From the Desk of the
Chief Librarian

We have frequently used this space to examine a rare or scarce library acquisition in criminal justice in order to highlight the breadth and depth of the Sealy Library’s research collection in the College’s mission disciplines. We have emphasized that our holdings in criminal justice and related areas are unmatched, mainly because of our vigilant search for the rare and the unique. We have recently added yet another piece of literature to the collection -- A Review of a Pamphlet, Entitled “An Appeal to the Public on Behalf of a House of Refuge for Colored Juvenile Delinquents,” published in Philadelphia in 1846 for the Committee for the Improvement of Colored People. The tract takes on a particularly contemporary tone in its criticism of statistics used to highlight the extent of crime committed by black people. The Committee used the pamphlet as a vehicle to counter a circular report that the Committee contended was “calculated to convey to the public, an impression of degradation and crime amongst the colored people.” The pamphlet went on to show that this impression of crime among the black population was mistaken and that the circular manipulated crime and imprisonment statistics to draw erroneous and even malicious conclusions about black crime in the city. After the Committee showed how such statistics could be used for opposite purposes it concluded that, “were all the offenders against the peace and good order of the community, brought to justice with the same rigor and pertinacity as are those of the African race …we strongly suspect that the apparent inequality in the criminal calendar would present a different aspect.” When we learned that only three print copies of this rare work on crime, race, and the faults of statistical measures were recorded in United States libraries, we snapped it up with alacrity. The piece is a welcome addition to our rare pamphlet collection.

Larry Sullivan

Tony Simpson’s Retirement

On February 28th I retired after over thirty-six years at John Jay and I very much look forward to a new and productive stage in my life. When I came to the College in 1970 I had little in the way of subject expertise and certainly no research agenda. In the course of completing graduate school while working full-time, I developed strong academic interests and these will continue to be an important part of what I do and who I am. My initial focus as a social historian was on the relationship between legal change and social change in 18th century England. This expanded to include an interest in class formation and gender relations in the same period. I’ve since moved into the better-documented world of the 19th century and doubt if I shall get much beyond it. I’ve just finished editing an annotated edition of The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon (orig. 1885) by the crusading journalist and moral entrepreneur W.T. Stead. This will be the first time it has been published in its entirety as a monograph and it should be in print in the summer. I’m also completing an annotated collection of first-hand accounts by Victorian literary figures of public executions and this will be published later this year. In addition, I’m starting a small publishing business and a collection of essays on homelessness by contemporary “urban explorers” in Victorian England is in preparation. There is no doubt that my time and experiences at John Jay have strongly influenced the form and direction of these endeavors.

These activities will keep me busy but not, I firmly believe, unduly so. I will have ample time to fulfill other ambitions, including walking of the South West Way, a trail of 600-odd miles in England along the coast of Cornwall and adjoining counties.

I expect to remain in close contact with my many friends at John Jay, including those in my department. I think that the librarians here are the best-qualified and most collegial group of people I have ever worked worth. It has always amazed me that the College has made so little effort to use the varied abilities and subject strengths of the librarians in the classroom in a formal way. As we know, the policy of a past administration was that librarians could teach credit courses, but without adequate recompense. Perhaps this issue will one day be revisited and an adequate formula devised.

Thanks to the generosity of the College, and most of all to Larry Sullivan, I shall continue to be a presence here as I will for a time occupy one of the locked Library carrels. Here I shall set up shop working on my several projects.

I wish my friends and colleagues at John Jay every success in their careers and, most of all, in their lives.

Tony Simpson