Ernest Dichter Papers - Hagley Museum and Library

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Accession 2407 ERNEST DICHTER PAPERS Correspondence SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE (cont’d) was Dichter’s term for lists of contacts and correspondents in a particular country. There are a few minor exchanges with foreign dignitaries such as Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky and Mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kollek. The “Downstairs Office Files,” 15 linear feet, represent the core of Dichter’s correspondence as it was moved from the Castle to the downstairs office in his last home at Cortlandt Manor. While the span date of the files runs from a 1937 letter from the Viennese psychoanalyst Dr. Wilhelm Stekel (1868-1940) all the way to 1989, the vast majority date between 1972 and 1985, the period in which Dr. Dichter had repurchased his business from Lehigh Valley Industries, Inc., and still retained a large number of American and foreign clients. Regrettably, the presumably equally large volume of Dichter’s pre-1972 correspondence has been lost. As noted, the largest part of this correspondence deals with Dichter’s clients, that is, it supports the research proposals and studies. There are also a much smaller number of topical files of materials collected by Dichter on such subjects as Watergate and cultural bellwethers like the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, plus “fan mail” from a wide range of former students and admirers. The files also document Dr. Dichter’s role as a teacher of marketing at Mercy College and Nova University, including course outlines and copies of some students’ seminar papers, and his relationship with Herman Kahn and the Hudson Institute. Lastly, the files contain some limited information on Dichter’s participation in local community affairs. The “Upstairs Office Files,” 6.5 linear feet, are the portion of his correspondence that Dichter kept in what was, during his last years, his primary work space. Although some earlier files, dating back as early as 1965, were brought there for reference, the bulk of the material begins in the mid 1980s. In fact, many letters were simply collected in files designated “Pending,” reflecting the unfinished nature of things when Dichter was no longer able to work. There are also a few letters regarding the settling of some of his affairs, and a collection of obituaries. The files basically represent the final parts of material contained in other series, including all the other correspondence. They cover Dichter’s late work for both foreign and domestic clients, his teaching and lecturing positions (including some student papers), and dealings with publishers and journals. There are also files relating to Dichter’s attempts to have his work continued by an academic institute and to sell his archive, a limited exchange with Daniel Horowitz, who was working on a Dichter biography, and post-1980 “fan mail.” Also of note is correspondence regarding a program produced by PBS television station WNET Channel 13 in New York on cultural figures who came to the U.S. to escape the Nazis in the 1930s, and an official medal bestowed upon Dichter by the Austrian government in 1990. 102
Accession 2407 ERNEST DICHTER PAPERS Correspondence SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE (cont’d) The “Files on Publications,” 5.5 linear feet, consists primarily of Dichter’s correspondence with his publishers regarding book contracts, foreign literary rights, assignment of copyright, reviews of Dichter’s books, and similar issues. This series also includes some drafts, and most of the material dealing with the Sacha books published by Hachette in Paris has been collected here. The oldest item is the script for a 1946 radio program, “So You Think You Know People.” This series also includes billings, notes, and correspondence covering the production and sale of Dichter’s newsletter Findings from 1975 to 1988, which among other things contain evidence of some American firms’ abandoning Dichter as they concluded that his insights had become stale. “Files on Operations,” 2 linear feet, are a miscellany of items relating to the operations of Dichter’s Institute under its several successive names. They include some of Dichter’s personal address books and appointment books (1954-1968), applications for employment, paste-ups and copies of various Institute brochures, client and contact lists, business cards, lists of interviewers and researchers, instructions and forms for conducting depth interviews and certain studies, lists of Dichter publications for sale, and files on promotional activities. Of particular note are a 1955 Wechsler Adult Intelligence (IQ) test marketed by the Psychological Corporation, and trade catalogs for other psychological tests and apparatus. 103
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Hagley Museum and Library P.O. Box
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HISTORY Accession 2407 ERNEST DICHT
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HISTORY (cont’d) Accession 2407 E
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Indexes to Studies: (Cont’d) B-21
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SERIES II NEWSLETTERS Accession 240
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SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE Accession 24
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SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE Accession 24
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