Himes, Norman Edwin, 1899-1949

Himes (1899-1949) (Harvard, Ph.D. 1932) was a teacher-scholar in the field of sociology and economics. He taught at Colgate University (1932-1942) and at other colleges in the U.S. and abroad. His research and writing focused on population problems, history of contraception and the birth control movement, and marriage and family relations. During World War II he served with the Office of the Surgeon General in the U.S. Army.

The Norman E. Himes Archive is a collection of correspondence and related materials; manuscripts of books, articles, and speeches; and miscellaneous papers presented to the Countway Library in 1967 by Dr. Himes' second wife and widow, Mrs. Robert C. Weinberg of New York and Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Norman Himes was a teacher-scholar in the field of sociology and economics, whose avid interest in social reforms and cultural developments led to study in the areas of population problems; history of contraception and the birth control movement; marriage and family relations. He was an immensely productive and creative man of great energy and the archive is rich in materials relating to his research, writing, and teaching activities. Dated items are from 1918 to 1956, but the bulk of the collection falls between 1925 and 1950--a neat 25-year period during which time attitudes toward the subjects of Dr. Himes' work changed in the most dramatic manner.

For a man of modest financial means who rarely had the luxury of secretarial services, Dr. Himes (with the help of his first wife, Vera) carried on an amazingly extensive correspondence with a variety of people and organizations, and a number of subjects, and of both professional and personal natures. The flow of correspondence is with leaders in the academic world (sociologists, economists, historians, professional groups), the birth control and eugenics world (medical practitioners, lay figures, clinics, national and local organizations), the book world (dealers, collectors, libraries, publishers, editors of journals), and in many other areas (including religion, government, law). It reflects public and private sentiment and much “inside gossip” about subjects which were somewhat tainted, to say the least, but gradually became accepted and even respectable.

During World War II, Dr. Himes left the scholarly world for government service which he continued in Germany during the postwar period, specializing in adult education and youth programs. He was on the verge of retirement and (hopefully) return to work on several of his unfinished research projects--chief among which were books on a Social and Economic History of Contraception and Preparation for Marriage --when he had his fatal heart attack in June of 1949.