Warbeke papers

The John Martyn Warbeke papers consist of published and unpublished writings, lecture and speech notes, research notes, notes on other speakers, course records, correspondence, original music scores, materials from The Holyoke (Massachusetts) League of Arts and Crafts, memorabilia, biographical information, and photographs. Most of the material relates to his work as a teacher and scholar at Mount Holyoke, 1906-1944. His published and unpublished writings, 1907-1946, deal with philosophic questions such as "Religion and Peace", "Are We Morally Delinquent?" and "The Limit of the Judgment of Value". Writing across the span of two world wars, he was particularly concerned with the question of peace as well as the relationship between war and religion. Lecture and speech notes, 1913-1944, include notes for courses he taught at Mount Holyoke and Amherst concerning "Aesthetics", "Ethics", "Philosophy of Religion", and "History of Psychology". His research notes and notes on speakers, ca. 1911-1944, include notes about books and about speakers such as Bertrand Russell, Rudolph Eucken and Arthur Hass. Correspondence, 1906-1944, includes several letters from friends and a 1916 draft of a letter to the editor of the "New York Times" arguing that liberal arts colleges should not be seen as businesses but rather as tools for academic freedom. Also included are the responses to his 1923 questionnaire asking "Has the Faculty of a College of Liberal Arts a Religious Function?" and a copy of a letter sent by Warbeke to the Mount Holyoke Board of Trustees in 1935 recommending the selection of a man to replace Mary Woolley as president of the College. Three music scores in the collection are original works composed by Warbeke between ca. 1910 and 1950. Material from The Holyoke (Massachusetts) League of Arts and Crafts, 1925-1929, consists of membership lists, by-laws and constitution, letters written by Warbeke to the members, and exhibition programs. Course records date from Warbeke's years as a student, 1898-1906, and consist of a course outline and two notebooks, one of them in German. Memorabilia, 1907-1950, consists of programs from concerts and recitals in which Warbeke played the organ, awards of recognition, a passport, a court paper recognizing Warbeke's wife Norah as the executrix of his will, a plaque recognizing ten years of service at Mount Holyoke College, a 1907 diploma from Universität Liepzig, and several 1911 letters of recommendation written for him by the faculty and administration of Williams College. Biographical information, 1936-1965, consists of newspaper articles about him. Photographs, ca. 1930-1950, include both formal and informal pictures of Warbeke alone and with others as well as negatives of photographs.