This scrapbook collection presents a picture of an institution-in-the-making, and it's continuing presence in the intellectual life of New York City. It also illustrates the range of the university's concerns as well as the attention it was accorded by particular sectors of the city, nation and in international press.

The following list provides a brief summary of some of the historically significant people and entities associated with the history and development of The New School. Please note that this scrapbook series also includes press information about numerous politicians, intellectuals, scientists, writers, and performing and visual artists who were perhaps more notable during their lifetimes and cultural contexts than they are presently. It is beyond the scope of this finding aid to enumerate every affilitate of The New School who was professionally active during the date range of these materials.

Berenice Abbott (1898-1991)

American photographer. From 1921 until 1929, Abbott studied art and photography in Paris and Berlin. Following this, she moved to New York City in 1929, and subsequently taught courses and workshops in photography at The New School from 1934 until 1965. Abbott’s oeuvre ranged from portraiture, architecture and scientific phenomenon, and during the course of her career, she published two highly acclaimed books,Changing New York (1939) andGreenwich Village Today and Yesterday (1949).

Max Ascoli (1898-1978)

Italian born journalist and author. In 1931, Ascoli immigrated to the United States on a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, and within two years he became a member of the graduate studies faculty at The New School. After a long and distinguished career, during which he spent a period as dean (1939-1941) Ascoli left The New School to concentrate on The Reporter, a biweekly magazine he founded in 1949 and continued to publish until 1968.

Charles A. Beard (1874-1978)

American historian, professor and one of the co-founders of The New School. Beard's resignation from Columbia University in 1917 over issues of academic freedom in large part prompted the creation of The New School along with a circle of like-minded scholars and colleagues including James Harvey Robinson, Henry Dana, and Alvin Johnson.

Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975)

American painter and muralist who worked in the regionalist style; taught at the Art Students League from 1926 until 1935 in New York City. In 1930, Benton was commissioned by Alvin Johnson to create a mural, America Today, for Joseph Urban's New School building on 66 West 12th Street.

Henry Cowell (1897-1965)

American experimental composer and New School faculty member (1930-1963). Cowell offered classes in composition as well as numerous seminars on the history of folk and world music. His own compositions are also regarded as highly influential, particularly in the work of John Cage.

Jose de Creeft (1884-1982)

Spanish born sculptor, New School faculty (1933-1939, 1944-1970). In addition to carving in stone and wood, throughout his career he produced works modeled in clay and cast in bronze. One of de Creeft's most famous sculptures is the large scale bronze, "Alice in Wonderland" (1959) in Central Park.

The Dramatic Workshop (1940-1953)

Established as a division of The New School in 1940 and led by the German born dramatist and political activist, Erwin Piscator, the Dramatic Workshop offered laboratory classes, lectures on theatrical history and professional public performances. The Dramatic Workshop also sponsored three semi-professional off-Broadway theaters (the Studio Theatre, and the President and Rooftop Theatres), a children's theater run by Piscator's wife, Maria Ley, several summer theaters, radio and film workshops, and a subscription repertory theater. Notable associates of the Dramatic Workshop include Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, and just some of the program's notable students include Bea Arthur, Harry Belafonte, Herbert Berghof, Marlon Brando, Vinette Carroll, Tony Curtis, John Gassner, Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Elaine Stritch, Tennessee Williams, and Shelley Winters.

École Libre des Hautes Études (1940-Present)

In 1942, with a charter from the Belgian and French governments-in-exile, The New School sponsored the formation of the École Libre. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the École Libre provided refugee scholars, primarily from Nazi-occupied France and Belgium, with an academic home. Classes were taught in French. Founding faculty included philosopher Jacques Maritain, anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, linguist Roman Jakobson, and political scientist Henri Bonnet. After the war, the institute and The New School parted ways. Eventually the École Libre evolved into the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris.

Camilo Egas (1889-1962)

Ecuadorian artist, muralist, New School faculty (1932-1962); the first director of the Fine Arts department. His 1932 painting, Ecuadorian Festival, was comissioned by Alvin Johnson for 66 West 12th Street, for a wall facing the basement dance studio where performances and classes were taught by avant garde dancers Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham, among others.

Bryn J. Hovde (1896-1954)

American historian and political scientist, president of The New School (1945-1950.) Prior to Hovde's tenure, he served as technical secretary for UNESCO and headed the Division of Cultural Cooperation at the State Department.

Alvin Johnson (1874-1971)

American economist and founding member of The New School for Social Research. From 1919 to 1945, Johnson served as president of The New School, and during his tenure, he was a tireless advocate for adult education, as well as liberal and humanitarian causes. Among his numerous accomplishments, he established the Univeristy in Exile in 1933, and in 1942 was instrumental in the founding of the École Libre des Hautes Études. Both programs were designed as a means to provide safe haven to displaced European scholars in the United States. In 1945, Johnson became president emeritus of The New School and remained active in New School affairs for the rest of his life.

Gorham Munson (1896-1969)

American writer, New School faculty (1927-1947). Munson co-edited eight issues of the literary review Secession (spring 1922- April 1924), and created a manual for writing, The Written Word (1949). Additionally, he was the first to publish a critical study of the works of poet Robert Frost.

José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949)

Mexican social realist painter and muralist who was active in the United States between the years 1928 to 1945. In 1931, Alvin Johnson comissioned Orozco to create five frescos for The New School building at 65 West 12th Street, "Allegory of Science, Labor, and Art"; "Homecoming of the Worker of the New Day"; "The Struggle in the Occident"; and "Creative Man."

Hans Simons (1906-1968)

German born political scientist, founder of the Berlin Hochschulle, Weimar diplomat. In 1933, Simons immigrated to the United States on a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship to become a faculty member of the University in Exile. He served as the president of The New School (1950-1960).

University in Exile

Under the leadership of Alvin Johnson and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and philanthropist Hiram Halle, the New School opened the University in Exile in 1933. The University in Exile, the New School's first graduate division, served as a haven for German intellectuals and scholars before and during World War II. The initial positions were created for nine scholars: five economists (Karl Brandt, Gerhard Colm, Arthur Feiler, Eduard Heimann, and Emil Lederer); two psychologists (Max Wertheimer and Erich von Hornbostel, who was also a leading musicologist); one expert in social policy (Frieda Wunderlich); and one sociologist (Hans Speier). In 1934, the University in Exile received authorization from the Board of Regents of the State of New York to offer masters and doctoral degrees, and in 1935, this division was formalized as the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science.

Joseph Urban (1872-1933)

Austrian born architect and scenic designer; architect and designer of the 66 West 12th Street building for The New School (1929-1931.) During his prolific career, in addition to working on private residential and commercial commissions, Urban created scenic designs for theater and opera houses in Vienna and throughout Europe and for the Boston Opera Company; he worked with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, and he also created designs for the Ziegfield Follies, numerous Broadway shows, and Hollywood films.

Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929)

American economist and sociologist. In addition to being a prolific writer, perhaps best known for his book, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Veblen was also one of the co-founders and core faculty members of The New School.

Frieda Wunderlich (1884-1965)

German born economist and politician; the only female faculty member of the University in Exile in 1933. Wunderlich achieved international recognition for her research and publications on labor and social policy, including women’s work.