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Norman C. Meier Papers Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department. Copyright: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials. Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement. Acquisition and Processing Information: These materials were transferred to the University Archives from the Department of Psychology. Collection processed by Earl M. Rogers. Guide created and posted to the Internet by Denise Anderson, May 2007. |
Norman C. Meier, between 1930 and 1935 |
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of correspondence, publications, lectures, travel postcards, articles about and examples of artist's work, a scrapbook of family related material, hand-drawn diagrams, and visual material in the form of photographs, slides, and fragile glass plate negatives.
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically in boxes 1 through 9, and all correspondence folder titles are listed in the box list, as provided by Mr. Meier. Correspondence folders also contain course outlines, final exams, articles, lectures, and photographs. Additional correspondence may be found in boxes 13, 14, and 18.
The bulk of this material relates to the nearly forty-year career of Norman C. Meier with the University of Iowa Department of Psychology, where he developed tests to measure artistic aptitude, and a device to measure audience response.
Mr. Meier's University of Iowa Ph.D. dissertation, "The Use of Aesthetic Judgment in the Measurement of Art Talent," was written in 1926, during a time of development of other aptitude testing at the University of Iowa. The Iowa Testing Programs: the first fifty years, by Julia J. Peterson, describes the birth of a testing program within the University of Iowa College of Education in 1928. A related testing program that developed from the Iowa Testing Programs is the widely used American College Testing Program (ACT).
Biographical Note
Norman Charles Meier was born February 22, 1893 in Carrollton, Missouri. He graduated from Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1914. Mr. Meier worked as an apprentice draftsman in Pittsburgh in 1906, advanced to draftsman by 1914, and worked for the U.S. Geological Survey in that capacity in 1917. Mr. Meier served during World War I at American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) headquarters in Chaumont, France. He returned from service to work as a draftsman for a Chicago company, while also attending classes, until 1921.
He earned his Ph.B. and M.A., both at the University of Chicago in 1921 and 1922. He took his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa in 1926. He joined the University of Iowa Department of Psychology in 1922 as an assistant. Mr. Meier was promoted to instructor, then associate, became assistant professor in 1927, then associate professor, and was made full professor in 1954. He retired in 1964.
Mr. Meier is well known for the tests he designed for assessing artistic aptitude. These were devised, in part, through his study of 100 artists from eight countries. His areas of research were psychology of art, and social and political behavior. His research in the latter field resulted in methods of measuring audience response to theatre and broadcast programs. He also studied mob behavior and crowd control. Courses he taught included Social Psychology, Psychology of International Relations, Psychology of Social Control, Public Opinion and Propaganda, and Psychology of Propaganda. One public opinion student of Mr. Meier -- George Gallup -- developed a successful public polling organization. During the 1950s, Mr. Meier lectured in Canada, England, France, and Belgium, as well as many U.S. cities. Under a Fulbright grant, Mr. Meier was a consultant at the University of Paris in 1956 -- 1957 during the establishment of the Laboratory of Esthetics at the Sorbonne. His work was published in numerous books and journals.
Mr. Meier married Clea Mae Grimes, and they had two sons, Mark F. in 1925, and George Edwin in 1930. Norman C. Meier died November 2, 1967.
Related Materials
Photographs, Norman Meier conducting tests, in oversize drawer B7
Folder, "Meier, Norman C.," in Faculty and Staff Vertical Files collection (RG 01.15.03)
Records of the Department of Psychology (RG06.30)
Edward Charles Mabie Papers, (RG 99.0188) (Theatre Arts)
Box Contents List
Box 1
Correspondence, A -- B
A
Acknowledgements for vol. III
AAUP faculty salaries study
Aesthetic Perception Test, 1962
American artists, contact information, 1955
American Institute of Public Opinion, 1935-1951
"Accuracy of Modern Polling Techniques in Making Election Forecasts" by George Gallup, director of AIPO
"The New Science of Public Opinion measurement" by Norman C. Meier
American Philosophical Society, 1956
American Psychological Association [APA]
APA, Penn State, 1950
APA resolution, 1949
APA Chicago meeting, 1951
American Psychologist
American Society for Aesthetics
Applied Psychology
"Art for Every Child"; Harmony selector color wheel
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Judgment Test, new norms for
Art Judgment, tests administered, 1940
Artists
Audience Research (see also Young & Rubicam, Inc. in folder Y)
B
Baker, J. Ella, 1934 -- 1935, principal of Phillips School, Des Moines
Bausch & Lomb
Benton, Thomas Hart, friend of Grant Wood
Bowen, Howard R., UI President, 1966
Berminghaus sketches
Best - poorest students
Box 2
Correspondence, B -- D
Bosin, F. Blackbear, of Great Plains Studio
Boyd Printing Co.
Browne, Schuyler & Beveridge law firm
Brighouse, Dr. Gilbert
Bureau of Audience Research
C
Clarification of policy on status of the Bureau of Audience Research
California, University of, summer session, 1940
Cannon, Charles B., of Rust-oleum company
Cannon, R -- T
Carnegie Corporation
Children's mural
Collective thinking project
Conference papers, duplicates
Copyright permissions for pictures
Courses
Cowles, Gardner, of Des Moines Register
Christensen, Erwin O., of American Federation of Arts
Creative processes in artists
Crossley, Archibald M., of Milwaukee Advertising Club
D
Daniels, Jack, survey
Davis, Harvey H., executive dean, S.U.I. Division of Research and Teaching
Department of Defense, draft of report, 1951
Development of The Artistic Nature of the Child, autobiography
Duncan vs. Dell law case
Duncan vs. Dell, and Yo-Yo
Box 3
Correspondence, D -- H
Du Pont advertising department
Dryce, Tom, New Mexico artist
E
Letters from art judges
Education through radio [2 folders]
Elementary Psychology project method
F
Former students
Walter D. Fuller Company, registry
Fulbright papers
G
Gallup, George H.
Gallup Poll
Gallup, congressional investigation
General Motors vs. Cadillac Marine & Boat Company
General Psychology
"Genetic Studies in Artistic Capacity" course
Graduate school, Creative Art
Grimes-Meier, Clea, regarding her mother's property
H
Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Hancher, Virgil M., President, University of Iowa, 1952 -- 1961
Hayden, Estelle, director of art, Iowa Board of Education
Heredity vs. environment
"History and Appreciation of the Fine Arts"
Henry Holt and Company, publishers
Box 4
Correspondence, H -- I
Howe, Oscar, head of Department of Art, Vermillion, South Dakota
I
Inter-society Color Council, National Bureau of Standards
Iowa Academy of Science
Iowa Poll [two folders]
Iowa Poll letters
Iowa Poll advance proofs
Iowa Poll letters from Henry J. Kroeger [two folders]
Iowa Poll reports
1945
1946
Box 5
Correspondence, J -- M
J
John Herron School of Art
Jahn & Ollier Engraving Company, Chicago, makers of printing plates
Johnson Reprint Corporation, New York, publishers
K
Kellett, Kathryn, Minnesota artist
Kennedy, Mrs. John F., 1966
KCRG radio, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
L
Lampa, Howard, Chicago, trade mark research, 1960s
Lampa & Christophersen, Chicago, trade mark research, 1940s -- 1950s
Larvie, Calvin, artist
Lecture, "The Crisis in France," June 24, 1958
Lectures [two folders]
Lockhart, Loren, Missouri artist
Lowenfield, Viktor, professor at Pennsylvania State College
Lynde, Stan, Montana cartoonist
M
Mc
McCloy, William, professor at Drake University and Connecticut College [See also Box 13]
MacGowan, Clara, professor at Northwestern University
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1947
Correspondence, M
Student ratings of Norman Meier, n.d. [two folders]
Meier's radio presentations, n.d.
Meier's speaking engagements, 1938, 1952, 1953
Meier Audio Response Recorder, article and correspondence about, and photograph of, 1949, 1950
Meier's talks and papers
Meier Art Judgment Test mailing list, includes photographs
Meier lectures in Louisville, Lexington, and Illinois, n.d.
Meier, Norman C.
Meier newspaper clippings
Meier, Norman C., photographs
Meier, Norman C., photographs;Who's Who in America 1944; correspondence
Meier, Norman C., 1919 letter to ex-girlfriend Margaret Haggott; future book material
Meier, Norman C., unpublished manuscript, "Panty Raids: Craze or symptom?" [two folders]
Meier-Seashore scoring sheets
Meier-Seashore test records
Meier-Seashore test revision
Meier, Norman C., papers by
Box 7
Correspondence, M -- P
Mauldin, William, editor of Chicago Sun-Times
Manuscript, "Art and Man"
Martin, Henry P., Jr., syndicate manager, The Register and Tribune
Martin, Thomas E., Iowa Congressman
"Measurement of Public Opinion," lecture, 1936
Memorandum from Meier, n.d.
Military Psychology; 1940 Berkeley lecture "Public Opinion and the International Situation"
Military service, research
"Minnesota Poll," a weekly survey publication
"The Mob" paper
Monograph article, "Reconstructive Imagination"
N
Nashville groups, 1937
National Issues, Inc., director Norman C. Meier [two folders]
Navy collective thinking project
News items, 1939
Nixon, Richard M., 1961, 1964
O
Objective study
P
Parking problem, "Evaluation of the Proposal for an East Iowa Avenue Parking Garage," 1958
Patrick, Dr. Catharine, 1949
Permission to reproduce illustrations
Box 8
Correspondence, P -- S
"Political Psychology" course
Princeton conference, 1946
Propaganda; Army Talks, 1944
Propaganda lectures
Psychological Corporation, New York marketing company, 1933, 1940
"Psychology of Advertising" course syllabus and final exam
"Psychology of Advertising" course lecture notes
"Psychology of Art" and "Psychology of Propaganda," 1941
"Psychology of International Relations" course final exam
"Public Opinion and Propaganda" lecture notes and correspondence, 1938, 1940
"The Measurement of Public Opinion" paper and final exam
"Public Opinion and Propaganda" course outline and final exam, 1939; "Measurement of Public Opinion" course outline; "Public Opinion, 1936" article for Saturday Evening Post in 1937
Public opinion polls in Mexico, 1949, 1950
Public Opinion Quarterly, Princeton publication
Public opinion speaking engagements
Publication announcements
"Can Democracy Think?" paper, 1941 [two folders]
Q
"Questions teachers would like answered through art education research," questionnaire, 1937 [two folders]
R
Radio talks, 1932 -- 1940
Reagan, Ronald, 1966
Redmon, Hayes [assistant to President of the United States], 1965
"Public Opinion Polls and the 1940 Campaign"
Reprint acknowledgments, 1941
Research funds, 1959
Reuther, Walter P., president of UAW-CIO, survey, 1955
Reviews, 1939, 1944
Rogers & Woodson Co., Chicago
Pepsodent Co. toothbrush survey, 1944 -- 1947
Word association in marketing, 1946 -- 1950
S
Box 9
Correspondence, S -- Z
St. Louis, 1937
"Social Psychology" course, 1940, 1941
St. Louis public schools, 1936
School Arts Magazine, 1935, 1936
Schulz, Charles M., includes original "Peanuts" cartoon drawing, 1962
Social Science Research Council, New York, forecasts of election outcomes, 1950, 1951
Sorbonne, 1955
Sorbonne lectures
1955 -- 1956
1956 -- 1957
1958
Special ability, papers on
Students tested, 1962 -- 1964
Studies in the Psychology of Art, comments by reviewers
Steinhof, Dr. Eugen Gustav, director of National School of Decorative Art of Vienna, lecture, 1932
Survey Research Center, Federal Reserve Bank series on consumer finances, 1947 -- 1949
T
Test circular revision for Meier-Seashore Art Judgment Test, and Meier Art Tests 1. Art Judgment
Tests for courses
Theatre audience research, 1953
Third International Congress of Eugenics, 1932
U
V
Veterans Special Instruction Program, 1945
W
War psychology, 1941, 1942
Washington University, St. Louis, 1963
Washington survey; sample Gallup Poll form, 1950
Whitford, William G., professor of art education, University of Chicago, 1932 -- 1938
World Association for Public Opinion Research, 1948 -- 1952
Y
"Your Child Can Appreciate Art" paper
Z
Box 10
Reprints of articles by Meier
Psychology Laboratory notebook
Box 11
Cuts used in making book illustrations
Printed examples of book illustrations [includes Ding Darling cartoons]
Box 12
Manuscripts
Lectures in Paris
Course notes
"Psychology of Art"
"Psychology of International Relations"
Cards received during 1964 illness
Correspondence with UI faculty regarding courses, 1930s and 1940s
Newspaper clippings
Photographs of art
Slides
Box 13a
Glass plate negatives of art
Films used in "Creative Imag. Study," 1936, McCloy, William A. [ see McCloy, Box 5]
Box 14
Correspondence
Paris trip; lectures presented at Paris, National Gallery, and Denver
Institute of [Native American] Indian Studies, brochure and occasional paper, 1959
Aesthetic Perception, Test II -- Scoring key to 1940 edition of The Meier Art Tests, 1. Art Judgment
Photographs, slides, negatives, glass plate negatives
Box 16
Publications and courses
Box 17
Glass plate negatives
Scrapbook of correspondence and photographs from sons, Mark and George
Family members, newspaper clippings and articles
Meier, Norman C.
Death condolence cards
Miscellaneous writings
Newspaper clippings
Photographs
Miscellaneous, including one of Camp Mills military training camp in Long Island, ca. 1917
Washington state, ca. 1961 -- 1967
Recognition
Central High School reunion
Class of 1914; Alpha Delta Sigma fraternity membership
Recognition from Governor Norman Erbe
Travel
Paris, 1956 -- 1957
Program of the Lido in Paris, 1956
Cruise line menus dated 1956 and 1957
Travel postcards [two folders]
Artists
Articles about
Examples of their work [includes Grant Wood greeting card]
Photographs of their work
Box 19
Slides
Oversize Box 20
Hand-drawn draftsman diagrams by Norman Meier
