Lewis A. Coser Papers 1914-1996 (bulk 1940-1996) BC.1994.159 http://hdl.handle.net/2345.2/BC1994-159 Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill 02467 [email protected] URL: http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 4 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Biographic note .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Scope and Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 7 I: Correspondence ........................................................................................................................................ 7 II: Family papers ......................................................................................................................................... 8 III: French Resistance publications ............................................................................................................. 9 IV: Scholarship .......................................................................................................................................... 10 V: Service .................................................................................................................................................. 11 Lewis A. Coser Papers BC.1994.159 - Page 2 - Summary Information Title: Lewis A. Coser papers Collection Identifier: BC.1994.159 Date [inclusive]: 1914-1996 Date [bulk]: 1940-1996 Physical Description 20.75 Linear Feet (39 boxes) Language of the Materials are mostly in English, but also include French and German. Material: Abstract: Lewis A. Coser papers document the personal, political, and professional endeavors of this German-American sociologist primarily through correspondence, but course materials, documents, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, periodicals, photographs, and publishing files are also included. Preferred Citation Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, Lewis A. Coser papers, BC.1994.159, John J. Burns Library, Boston College. Lewis A. Coser Papers BC.1994.159 - Page 3 - Administrative Information Publication Information Processed by Rowena Clarke, Lynn Moulton, and Ayoola White in 2016 September. This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace. Restrictions on use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials. Provenance Donated by Lewis A. Coser in 1994 and 2000. Restrictions on access Collection is open for research. Related Materials Related Materials Rose Laub Coser papers, BC.2000.032, John J. Burns Library, Boston College. Lewis A. Coser Papers BC.1994.159 - Page 4 - Biographic note German-American sociologist Lewis A. Coser was born as Ludwig Cohen in Berlin on November 27, 1913; the family's surname later changed to Coser. He left Germany for France when Hitler came to power in 1933. In Paris, Coser studied comparative literature and sociology at the Sorbonne until the advent of World War II. Despite his anti-fascist politics and Jewish religion, he was interned in the south of France due to his German nationality. In 1941, he was granted a visa through the International Relief Association and immigrated to the United States, where he changed his name to Lewis. In 1943, Coser married his immigration case-worker, Rose Laub. They had one daughter, Ellen Coser. Coser and his wife both received doctorates in sociology from Columbia University. While a student, he lectured at the University of Chicago and co-edited Modern Review, a Leftist publication. Coser's dissertation, directed by "the father of the sociology of science" Robert K. Merton, became the basis for The Functions of Social Conflict (1956), which was revolutionary for its illustration of conflict- generated social cohesion. In 1951, Coser was appointed Professor at Brandeis University and went on to found the Department of Sociology there. He founded the radical journal Dissent two years later; Dissent became one of the most important and respected venues for social and cultural criticism in the United States. Coser also published Sociological Theory (1957), Sociology through Literature (1963), Men of Ideas (1965), Political Sociology (1967), and Continuities in the Study of Social Conflict (1967). Coser became Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1968. He published several further books, including: Masters of Sociological Thought (1970), Greedy Organizations (1974), and Refugee Scholars in America: Their Impact and Their Experiences (1984). He served as President of the American Sociological Association, and held fellowships at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and Clare Hall at Cambridge University. In 1982, Coser was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Lewis and Rose Laub Coser both retired from Stony Brook in 1986, and relocated to the Boston area where they taught at Boston College as an adjunct professors. Rose Laub Coser died on August 21, 1994, and Lewis Coser on July 8, 2003, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sources: "Sociologists Remember Lewis Coser." Footnotes: Newsletter of the American Sociological Association 31, No. 7 (September/ October, 2003). Martin, Douglas. "Lewis Coser, 89, Sociologist Who Focused on Intellectuals." New York Times, July 12, 2003. Lewis A. Coser Papers BC.1994.159 - Page 5 - Scope and Contents Lewis A. Coser papers document the personal, political, and professional endeavors of a German- American sociologist. The bulk of the collection is correspondence, but course materials, documents, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, periodicals, photographs, and publishing files are also included. Some family letters, photographs, and manuscripts, as well as the French Resistance publications, predate his immigration to the United States in 1941, while the remainder of the collection chronicles his scholarly career as a professor and author. Coser's community involvement in a Quaker organization known as the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and his role as founding editor of Dissent magazine are also covered. Arrangement Arranged into five series: I. Correspondence; II. Family papers; III. French Resistance publications; IV. Scholarship; and V. Service. Lewis A. Coser Papers BC.1994.159 - Page 6 - Collection Inventory Series I: Correspondence, 1941-1996 Subseries A: General, 1947-1996 Arrangement Arranged chronologically. Scope and Contents The bulk of this subseries is comprised of Coser's professional correspondence, but it also includes some personal letters from his children, grandchildren, and friends. 1947-1956 box 1 folder 1-7 1956-1960 box 2 folder 1-8 1960-1962 May box 3 folder 1-8 1962 June-1963 October box 4 folder 1-6 1963 November-1965 March box 5 folder 1-7 1965 April-1966 February box 6 folder 1-6 1966 March-1967 March box 7 folder 1-7 1967 June-1968 May box 8 folder 1-7 1968 June-1969 July box 9 folder 1-8 1969 August-1970 September box 10 folder 1-7 1970 October-1972 July box 11 folder 1-9 1972 August-1973 October box 12 folder 1-9 1973 November-1974 September box 13 folder 1-9 1974 October-1975 June box 14 folder 1-9 1975 July-1976 September box 15 folder 1-7 1976 October-1977 August box 16 folder 1-8 1977 September-1978 June box 17 folder 1-7 1978 July-1979 March box 18 folder 1-7 1979 June-1980 August box 19 folder 1-7 1980 September-1981 December box 20 folder 1-8 1982 January-1983 August box 21 folder 1-8 Lewis A. Coser Papers BC.1994.159 - Page 7 - 1983 September-1985 March box 22 folder 1-9 1985 April-1986 June box 23 folder 1-8 1986 July-1988 June box 24 folder 1-10 1988 July-1990 September box 25 folder 1-9 1989 April-1994 March box 37 folder 1-12 1991 January-1992 December box 26 folder 1-5 1994 January-1996 May box 38 folder 1-8 Subseries B: Subject, 1941-1975 Arrangement Arranged alphabetically. Scope and Contents Correspondence regarding publishing, as well as some foreign-language correspondence. Arno Press, 1970 box 26 folder 6 Dissent, 1952-1957 box 26 folder 7-10 box 27 box 1-2 Dissent and other correspondence while at the University of box 27 folder 3-4 California Berkeley, 1957-1958 French and German correspondence and typescripts, 1941-1946 box 27 folder 5 French and