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