May 2006 Update
From
The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust
& The Wilhelm Reich Museum
We thank you for your continual interest and support. For newcomers to our e-mail Update list, none of the names on this list--nor the names of any Museum visitors, conference attendees or bookstore customers--are shared with any other individuals or organizations. If at any time you wish to be removed from this list, please let us know.
All previous Updates, dating from March 2004, available online.
You can access them through the Updates option at the top of this page or via the Quick Links along the left side of the page. These Updates provide the best contemporaneous accounts of the Trust's ongoing activities over the past six years.
2006 Summer Conference
Journal Reissues Available in the Bookstore
Factual Accuracy and Artistic License
2006 Natural Science Program
Wilhelm Reich Archives
2006 SUMMER CONFERENCE - ORGONON
JULY 17 – 21, 2006
THE LEGACY OF WILHELM REICH:
NEW SCHOLARSHIP, PROJECTS, AND DIRECTIONS
As The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust moves forward into the next half-century of safeguarding Reich's legacy, this year's Summer Conference will focus on current work and works-in-progress here in America and in Europe. Please join us for what promises to be an exciting week of discussion and good company as we look ahead to the future. For a detailed schedule of events, see the March 2006 Update.
NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR BOOKSTORE:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SEX-ECONOMY AND ORGONE-RESEARCH: VOLUMES 1-4 (1942-1945)
&
ANNALS OF THE ORGONE INSTITUTE: NUMBER 1 (1947)
Among Reich's literature that was banned and burned by the United
States government in the 1950s were all volumes of the International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research and Annals of the Orgone Institute. For years these rare materials have been available on microfilm in our Museum bookstore and a handful of libraries. With an occasional volume showing up for sale among used and rare booksellers, or on e-Bay.
We are now making these materials available in bound-Xerox editions that come close to replicating the feel, dimension, weight and look of the original Orgone Institute Press editions. While we had originally considered distributing these materials on CD, we were dissuaded by two factors:
First, it seemed neither necessary nor appropriate to opt for a computerized reading experience over the simpler, more traditional method of perusing physical pages. Second--and perhaps more important--we felt that relegating these rare materials to a CD format would only increase what is already a significant problem of copyright infringement and piracy of Reich's publications.
Regrettably, the digital age and all of its manifestations--the Internet, desktop and laptop computer technologies, CD capabilities, etc.--has provided the ideal tools for those whose so-called "interest" in Reich is expressed largely by a sense of entitlement to Reich's legacy of published materials, with little or no thought for the efforts and expenditures
that have made these materials possible. While nothing will ever prevent the truly determined from circumventing the legal and ethical parameters of literary copyrights, ownership and intellectual property issues, we certainly don't want to make things any easier for them.
Call us old-fashioned, but is there really anything wrong with reading Reich's published works the old-fashioned way?
BACKGROUND OF THE "JOURNAL" AND "ANNALS"
The International Journal for Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research was,
according to a note on the title page of the first volume, "The official organ of the International Institute for Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research." The title page lists Wilhelm Reich, M.D. as Director, and Theodore Wolfe, M.D. as Editor. Four volumes of this journal--each comprising Numbers 1, 2, 3--were published from 1942 to 1945 by the Orgone Institute Press which was then located at 157 Christopher St. in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Subscriptions were $4.00 per year.
Annals of the Orgone Institute - Number 1 was published in 1947. A note on the inside cover explains that "The Annals of the Orgone Institute continue the function of the International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research published from 1942-1945. The Annals are published not in yearly volumes, but in single issues, at irregular intervals."
Reich expands on this in his Introduction where he writes, "The Journal having been published in yearly volumes, we were held to certain deadlines; increasing paper shortage and other conditions in the printing business made it increasingly difficult to meet these. We also had to adhere to a certain number of pages. These mechanical requirements restricted our freedom of mobility. For this reason, the Annals will not be published in yearly volumes, but in single numbers, appearing at irregular intervals and of irregular volume. The resulting flexibility in the mode of publication corresponds better with our functional way of thinking and working than the rigid form of a Journal."
Both publications--comprising a total of 1,134 pages--are unique resources that provide the reader with an historic appreciation of the development of Reich's work and the contributions of his students and colleagues in America and Europe. As well as a fascinating look at some of the organizational details and activities of The Orgone Institute in both New York and Maine.
For example, Volume 2 of the Journal (from September 1943) includes a "Note From the Orgone Institute Regarding Orgone Accumulators." And Volume 4 (from September 1945) presents an "Outline of the Present Activities of the Orgone Institute" which discusses the construction of the Student Laboratory (now the Conference Building), complete with photographs and a diagram of the building layout.
ORDER YOUR COPIES NOW
At the end of this Update is a detailed list of the contents of the following:
- International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research
Volume 1 - Numbers 1 - 3 (1942) 288 pages.......$32.00
- International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research
Volume 2 - Numbers 1 - 3 (1943) 204 pages........$32.00
- International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research
Volume 3 - Numbers 1 - 3 (1944) 232 pages........$32.00
- International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research
Volume 4 - Numbers 1 - 3 (1945) 251 pages........$32.00
- Annals of the Orgone Institute
Number 1 (1947) 159 pages......$26.95
All five publications can be ordered for a total of $140. Please contact us at wreich@rangeley.org or (207) 864-3443 to order copies. You may also order copies via our online bookstore.
ORGONE ENERGY BULLETIN - COMING SOON
In the next couple of months, all volumes of the Orgone Energy Bulletin
(1949-1953) will also be available in bound-Xerox. We'll have more information about this is our next Update. But feel free to contact us if you're interested in ordering these materials. Knowing the demand ahead of time helps us to more efficiently budget our time and resources.
One final note on all of these bound-Xerox materials: We've contacted Lightning Source--our print-on-demand publisher of many of Reich's books--regarding the possibility of having them produce these re-issues of the International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research, Annals of the Orgone Institute, and the Orgone Energy Bulletin.
Unfortunately, without significant demand for these materials--i.e. hundreds of copies per volume--the start-up costs and out-of-pocket expenses for the Trust, the profit-participation margins, and other considerations make such an endeavor financially unfavorable for us at this time.
FACTUAL ACCURACY AND ARTISTIC LICENSE
Last year we were contacted by an artist preparing an exhibit for an
upcoming group art show. His exhibit had something to do with cloudbusting, and he wanted information about Reich. We directed him to the appropriate factual resources despite our misgivings about the project itself. After all, we prefer that people contact us for accurate information, rather than have them rely on the plethora of unreliable individuals, books, and Internet websites.
Regrettably, however, the exhibit itself and the accompanying art show catalogue included printed "copy" about the principles of cloudbusting that was completely wrong! This particular copy was written by one of the show's curators who also wrote copy for several other artists and exhibits in the show. A brief list of footnotes revealed that this curator had surfed the Internet. But what he wrote indicated he may have consulted other
sources as well. As for the artist's cloudbusting exhibit--in our opinion it was more about personal expression and artistic license rather than any true understanding of Reich's work.
All of which is just another example of what we experience time and time again: people offering their "explanations" or "interpretations" of Reich without any grasp, concern, or intellectual integrity about the basic facts and foundations of his life and work. As we've said before, while no one would argue with anyone's fundamental right to debate, argue, and offer opinions about the merits of Reich's life and legacy, ensuring the correctness of basic facts about Reich requires a more objective, stringent criteria.
Regrettably this criteria is too often undermined by those for whom artistic license and self-expression is a pretext for carelessness about basic factual truths. And this incident certainly posed a series of troubling questions: What qualifications did this curator have to write copy about Reich? Why did the artist approve what this curator wrote about cloudbusting? And in the interests of accuracy and intellectual honesty, couldn't someone have checked their facts with us? After all, the artist had contacted us earlier
and we had responded amicably.
Incidents such as these force us to constantly refine and clarify our response to inquiries regarding projects about Reich: books, articles, exhibits, videos and films. We don't think it's unreasonable to ask those seeking information from us to review their facts with us as their projects approach completion. And we're always appreciative of those who show us that courtesy.
With video and filmmakers, unfortunately, we've had to be especially cautious. We've literally lost count of the number of people calling themselves "documentary filmmakers" who have contacted us with urgent requests to film the property and facilities at Orgonon, conduct on-camera interviews, and access archival materials for their projects. A situation
exacerbated by lightweight, affordable digital video technologies that have swelled
the ranks of those who consider themselves filmmakers.
Our response to their inquiries is always courteous and always the same: "Please tell us more about yourself and the background research you've done about Reich. What have you read by or about Reich? And please send us a proposal, outline, prospectus, or script of your film project." That final request is usually the deal breaker, and we seldom hear back from most of these people.
We do not dispute anyone's right of freedom of speech and expression. Nor should anyone dispute our right to value factual accuracy about Reich over artistic license. We will continue to respond amicably to inquiries from artists, filmmakers, scholars and writers. But our position is clear: we feel no obligation whatsoever to support, assist or participate in projects where we believe artistic license prevails at the expense of factual accuracy about Reich's life and work.
2006 NATURAL SCIENCE PROGRAM
In 1989 we began a Natural Science Program, funded largely by grants. Programs and activities related to nature and the environment are offered free to the public year-round, attracting hundreds of people to our 175-acre property.
One of the most popular programs takes place each Sunday afternoon during July and August when people gather at our Outdoor Sheltered Classroom to learn in a practical, experiential way about subjects pertaining to the natural world and to the environment at Orgonon.
WILHELM REICH ARCHIVES
For those of you who are new to our Update list, information about the
Wilhelm Reich Archives can be found at our following website locations:
CONTENTS OF "INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SEX-ECONOMY AND ORGONE-RESEARCH" (1942-1945)
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SEX-ECONOMY AND ORGONE-RESEARCH - VOLUME 1 (288 pages)
Volume 1 - Number 1 - March 1942
"About the History and the Activities of Our Institute" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"A Talk With a Sensible Mother" by Ernst Walter, M.D.
First published as "Gesprach Mit Einer Venunftigen Mutter" in Zeitschr f. Polit. Psychologie und Sexualokonomie. 3, 1936.
"Sex-Economic 'Upbringing'" by Paul Martin, M.D.*
* With editor's note: "This is a pseudonym. Present conditions force us, unfortunately, to withhold the names of our European co-workers."
"The Sex-Economic Concept of Psychosomatic Identity and Antithesis" by Theodore Wolfe, M.D.
"The Orgasm Reflex: A Case History" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Vegetotherapy" by Walter Frank, M.D*
* With editor's note: "This is a pseudonym. Present conditions force us, unfortunately, to withhold the names of our European co-workers."
REVIEWS
The cardiovascular system in puberty (Paul Martin, M.D.)
Anxiety and sexual organs (Paul Martin, M.D.)
Experimental confirmation of respiratory inhibition (Paul Martin, M.D)
Sexology (Theodore Wolfe, M.D.)
"Character-analysis" (Theodore Wolfe, M.D.)
EDITORIALS
Sex-Economy and medicine
Ill-advised surgical procedure
The "dangers" of sexual intercourse
Volume 1 - Number 2 - July 1942
"Biophysical Functionalism and Mechanistic Natural Science" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
With editor's note about Reich's arrest by the FBI on December 12, 1941, and his subsequent detention at Ellis Island.
"The Discovery of the Orgone: Experimental Investigation of Biological Energy" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"The Carcinomatous Shrinking Biopathy" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Shock Therapy as a Subjective Experience" by Mary Robert, M.D*.
* With editor's note: "This is a pseudonym. Present conditions force us, unfortunately, to withhold the names of our European co-workers."
"The Treatment of a Depression" by Carl Arnold, Ph.D.*
* With editor's note: "This is a pseudonym. Present conditions force us, unfortunately, to withhold the names of our European co-workers."
"A Note on 'Integration' in Science" by Theodore Wolfe, M.D.
"IN MEMORIAM: Bronislaw Malinowski 1884-1942" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
EDITORIALS
Sex-Economy and Everyday Life
Character Armor in Everyday Life
Mechanistic Medicine and National Health
Physiological Anchoring of Psychic Conflicts
Present-Day Situation and Infantile Historical Background
An Infantile Fear as Expressed as a Specific Inhibition of the Orgasm Reflex
Excerpts from A.S. Neill's THE PROBLEM TEACHER
REVIEWS
Psychoanalysis and Orgastic Potency (Theodore Wolfe, M.D.)
General Semantics: The Mysticism of Words (Theodore Wolfe, M.D.)
CORRESPONDENCE
Letter from a Mother
Volume 1 - Number 3 - November 1942
"The Natural Organization of Protozoa from Orgone Energy Vesicles: Experimental Groundwork for an Understanding of Cancer Biopathy" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"The Dangers of Freedom" by Paul Martin, M.D.*
* With editor's note: "This is a pseudonym. Present conditions force us, unfortunately, to withhold the names of our European co-workers."
"The Place of Literature in the Cultural Struggle" by Stefan Hirning*
* With editor's note: "This is a pseudonym. Present conditions force us, unfortunately, to withhold the names of our European co-workers."
"Character and Society" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
An address before the Norwegian Student Organization in Oslo, April 18, 1936. First published in Zeitschr. f. Polit. Psychol. u. Sexual-okonomie, 3, 1936.
"A Sex-Economic Note on Academic Sexology" by Theodore Wolfe, M.D.
"The Fascist Newspaper Campaign in Norway" by Gunnar Leistikow
CORRESPONDENCE
On the Psychology of Adolescence
The Old Question of Magnification Over 2000X
Disastrous Fads in Infant Upbringing
Realization of Change
NOTES
On the Technique of Irrationalism in Social Life [commentary on a police investigation of Reich in May 1942]
Excerpts from A.S. Neill's THE PROBLEM TEACHER
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SEX-ECONOMY AND ORGONE-RESEARCH - VOLUME 2 (204 pages)
Volume 2 - Number 1 - March 1943
"Experimental Orgone Therapy of the Cancer Biopathy (1937-1943)" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
Volume 2 - Numbers 2 & 3 - September 1943
"Give Responsibility to Vitally Necessary Work!" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"The Biological Miscalculation in Human Struggle for Freedom" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Work Democracy Versus Politics" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Vegetotherapeutic Gymnastics" by Lucille Bellamy
"Freedom is Not So Dangerous" by Dorothy I. Post
"The Sexual Behavior of Adolescents in a New York Borough" by a High School Senior, with an Editorial Comment
Editor's Comment
"A Sex-Economist Answers" by Theodore Wolfe, M.D.
"Misconceptions of Sex-Economy as Evidenced in Book Reviews" by Theodore Wolfe, M.D.
REVIEWS
Social Reconstruction Without Sex-Economy (Harry Obermayer)
Which Kind of Progressive Education? (Paul Martin)
NOTES
Party-Political and Scientific Concept of Fascism
On Defamation
Miscellaneous Questions
Free Upbringing and Fitness for War
Abolition of Co-Education in Soviet Russia
Note from the Orgone Institute Regarding Orgone Accumulators
Warning Against the Misinterpretation of "Sexual Health"
Excerpts from A.S. Neill's THE PROBLEM TEACHER
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SEX-ECONOMY AND ORGONE-RESEARCH - VOLUME 3 (232 pages)
Volume 3 - Number 1 - March 1944
"Thermical and Electroscopical Orgonometry: The Discovery of the Orgone - Part 2" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Sex Economy" by Carl Arnold, Ph.D.*
* With editor's note: "This is a pseudonym. Present conditions force us, unfortunately, to withhold the names of our European co-workers."
"The Masochistic Character" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
From Charakter-Analyse (1933)
"A Sex-Economist Answers - Part 2" by Theodore Wolfe, M.D.
"On a Common Motive for Defamation" by Theodore Wolfe, M.D.
NOTES
Rational and Irrational Discussion of Orgone Biophysics
Nuttier Than a Fruitcake
A Sex-Economic Prediction Come True
REVIEWS
The Psychology of Fascism (Harry Obermayer)
The Boy Sex Offender and His Later Career (Theodore Wolfe, M.D.)
Excerpts from A.S. Neill's THE PROBLEM TEACHER
Volume 3 - Numbers 2 & 3 - October 1944
"Orgonotic Pulsation: The differentiation of the orgone energy from electromagnetism, presented in talks with an electrophysicist" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"The 'Living Productive Power, Working Power' of Karl Marx" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D. (written in 1936)
"The Stumbling Block in Medicine and Psychiatry" by Theodore Wolfe, M.D.
"Sex Education in the Schools" by Paul Martin, M.D.*
* With editor's note: "This is a pseudonym. Present conditions force us, unfortunately, to withhold the names of our European co-workers."
NOTES
The orgone energy in early scientific literature
A clarification
Some observations of children
REVIEWS
The Ethics of Sexual Acts (Alexander Lowen)
Education--A Search for New Principles (Harry Obermayer)
Children in Soviet Russia (Harry Obermayer)
Psychoanalysis Today (Gladys Meyer)
Excerpts from A.S. Neill's THAT DREADFUL SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SEX-ECONOMY AND ORGONE-RESEARCH - VOLUME 4 (251 pages)
Volume 4 - Number 1 - April 1945
"Anorgonia in the Carcinomatous Shrinking Biopathy" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Some Mechanisms of the Emotional Plague" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Coeducation and Sex" by A.S. Neill
"A Case History" by Felicia Saxe
"Adolescence: A Problem in Sex-Economy" by Alexander Lowen
"Outline of the Present Activities of the Orgone Institute"
NOTES
Cold Facts
Sexuality before the Law
Free Love
REVIEWS
An American Dilemma - The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (Gladys Meyer)
Excerpts from A.S. Neill's THAT DREADFUL SCHOOL
Volume 4 - Numbers 2 & 3 - November 1945
"Orgone Biophysics, Mechanistic Science and 'Atomic' Energy" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Experimental Demonstration of the Physical Orgone Energy: Preliminary Communication" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"The Development of the Authoritarian State Apparatus from Rational Social Interrelationships" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.,
from The Mass Psychology of Fascism - 3rd revised, enlarged edition
"Studying 'The Children's Place'" by Elena Calas, M.S.
"The Child and His Struggle" by Lucille Bellamy Denison
"The Making of Fascists" by Gladys Meyer, Ph.D.
"My First Experiences With the Orgone Accumulator" by Walter Hoppe, M.D.
NOTES
Is orgone atomic energy?
Orgonotic contact: Letter from a reader
"A new disease"
A note on "family cohesion"
Some practical problems of adolescent sex relationships
A note from the history of science
The position of sex-economy. A clarification
A.S. Neill and sex-economy. A correction
From the Orgone Institute
From the Orgone Institute Press
REVIEWS
The Machiavellians (Harry Obermayer)
Die Sexuelle Erziehung (Harry Obermayer)
Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography (Gladys Meyer)
Infant and Child in the Culture of Today (Gladys Meyer)
Excerpts from A.S. Neill's THAT DREADFUL SCHOOL
CONTENTS OF "ANNALS OF THE ORGONE INSTITUTE" NUMBER 1 - 1947 (159 pages)
"Introducing the Annals of the Orgone Institute" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Work Democracy in Action" by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
"Armored Human Beings Versus The Healthy Child" by Felicia Saxe
"Sex-Economy and Orgone Research in Palestine" by Walter Hoppe, M.D.
"About Self-Regulation in a Healthy Child" by Ilse Ollendorff
"The Armored Teacher" by Elizabeth Tyson
"Mechanistic Thinking as the Original Sin" by R.H. Atkins
"Thoughts on the Sex Behavior of American Soldiers in the ETO" by Anthony I. Swarowsky
FROM THE HISTORY OF ORGONE BIOPHYSICS
Our congratulations to Freud on his birthday (1936)
The expulsion of Wilhelm Reich from the International Psychoanalytic Association
NOTES
A warning repeated
Some observations of children
Jerry's case
Again the common cold
A note on "specific diseases"
"IN MEMORIAM: Fritz Brupbacher 1874-1945"
REVIEWS
The Rights of Infants (John Mann)
The Child at Home and at School (Elizabeth Tyson)
Babies are Human Beings (Elizabeth Tyson)
UNTIL NEXT MONTH
Please share this Update with colleagues, friends, and family who may be interested in the life and legacy of Wilhelm Reich and the good works of The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust and The Wilhelm Reich Museum. Thank you again for your friendship and support.
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