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Creator
Gordon, Edmund W.
Call number
Sc MIRS Gordon 1990-28
Physical description
10 video_recordings. 13 audio_recordings
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Edmund W. Gordon audio and moving image collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
An anonymous donor funded preliminary processing for this collection. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported a research library-wide grant for the digitization, and funded the Schomburg for the description and production of the finding aid as part of The Next Century of Black Studies Project.
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division
Access to materials
Appointment preferred: Request an in-person research appointment.

African American psychologist Edmund W. Gordon (born June 13, 1921) is an expert in child development who has worked throughout his career on the issues and challenges of underprivileged and minority students in the US education system. The collection contains thirteen audio recordings and ten videos relating to Gordon's career, dating from 1971 to 1989.

Biographical/historical information

African American psychologist Edmund W. Gordon (born June 13, 1921) is an expert in child development who has worked throughout his career on the issues and challenges of underprivileged and minority students in the US education system. As a clinician, he was a pioneer in the emerging concepts of divergent learning styles and supplemental education. In 1956, Gordon was commissioned by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help design the Head Start Program, serving as the chief of the Head Start Research Office and providing early childhood education and services to under-resourced families.

Born in North Carolina, Gordon was educated at Howard University and American University. He spent his early career as a clinical psychologist and minister before earning a doctorate in child development and guidance from Teachers College, Columbia University. Gordon has held numerous academic positions at Teachers College, Yale University, and Yeshiva University.

While at Yale, Gordon led programs to develop and improve curricula and teaching materials. In 1984, Gordon initiated the Program of Research Concerned with the Improvement of Minority Education (PRIME), a program of research, student assessments, curriculum development, and technical assistance. In 1988, Gordon started the Program for Curriculum Materials Research Project (PCMR), bringing scholars and experts together to research and develop curricula that addressed the needs of students from diverse backgrounds.

Gordon is the John M. Musser Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at Yale University; as well as Richard March Hoe Professor, Emeritus, of Psychology and Education, and director emeritus of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME), at Teachers College.

Scope and arrangement

The collection contains thirteen audio recordings and ten videos relating to the career of Edmund W. Gordon, dating from 1971 to 1989. They include PRIME classroom observations at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, Clara Barton High School for Health Professions, Dewitt Clinton High School, and Hillhouse High School; PCMR meetings with presentations by Brenda Allen, Eleanor Armour-Thomas, Edmund W. Gordon, Esther Obiora, Robert Sternberg, Linda Watkins, and representatives from the Globe Book Company; and conference panels with presentations by Bette Haskins, Joan Rothschild, and Regina Williams. The original formats of the audio recordings were cassette and open reel, with many items containing two or more parts.

The Edmund W. Gordon audio and moving image collection is arranged in three series:

  • SERIES I: PRIME
    1986 March 3-29

    The series contains ten videos dated March 3-29, 1986, organized chronologically. The videos are observations of high school classes, created as part of the Program of Research Concerned with the Improvement of Minority Education (PRIME). High schools represented in the series are A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, Harlem, New York; Clara Barton High School for Health Professions, Crown Heights, Brooklyn; Dewitt Clinton High School, Bronx, New York; and Hillhouse High School, New Haven, Connecticut. Class subjects are transcribed from the original label.

    PRIME was developed to maintain, expand, and improve the Macy Medical Professions Program, which was designed to support students from low-income and minority backgrounds at Clara Barton and A. Philip Randolph Campus High Schools to become academically competitive in college admissions and pursue careers in health professions. The program was funded in part by the Josiah Macy Junior Foundation.

  • SERIES II: PCMR
    1989 May-November

    The series contains eight audio recordings dating from May to November 1989. They are organized chronologically.

    At the Program for Curriculum Materials Research Project (PCMR), Gordon worked with scholars throughout 1989 to discuss, improve, and create educational materials that reflected the diverse student bodies of United States public schools. PCMR was supported by Yale University's Center for Research on Education, Culture, and Ethnicity and a grant from the textbook publisher, the Globe Book Company.

    Recordings include PCMR meetings and a retreat held in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, June 21-23, 1989. The retreat featured presentations and discussions led by Gordon; educational psychologists Brenda Allen, Eleanor Armour-Thomas, Esther Obiora, and Linda Watkins; and representatives from the Globe Book Company. Discussion themes included cognitive style, literacy, language, sex and gender, and culture.

  • SERIES III: COLLECTED RECORDINGS
    1971-1989

    The series contains five audio recordings that Gordon collected, dating from 1971 to 1989. They are organized alphabetically by speaker last name or item title, and include the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy Ninth Scientific Plenary, and other conference panel presentations about the intersections of race, class, ethnicity, and education. Presenters at an unidentified conference include Bette Haskins, the director of the American Indian Program at Harvard's Graduate School of Education; Regina Williams, a scholar at the City University of New York; and Joan Rothschild, a theorist of feminism and reproductive technology.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Edmund W. Gordon, 1990.

Processing information

Collection inventoried by Matthew Snyder. Collection processed and described by Lyric Evans-Hunter, archivist. Finding aid published in 2025.

Separated material

See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the Edmund W. Gordon papers, Sc MG 316.

Related Material

See the General Research and Reference Division for titles authored or edited by Edmund W. Gordon.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Third Floor

Access to materials

Appointment preferred: Request an in-person research appointment.