archives.nypl.org -- Edwin Hatfield Anderson records (original) (raw)

The Edwin Hatfield Anderson Records contain correspondence, personnel records and related materials dealing with Library matters. Also included are American Library Association (ALA) files from the office of Harry Miller Lydenberg, Assistant Director under Anderson.

General correspondence consists of letters to and from Anderson, Lydenberg, and Paul North Rice, Chief of the Reference Department. Correspondence focuses on the acquisition of materials for The Library, program proposals, reference queries, complaints, and interaction with other libraries and agencies. Personnel records consist of files on hiring staff and on employee accidents. ALA files of Lydenberg include correspondence, invoices, and other materials relating to projects with which Lydenberg was involved for the professional organization.

The Edwin Hatfield Anderson records are arranged in six series:

• 1915-1933
  20 boxes
  General Correspondence consists of letters to and from Anderson, Harry Miller Lydenberg (Assistant Director), and Paul North Rice (Chief of the Reference Department). The correspondence focuses on the acquisition of materials for The Library, program proposals, reference queries, complaints, and interaction with other agencies and libraries.
• 1915-1929
  1 box
  Personnel Records consist primarily of files on the hiring of staff and employee accidents.
• 1929-1934
  1 box
  Library Matters contains 15 folders of material from the last 5 years of Anderson's work as Director. It is believed that the balance of Anderson's files from this period were inadvertently discarded during the 1970s.
• 1925-1933
  4 boxes
  Series contains the ALA-related files of NYPL Assistant Director Harry Miller Lydenberg. Files include correspondence, invoices, and other materials relating to ALA projects in which Lydenberg was involved; the purchase of books for libraries in Europe; the use of monies provided by the Laura Rockefeller Memorial Fund; and the development of a Union List of Foreign Government Serial Publications.
• 1934
  1 box
  Letters to Anderson commenting on his announced retirement and Anderson's own replies. The letters come from NYPL staff members, other librarians, users of The Library and family friends.
• 1913
  1 box
  Questionnaires sent out to several hundred recipients of the Bulletin asking if they retain the copies, want to continue receiving copies, and want to receive other NYPL publications.