Using Our Collections

Planning a Visit

The New School Archives and Special Collections reading room is open to all researchers by advance appointment only. Learn how to book an appointment and plan for your visit.

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Guides and Resources

The archivists at The New School Archives and Special Collections are available to help you with your research and can offer guidance for locating resources specific to your topic. Contact archivist@newschool.edu.

New School History

The New School Archives has many collections that document the history of The New School, Parsons School of Design, and Mannes School of Music. Search our collections.

Another great source for information is Histories of The New School, a living collection of resources, historical investigations, and reflections, with short articles contributed by students, faculty, alumni, and staff.

Other secondary sources

Public Seminar Essays on New School Histories
Essays and a podcast created, edited, and curated by faculty members Julia Foulkes and Mark Larrimore on selected aspects of New School history.
Site-Specific Art at The New School
Online catalog of site-specific artworks on campus, including archival photographs of the works and other related documentation from The New School Archives.

Books

A Light in Dark Times: The New School for Social Research and its University in Exile by Judith Friedlander
I Stand in My Place With My Own Day Here: Site-Specific Art at The New School edited by Frances Richard
Intellectuals in Exile by Claus-Dieter Krohn
New School: A History of the New School for Social Research by Peter Rutkoff and William Scott
Pioneer's Progress: An Autobiography by Alvin Saunders Johnson
Realizing The New School: Lessons from the Past edited by Julia Foulkes and Mark Larrimore

Related Archival Collections

Hannah Arendt papers
The entirety of Hannah Arendt’s papers are available online through the Library of Congress. For more information, see this FAQ.
German and Jewish Intellectual Émigré Collection
Papers of scholars who were affiliated with The New School’s University in Exile are held at the archives of the State University of New York at Albany.
Center for Jewish History
The Center for Jewish History holds the personal papers of many refugee scholars who taught at The New School for Social Research.
Rockefeller Archive Center
Records from the Rockefeller Foundation pertaining to the refugee scholar program, including requests for assistance from scholars associated with the University in Exile.

Subject Guides

Guides to using The New School Archives, and for conducting archival research on particular topics:

Permission and Citation

The purpose of citation is to further scholarly conversation. By providing a way for others to locate and access sources employed in creating academic, artistic, and design works, you help to keep the conversation active across space and time.