Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, Inc., Records, bulk 1927-1934. Archives, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA 01002.

Gift of the Macmillan Company (through the good offices of Jeremiah Kaplan, President of Macmillan) to Hampshire College, 1969.

The manuscript group of the Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences was given to Hampshire College by the Macmillan Company in 1969, through the good offices of Jeremiah Kaplan, President of Macmillan. At that time they were in storage at the Morgan-Manhattan Storage Company, 81st St. and Third Ave., New York, N.Y. The records were in 117 records boxes, each 10.5" x 10.5" x 15". The files had been appraised in 1962 as worth approximately $108,250.

Hampshire College did not take delivery of the files until December 1970, when they were apparently stored in the library loading dock. The decision was made not to advertise Hampshire's possession of the files until they had been processed; however, no provision was made for processing the files. In 1974, the original boxes had deteriorated to the extent that the contents had to be repacked in new boxes in order to move them out of the loading dock; since the new boxes were larger, the collection now consisted of 59 boxes. The boxes were moved from storage area to storage area, coming under the care of the College archivist when the archives were formally established in 1980. In 1984, an outside researcher managed to track down the location of the files, and expressed interest in coming to use them. A detailed inventory of the contents of the boxes was made, and the individual series distinguished. A preliminary catalog was prepared for the researcher, who successfully used the collection that summer. However, it was apparent that the collection badly needed physical processing: although the paper of letters and manuscripts was in decent shape, the file folders were fast disintegrating and the problems caused by rusting paper clips would only worsen. Although a grant proposal covering the cost of physical processing was prepared at that time, it was not funded, and it gradually became clear that internal library resources would have to be utilized to process the collection.

In academic year 1988-89, and especially in the summer of 1989, library staff from Public Services utilized available time to process the collection. All file folders were replaced with new acid-free ones; all metal fasteners and the remains of rubber bands were removed, crumpled sheets flattened, and everything was placed in order in new records boxes. Finally, in August 1989, the collection was fully processed and cataloged--twenty years after the gift had been accepted by the College.