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Graboi (Nina) Papers
MS.225
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Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Nina Graboi papers
Creator:
Graboi, Nina, 1918-
Identifier/Call Number: MS.225
Physical Description:
10 Linear Feet
16 half cartons, 1 flat box
Date (inclusive): 1941-1999
Abstract: This collection documents the life of
Nina Graboi, encompassing her immersion in the American counterculture and psychedelic
movements and her career as a writer during the 1960s through the 1990s. It contains play
scripts and correspondence related to Graboi's early work in the theater industry, including
translations of plays written by European playwrights like Jacques Audiberti. Regarding
Graboi's professional life and recreational activities within the counterculture movement,
it consists of news clippings, published articles, correspondence, transcripts, audiovisual
material, printed material, and ephemera from various organizations, conferences, and
events. Some of these materials pertain to significant organizations Graboi led such as
Third Force Lecture Bureau, Timothy Leary's League for Spiritual Discovery, and the
Woodstock Transformation Center as well as her work with Ralph Abraham, a UC Santa Cruz
mathematics professor. Many materials are related to Woodstock, New York, where Graboi lived
from 1969 to 1979 and Santa Cruz, California, where she lived from 1979 until her death in
1999. The collection holds Graboi's published and unpublished writings including plays,
poems, essays, personal journals, and articles. It includes draft manuscripts,
correspondence, and press publications for Graboi's autobiography,
One Foot in the
Future: A Woman's Spiritual Journey
, published in 1991.
Physical Location: Collection stored off-site at NRLF:
Advance notice is required for access.
Language of Material:
English , German ,
French .
Collection open for research. Audiovisual media is unavailable until reformatted. Contact
Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access to audiovisual media.
Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs.
Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair
use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to
determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more
information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
Nina Graboi papers, MS 225, Special Collections and Archives, University Library,
University of California, Santa Cruz.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Graboi family, 2003.
Nina Graboi, formerly Gusti Schreyer, was born on December 8, 1918 in Vienna, Austria.
Graboi fled Vienna in 1938 and eventually immigrated to the United States in 1941. During
the 1960s, Graboi became involved in the counterculture and psychedelic movements,
developing relationships with key figures like Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), and
Terence McKenna. From the 1960s through the 1990s, Graboi wrote extensively about her
experiences taking psychedelic drugs and her spiritual beliefs. In 1991, her autobiography,
One Foot in the Future: A Woman's Spiritual Journey, was published. Graboi
passed away in 1999 at her home in Santa Cruz, California.
As a child, Graboi enjoyed a middle-class upbringing in the Jewish community of
Leopoldstadt. Due to Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, Graboi fled Vienna.
Through a distant cousin, she was able to receive a permit to migrate to London and work as
a domestic servant. During an extended visit to Antwerp, she met Michel Graboi, a Jewish
refugee from Russia who worked as a scarf maker in Belgium. They were married in 1939. In
1940, when Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, the Grabois escaped to France with the goal of
eventually immigrating to the United States. Along with other Jewish refugees, the Grabois
left France in 1941. They were detained in Vichy-controlled Casablanca, Morocco and held in
the Qued Zem detention camp. In 1941, they arrived in the United States. Upon arriving,
Graboi changed her first name to Nina. The Grabois settled in New York state and had two
children. They immersed themselves in an upper-middle class community of Jewish refugees in
Long Island, New York. During the 1950s, the Grabois became involved in the local theater
industry.
In the 1950s, Graboi became disillusioned with her life in Long Island and began to study
South and East Asian philosophy and religion. In 1965, she joined a weekly spiritual group
led by Virginia Glenn, who later helped found the Human Potential Movement. In 1966, Graboi
founded Third Force Lecture Bureau, which promoted and presented speakers in New York City.
Her clients included central figures in the counterculture movement including Alan Watts and
Yoko Ono. Glenn introduced Graboi to Timothy Leary and Larry Bogart, who was doing public
relations for Leary after his arrest for marijuana possession. Through Bogart, Graboi met
Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) and Ralph Metzner. In 1966, Graboi left her husband Michel and
became increasingly involved in the psychedelic movement. That year she took LSD for the
first time in the Meditation House at Leary's and Alpert's Millbrook estate. She began to
travel to Millbrook regularly and developed a close friendship with Leary. In 1966, Graboi
and Leary co-founded the League for Spiritual Discovery in Greenwich Village. As director of
the center, Graboi sought to educate people in the potential of psychedelics and prevent
their misuse. In early 1968, Graboi left her position as director and the center was closed.
In 1969, Graboi moved to Woodstock, New York and opened a boutique where she sold crafts
and goods she imported from South Asia. She founded the Woodstock Transformation Center and
taught classes related to New Age spirituality. In 1979, Graboi moved to Santa Cruz,
California where she lived until 1999. She worked as an assistant for University of
California, Santa Cruz mathematics professor, Ralph Abraham. She also organized events and
gave public talks focused on topics related to psychedelics and New Age spirituality.
Graboi wrote extensively about her experiences in the counterculture and psychedelic
movements and her spiritual beliefs. Some of her writings were published in periodicals like
the
Woodstock Time and
Woodstock Aquarian, among others. In
1991, her autobiography,
One Foot in the Future: A Woman's Spiritual Journey,
was published by Aerial Press. Graboi died from lung cancer on December 13, 1999.
This collection documents the life of Nina Graboi, encompassing her immersion in the
American counterculture and psychedelic movements and her career as a writer during the
1960s through the 1990s. It contains play scripts and correspondence related to Graboi's
early work in the theater industry, including translations of plays written by European
playwrights like Jacques Audiberti. Regarding Graboi's professional life and recreational
activities within the counterculture movement, it consists of news clippings, published
articles, correspondence, transcripts, audiovisual material, printed material, and ephemera
from various organizations, conferences, and events. Some of these materials pertain to
significant organizations Graboi led such as Third Force Lecture Bureau, Timothy Leary's
League for Spiritual Discovery, and the Woodstock Transformation Center as well as her work
with Ralph Abraham, a UC Santa Cruz mathematics professor. Many materials are related to
Woodstock, New York, where Graboi lived from 1969 to 1979 and Santa Cruz, California, where
she lived from 1979 until her death in 1999. The collection holds Graboi's published and
unpublished writings including plays, poems, essays, personal journals, and articles. It
includes draft manuscripts, correspondence, and press publications for Graboi's
autobiography,
One Foot in the Future: A Woman's Spiritual Journey, published
in 1991.
In addition, it contains personal correspondence and collected files that document Graboi's
relationships with influential individuals in the psychedelic movement such as Timothy
Leary, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), and Terence McKenna. The forms of the materials in the
collection are largely textual, but there are also photographs (prints and negatives), audio
cassettes, VHS, drawings, and ephemera. The collection primarily covers Graboi's activities
during the 1960s through the 1990s. It includes few records regarding her early life in
Vienna and immigration to the United States.
This collection is arranged in six series:
- Series 1: Biographical and personal files
- Series 2: Professional and recreational activities
- Series 3: Writings
- Series 4: Correspondence
- Series 5: Collected subject files
- Series 6: Audiovisual materials
Selected serial publications collected by Graboi were removed from the collection and may
be found by searching "Graboi, Nina" in UCSC Library Search.
This collection was processed by Meleia Simon-Reynolds with assistance from Alix Norton in
the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART), 2023.
Graboi's autobiography,
One foot in the future: a woman's spiritual journey,
can be found in UCSC Library Search (Call number BL73.G72 A3 1991).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Spiritual biography -- United States --
20th century
LSD (Drug)
United States -- Social conditions --
1960-1980
Hallucinogenic drugs
Gips, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Helaine), 1922-2001
Leary, Timothy, 1920-1996