I’m delighted to announce that we have created a new position in AODA, our Grand Historian and Archivist. @GrantDavis, Druid Companion, will be filling this position. This category will be a place for Grant and others to share information as we work to uncover aspects of AODA’s history.
Grant has been working extensively on the history of Dr. Juliet Ashley, so stay tuned for more information.
Please also post here if you have an interest in working on historical projects related to AODA. We have a lot to uncover in our 110+ years of history!
Thank you for the warm welcome! I look forward to working with everyone as we document this organization’s incredible history.
To tell everyone about my research and I, I’ve collected hundreds of documents including personal letters to and from Dr. Ashley. I’ve interviewed people that knew her and some of her family to gain a clear understanding of who she was/is and how her contributions enhanced our organization and society in general. Her story is inspiring; her story is a long one with many twist, turns, and rabbit holes. Therefore, I am going to share primary documents and her story one blog post at a time. In addition to Juliet Ashley’s story, I intend to work with the membership to uncover documents pertaining to other deceased ArchDruids and those that were the early supporters of the Universal Gnostic Church.
It is so very exciting. Thank you for all of your work and everything you are contributing to the AODA. I look forward to reading a lot more as it comes out.
Congrats on your new Grand Grove title and heading up this exciting work!
I’m very interested in Dr. Ashley’s time in Zurich and her research interests there, as well as any writings she may have done regarding Jung and his theories over the years. I’m not quite ready to dive in both feet, but I am definitely interested in following that thread. I have 11 years of graduate school in jungian and psychoanalytic theory which is a masters in myth and a phd in clinical psych, all from a depth oriented/psychodynamic point of view. Most of Jungs collected works are boxed up in the garage atm, but I have actually read and understand them, all to say, I am well versed in Jungian thought and many of its fascinating rabbit holes.
This is really exciting! I am really happy to see this new position, and ot hear about Grant’s work so far.
I would be happy to help out + work on historical projects. I’m quite new to the AODA as a Candidate and so don’t know a ton about AODA’s history, but I have a background in conducting archival research.
I agree that there are many incredible rabbit holes to be explored. I am going to unroll my research in chunks and I’ll be prepared to share my findings from her time in Zurich in a couple of months. That said, I will say that in order to understand her involvement with Jungian thought, we must understand the contributions of Toni Wolff…
I’m not in the country at all so probably not going to be much help in physically going to archives, at least not at the moment. But! If academic journal / library access would be helpful, and/or going through digitized archives, then I’d definitely help in that capacity.
I dive into Town Clerk records as part of my day job, especially land records (humorously enough). My immediate information access is limited to VT, but if any town records research needs done in the New England area I’m game for a field trip, and if land record or vital record interpretation can be of any help I’m happy to pitch in.
