- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"38 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"80 boxes, 35 volumes, 1 map folder", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1883-1933", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1883/1933"}
{"value"=>"1897-1927", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1897/1927"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1883
- date_inclusive_end
-
1933
- keydate
-
1883
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"People's Institute records"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. <span class=\"subarea\">Manuscripts and Archives Division</span></span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The People's Institute was founded in 1897 by Charles Sprague Smith to teach the theory and practice of government and social philosophy to workers and recent immigrants in New York City. The People's Institute records consist of minutes, correspondence, memoranda, reports, photographs, programs, fliers, pamphlets, legal documents, financial records, clippings, class rosters, press releases, and printed matter that document the founding and operations of the Institute."}
- prefercite
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{"value"=>"<p>People's Institute Records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"People's Institute (New York, N.Y.)", "type"=>"corpname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The People's Institute was founded in 1897 by Charles Sprague Smith to teach the theory and practice of government and social philosophy to workers and recent immigrants in New York City. It sponsored lectures, classes, concerts, and other community activities at Cooper Union and throughout New York City, though principally on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The Institute ceased operations in 1934.</p> <p>The People's Institute is recognized most often for its contribution as a community educational center for working class adults and immigrants. It sponsored lectures, craft guilds, art and music leagues, a training school for community workers, and adult education classes in history, social science, literature, as well as nutrition and health. Specific programs implemented by the Institute included the People's Forums, community centers in Public School 63 and Public School 89, the Wage Earner's Theatre League, the People's Institute Harlem Branch at 125th Street, and the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. The latter organization eventually broke away and developed into its own formidable organization. (Its records are also held by the Manuscripts and Archives Division).</p> <p>The People's Institute was organized in the latter half of the nineteenth century during the Progressive Movement that swept across the United States. Progressivism was a response to the social changes that occurred after the Civil War. Foremost among these changes were the rapid industrialization and population growth in urban cities. The population explosion was a result of two factors: masses of people moving from rural to urban areas and the arrival of immigrants from Europe. Most of this population crowded into large urban areas such as New York City and Chicago.</p> <p>Reformers attempted to attack the problems that made life in the city undesirable, such as the corruption of city government, child exploitation, poor sanitary conditions, health problems, and the lack of social services. Some of the best known reformers were Jacob A. Riis (1849-1914), an innovative photographer and author of How the Other Half Lives whose photographs exposed the underbelly of city life; Jane Addams (1860-1935), social reformer and pacifist, and founder of Hull House in Chicago, one of the first social settlements in the United States; and Lillian D. Wald (1867-1940), nurse and social worker who founded the Henry Street Settlement House in New York City in 1893. Other organizations with similar reform ideas to those of the People's Institute included the City Club and the Citizens Union.</p> <p>The founders of the People's Institute were Felix Adler, Robert Fulton Cutting, Grace H. Dodge, Elgin R.H. Gould, Abram S. Hewitt, George K. Lloyd, R. Heber Newton, William S. Rainsford, Charles Sprague Smith, Edward Thimme, and George Tombleson. The Advisory Council comprised over forty individuals including Lyman Abbott, R.R. Bowker, Nicholas Butler Murray, Andrew Carnegie, R.W. Gilder, Samuel Gompers, Jacob A. Riis, Jacob H. Schiff, Anson Phelps Stokes, J.G. Phelps Stokes, Oscar S. Straus, and Lillian D. Wald. Charles Sprague Smith was elected the Institute's first Managing Director.</p> <p>The constitution of the People's Institute states that \"the purpose of the Institute is first, to furnish to the people continuous and ordered education in Social Science, History, Literature and such other subjects as time and the demand shall determine. Second, to afford opportunities for the interchange of thought upon topics of general interest between people of different occupations in order thereby to assist in the solution of present problems. To accomplish these purposes the Institute may conduct lectures, discussions and classes, encourage the formation of branch associations, and undertake such other work as shall promote its aims.\"</p> <p>The Institute's attempt to involve the immigrants of lower Manhattan in the sensibilities and politics of reform began with free weekly lectures and discussions on politics and current events at Cooper Union. By 1902, the Institute was holding nightly events in schools and community centers throughout the city. Cooper Union was a center of many of the Institute's activities, but the Institute had no headquarters as such. It utilized schools after hours, not only to make its activities more accessible, but also to widen its presence and influence in the community. By the 1920s, the Institute was less of an engine of reform; it emphasized cultural and social education in an attempt to integrate immigrants who were its main constituency into mainstream American culture.</p> <p>The People's Institute operated for thirty-six years, longer than many social, educational, and reform agencies. When the Institute ceased operations in 1934, R. Fulton Cutting, President of Cooper Union established a Department of Social Philosophy at Cooper Union. Dr. Everett Dean Martin, the last Director of the Institute, was appointed head of the new department.</p> <p>The Directors Charles Sprague Smith was Director of the People's Institute from 1897 until his death in 1910. He was succeeded by Frederic Clemson Howe (1910-1916), Edward F. Sanderson (1916-1922), and Everett Dean Martin (1922-1934).</p> <p>Charles Sprague Smith (1853-1910) was born in Andover, Massachusetts, the son of Charles and Caroline Louisa (Sprague) Smith. A gifted child and the son of middle class parents, Smith graduated from Phillips Academy at fifteen and graduated from Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1874. Smith's early adulthood was spent abroad in Berlin studying languages and literature in Berlin and at the Sorbonne in Paris.</p> <p>Returning to the United States in 1880, Smith embarked upon a career as an educator. After teaching at Columbia University, Harvard University and elsewhere, Smith turned his focus on the inadequacies of the American education system. As a result of his concerns, Smith founded the Comparative Literature Society in 1895. This Society, a precursor to the People's Institute, aimed to integrate immigrants into American society.</p> <p>In Smith's book Working with the People (New York: A. Wessels, 1904, p. 2), he defines the People's Institute as \"[a] new institution, upon whose board of control all sections should have representation, and whose platform, free from class or partisan influence, should become a forum for the untrammeled discussion of all subjects affecting the people's interest...\"</p> <p>After Smith's death in 1910, Frederic Clemson Howe (1868-1940) became Managing Director of the Institute. Prior to accepting the directorship, Howe had practiced law in Ohio. Known as an aggressive champion of the average man, Howe advocated labor reforms, fought municipal graft, and promoted cooperative government. During Howe's tenure at the Institute, he founded the People's Music League and the Drama League of America. Howe's published works include the monograph The City, the Hope of Democracy (1935).</p> <p>Howe resigned the directorship of the Institute in 1914. His successor was Edward F. Sanderson who held the position from 1916 to 1922. Sanderson was a Congregational clergyman and the former pastor of the Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn. Sanderson, unlike his predecessors and his successor, preferred to maintain a low profile.</p> <p>The last Director of the People's Institute was Everett Dean Martin (1880-1941). Martin was a social psychologist and adult educator born in Jacksonville, Illinois. After receiving a diploma in theology, Martin embarked upon a career in the ministry serving as pastor at several churches. In 1917, Martin received his first appointment at the People's Institute as a lecturer in social philosophy at the Cooper Union Forum. Over the next several years, Martin received several appointments including Director of the Cooper Union Forum and Assistant Director of the Institute in 1917. From 1919 to 1922, Martin was Chairman of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The People's Institute records, 1883-1933, consist of minutes, correspondence, memoranda, reports, photographs, programs, fliers, pamphlets, legal documents, financial records, clippings, class rosters, press releases, and printed matter that document the founding and operations of the Institute. The records of the Board of Trustees include the Institute's constitution, minutes, correspondence, and reports. The Director's Office files consist mostly of the correspondence of the four Directors of the Institute: Charles Sprague Smith, Frederic C. Howe, Edward F. Sanderson, and Everett Dean Martin. Correspondence, programs, memoranda, circular letters, and other material document the activities organized by the Institute at Cooper Union, its adult education classes, the community-centered work of several committees, the efforts of the drama, music, and literature departments to promote appreciation of the arts among immigrants and the working-class, and the activities of some affiliated organizations. The Printed Material consists of Institute publications, brochures, pamphlets, and fliers, as well as material on topics relevant to the Institute's interests. Photographs, in the form of prints and lantern slides, mainly depict the lectures, concerts, and other events organized by the Institute in poor, immigrant Manhattan and Bronx neighborhoods. The records also include 60 glass plate negatives and the postcard reproductions of the plates, which were taken by Sidney Ateller of immigrant children's pageants and other activities in Chicago in 1914-1915.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The People's Institute records are arranged in sixteen series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173699'>Series I. Board of Trustees</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1897 - 1921</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes 3 volumes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of the administrative records of the Board of Trustees; it contains the constitution of the People's Institute, minutes, and reports. Minutes document the founding of the People's Institute, the crucial early meetings, and program development. The reports are to the Board of Trustees from various departments and affiliates of the Institute, such as the People's Music League and the National Board of Censorship. Some reports include financial statements.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173706'>Series II. Director's Office</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1883 - 1932</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>6 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains the records of the four Directors of the Institute: Charles Sprague Smith (1897-1910), Frederic C. Howe (1910-1916), Edward F. Sanderson (1916-1922), and Everett Dean Martin (1922-1934). It consists mainly of correspondence files for each Director alphabetically arranged. Charles Sprague Smith's files contain incoming letters from many well known individuals, including Lyman Abbott, Felix Adler, Robert Fulton Cutting, William E. Dodge, Richard Watson Gilder, Samuel Gompers, Abram Stevens Hewitt, Henry Demarest Lloyd, and Lillian Wald. Sprague's material also includes organizations' endorsements of the People's Institute protest of the subway franchise of 1899. Frederic C. Howe is the second most represented Director in the series. His correspondence also contains noted correspondents, including Jane Addams, Louis Brandeis, and Hamlin Garland.</p> <p>Other material in this series includes the 1917 correspondence of Louis R. deCravioti, the Assistant Director of the Institute; acceptances and regrets to invitations to Everett Dean Martin's speech \"The Psychology of the Mind,\" given on April 23, 1925 in Adolph Lewisohn's ballroom. General files include crank letters, Institute stationery, circular letters, drafts of the constitution and amendments, election proxies, lists of officers and members, and miscellaneous reports.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173731'>Series III. Cooper Union Activities</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1897-1926</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Institute regularly engaged the Great Hall of Cooper Union for various events and programs. The Lecture Program of the Institute utilized the Great Hall for regular meetings to raise public consciousness, advocate change, and work towards social progress. Topics covered by the lectures included home rule for NYC, rapid transportation in NYC, the effects of WWI, and democracy. Lists, circular letters, ads, and programs document these lectures.</p> <p>In 1916, the Institute invited Dr. Werner Hegemann, Secretary for the Architectural Development of Greater Berlin and General Secretary of the City Planning Exhibitions of Berlin and Dusseldorf, 1909, to speak throughout the United States as a recognized expert in city planning. The Lecture Bureau correspondence (alphabetically arranged by city) concerns requests from various organizations to the Institute to schedule Dr. Hegemann as a speaker.</p> <p>The Labor Forum (Carl Beck, Managing Director) correspondence with John Collier, Director of the Training School for Community Workers, documents a bitter dispute that broke out between Beck and Collier in December 1917. Beck questioned the sincerity of some statements Collier had made about the Fusion reformers in newspaper interviews.</p> <p>The Cooper Union Sunday Evening Programs were non-denominational programs on the religious and philosophical issues of the day. The topics are documented by circular letters, programs, and printed matter.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173746'>Series IV. Adult Education Classes</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1919 - 1930</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Institute's Adult Education Classes were modeled on reading courses offered at Oxford University and Columbia University. This series contains general correspondence, reports, leader's class reports and salary vouchers, information on experimental classes, attendance records, bulletins, and various reports focusing on the years 1926 through 1930.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173759'>Series V. Community Art League</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1915 - 1918</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>3 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Community Art League records contain correspondence, reports and printed matter that document the League's work promoting the arts to the public.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173763'>Series VI. Community Center Work (CCW)</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1913 - 1921</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, and printed matter. The Committee on Recreation files highlight one of the People's Institute greatest accomplishments, the Festival and Pageant of Nations (June 1916). Hundreds of people celebrated the heritage of the immigrant communities -Irish, Slavic, Jewish, and Italian- living on the Lower East Side of New York City .</p> <p>In 1915, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of New York City appointed a committee on recreation. The objective of this committee was to improve the recreation and playground facilities of New York City. The People's Institute, through its Committee of Leisure, contributed to the city's efforts.</p> <p>In 1918, the Institute organized the Summer Health School at P.S. 40. This was an experimental program that was meant to improve the health of undernourished children through the education of their parents.</p> <p>Correspondence, programs, reports, financial papers, legal papers, and printed matter reflect the work of the Training School for Community Center Workers, 1913-1919. The School, located at 70 Fifth Avenue, was affiliated with the People's Institute. John Collier was its Staff Director for the period covered by the records in this series. A report to the Trustees of the Training School by John Collier (November 14, 1918) states the Training School's two objectives: to recruit and train leaders for community work and to popularize and develop the community movement itself. The Training School offered a one-year course in professional work in Community Centers, Social Settlements, Public Employment, and Child Welfare Services. Its reports reflect the People's Institute's focus on the Americanization of immigrants.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173786'>Series VII. Community Work</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1899 - 1926</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contain material related to the work of three organizations and committees: the Committee on Unadjusted Children, the Needlecraft Guild, and the People's Club A.</p> <p>The Committee on Unadjusted Children's first objective was to co-ordinate the work of existing agencies (i.e. Department of Education, Police Corrections Department, and the Child Welfare Department) for the care and rehabilitation of children with emotional and mental problems. The committee was established in 1916; E.F. Sanderson was its Chairman while serving in the position of Director of the People's Institute. John Collier (Staff Director of the New York Training School for Community Center Workers) acted as one of its consultants. The second objective of the Committee was to establish a social clinic for studying and diagnosing individuals.</p> <p>The Needlecraft Guild correspondence and reports for the years 1916 through 1919 focus on the Ukrainian Needlework Guild, which worked in co-operation with the Art Alliance of America and the People's Institute.</p> <p>The People's Club A was a branch of the People's Institute. The club sponsored lectures, programs, and social gatherings.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173807'>Series VIII. Drama Department</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1905 - 1918</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains minutes, correspondence, plans, handbills, circulars, programs, discount theater tickets, membership cards, vouchers, and stationery. The Department of Drama sought to encourage public appreciation of the arts by offering discounted theater tickets. Handbills informed the public that the Institute offered half price tickets to nearly every theater in New York City.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173819'>Series IX. Music League</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1900 - 1927</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>6 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Like the Drama Department, the Music League's objective was to broaden the general public's interest in the arts. The general correspondence (alphabetically arranged by correspondent) documents the Music Department's recruiting musicians to play at concerts, rehearsals, and ethnic music showcases; arranging concerts in New York City schools, hospitals, and other locations; and fundraising. This series also includes circular letters, invitations, stationery, subscriptions, reports, and applications. Concert programs and a complete list of programs (boxes 19-20) provide a comprehensive overview of all the concerts, recitals, and other performances that the Music League arranged.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173852'>Series X. Comparative Literature Society</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1896 - 1899</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Comparative Literature Society was founded in 1896 by Charles Sprague Smith. The purpose of the Society was to promote the understanding of literature and stimulate literary production through conferences, lectures, readings, discussion, and classes. This series does not comprise the complete records of the Comparative Literature Society. The general correspondence (alphabetically arranged) contains predominately incoming letters to Charles Sprague Smith in his capacity as Director of the Society and regards lecture schedules, participants, and topics. The series also contains an unbound scrapbook of fliers, applications for membership, and newspaper clippings. The scrapbook gives the most comprehensive overview of the Society.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173860'>Series XI. Affiliated Organizations</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1901 - 1921</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of the Institute's files on its peer institutions and organizations. The files include minutes, letters, reports, and printed matter.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173897'>Series XII. Writings and Miscellany</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1899 - 1917</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173928'>Series XIII. Printed Material</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1898 - 1934</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>15 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of annual reports, brochures, broadsides, programs, pamphlets, and bulletins published by the Institute. It also includes pamphlets and periodicals issued by peer organizations. The newspaper clippings and related materials (boxes 30-40, 1898-1922) are disbound scrapbooks and make up the bulk of the series. Arranged chronologically, these scrapbooks include programs, pamphlets and other ephemera, in addition to clippings. The scrapbooks provide an overview of the Institute's activities, work, and affiliates.</p> <p>The clippings regarding the Stadium Symphony Concerts document concerts held during the summers of 1919 through 1921 at Lewisohn Stadium at the City College of New York. The concerts were sponsored by the Music League of the Institute. A small fee of admission was charged to concert-goers with the proceeds going to the Institute.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c173996'>Series XIV. Financial Records</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1898 - 1933</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>21 boxes 26 volumes</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c174096'>Series XV. Half Tone Printing Blocks</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>5 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The half tone printing blocks were used for various Institute publications. These blocks are not available for consultation.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/2380#c174097'>Series XVI. Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1908 - 1921</div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The People's Institute Records are organized in the following series:</p> <p>Series I. Board of Trustees, 1897 - 1921; Series II. Director's Office, 1883 - 1932; Series III. Cooper Union Activities, 1897-1926; Series IV. Adult Education Classes, 1919 - 1930; Series V. Community Art League, 1915 - 1918; Series VI. Community Center Work (CCW), 1913 - 1921; Series VII. Community Work, 1899 - 1926; Series VIII. Drama Department, 1905 - 1918; Series IX. Music League, 1900 - 1927; Series X. Comparative Literature Society, 1896 - 1899; Series XI. Affiliated Organizations, 1901 - 1921; Series XII. Writings and Miscellany, 1899 - 1917; Series XIII. Printed Material, 1898 - 1934; Series XIV. Financial records, 1898 - 1933; Series XV. Half Tone Printing Blocks; Series XVI. Photographs, 1908 - 1921.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of the People's Institute, 1934.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Glass negatives and lantern slides (boxes 93-96) are restricted from use. Paper and postcard copies of the glass plates are available for consultation. Photographic prints are available of most of the lantern slides. Originals are available only with Curator's permission. Half tone printing blocks are also restricted.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"archref\"> National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Records. Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library (The NBRMP was originally part of the People's Institute.).</span>"}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"MssCol 2380", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"2380", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Compiled by Valerie Wingfield; machine readable finding aid created by FAKER.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
38 linear feet (80 boxes, 35 volumes, 1 map folder)
- date_start
-
1883
- date_end
-
1933
- date_bulk_start
-
1897
- date_bulk_end
-
1927