The business records of Ernest Dichter and the several consulting firms through which he operated fully document his role as a pioneer of motivational research, from the beginnings of his career in the United States until a few months before his death. They lay out the evolution of his psychological thought, his methods of soliciting business and getting maximum exposure for himself and his accomplishments, his later role as a mentor and teacher, and, most importantly, the access he gained into the psyche of thousands of ordinary consumers over five decades and on five continents. However, Dichter was forced to cull his records in moving to smaller offices in the 1980s, so that much of his early correspondence, recordings, and other raw data have been lost. The Ernest Dichter Papers have been arranged in six Subgroups, which more or less reflect Dr. Dichter's own arrangement. However, researchers should be aware that Dr. Dichter kept multiple copies of his writings and associated materials in several different filing systems, including freestanding items on library shelves, papers in loose-leaf binders, and several runs of filing cabinets. Versions of the same document may typically exist in two or more of the Subgroups, and researchers are advised to check all parts of the finding aid. Subgroup A, which accounts for over half the collection, is comprised of Dr. Dichter's research proposals and studies. As such, it is both the heart of the archive and the most important part of Dichter's prodigious intellectual output, containing not merely the fullest expression of his own ideas but also an unparalleled window into consumer behavior and attitudes. Subgroup B, Publications, consists of the formally published newsletters and bulletins though which Dr. Dichter disseminated his ideas and presented the activities of himself and his Institutes. There are also Japanese-language versions of two of his books and four of the Sacha children's books published in France. The rest of Dichter's books have been transferred to the general Imprints collection Subgroup C, Speeches, Quizzes & Seminars, consists of the texts of speeches, pop-psychology personality quizzes, and agendas and notes for seminars, some of which may also exist in published form. Subgroup D, Publicity, consists primarily of press cuttings and articles issued to publicize Dr. Dichter's activities, including public appearances, pronouncements, or short statements to the newspaper press and other mass media. Subgroup E, Writings & Drafts, comprises multiple drafts of some of Dichter's principal books and other writings. It also contains what Dichter referred to as his "Subject Files," which are copies of his lesser writings and parts of the studies arranged by subject for ready reference. Subgroup F, Correspondence, contains Dichter's business correspondence and other materials created or collected in the process of running the Institute and publishing his books and newsletters. Because Dr. Dichter had such a wide range of clients over the course of his long career and maintained an interest is so many different issues, his files contain an equally wide range of embedded catalogs and publications, from a paper on counterinsurgency in Vietnam to catalogs for Brazilian diamonds and Porsche motorcycles to flyers for retirement communities. Many of the catalogs are fine examples of Continental graphic design styles of the 1970s, 80s and 90s. To improve access to this material, the most significant items have been cataloged individually in Hagley's online public access catalog (OPAC), where they may be retrieved by author, title and subject.
