Selden D. Bacon (1908-1992) was the first director of the Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies (CAS) at Rutgers University. When the Center had to leave Yale University in 1962 due to the university discontinuing to support its activities, it was Bacon, along with editor Mark Keller, who worked tirelessly to find a new home for this unique institution, which also brought the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol (QJSA) and the Summer School of Alcohol Studies (SSAS) to Rutgers, with the support and financial assistance of R. Brinkley Smithers.
Later on, when Selden D. Bacon was presented with the Summer School of Alcohol Studies’ Distinguished Service Award at the 1991 Summer School Banquet on June 27, it was a great honor from a group that he served the most: he was Director of the Summer School of Alcohol Studies from 1950 to 1962 and Director of the Yale and Rutgers Centers of Alcohol Studies from 1950 to 1975. Unfortunately, only a fragment of his papers was preserved at Rutgers.
The Bacon Collection consists of two parts, yet to be consolidated and properly processed.
Part 1. CAS Collection related to Bacon
Transferred from CAS a few years ago, the Alcohol Studies Collection at Rutgers University Libraries features unique resources related to Bacon, available only at Rutgers. Originally stored in the Archives of the CAS Library in steel file cabinets in the back room (along with Mark Keller Papers and the Carpenter Papers), the folders were moved to a temporary location in Smithers Hall when the library closed in 2016. Later, all files (Keller, Bacon, and Carpenter) were placed in twelve Paige boxes and, eventually, were relocated to the Annex in 2018. One of these boxes contains about eighty file folders related to Bacon.
The collection mostly covers Bacon’s work as Director of the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers. It includes Rutgers-related official documents, such as meeting minutes (Research Council, University Senate, Research Administration Board, Cabinets, etc., memoranda, press releases, clippings, publications, and correspondence. Notable are the documents related to the move from Yale to Rutgers, including background material, the proposal to relocate CAS, a list of faculty (CVs of ten faculty and staff members), and related correspondence.
Part 2. Bacon Papers
The Selden Bacon Papers were donated to the CAS Archive by Dr. Bacon’s son, Sam Bacon, in 2015. The three large moving boxes of material were sorted, rehoused, and preserved in fourteen archival boxes in 2015-2016 in the CAS Library. The closure halted the plans to fully process the papers, let alone consolidate the two separate collections into a proper “Bacon Papers” with an informative Finding Aid.
Selden “Sam” Bacon, Jr. donated papers belonging to his father, Selden D. Bacon.
One of the boxes suffered water damage, and its moldy contents had to be discarded. Some other documents also seemed to be delicate and time-worn. Regardless of condition, all items were placed in acid-free folders. The remaining boxes contain materials primarily related to Bacon’s post-Rutgers scholarly endeavors, including typed lecture notes, draft articles, and even an unfinished manuscript of a potential book, all of which have yet to be evaluated.
Bacon retired as CAS director at Rutgers in 1975, but continued as Professor of Sociology. The content of the boxes from Sam Bacon provides a glimpse of his work during these years, demonstrating his research interest and intellectual curiosity never wavered. Folders containing miscellaneous writings are labeled as “Manuscripts” or “Works by Others” if the origin is known. However, this collection will require the attention of an archivist, preferably one with experience in Rutgers and alcohol studies. The Mark Keller Papers can serve as an example of how to process and consolidate these two collections.
Significance of the Bacon Papers
When our alcohol bibliography project resumed in the early 2020s and the Annex became accessible after COVID, these two collections were instrumental to create Bacon’s updated, most comprehensive bibliography, introduced with an article “A Sociologist and the Problems of Alcohol Studies: The Life and Legacy of Selden D. Bacon,” published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs in 2023.
Additionally, these collections presented Bacon as an administrator, too. The new insights from these archival documents shed light on the challenges he had to face, as explained in the article.
“His administrative career involved partnerships, negotiations, and compromises with the kinds of external pressures––university administration, alcoholism prevention organizations, even industry groups––that his scholarly work sought to cordon off from the research process, all with the aim of keeping the Center of Alcohol Studies and the field of alcohol research funded, relevant, and not wholly dependent on any single constituency. If Bacon’s scholarship makes an impassioned case for the role of social science in safeguarding the neutrality of alcohol and addiction research, his administrative career offers a case study in delicately balancing different interest groups to ensure the Center’s, and the field’s survival.” (Allred et al., 2023)
The Bacon Papers is just one example of the importance of preserving not only major collections, but also what is often viewed as ephemeral and overlooked in traditional archival practices. With their primary resources, these hidden collections may offer the context we need, as well as continuity and credibility to scientific achievements.
References
- Allred, N., Bejarano, W., & Ward, J. H. (2023). A Sociologist and the Problems of Alcohol Studies: The Life and Legacy of Selden D. Bacon. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 84(5), 791–796.
- Selden Bacon in the Alcohol Studies Archive, Rutgers University Libraries.
