Alice I. Bryan papers, 1921-1992, bulk 1935-1975
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- UA#0139
- Bib ID:
- 6764831 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Bryan, Alice I (Alice Isabel), 1902-1992
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 8.65 linear feet (20 document boxes and 1 card file box)
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
- You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
-
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Description
Summary
Dr. Alice I. Bryan was a professor in the School of Library Service (SLS), but she also held a PhD. in Psychology and had professional interests in both disciplines. Bryan's papers document her professional career, and include material on her work at Columbia University and in professional associations, research, and special projects.
Much of the material documents Bryan's career at Columbia University. Bryan kept files on her work both at SLS and within the larger University community. Her SLS records include correspondence, communications with the Dean's office, and material on committee work, curricula, examinations, and for her own courses. Her records related to work in the larger University community include correspondence, committee material, and meeting material for the Women's Faculty Club, School of General Studies, and the University Seminar on Public Communication.
The papers also document Bryan's professional career outside of Columbia University. The records' coverage is strongest from the late 1930s through the 1950s. They document Bryan's research interests, special projects, public speeches, and work in professional associations related to both psychology and librarianship. These associations include the Association of American Library Schools, American Library Association, American Psychological Association, International Council of Women Psychologists, and the National Research Council's Emergency Committee in Psychology. Bryan's files on research interests and projects are divided into three areas within Series II, III, and IV. Bryan kept material related to special projects with her Professional Activities files in Series III, with two exceptions: files related to the library film forum project and the legibility of the Library of Congress Catalog are in the Research--Special subseries of Series II. She also kept a set of Special Subject Files; these make up Series IV. Bryan also kept bibliographies, correspondence, and reprints related to her publications (1930-1952). There is some additional professional material filed in Series V.
There is some documentation of Bryan's academic work in her papers. There are a few research papers from her work on her bachelor's degree (1927-1928). She also kept notebooks and other material from her studies at the Graduate Library School at the University of Chicago (1949-1951).
There is a limited amount of personal material included in the papers. These materials include a few folders of personal correspondence, diaries (1976-1991), photographs, and a file on her personal travel immediately following her retirement (1972-1976).
Bryan had an elaborate personal classification and filing system. Copies of the outline are filed in Box 2. Series I-IV follow the order of this outline, however, many folders in the system did not contain records and have been removed from the collection.
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Series I: Columbia University--General, 1938-1974
This series consists of material that is related to Bryan's activities at Columbia University outside of the School of Library Service.
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Series II: Columbia University--School of Library Service, 1938-1976
This series consists of material related to Bryan's career at the School of Library Service. It also includes material on two research projects undertaken in the 1940s on library film forums and the legibility of the Library of Congress catalog, respectively.
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Series III: Professional Activities--General
This series includes professional correspondence, public speeches, publications, and material related to Bryan's work with professional associations in both librarianship and psychology. The series also includes correspondence, research files, and other material related to several special projects. These projects include Bryan's work on the Public Library Inquiry, which resulted in The Public Librarian.
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This subseries includes bibliographies, correspondence, drafts, and other material related to five main subjects: Bibliography, Hospital Libraries, Values, The Professional Woman, Book on Research Methods, and Communications.
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This series contains correspondence, diaries, and files on subjects of personal interest. Correspondents include Edwin G. Boring and Paul W. Gallico.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in six series and several subseries.
- Series I: Columbia University--General, 1938-1974
- Subseries I.1: General, 1938-1971
- Subseries I.2: Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1942
- Subseries I.3: Teachers College, 1944
- Subseries I.4: Women's Faculty Club, 1941-1952
- Subseries I.5: School of General Studies, 1947-1951
- Subseries I.6: University Seminar, 1951-1974
- Series II: Columbia University--School of Library Service, 1938-1976
- Subseries II.1: General, 1939-1959, 1976, 1939-1959, 1976
- Subseries II.2: Dean's Office, 1939-1965
- Subseries II.3: Committees, 1938-1971
- Subseries II.4: Special Conferences, 1944
- Subseries II.5: Examinations, 1940-1970
- Subseries II.6: Research--Special, 1940-1946
- Subseries II.7: Student Research, 1938-1965
- Subseries II.8: Students, 1938-1969
- Subseries II.9: Courses, 1939-1971
- Series III: Professional Activities--General
- Subseries III.1: General, 1939-1949
- Subseries III.2: Associations, 1935-1967
- Subseries III.3: Special Projects
- Subseries III.4: Public Speeches, 1933-1960
- Subseries III.5: Publications, 1930-1952
- Series IV: Special Subjects
- Subseries IV.1: Bibliotherapy, 1939-1955
- Subseries IV.2: Hospital Libraries, 1939-1944
- Subseries IV.3: Values, 1949
- Subseries IV.4: The Professional Woman, 1944-1946
- Subseries IV.5: Book on Research Methods, 1955-1958, Undated, 1955-1958, Undated
- Subseries IV.6: Communications, 1948-1951
- Series V: Other Professional and Academic Material
- Series VI: Personal Material
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Alice I. Bryan Papers; Box and Folder; University Archives, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Related Materials
The records of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which funded the library personnel study related to Bryan's 1952 report"The Public Librarian", are held by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The corporation's grant files include records for this project in Box 329, Folders 14-15. Additional information for Bryan can be found in the Historical Biographical Files of the University Archives. Additional records related to the University Seminar on Public Communication, including meeting minutes, can be found in the University Archives
Accrual
No additons expected
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Method of acquisition--Bequest; Date of acquisition--1992.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
Papers processed by Catherine N. Carson.
Finding aid written by Catherine N. Carson May 2008.
Revision Description
2008-09-02 File created.
2008-11-14 xml document instance created by Patrick Lawlor
2009-05-01 xml document instance edited by Carrie Hintz
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Biographical / Historical
Alice I Bryan was born Alice Isabel Bever on September 11, 1902. She was the second child and only daughter of Ewald Bever, a banker, and Caroline Bever née Lawrence. Bryan grew up in the Arlington section of Kearny, New Jersey.
After finishing high school in 1918, Bryan completed a two-year course of academic and secretarial studies at the extension division of Columbia University and then worked in the publishing industry. She also developed a lifelong interest in theosophy, mysticism, and parapsychology during this period. In 1921, she became an instructor for advertising courses offered by the Extension Division of the YMCA. She remained in this position when the program transferred to the Home Study Division of Columbia University.
Bryan continued to teach advertising courses until 1929. She also earned three degrees in psychology at Columbia University; a bachelor's (1929), a master's (1930) and a PhD. (1934). During the Great Depression, Bryan taught psychology at both Sarah Lawrence College and the Pratt Institute, and also taught a research methods course at the School for Library Service (SLS) at Columbia University. She was later invited to teach a course in psychology for practicing librarians at SLS, and was offered an assistant professorship in 1939. Bryan was also considered a leading theoretician in the field of bibliotherapy (which she defined as"the prescription of reading materials that will help to develop emotional maturity and sustain mental health") during the 1930s.
During the next two decades, Bryan pursued her interests in psychology and librarianship. She helped to bring women into the mainstream of the profession of psychology, and was a founder of the National Council of Women Psychologists (which became the International Council of Women Psychologists) in 1940. She represented this organization on the National Research Council's Emergency Committee in Psychology during World War II. She also served as executive secretary of the American Association for Applied Psychology, and worked on the revision of by-laws of the American Psychological Association. She published articles on both psychology and on its intersection with librarianship.
Bryan pursued additional training to further her career at SLS and took a sabbatical to pursue a master's degree in library science at the University of Chicago, which she completed in 1951. At the same time, Bryan was recruited to conduct a study of library personnel being undertaken by the Public Library Inquiry (PLI) and the Social Science Research Council with funding from the Carnegie Corporation. Bryan's resulting report"The Public Librarian" (1952), was a groundbreaking work for which she had interviewed more than 3,000 librarians in 60 libraries nationwide. The American Library Association (ALA) honored her on the 40th anniversary of its publication in 1992, and she delivered an address on the study and its significance at the ALA convention that year.
Bryan became an Associate Professor at SLS in 1953, and was the first woman to achieve a full professorship at SLS in 1959. She was also instrumental in the creation of its doctoral program, and was the chair of the doctoral committee for many years. She was designated as professor emerita upon her retirement in 1971.
Bryan was married three times. Bryan's first marriage to Chester Ward Bryan in 1924 ended in divorce in 1934, but she continued to use his name professionally as it was the name in which she had established herself as a scholar and received her doctorate. Her second marriage to Frank Martin Blasingame, a sculptor and painter, ended in divorce after eight years in 1944. She married George Virgil Fuller, a retired colonel, in 1956. The marriage ended with Fuller's death in 1960. The George Virgil Fuller Award was established at Columbia University in his memory. Bryan had no children. She died on October 30, 1992, of leukemia.
Subject Headings
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