Pauline Maier papers

This collection documents the activities of Pauline Maier, who was a professor of history at MIT from 1978-2013. Materials in the collection, spanning 1960 to 2013, document both her personal life and her academic career. Her papers are arranged in five series: Correspondence, Course Notes and Curricula, Research Materials and Writings, HASS-D Overview Committee and Historical Studies Subcommittee Records, and Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on the Closing of CMRAE Records. Each series maintains the original order.

Series 1 includes the personal and professional correspondence of Professor Maier, spanning from 1969 to 2011. Included in her correspondence are materials from her time serving as Chair of the History Faculty, from 1979 to 1988. A portion of the correspondence is arranged chronologically, as originally ordered.

Teaching materials generated throughout Maier’s career are found in series 2, including subject files, lecture notes, syllabi, and reading materials for various American History courses taught by Maier. The series, spanning 1960 to 2013, covers courses taught at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; University of Wisconsin, Madison; Yale University; and MIT. MIT courses documented in this series include American History to 1865; The American Revolution; Colonial America; Riots, Strikes, and Conspiracies in American History; and American Classics.

Series 3 documents a variety of writings produced by Maier, including some background research. Materials are roughly grouped together by publication, following the original order. Most prominent in this series is her work on The Old Revolutionaries: Political Lives in the Age of Samuel Adams. Materials related to this book include her research notes, source materials, correspondence, and chapter drafts. Maier’s work on an unpublished article, titled “Conspiracy and Suppression in Eighteenth Century New York,” is documented through drafts, research materials, and correspondence. Drafts and revisions for her junior high school textbook, The American People: A History, are included. Additional materials related to text books, book reviews, speeches, and articles by Maier can also be found in this series.

Records from Maier’s involvement on the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Distribution (HASS-D) Overview Committee can be found in series 4, spanning from 1987 to 1992. This committee was tasked with reviewing proposals for new and modified classes to fulfill updated guidelines as specified by the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Requirement component of the General Institute Requirement (GIR). Maier was a member of the committee and served as chair of its Historical Studies Subcommittee.

In 1994, Maier served as a member of the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on the Closing of the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE), chaired by Peter Diamond. Series 5 documents Maier’s involvement with the committee’s investigation into the decision by a review committee to close MIT’s CMRAE. Materials in this series include Maier’s notes, reports, and background materials.