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Inventory of the Seymour Mauskopf Papers, 1930-1993

Abstract

Duke University Professor of History.

Materials and recordings used in preparation for Mauskopf's book, The Elusive Science, and other research on the history of parapsychology and psychical research. Also includes articles by Mauskopf and other historians, scientists, and psychologists.

Descriptive Summary

Repository
David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Creator
Mauskopf, Seymour H.
Title
Seymour Mauskopf Papers, 1930-1993
Language of Material
English
Extent
10 Linear Feet, 4400 Items
Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Series Quick Links

Collection Overview

Collection (107 items, dated 1972-1985) contains materials used in preparation for Mauskopf's book, The Elusive Science, co-authored with M.R. McVaugh. Included are audio cassettes, transcripts, and notes. Interviews are with J.B. and Louisa Rhine, B.F. Skinner, Gardner Murphy, J. Gaither Pratt, and other prominent psychologists. Five notebooks contain chiefly Mauskopf's notes on the council minutes of the Society for Psychical Research; and there is also a reel-to-reel tape of an interview with Mrs. K.M. Goldney.

Addition (05-071) (2000 items, 1.6 lin. ft.; dated 1930-1978 and undated) includes miscellaneous correspondence, clippings, and printed material produced by and related to J. B. Rhine and the Parapsychology Laboratory, collected by Mauskopf and McVaugh for The Elusive Science. Includes 11 black-and-white photographs, as well as files of note cards indexing portions of the correspondence files in the Parapsychology Laboratory Records. The addition is open to researchers.

Addition (11-193) (2200 items, 3.0 lin. ft.; dated 1930s-1990s) includes notes and research, including photocopies of primary documents, about the history of parapsychology and pyschical research. The collection also contains some drafts or notes by Mauskopf about The Elusive Science, as well as other writings by him relating to the history of science. Also includes printed materials, miscellaneous correspondence, and articles by other historians, pyschologists, and scientists.

Administrative Information

Collections are on the move for the renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Contact Rubenstein Library staff before visiting. Read More »

warning Access Restrictions

Collection is restricted. Original audiovisual materials are closed to use.

In addition, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.

Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

warning Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Contents of the Collection

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Collection (107 items, dated 1972-1985) contains materials used in preparation for Mauskopf's book, The Elusive Science, co-authored with M.R. McVaugh. Included are audio cassettes, transcripts, and notes. Interviews are with J.B. and Louisa Rhine, B.F. Skinner, Gardner Murphy, J. Gaither Pratt, and other prominent psychologists. Five notebooks contain chiefly Mauskopf's notes on the council minutes of the Society for Psychical Research; and there is also a reel-to-reel tape of an interview with Mrs. K.M. Goldney.

Original audiovisual materials are closed to use. This accession has not been processed and no boxlist is available.

Preservation copies
Box 1
Preservation copies
Box 2
Use copies
Box 3
Use copies
Box 4
Unlabeled materials
Box 5

Addition (05-071) (2000 items, 1.6 lin. ft.; dated 1930-1978 and undated) includes miscellaneous correspondence, clippings, and printed material produced by and related to J. B. Rhine and the Parapsychology Laboratory, collected by Mauskopf and McVaugh for The Elusive Science. Includes 11 black-and-white photographs, as well as files of note cards indexing portions of the correspondence files in the Parapsychology Laboratory Records.

Original audiovisual materials are closed to use. This accession has not been processed and no boxlist is available.

Accession (2005-0071)
Box 1-4

Addition (11-193) (2200 items, 3.0 lin. ft.; dated 1930s-1990s) includes notes and research, including photocopies of primary documents, about the history of parapsychology and pyschical research. The collection also contains some drafts or notes by Mauskopf about The Elusive Science, as well as other writings by him relating to the history of science. Also includes printed materials, miscellaneous correspondence, and articles by other historians, pyschologists, and scientists.

Interview notes: J.B. Rhine, Thouless, Murphy, etc.
Box 1
Notebook, unlabeled, undated
Box 1
Research on Gardner Murphy
Box 1
Historical (general) materials
Box 1
Primary research photocopies
Box 1
Parapsychology: The Elusive Science drafts and notes
Box 1
American Society for Pyschical Research research and histories, 1985
Box 1
Correspondence notes, 1932-1935
Box 1
American Society for Psychical Research primary sources
Box 1
American Society for Pyschical Research notes
Box 1
Research and correspondence on the Rhines and history of parapsychology, 1970s
Box 1
Application for History of Parapsychology grants, 1970s
Box 1
Chapter 5 photocopies and notecards
Box 1
History of parapsychology research and primary sources
Box 1
Multiple personality research articles
Box 1
Parapsychology reprints
(3 folders)
Box 1
American Society for Pyschical Research papers and presentations
Box 1
History of Marginal Science talks, papers, and notes
(2 folders)
Box 1
The Elusive Science reviews
Box 1
Notepads from writings
(2 folders)
Box 2
Epilogue drafts
Box 2
Articles by Mauskopf
(3 folders)
Box 2
History of Science Encyclopedia entries
Box 2
Articles by others
(3 folders)
Box 2
Monte Cooper senior thesis
Box 2
Rhine Research Center
Box 2
General correspondence on parapsychology, 1970s
(2 folders)
Box 2
Miscellaneous correspondence, 1980s-1990s
Box 2
Photographs
Box 2
Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death, by Frederic W.H. Myers, 1903 (2 volumes of 1954 reprint)
Box 2
The Seybert Commission on Spiritualism, 1887
Box 2
Preliminary Studies of a Vaudeville Telepathist, 1937
Box 2
Parapsychology: Frontier Science of the Mind, 1957
Box 2
Statistical Methods and Scientific Inference, 1956
Box 2
Extra-sensory Perception After Sixty Years, 1940
Box 2

Historical Note

Seymour Mauskopf is a professor emeritus of history at Duke University. He earned an AB from Cornell in 1960 and a PhD from Princeton University in 1966. His research interests include intellectual history, particularly the history of science, ranging from chemistry and the allied sciences in the 18th and 19th centuries to the history of parapyschology and marginal sciences.

Subject Headings

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Seymour Mauskopf Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Provenance

The Seymour Mauskopf Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a gift in 2005-2011.

Processing Information

Processed by Meghan Lyon, June 2012

Encoded by Meghan Lyon, June 2012

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 2005-0071, 2011-0193

This collection is minimally processed: materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition. Materials remain grouped by their original accessions.

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.