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Selver (Charlotte) papers
HPA Mss 33  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access Restrictions
  • Use Restrictions
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Acronyms
  • Related Items Items held at the UCSB Library

  • Title: Charlotte Selver papers
    Identifier/Call Number: HPA Mss 33
    Language of Material: The collection is in English and German.
    Contributing Institution: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
    Physical Description: 118.13 Linear Feet; (20 document boxes, 60 cartons, 8 oversize boxes, 8 shoeboxes, 54 audiocassettes, 370 audiotape reels, 6 film reels)
    Creator: Selver, Charlotte
    Date (inclusive): approximately 1920-2003
    Date (bulk): approximately 1950-1999
    Abstract: The Charlotte Selver papers circa 20th century (bulk approximately 1950 to 1999) consist of the personal and professional correspondence, writings, transcripts of classes and workshops, photographs, personal items, and sound records of Charlotte Selver, music educator, originator of the concept of sensory awareness and leading member of the Sensory Awareness Foundation. Charlotte introduced sensory awareness to the U.S. She was closely connected to the Esalen Institute and San Francisco Zen Center. Her work is continued by the Sensory Awareness Foundation. These papers also contain material related to Charles V.W. Brooks, Selver's husband, author, and Sensory Awareness instructor
    Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library

    Access Restrictions

    Many of the photographs in this collection are brittle and will require special handling. Please contact the UC Santa Barbara Department of Special Research Collections in advance for access.

    Use Restrictions

    Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of Item], Charlotte Selver papers, HPA Mss 33. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

    Acquisition Information

    Transferred to UCSB Special Collections from the Sensory Awareness Foundation.

    Biographical Note

    Charlotte Selver (April 4, 1901 in Ruhrort (Duisburg), Germany – August 22, 2003 in Muir Beach, California; née Wittgenstein) German music educator, originator of the concept of sensory awareness and leading member of the Sensory Awareness Foundation began her studies with gymnastics teacher Elsa Gindler and music teacher Heinrich Jacoby in Germany in the 1920s. Their teaching emphasized the development of the natural gifts of each person, at any age. Aspects of this emphasis was carried over into sensory awareness, particularly the conscious sensing of the body and the deliberate following of physical sensation. Emigrating from Germany to New York in 1938, Selver continued her work in this field, which was to have a strong influence on the Human Potential Movement and humanistic psychology, as well as physical therapy and physical psychotherapy. Selver instructed students in sensory awareness in many locations across the United States and the world from 1930s into the 2000s, attracting leaders in the fields psychology, physical therapy, and philosophy, such as Alan Watts, Moshe Feldenkrais, Fritz Perls, and Ida Rolf. Many of Selver's workshops and classes were conducted at the Esalen Institute near Big Sur, California, where her first "experimental workshop" took place in 1963. Selver married Charles V. W. Brooks in 1963, with whom she lived at Muir Beach, California, up until her death in 2003. Together they taught classes and workshops. Based on these experiences, Charles authored Sensory Awareness, describing his work with her as an instructor and the meaning of sensory awareness as a life practice.Cha rlotte Selver died at the age of 102. Her work is continued by the Sensory Awareness Foundation, in San Rafael, California.

    Scope and Content

    The Charlotte Selver papers circa 20th century (bulk approximately 1950 to 1999) consist of the personal and professional correspondence, writings, transcripts of classes and workshops, photographs, personal items, and sound records of Charlotte Selver (1901-2003) generated throughout the course of her career as instructor and leader in the field of sensory awareness.
    A large portion of the papers comprises transcripts of interviews and lectures starting in 1959, through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s in many different locations, including New York City, Monhegan, Esalen, Green Gulch, and Tassajara.
    Personal and professional correspondence ranges from the 1940s through the 2000s and is in both English and German. Similarly, photographs range from as early as the 1920s all the way to 2003. Many of the photographs document Selver's classes in body and sensory awareness.
    Miscellaneous materials comprise a wide range of items including lectures, manuscripts, reports, programs, publications, notes, guest books, personal items, schedules, bibliographies, clippings, scattered correspondence and transcripts, and pamphlets. Many of these items document her work with Alan Watts, Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Heinrich Jacoby, Elsa Gindler, Gertrude Heller, Mary Alice Roche, and Ruth Veselko, among many others.
    A large collection of audiotape reels and audicassettes accompany the transcripts. Among these materials is a sizeable group of lectures and workshops conducted by Alan Watts, both alone and in conjunction with Charlotte Selver.

    Arrangement

    These materials have been arranged into the following series: 1. Transcripts, 2. Correspondence, 3. Bulletins & Newsletters, 4. Photographs & Posters, 5. Miscellaneous, 6. Audiovisual, 7. Additions, and 8. Charles V.W. Brooks.

    Acronyms

    CS = Charlotte Selver, CB = Charles Brooks, CSF = Charlotte Selver Foundation, AW = Alan Watts, MAR = Mary Alice Roche, RV = Ruth Veselko, SAF = Sensory Awareness Foundation

    Related Items Items held at the UCSB Library

    Brooks, Charles Van Wyck.Sensory awareness: the rediscovery of experiencing / New York : Viking Press, 1974. Main Library BF320 .B7 1974
    Collected writings on sensory awareness /Caldwell, NJ : Charlotte Selver Foundation, c1984. Special Collections BF311 .C559 1984 [Non-circulating]
    Bulletin (Charlotte Selver Foundation) Bulletin / Caldwell, N.J.: The Foundation, 1971-1985. Special Collections BF320 .B85 [Non-circulating]
    Newsletter (Charlotte Selver Foundation) Newsletter /Caldwell, N.J. : The Foundation, Special Collections BF320 .N49 [Non-circulating]
    SAF newsletter.Mill Valley, CA : The Foundation,Special Collections BF320 .S24 [Non-circulating]

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Awareness
    Consciousness
    Senses and sensation
    Human potential movement
    Humanistic psychology
    Audiocassettes
    Audiotapes
    Bibliographies
    Clippings (information artifacts)
    Correspondence
    Film reels
    Interviews
    Lectures
    Manuscripts (documents)
    Pamphlets
    Photographs
    Programs (documents)
    Publications (documents)
    Reports
    Transcripts
    Workshops (seminars)
    Writings (documents)
    Selver, Charlotte
    Brooks, Charles Van Wyck
    Gindler, Elsa, 1885-1961
    Heller, Gertrude
    Jacoby, Heinrich
    Roche, Mary Alice
    Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, 1870-1966
    Veselko, Ruth
    Watts, Alan
    Sensory Awareness Foundation