC 1952 

2

Academic Freedom - Harvard Crimson, Harvard University 1952, 1954 

2

Academic Freedom - Talks at SLC Re: The Jenner Committee (and student responses) 1951, 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Paul Aron and Jenner Committee 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Irving Goldman and Jenner Committee 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Helen Merrell Lynd and Jenner Committee 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Marc Slonim and Jenner Committee 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Charles Trinkhaus and Jenner Committee 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Jenner Committee (Senate Internal Security Subcommittee) 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Jenner Committee Hearing Excerpts (Subversive Influence in the Educational Process) 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Letters Concerning Statement and Stand of SLC 1953 

2

Academic Freedom - Letters from Various Colleges and Universities 1953-1954, 1959 

2

Academic Freedom - National Council for American Education 1950-1952 

2

Academic Freedom - Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer Case 1954 

2

Academic Freedom - Petition to Expel/Censure McCarthy 1954 

2

Academic Freedom - Requests for Sarah Lawrence Statement 1952-1953 

2

Academic Freedom - R. Lawrence Siegel (Counsel Employed by SLC for Faculty Called by Jenner Committee) 1953 

3

Academic Freedom - The Scarsdale Citizen (Re: SLC-NYU Course for Scarsdale Teachers) 1954 

3

Academic Freedom - Town Hall Meeting Broadcast 1949 

3

Academic Freedom - Trustee Subcommittee on Academic Freedom 1951, 1953 

3

Academic Freedom - Trustee Statement on Aron and Goldman 1953 

3

Academic Freedom - Un-American Activities Committee 1949, 1952 

3

Academic Freedom - Wellesley Club of NY Incident 1954 

3

Academic Freedom - Westchester County 1952-1954, 1958 

3

Accreditation 1955 

3

Articles 1941-1946 

3

Articles 1947-1949 

3

Articles 1950-1955 

3

Articles 1956-1959 

3

Articles 1960-1969, 1973, 1988 

3

Alumnae 1953-1954 

3

Alumnae Activities 1957, 1985 

3

Amalgamated Clothing Workers 1949, 1952-1953 

3

American College Public Relations Association 1954 

3

Business 1953-1954 

3

Christmas Cards undated 

3

Coeducation - Coordinate College Proposal 1956-1960 

3

Community Relations 1953-1954 

3

Correspondence - Alumnae 1951, 1958 

3

Correspondence - Atomic Bomb 1945-1946 

3

Correspondence - "Crank" Letters 1946-1953 

3

Correspondence - General 1947-1987 

3

Correspondence - Lecturers on Campus 1949-1959 

3

Correspondence - Parents 1951, 1958 

3

Correspondence - Students 1948-1956 

3

Correspondence - Albert Barnes (Barnes Foundation) 1949-1950 

3

Correspondence - Norman Cousins (Editor, Saturday Review) 1956-1958 

3

Correspondence - W.H. Ferry (Re: Communism, American Legion, The Fund for the Republic) 1948-1958 

3

Correspondence - Reverend Harold Hohly (Chris Episcopal Church, Bronxville) 1949-1952 

3

Correspondence - Alvin Johnson (The New School) 1954 

3

Correspondence - Alfred Kohlberg 1949-1955 

See also

Alfred Kohlberg Papers from the Hoover Institution, Box 6

3

Correspondence - Alexander Meiklejohn 1946-1950 

3

Correspondence - Eleanor Roosevelt 1949 

3

Correspondence - Lionel Trilling (Columbia University) 1946-1950 

3

Correspondence - Martin Gormley, Jr. (Assistant to President Taylor) 1953-1954 

3

Correspondence - Faculty - Adda Bozeman 1947-1961 

3

Correspondence - Faculty - Isabel Garcia Lorca 1947-1952 

3

Correspondence - Faculty - Irving Goldman 1947-1950 

3

Correspondence - Faculty - Helen Merrell Lynd 1945-1949 

3

Correspondence - Faculty - Helen Merrell Lynd 1950-1958 

3

Correspondence - Faculty - Esther Raushenbush 1953-1954 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Stephen Spender 1946-1953 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Stephen Spender 1947-1952 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Ackerly to Barillet 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Barta to Blankenchip 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Bodian to Breiseth 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Breit to Brown 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Brun to Collins 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Colman to Devree 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Diamond to Fabricand 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Feininger to Fox 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Franco to Fromme 

4

Correspondence - Faculty - Martinelli to Weiner (Incomplete) 

4

Development - Building Fund 1952-1954 

4

Development - Marts and Lundy (Re: Building Campaign and Fundraising) 1950-1958 

4

Development - The Sarah Lawrence Plan (SLC Development Committee, Faith Whitney Ziesing '32, National Chair) 1953-1954 

4

Entertainment 1954-1955 

4

"Essays in Teaching" Comments, Reviews, Etc. 1951 

4

Faculty 1953-1954 

4

Field Work Committee 1946, 1951 

4

Forum Discussion: The Education of Women 1952 

4

Foundations - Lists and Replies 1954-1955 

4

Friends of Democracy 1952-1954 

4

Fulbright Awards 1953-1956 

4

"A Garland for Mrs. Stone" Memorial Service Speech (Alma Stone) 1973 

4

Glen Washington Road 1951 

4

Graduate Studies 1953-1954 

4

Harvard University 1952-1955 

4

Housing 1953-1954 

4

Inauguration 1945 

4

Individuals 1953-1954 

4

Interim Week (All-College Week) 1946-1958 

4

Arthur Kober Night 1952-1958 

4

Lawrence Park West Golf Course 1951 

4

Memos 1948-1953, 1955, 1957-1959 

4

National Orchestral Association 1946-1949 

4

Neighbors 1945-1959 

4

Parents 1948-1955 

4

Politics and Students 1953-1954 

4

Press 1945-1959 

5

Prospects Magazine (SLC Student-run) 1953 

5

Publicity - Collier's Magazine Article 1948 

5

Publicity - Look Magazine Articles 1958 

5

Racial Discrimination - Bronxville 1947 

5

Religion Round Table 1949-1958 

5

Report of the President to the Alumnae 1957 

5

Reports of the President to the Board of Trustees 1945-1946, 1946-1947, 1951-1952, 1954-1955 

5

Reports of the President to the Parents of SLC Students 1947, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956 

5

Report of the President to the SLC Community 1947-1954 

5

Report of the President to the SLC Community 1955-1959 

5

Resignation 1959 

5

Resignation - Testimonial Dinner 1959 

5
Title Oversize

Scrapbook - Jenner Committee 1953 

6

Scrapbook - American Legion 1951-1952 

7

Scrapbook - American Legion 1952-1953 

8
Title Carton

Size of the College 1955-1958 

5

Special Composition Concert 1957 

5

Special Gifts 1953 

5

Speeches undated 

5

Speeches 1946-1949 

5

Speeches 1950-1954 

5

Speeches 1955-1959, 1963, 1973, 1975, 1982 

5

Sports and Recreation 1953-1954 

5

Student Arts Center 1953-1954 

5

Students 1951-1957 

5

Surveys for External Organizations 1956-1958 

5

Trustee-Faculty Committee on the Library 1955 

5

Trustees 1951, 1958 

5

Tuition 1949, 1951 

5

Tuition Exchange Plan 1952-1958 

5

Veterans - Study and Report on SLC Veterans 1956-1957 

5

Veterans - Correspondence and Speech, Gala for 40th Anniversary of Veterans Graduation 

5

Virden Incident 1948-1957 

5

Westchester County Planning Committee 1951 

5

Westchester Film Society 1951 

5

"Women in the Arts" Convocation (cancelled) 1959 

5

Yale/Sarah Lawrence Conferences 1957, 1959 

5

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