Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- E.J. Applewhite papers
- Dates:
- 1945-2004, bulk 1970-1985
- Abstract:
- The E.J. Applewhite papers document Applewhite's literary career and his collaborative partnership with Buckminster Fuller, including their work on the book Synergetics. The collection includes business and personal correspondence; transcripts of interviews and talks given by Fuller; manuscript materials for books written by Applewhite and Synergetics; subject and topical files; and a limited amount of biographical matter for Applewhite and Fuller.
- Extent:
- 74.44 Linear Feet ; 123 manuscript boxes; 14 record cartons; 28 flat boxes; 1 card box; 1 map folder;
- Language:
- English .
Background
- Biographical / historical:
-
Edgar Jarratt Applewhite (A.K.A. E.J. Applewhite or Ed Applewhite) was born in 1919, and grew up in Newport News, Virginia. He graduated from Yale in 1941, and later went to Harvard Business School. After Navy service on an aircraft carrier during World War II, he joined Buckminster Fuller in his mass-production housing project with the Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas from 1945-1946, in personnel and public relations. In 1947, Applewhite joined the Central Intelligence Agency, serving in Bonn and Beirut with the U.S. Foreign Service during the Marshall Plan era. Prior to retiring from his government career at the age of 50, he was Deputy Inspector General of CIA and authored reports for the Agency's Director, Robert S. McNamara.
During the late 1960s, Applewhite reunited with Buckminster Fuller and fulfilled administrative and public affairs roles, writing transcripts of speeches and interviews, making travel arrangements, and maintaining correspondence with various associates of Fuller's. Applewhite also assisted in matters concerning the foreign publishing and reprint rights of Fuller's works, and in the administration and planning for the care and custody of the Fuller archives and chronofile. The most notable outcome of Applewhite and Fuller's partnership is the publication of Fuller's major work on Geometry and Metaphysics: Synergetics (1975) and Synergetics 2 (1979). Over a period of 10 years, Applewhite was an editorial assistant to Fuller and collaborated with him in helping to organize and edit these works, and he wrote about the experience in his book, Cosmic Fishing: An Account of Writing Synergetics with Buckminster Fuller(1977).
Applewhite publicly described himself as a "layman" with amateur interests in architecture, geometry and philosophy on which he maintained extensive files. He wrote occasional book reviews for the Washington Post; and freelance articles for World Book, the National Park Service, and the magazine, TWA Ambassador. While living in Washington D.C. with his wife, Joyce Zinsser, he published Washington Itself: An informal guide to the capital of the United States (1981).
Prior to Fuller's death in 1983, Applewhite shepherded to publication, Cosmography: a Posthumous Scenario for the Future of Humanity with Kiyoshi Kuromiya. Applewhite also oversaw the publication of the Synergetics Dictionary (1986) and in 1991, he published his final work, Paradise Mislaid: Birth, Death and the human predicament of being biological (originally titled Matters of Life and Death). In his later years, Applewhite continued as a cataloger of works influenced by Fuller and maintained correspondence with some of his close associates. Applewhite passed away in 2005 in Georgetown, Virginia.
- Acquisition information:
- This collection was given by Edgar Applewhite to Stanford University, Special Collections in 1999, 2001, and 2008.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection is closely arranged according to Applewhite's original filing system and consists of 13 series: Applewhite biographical, Books by Applewhite, Fuller biographical, Fuller topical files, Correspondence, Collaborators and Associates, Design Institute, Buckminster Fuller Institute, Synergetics, Tensegrity, Publications, and Models and Artifacts. Each series is described at the individual level, and the contents for each are listed by folder or box title.
- Physical facet:
- Documents, audio and video recordings, newsprint, bound materials, posters, and artifacts.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-01-15 13:43:36 -0800 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research, with the exception of born-digital materials, which are closed until processed. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.
- Terms of access:
-
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
- Location of this collection:
-
Department of Special Collections, Green Library557 Escondido MallStanford, CA 94305-6004, US
- Contact:
- (650) 725-1022