Center for Swedenborgian Studies

DIGITAL ARCHIVE

The Center for Swedenborgian Studies Digital Archive is a virtual repository for digitized rare, archival materials from the CSS library and archive in Berkeley, California. Click Here to visit the Digital Archive or visit one of the curated collections below.

Archival boxes, bound volumes, and stored materials arranged on shelves at the Center for Swedenborgian Studies.
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The Helen Keller Collection

Black-and-white portrait of Helen Keller seated beside an open book and smelling a rose in a vase.
The Helen Keller Collection is composed of letters between Keller and Rev. Paul Sperry regarding the publication of her spiritual autobiography, My Religion. The collection includes a slew of letters between Sperry and others assisting in the publication and translation of My Religion abroad. One of the most significant letters in the collection is one penned and signed by Keller that talks of the contentness found in deaf individuals whose souls are open to the “harmonies of Heaven.” The collection contains an assembly of contemporaneous articles that cover Keller’s work, along with reviews and other press coverage surrounding the release of My Religion. This newly digitized material provides scholars with an in-depth look at the logistical side of bringing Keller’s work to the world.
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The Wilson Van Dusen Collection

Black-and-white portrait of Wilson Van Dusen seated in front of bookshelves.

The Wilson Van Dusen Collection at CSS is composed of approximately two hundred books from Van Dusen’s personal library on spirituality and faith traditions with annotations in most, as well as eight linear feet of research folders. The collection also contains personal journals kept during his years of academic research into psychoactive drugs and spiritual experience. There is also correspondence with some of the most important figures of the 20th century. Selections from this collection were chosen for the CSS Digital Archive. Because of the considerable amount of material, this collection will continue to grow as more items are digitized. This material offers scholars a comprehensive look at Wilson’s world, one that intersects with clinical psychology, spiritual exploration, and scientific discovery.

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The Henry James Senior Collection

Black-and-white portrait of Henry James Sr. wearing glasses, a dark cap, and a long white beard.

The Henry James Senior Collection offers an intimate look at the spiritual life of Henry James Senior, the father of William and Henry James. Donated by John James (son of William James), this unique collection arrived in the original steamer trunk James Senior used as a portable library while traveling across Europe with his family. These volumes—once described by the novelist Henry James as an “inveterate part of our very luggage”—contain extensive marginalia and annotations that reveal how Henry James Senior wrestled with and adapted Swedenborg’s theology outside the bounds of organized religion. This newly digitized material provides scholars with a vital window into the intersection of Swedenborgian thought and the American Transcendentalist movement.

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The Samuel Weems Collection

Black-and-white photograph of Rev. Samuel Weem seated at a desk, writing or reviewing papers.
The Samuel Weems Collection offers a comprehensive look at the spiritual life of Rev. Samuel Weems, one of the earliest persons of color to be ordained into the Swedenborgian church in the United States. Consisting mostly of written notebooks and typed manuscripts, the collection includes essays, sermons, and lesson plans. There is a substantial series of “Scientific Bible Study” programs, as well as essays and journals that cover a variety of topics–spiritual cultivation, animal cruelty, racism, war, gender roles, and many others. Rev. Weems’ only published work, The Virgin Birth, is amongst the items in the Digital Archive. This newly digitized material offers scholars a rare glimpse into early social justice work and outreach programs for underserved communities.
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