Collection Summary
Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd Papers
1895-1968
1922-1968
1895-1968
1922-1968
MSS51664
Lynd, Robert Staughton, 1892-1970
Lynd, Helen Merrell Lynd, 1896-1982
4,000 items
15 containers
6 linear feet
8 microfilm reels
English
Collection material in English
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Sociologist and educator (Robert Staughton
Lynd). Sociologist (Helen Merrell Lynd). Family and general correspondence, writings and
lectures, notes, research material, student papers, and miscellaneous biographical and
genealogical material chiefly relating to the Lynds' sociological research and writings,
especially their study of "Middletown," Muncie, Indiana.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Brinton, Crane, 1898-1968--Correspondence.
Diamond, Sigmund--Correspondence.
Erikson, Erik H. (Erik Homburger), 1902-1994--Correspondence.
Lynd, Helen Merrell, 1896-1982. Robert Staughton and Helen Merrell Lynd papers. 1895-1968.
Lynd, Robert Staughton, 1892-1970.
Lynn family.
Merton, Robert King, 1910-2003--Correspondence.
Riesman, David, 1909-2002--Correspondence.
Organizations
Columbia University.
Sarah Lawrence College.
Social Science Research Council (U.S.)
Subjects
Academic freedom.
Internal security.
Social sciences.
Sociology.
Universities and colleges--New York (State)
Titles
Helen Merrell Lynd papers
Robert Staughton Lynd papers
Occupations
Educators.
Sociologists.
Acquisition Information
The papers of Robert Staughton Lynd, sociologist and educator, and Helen Merrell Lynd,
sociologist, were given to the Library of Congress by Helen Merrell Lynd in 1969.
Processing History
The collection was processed in 1969 and revised in 1981. The finding aid was revised
again in 2010.
Copyright Status
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd in
these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of
Congress has been dedicated to the public.
Access and Restrictions
The Lynd Papers are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript
Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice
is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on eight reels. Consult
reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or
interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to
consult the microfilm edition as available.
Online Content
Selected documents from the Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd Papers are
available on the Library of Congress website at [https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms010315.001].
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information:
Container or reel number, Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd Papers,
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Robert Staughton Lynd
Date
Event
1892, Sept. 26
Born, New Albany, Ind.
1914
B.A. Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
1914
1918
Editor,
Publishers' Weekly
1919
Manager, advertising and publicity, Charles Scribner's Sons
1920
Assistant publisher, B. W. Huebsch, Inc., and the
Freeman
1921
Married Helen Merrell (died 1982)
1922
Missionary and writer, Elk Basin, Wyo., oil fields
1923
B.D., Union Theological Seminary, New York, N.Y.
1923
1926
Director, Small City Study, Institute of Social and Religious
Research
1926
1927
Assistant director, Division of Educational Research, Commonwealth
Fund
1927
1931
Assistant to chairman, later permanent secretary, Social Sciences Research
Council
1929
Published with Helen Merrell Lynd
Middletown, a Study in Contemporary American Culture
. New York: Harcourt, Brace
1931
Ph.D., Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
1931
1960
Professor of sociology, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
1937
Published with Helen Merrell Lynd
Middletown in Transition; a Study in Cultural Conflicts
. New York: Harcourt, Brace
1939
Published
Knowledge for What? The Place of Social Science in American
Culture
. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press
1970, Nov. 1
Died, New York, N.Y.
Helen Merrell Lynd
Date
Event
1896, Mar. 17
Born, La Grange, Ill.
1919
B.A., Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
1921
M.A., Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
Married Robert Staughton Lynd (died 1970)
1929
Published with Robert Staughton Lynd
Middletown, a Study in Contemporary American Culture
. New York: Harcourt, Brace
1929
1964
Engaged in research and writing
Lecturer, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y, and Sarah Lawrence College,
Bronxville, N.Y.
1937
Published with Robert Staughton Lynd
Middletown in Transition; a Study in Cultural Conflicts
. New York: Harcourt, Brace
1944
Ph.D., Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
1945
Published
England in the Eighteen-Eighties: Toward a Social Basis for
Freedom
. New York: Oxford University Press
Published
Field Work in College Education
. New York: Columbia University Press
1958
Published
On Shame and the Search for Identity
. New York: Harcourt, Brace
1965
Published
Toward Discovery
. Bronxville, N.Y.: Sarah Lawrence College
1982
Died, Warren, Ohio
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Robert Staughton Lynd (1892-1970) and Helen Merrell Lynd (1896-1982),
husband and wife, span the years 1895-1968, with the bulk of the items concentrated in
the period 1922-1968. Included in the collection is a small [
Correspondence ](corr) series containing some family letters plus a larger number of
personal and professional letters. The Lynds apparently kept few copies of outgoing
correspondence; most of the letters in this series date from 1950 onward and nearly all
were written by others.
Also in the Lynd papers is a [ Writings ](writings) file treating
selected examples of their production as authors, lecturers, teachers, and reviewers.
Material concerning "Middletown," a sociological study of Muncie, Indiana, comprises the
largest portion of the Writings and is mainly devoted to background research data the
pair gathered while surveying the city. There are, in addition, numerous reviews of both
the 1929
Middletown
volume and the follow-up study,
Middletown in Transition
, published eight years later. Popular reaction to the books was strong in
Muncie, and samples of the response can be found in the general correspondence of this
part of the Writings.
Besides "Middletown," some of the main topics in this collection are academic and
educational affairs at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College, where the Lynds
taught; national security questions and academic freedom; the sociological discipline;
and Robert Lynd's work as permanent secretary of the Social Science Research Council
between 1927 and 1931. Important correspondents include Crane Brinton, Sigmund Diamond,
Erik H. Erikson, Robert King Merton, and David Riesman.
Arrangement of the Papers
This collection is arranged in three series:
-
[ Correspondence, 1923-1967 ](corr)
-
[ Writings, 1895-1967 ](writings)
-
[ Miscellany, 1918-1968 ](misc)
Catalog Record: [https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78051664]
Container List
Microfilm shelf no. 18,297
Container
Reels
Contents
1
1
Correspondence, 1923-1967
1923-1967
Family and general correspondence, mostly received, and related matter.
The general correspondence is arranged separately for Robert Staughton Lynd and
Helen Merrell Lynd and therein chronologically.
1
1
Family, 1939-1964, undated
1939-1964,
undated
1
1
General
1
1
Lynd, Robert Staughton,
1923-1967
1923-1967
(3 folders)
1
1
Lynd, Helen Merrell, 1937-1965,
undated
1937-1965,
undated
(2 folders)
2-13
1-8
Writings, 1895-1967
1895-1967
Holograph, typewritten, and near-print and printed articles, lectures, book
material, interview surveys, outlines, notes, reviews, and miscellaneous research
data.
Arranged in separate files for Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd as
well as a joint file of both their material, and therein alphabetically by type of
material or title.
2
1-2
Lynd, Robert Staughton, 1922-1965,
undated
1922-1965,
undated
2
1-2
Articles and papers
2
1-2
Book reviews
2
1-2
By Lynd
2
1-2
By others regarding
Lynd's Knowledge for What?
(1939)
(1939)
2
1-2
Lectures, outlines, and notes
(3 folders)
2
1-2
Reminiscences
2
1-2
Research projects
2
1-2
Social Science Research Council,
1927-1933
1927-1933
(2 folders)
3
2
Survey schedules, Montclair, N.J.
3
2
Seminar topics
3
2
Miscellaneous research material and printed
matter
3
2
Lynd, Helen Merrell, 1933-1967,
undated
1933-1967,
undated
3
2
Articles, talks, and miscellaneous
3
2
1933-1967
1933-1967
(6 folders)
4
3
Undated
Undated
(2 folders)
4
3
Book manuscripts
4
3
On Shame and the Search for Identity
(5 folders)
5
3-4
(4 folders)
5
3
Book notes
5
3
England in the Eighteen-Eighties
(2 folders)
6
3-4
(2 folders)
6
3-4
Book reviews
6
3-4
England in the Eighteen-Eighties
6
3-4
On Shame and the Search for Identity
6
3-4
Miscellaneous notes, research material, and
printed matter
(3 folders)
7
4
Lynd, Robert Staughton, and Helen Merrell Lynd,
1895-1967, undated
1895-1967,
undated
7
4
Middletown
7
4
Comments on manuscript
7
4
General correspondence, 1923-1960
1923-1960
(2 folders)
7
4
Research files
7
4
Background, 1895-1947
1895-1947
7
4
Clubs
(2 folders)
8
5
(4 folders)
8
5
General notes
8
5
Individual biographies
(2 folders)
9
5-6
Interview schedules
(4 folders)
9
5-6
Ku Klux Klan
(2 folders)
10
6
Leisure activities
(2 folders)
10
6
Ministerial Association
10
6
Organized labor
10
6
Working conditions
(2 folders)
11
6-7
(4 folders)
11
6-7
Reviews, 1929-1967, undated
1929-1967,
undated
(3 folders)
12
7-8
(5 folders)
13
8
Middletown in Transition
13
8
Corrected galley
13
8
General correspondence,
1937-1941
1937-1941
13
8
Review, 1937-1967, undated
1937-1967,
undated
(5 folders)
13
8
Talk to Rotary Club, Muncie, Ind.,
1935
1935
14-15
8
Miscellany, 1918-1968
1918-1968
Biograhical and genealogical material, and student papers.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material. The papers of students have not been
microfilmed.
14
8
Biographical and genealogical data,
1918-1968
1918-1968
14
Student papers
(6 folders)
15
(6 folders)