Collection inventory

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Malcolm S. Knowles Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


The adult education holdings are collectively known as the
Alexander N. Charters Library of Resources for Educators of Adults.

Finding aid created by: -
Date: -

Biographical History

Malcolm S. Knowles (1913-1997) was an American adult education scholar, consultant, and professor.

He was born August 24, 1913 in Livingston, Montana. Following his graduation from Palm Beach, Florida High School in 1930, he enrolled in Harvard College where he obtained his A.B. in 1934. He completed his academic studies at the University of Chicago by earning an M.A. in 1949 and a Ph.D. in 1960. He married Hulda Fornell in 1935 by whom he had two children; Eric (1941) and Barbara E. Hartl (1946).

During his early career years, Knowles held administrative positions with the National Youth Administration of Massachusetts and YMCAs in Boston, Detroit and Chicago. From 1951-1959 he was Executive Director of the Adult Education Association of the U.S.A. (AEA/USA). Under his leadership, Knowles helped to establish the Commission of Professors of Adult Education as an affiliated association of the AEA/USA. From 1960-1974 he was a Professor of Education at Boston University. With the start of the fall semester, 1974 he taught as Professor of Adult and Community Education at North Carolina State University in Raleigh until his retirement with Professor Emeritus status in 1979.

After retirement, he continued his work in adult education by consulting with numerous companies and associations, corresponding globally with students and professionals, and teaching workshops across the country. He was particularly active during these later years at the Fielding Institute (now Fielding Graduate University), and the University of Arkansas until his death in 1997. Over his life, he wrote several noteworthy books: Informal Adult Education (1950); Teaching Adults in Informal Courses (1954); How to Develop Better Leaders (1955); Introduction to Group Dynamics (1959); Handbook of Adult Education in the U.S. (1960); The Adult Education Movement in the U.S. (1962); Higher Adult Education in the U.S. (1969); The Modern Practice of Adult Education (1970); The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (1973); Self-Directed Learning: A Guide for Learners and Teachers (1975); A History of the Adult Education Movement in the U.S. (1977); Andragogy in Action (1985); and Using Learning Contracts: Practical Approaches to Individualizing and Structuring Learning (1986). He has authored many other monographs, book chapters and journal articles.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Malcolm S. Knowles Papers contains associations/organizations, audio-visual material (audiocassette, reel-to-reel, and video tapes, films, a DVD, and graphics), biographical data, correspondence, meetings files, printed and published material, scrapbooks, speeches, subject files, workshop files, and writings. The collection includes not only Dr. Knowles' papers, but also papers from various individuals, associations, organizations, and corporations concerned with adult education.

Associations/organizations includes all information specific to an entity with which Knowles had some affiliation. Designated materials are annual reports, informational pamphlets, correspondence, constitutions, and directories.

Audio-visual material is grouped by type and contains a DVD, graphics, films, and tapes: videocassette, audiocassette, and reel-to-reel.

Biographical material includes photographs, personal and financial documents, memorabilia, plaques, honors, awards, agendas, newspapers, and writings about Knowles, like articles, biographies, and obituaries.

Correspondence comprises business and personal communications. Business correspondence is grouped by subject matter, years, or names of recipients (paired with an affiliated organization). Personal correspondence contains daily communications to and from Knowles, arranged chronologically.

Meetings files contains files that Knowles maintained for conferences and other meetings which he attended. The meetings are identified by their sponsors.

Printed material comprises substantive works such as organization or individual publications, articles, journals, papers, and grant proposals.

Published material comprises material that has an identifiable copyright.

Scrapbooks chronicle Knowles' late adolescence and early career years.

Speeches contain addresses by Knowles and other adult educators.

Subject files include materials originally grouped together based on a common topic; previous folder titles retained.

Workshop files consist of documentation for programs that Knowles conducted and video workshops he helped make.

Writings by Knowles contains articles, books, journal pieces, book reviews, and other texts authored by Knowles. Also includes publishers' materials like correspondence, royalties, financial information, edits, and reviews with companies distributing Knowles’ work.

Arrangement of the Collection

This collection is arranged alphabetically, the only exception being the subseries grouping Correspondence-personal, which is arranged chronologically.

Due to the arrangement of material by type, a given individual or organization may appear in several of the series -- for example, Boston University appears in Associations/organizations, Printed material, Speeches, and Workshop files. The researcher is advised to review the entire finding aid to ensure no relevant material is overlooked.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Access to audiovisual material requires advance notice to produce a use copy.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

A large number of books came with the collection, a complete list of which can be found in Biographical material: List of books in Knowles' library. For the most part, these were duplicates of existing holdings and during Aug 2006 reprocessing they were discarded. A few were sent to Rare Books for cataloging and may be located through Libraries Search , by searching for "Malcolm S. Knowles" as a keyword.

The library holds a considerable number of collections related to adult and continuing education. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.

Subject Headings

Persons

Aker, George F.
Boone, Edgar John, 1930-
Boucouvalas, Marcie, 1947-
Caffarella, Rosemary S. (Rosemary Shelly), 1946-
Cheren, Mark
Delahaye, Brian L., 1946-
Dickinson, Dee
Dillon, Linda, 1948-
DuBois, Eugene Eli, 1937-
DuBois, Philip H. (Philip Hunter), 1903-1998.
Dultz, Ron.
Fendt, Paul F.
Glaser, Rollin O.
Grabowski, Stanley M.
Houle, Cyril O. (Cyril Orvin), 1913-1998.
Kidd, J. R. (James Robbins), 1915-1982.
Klevins, Chester.
Knowles, Malcolm S. (Malcolm Shepherd), 1913-1997.
Knox, Alan B. (Alan Boyd), 1931-
Mezirow, Jack, 1923-2014.
Okes, Imogene E.
Paisley, Matilda G.
Prosser, Bo.
Rossman, Mark H., 1940-
Savićević, Dušan M.
Vella, Jane Kathryn, 1931-
Wientge, King M.
Wiser, Betty H. (Betty Hutchinson)

Corporate Bodies

Adult Education Association.
American Association for Adult Education.
American Association for Adult and Continuing Education.
American Library Association.
American Society for Training and Development.
Boston University.
Commission of Professors of Adult Education.
Continuing Library Education Network and Exchange.
Cooperative Assessment of Experiential Learning (U.S.)
Council for the Advancement of Experiential Learning (U.S.)
General Electric Company.
Girl Scouts of the United States of America
International Congress of University Adult Education.
International Federation of Training and Development Organizations.
Massachusetts Association of Adult and Continuing Education.
McBer and Company.
National University Consortium (U.S.)
National University Extension Association.
North Carolina State University.
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.
United States. Department of Education.
United States. Department of Health and Human Services.
University of Arkansas.
YMCA of the USA.
YWCA.

Subjects

Adult education -- Study and teaching.
Adult education -- United States.
Andragogy.
Educators -- United States.
Professional education.
Training manuals.

Genres and Forms

Annual reports.
Articles.
Audiotapes.
Bibliographies.
Correspondence.
DVDs.
Directories.
Manuals (instructional materials)
Newsletters.
Pamphlets.
Reports.
Scrapbooks.
Sound recordings.
Speeches (documents)
U-matic.
Videotapes.

Occupations

Consultants.
Educators.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Malcolm S. Knowles Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Malcolm Shepherd Knowles, 1980, 1986.

Gift of Ed Holton, 2013.

Gift of Eric S. Knowles, 2017, 2019.

During processing (Aug 2006), the three boxes of adult ed books were sorted and either discarded -- if we had them in Summit -- or sent for cataloging in the rare books collection.

Table of Contents

Associations/organizations

Audio-visual material

Biographical material

Correspondence

Meetings files

Printed material

Published material

Scrapbooks

Speeches

Subject files

Workshop files

Writings by Knowles

Inventory