If you have faith, you will live forward in spite of disappointment.
If you have hope, you will let nothing die that once proved worthwhile.
– Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, Universal History (1954)
A recent letter from the Board:
December 2023
Dear Friends,
Fifty years ago, a small group of people came together to keep Rosenstock-Huessy’s works in print and his memory alive, in the belief that what Rosenstock-Huessy had to say was of lasting importance, even urgency. We believe that to be even truer today.
The Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy Fund has done a lot over the years despite its small size and limited funds. Rosenstock-Huessy’s papers are secured in archives at Dartmouth College and at the German Literary Archive in Marbach; his English-language books continue to sell at Wipf and Stock; and the Fund’s website allows world-wide access to his work.
We are proud to share some updates and news from 2023 about the Fund:
- On July 8, 2023, the von Moltke family invited us back to Rosenstock-Huessy’s former home, Four Wells, to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. We hope you will consider joining us on Bastille Day (July 14th, 2024) for another celebration at Four Wells.
- The Fund and the Internationale Rosenzweig Gesellschaft have made a mutual commitment to work together in the memory of the two men who considered their work a joint achievement.
- This year, the Rosenstock-Huessy Literary Heirs to waive copyright in all material, published and unpublished, by Eugen and Margrit Rosenstock-Huessy. More information is available here.
- Our board member Stephanie Brenzel has initiated a project at From the Page to crowd-source the transcription of the letters of the Rosenstock-Huessys and their correspondents, focusing on the people involved in the Patmos circle and Die Kreatur.
- To mark the release of an ebook containing the letters of Franz Rosenzweig and both Margrit and Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy (Not Chosen, But Laid on Me by God), the ERH Fund held an essay contest. The subject was the life and work of Rosenstock-Huessy and Franz Rosenzweig’s philosophical dialogue, and the prize went to Dr. Ron Katwan; we are pleased to announce that his essay has been accepted for publication by the journal Modern Theology. Another contest is scheduled for 2025.
- The ERH Fund has begun the process of digitizing Harold Stahmer’s oral history interviews with over sixty people who knew Rosenstock-Huessy well; the Northeast Document Conservation Center processed a first batch of 20 tapes this year. We hope to move forward with the digitization in the coming year and begin work on transcriptions.
The Fund has had a productive year, but there is still much to be done. We have always been dependent on the donations of our supporters, and we hope you will take a moment to review our “wish list” below and consider making a tax-deductible gift to the Fund. You can make your donation securely on our website or mail it to me at the address below.
You may earmark your donation for a particular project if you wish; a number of donors have created memorial funds that support our work as a way to remember or honor a loved one. So far, memorial funds have been created for Joseph Elliott, Hans and Mariot Huessy, C. Russell Keep, Leon Martel, and Harold Stahmer. Create your own memorial fund on our website by indicating that your gift is in memory or in honor of someone you name.
If you are interested in volunteering to help with the transcription project at From the Page, please contact Dr. Brenzel at stephanie@erhfund.org. If you are interested in serving on the ERH Fund Board of Directors, you can contact me at president@erhfund.org.
Wishing you all a happy new year!
Sincerely,
Lynn K. Jones,
president, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy Fund
Please consider
supporting one of these projects by making a gift in any amount to the Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy Fund.
(The amounts given below are only suggestions).
Our website continues to be a resource for scholars and others interested in the work of Rosenstock-Huessy. A monthly donation of $25 will underwrite the cost of maintaining and developing our website, giving free access to researchers and scholars to over 400 hours of taped lectures and a searchable database of his collected works.
$100 will continue our access to the From the Page platform for a month. The transcription project now has 5 volunteers working on the transcription of the letters. If the work is to continue, we need to fund continuing access.
$500 will underwrite the preservation and digitization of one of Harold M. Stahmer’s interviews. Harold conducted over 60 interviews with former friends, colleagues and students of Rosentock-Huessy, including Freya von Moltke, Harold Berman, Fred Berthold, Mather Elliott, Clint Gardner, Nahum Glatzer, Rivka Horwitz, Bas Leenman, “Spiff” Little, Maurice Mandelbaum, Dick McFalls, Gottfried Michaelis, Lise van der Molen, George Morgan, Bob O’Brien, Cynthia and Leo Oudejans-Harris, Fr. Benedict Reid, and Anca Wittig. A $2,000 donation will fund the preservation of the next batch of interviews.
$750 will provide a traveling grant to a scholar working with the archive at Dartmouth’s Rauner Library. Dr. Brenzel first became involved with the ERH Fund as the recipient of a travel grant to complete research for her doctoral dissertation.