International Congress on the Enlightenment, records

The records consist of the administrative files of Georges May, secretary of the International Congress on the Enlightenment, which held its fourth meeting at Yale University in 1975. Records concerning earlier congresses are also included.

The Fourth International Congress on the Enlightenment held July 12-20, 1975, at Yale University culminated years of preparation by The Congress Secretariat headed by Georges May. The papers consist of pre-registration correspondence with participants, organizational files of the coordinators of the Congress, and printed matter . Arranged alphabetically by correspondent, the pre-registration correspondence includes letters of inquiry, registration forms, and drafts of scholarly papers to be presented. The organizational files contain correspondence and memoranda between the coordinators of the Congress on the one hand, and Yale University and New Haven officials and services on the other. The papers also contain circulars, newsletters, menus, and programs of events held during the Congress. Included in Box 17 is a list said to contain the names of all those who participated in the Congress or who corresponded with the Congress Secretariat and did not attend. However, there are many scholars unaccounted for, who either are not listed and had correspondence wfth the Congress, or who had correspondence and did not attend. One must therefore look at both the correspondence and the list to get a complete view of the Congress.

In March of 1978 an addition to the papers of the Fourth International Congress on the Enlightenment was sent to Yale University Archives. It contains papers on previous congresses, the pre-conference work of the program committee, registration sheets for participants, press coverage, and financial papers. Covering the period from 1967-76, this addition is in boxes 18-26 of the collection.