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Bank Street College Archives: Record Group 10, Subgroup 3

RECORD GROUP 10, Subgroup 3
Barbara Biber Papers (1927-1993)

Biographical Note
Scope and Content Note
Descriptions
Container List

Photo: Barbara Biber in a 1973 photo.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Barbara Biber (1903-1993) joined the staff of the Bureau of Educational Experiments in 1928 and became one of its key members, serving on the Working Council and the Executive Committee and in numerous other policy-making and administrative capacities. She became chair of the Studies and Publications Committee, precursor of the Research Division, in 1933 and served as chair of the Research Division until 1963. That year she was named Distinguished Research scholar at Bank Street and continued her research in mental health and child development. Biber continued to play a role at Bank Street until her death in 1993.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The papers of Barbara Biber reflect her leadership roles at the Bureau of Educational Experiments and Bank Street College and her contributions to the study of the psychological development of children and related fields. This subgroup consists of biographical materials, correspondence, and records of research studies, faculty and administrative activities, courses taught, and the work of her students. Also included are drafts of lectures, papers presented at professional meetings, publications, and research papers by Biber's Bank Street colleagues.

DESCRIPTIONS

SERIES A - Correspondence (1931-1988) contains general correspondence regarding Bank Street College faculty affairs and other professional activities. The bulk of the correspondence is dated 1963 to 1979. Arrangement is chronological.

SERIES B - Lectures, Conferences and Publications (1930-1987) contains records of Biber's participation in professional conferences and her publication activities. Includes announcements, agendas, minutes and notes from conferences attended by Biber; notes and drafts of her presentations and lectures; and correspondence regarding conferences. Also includes copies of articles and other published materials together with notes, drafts and correspondence regarding publications.

SERIES C - Research Studies (1934-1962) includes two major early studies of children's psychological development: the Sevens Study and the Nines Study.

SERIES D - Personal and Biographical Materials (1934-1993) includes resumes, bibliographies of written work, notes, and presentations by Biber on Bank Street College history, and a 1934 work diary. Also included are material from Bank Street College tributes to Biber, Biber's honorary doctorate from Bank Street, and Biber's notes about the organization of her papers for the Bank Street College Archives.

SERIES E - Bank Street College Faculty Affairs (1927-1980) contains records of Biber's service as a member of the faculty of the Bureau of Educational Experiments and Bank Street College and her participation on faculty committees.

SERIES F - Course Records (1927-1972) contains records of Biber's teaching activities, including course records and background material used in her teaching. Includes course syllabi, class schedules, and lecture and class notes for courses taught by Biber.

SERIES G - Student Papers (1943-1960) contains papers by Biber's students, arranged alphabetically by student name, with academic year noted. Most of the papers are written observations and analyses of children, prepared by students in Biber's Child Development class, topic papers from her Learning and Growth class, and papers from individual study projects.

SERIES H - Professional Affiliations and Consulting Projects (1945-1987) contains records of Biber's professional affiliations, research contracts, and consulting positions outside of Bank Street. Includes correspondence, notes, drafts, outlines of research, and meeting minutes and agendas.

SERIES I - Research Papers- Bank Street Staff and Students (1946-1987) contains research papers by Biber's colleagues and former students including some correspondence and critical notes by Biber. Most of these papers are from the 1970s. Arranged alphabetically by author.

SERIES J - Abstracts File (1959) contains Biber's personal file of bibliographic references, and her summaries, outlines, and abstracts of articles and books. Arranged under eight subject headings and are cross-referenced.

SERIES K - Oral History Interviews and Related Correspondence (1974-1988) includes correspondence, transcripts, and notes on Biber's interviews with Edith Gordon and Joyce Antler.

SERIES L - Audio-visual Materials contains unprocessed audio-visual materials.

CONTAINER LIST

 

Box	Subgroup	Series	Title/Contents	Date
3	3	A	Correspondence, 28 folders	1931-1978
4			Correspondence, 25 folders	1937-1988
		B1	Conferences, speaking engagements and related correspondence, 18 folders	1948-1963
5			Conferences, speaking engagements and related correspondence, 49 folders	1964-1970
6			Conferences, speaking engagements and related correspondence, 49 folders	1970-1980
7			Conferences, speaking engagements and related correspondence, 27 folders	1981-1987
			Refused speaking engagements, 5 folders	1954-1975
		B2	Publications and related correspondence, 26 folders	1925-1965
8			Publications and related correspondence, 47 folders	1964-1987
9		B3	Collected writings on early education and psychological development, 18 folders	1934-1977
		B4	The Nursery School Book, 10 folders	n.d.
10			The Nursery School Book, 44 folders	n.d.
		C1	Sevens Study, 15 folders	1935-1941
		C2	Nines Study, 12 folders	1941-1945
11			Nines Study, 49 folders	1941-1943
12			Nines Study, 45 folders	1942
13			Nines Study, 44 folders	1942
14			Nines Study, Oversized, 2 folders	1942
15			Nines Study, 14 folders	1942
		C3	Concepts Study, 21 folders	1934-1949
16			Concepts Study, 42 folders	1934-1938
		C4	Other Research Projects, 5 folders	1939-1962
17			Other Research Projects, 31 folders	1925-1960
		D	Personal and biographical materials, tributes, 22 folders	1946-1993
18			2 scrapbooks of tributes, compiled for 50th Anniversary	1978
19			Diplomas
20		E1	Committee Records, 20 folders	1927-1972
		E2	Staff Memoranda, Minutes & Reports, 10 folders	1949-1979
		E3	Faculty Administrative Records, 3 folders	c. 1920s-1930s
21			Faculty Administrative Records, 54 folders	1931-1981
		E4	Harriet Johnson Nursery School,  7 folders	1931-1959, 1974
		E5	Annotated Chronology, 1 folder	1952-1953
		E6	Lucy Sprague Mitchell, 3 folders	1967-1970
		E7	Charlotte Winsor Papers & Memorial, 6 folders	1946-1986
22			Charlotte Winsor Papers & Memorial, 6 folders, 3 folders	1970-1982, n.d.
		E8	Advisors’ Meetings, 23 folders	1948-1980
		E9	Guidance Program Study, 14  folders	1952-1966
23		F1	Course Materials, 48 folders	1941-1967
24			Course Materials, 17 folders	1954-1975
		F2	Resource Files- Child Development, 16 folders	1927-1959
25			Resource Files- Child Development, 10 folders	1931-1959
		F3	Resource Files- By Subject, 33 folders	1927-1959
		G	Student Papers, A-Be, 8 folders	1944-1960
26			Student Papers, Bl-Z, 76 folders	1939-1960
			Miscellaneous Student Papers, 6 folders	1951-1952, n.d.
			Children’s Drawings, 1 folder	n.d.
27		H1	Joint Commission on the Mental Health of Children, 31 folders	1965-1973
28		H2	Office of Child Development- Child Development Associate,  35 folders	1970-1981, 1987
		H3	NYC Human Resources Administration-Daycare, 2 folders	1970-1972
29			NYC Human Resources Administration-Daycare, 2 folders	1970-1972
		H4	Child Development Day Care Resources Project, 10 folders	1959-1971
		H5	Early Childhood Committee, 5 folders	1966-1972
		H6	Head Start, 15 folders	1965-1974