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

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