Library and Archives

The ASPR library and archives are a leading repository of significant aspects of American and scientific history — including the earliest history of psychology and psychiatry in the United States, early studies of multiple personality, the evolution of mind-body medicine, Eastern and Western religious philosophy, the mental healer’s movement and American visionary traditions. They include rare manuscripts that date back to the 1600s, case reports, correspondence (William James, Henry James, W. B. Yeats, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Houdini, and Upton Sinclair, to name a few), thousands of periodicals, books, and pamphlets — the majority out of print and extremely rare. In addition to their scientific value, the ASPR archives contain rare fine art, including “spirit” drawings and photographs and a significant collection of Shaker manuscripts relating to their visionary experiences. The archives also include a continuously growing collection of audio and videotape interviews and lectures by leading contemporary scientists. The library is constantly growing as new collections are added. The archives are a priceless, irreplaceable treasure that continue to be preserved and protected for future generations.

The ASPR has participated in groundbreaking exhibits of rare photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris. It also participated in exhibits at the Hammer Gallery in Los Angeles, the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture, the Drawing Center in New York City, the Zuckerman Museum in Atlanta, and the Nassau County Museum of Art. The ASPR is currently developing a special exhibit from its archives that was initially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Society assists researchers drawn from a variety of mainstream disciplines, including physics, psychology, biology, medicine, religion, philosophy, and the history of science. The ASPR has a history of conducting top-level, interdisciplinary scientific conferences with the best minds in their fields. It facilitates conversations among leading scientists about the nature of reality that incorporate a century of evidence from psychical research and modern research from mainstream science — exploring evidence that suggests an interdependence and connectedness of conscious beings and the physical world.