Amazing Story
Content Description
In August 1955 Alfred Robinson and Pearl Robinson gave the University of Idaho Library many Psychiana related items including four large boxes which were to remain sealed for 25 years. These boxes were opened in January 1980 and the contents sorted; the material is now contained in seven file boxes. Included in the three boxes of correspondence are letters between Psychiana headquarters and students in eighteen countries. Carbon copies of Psychiana's replies are attached to most of the original letters from students. The letters from students which Robinson used in his publications are marked with quotation marks; occasionally words were changed or sentences rearranged. The remaining boxes contain copies of all the Psychiana lessons, copies of Psychiana Weekly and other similar publications, typescripts of speeches and articles by Frank Robinson, broadsides used in advertising, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, a scrapbook of clippings kept by Robinson, and photographs.
This is a very important collection not only for those researching Dr. Frank B. Robinson and the impact of Psychiana, but also for those interested in non-orthodox religion. Anyone interested in effective advertising methods would also find this collection useful.
The contents of each section of this collection are described in the following Description of Series.
Dates
- Creation: 1929-1951
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 8 linear feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Description
This typescript, which takes its title from the chapter headings, comprises only chapters 4 and 5 of a work written in 1946 and apparently intended as part of Robinson's novel The Wanderer. Pages 140-150 of the typescript correspond to pages l08-117 of the novel--this is the section describing Robinson's arrival in Moscow and the beginning of Psychiana; typescript pages 168-170 describing the dream which gave Robinson the name "Psychiana" correspond to The Wanderer pages 117-119, otherwise no part of this manuscript has been published. Chapter 4 is entitled "In Which We Read An Amazing Story," chapter 5 "In Which We Continue Our Amazing Story." It exists in this collection in two forms, the original typescript containing pages 117-139; 151-157, and the carbon of the typescript which includes pages 140-150. Since the missing pages in the original correspond to the printed version of The Wanderer it can be surmised that when Robinson decided to omit the rest of the material in this typescript he took the original of pages 140-150 to incorporate into the final version of the work. Corrections have been made on the original typescript in green ink.The story contained in these two chapters deals with the attacks on Psychiana by the Better Business Bureau and the Methodist Church, and the articles written by Collier's, The Lutheran Companion, and The Sunday School Times. There is also a brief reference to the Moscow Youth Center which Robinson started in 1945. In chapter 5, C.W. Tenney's relationship with Psychiana is given prominence. Beginning on page 131 Robinson relates the incident of the Gamaliel window he donated to the First Presbyterian Church of Moscow, but which was rejected by the elders of the church because they did not like the scriptural reference: "If this work be of God you cannot stop it, but if it be of man it will come to naught."
Repository Details
Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository