The records of Bearings for Reestablishment provide a rare opportunity for studying the religious life during a period which, while brief, was an era of major crisis to many churches. Although Bearings did not limit its services to Catholics, the majority of its clients were former priests. The files about these clients contain important data about individual responses to the stresses and changes of the period. The BFR records are also useful for students of counseling. Although Bearings served a specialized audience, its records allow for a detailed examination of the operations and problems of an independent counseling agency.
The records of Bearings for Reestablishment have been arranged into seven groups: administrative records and general correspondence of the main office in New York City, records of the satellite offices, financial records, microfilmed client files, records concerning related organizations, and visual materials.
The NEW YORK OFFICE ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS are arranged alphabetically by function as Background and Incorporation Papers, Board of Directors, Conferences, Legal Correspondence, Membership, Personnel, Public Relations, Publications, Research, and Social Committee.
The background and incorporation papers include articles of incorporation and by-laws; minutes of various governing bodies; and correspondence and biographical information pertaining to the board of directors and its committees. Also here are general files on the organization and structure of Bearings including the original proposal drawn up by William Restivo in l965, subsequent proposals relating to development and BFR's relationship to other councils and organizations, organizational charts, procedural material, a draft business manual, and a two-hour interview on tape of former BFR staff member Linda Wagner conducted by Wisconsin Historical Society archivists in l974. For the Board of Directors there is additional correspondence and information on committees.
The BFR membership records are incomplete, consisting of a few early lists; a notebook entitled “The Mooney Book,” which may be a list of members; and a file of miscellaneous form letters distributed to members.
BFR maintained good personnel records due to their need for a highly qualified staff. For each employee the records include a personnel summary form, with performance appraisals present for selected individuals. Also included in this section are minutes of staff meetings (some of which are quite detailed), staff photographs, correspondence concerning openings, applications, lists of volunteers and students, and a copy of the Wonderlich Personnel Test and related material which were possibly acquired to enhance BFR's hiring skills.
The public relations files cover all aspects of the group's effort to attract clients. A large portion of the file contains news clippings about BFR which are both national and international in scope. Also filed here are brochures, related production material, and correspondence and invoices relating to print advertising.
Most prominent within the publications section are the BFR newsletters, which served a fundraising as well as an informational purpose. The holdings are complete from June 1967 to 1973, but after this the newsletter was published only occasionally. Also filed here are responses to the questionnaires which were distributed through the newsletter. The publications section also includes drafts, bibliographic material, and related correspondence for a booklet produced by BFR entitled “Resume and Interview Guide for Church Personnel.” Filed under the heading of short pieces are many articles written by members and staff. Some of the more prominent items are “Bearings for Re-establishment” by Patricia Allen Roy, one-time national director of BFR; an article about Bearings by Florence Wedge; and a book review of What Color Is My Parachute?, also by Patricia Allen Roy. Also included with this group of records are drafts of unidentified letters and publications produced early in the history of the organization, possibly by William Restivo.
The research files explain many of the directions BFR took and the broad base of ideas and proposals considered by the staff. Included are test manuals and sample tests gathered for use in the development of a career counseling test. It appears, however, that Bearings never actually developed its own test, but instead used the Inventory of Meaningful Ability, discussed below in the CLIENT FILES section. The general files here are primarily bibliographical, with a few materials relating to general or small studies. The remainder of the file includes articles and correspondence related to specific research work related to the priesthood.
A portion of BFR's activities consisted of providing social activities for former clergy. Documenting the Social Committee are minutes, lists of members and volunteers, newsletters, a small amount of financial records, and a questionnaire concerning committee activities.
Records of the SATELLITE OFFICES contain material from Bearings offices in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain received in New York. These files are arranged alphabetically by place. Whether large or small, most local Bearings offices generated various amounts of the same type of records: background material, brochures, contact lists, general correspondence and client referrals, and some local financial and fundraising records. Also included in these records are a few minutes, proposals specifically related to local office needs, and assorted reports.
Some satellite offices require further description. The Boston office was large and active, and it is well documented. The Canadian office put out their own newsletter from 1969 to 1971 which documents their efforts. As another large office, Chicago was very active, in addition doing its own public relations and fundraising work. This and other expressions of independence on the part of Chicago staff are well documented in the papers. The other large office was located in Santa Monica, California. This office encompassed so much territory that formal representatives were used to cover areas beyond the abilities of the office staff. Most interesting here is the California director's personal correspondence, which documents a period when she went unpaid for extended periods. Several lengthy letters demonstrate her efforts to get paid and her activities within the movement.
The FINANCIAL RECORDS are extensive and include fundraising files and relatively complete general accounting records such as budgets, balance sheets, bank statements, check registers, ledgers, journals, and taxes. Supplementing the standard financial records are recommendations for accounting and office procedures and correspondence with companies to whom Bearings was in debt.
The records on fundraising, which was a major endeavor for Bearings both before and during the establishment of their for-profit subsidiary, Opportunities for Professional Transition, range from summaries and statistics to correspondence with individual contributors. Many administrative records exist such as consulting reports, summaries, correspondence, and statistics, as well as special files documenting particular foundations that were approached, the activities of fundraisers and marketing specialists that BFR contracted, and the use of lists and list brokers (such as Catholic Lists, Inc.) to reach target groups. The files pertaining to bishops, chaplains, and provincials are varied in scope and document rather effectively the results of these appeals. Because a special emphasis was made toward bishops, that particular group of records contains many personal replies. Fundraising activities apparently included development for various special projects, although the relationship to BFR of the three proposals documented here is unclear.
The CORRESPONDENCE is limited to two early, special files and to general correspondence. The personal correspondence files of staff member Richard Butler and founder William Restivo are located here because they deal with many non-specific issues relating to the early days of the organization. Beyond these files, the majority of this series consists of general chronologically-arranged correspondence on a broad spectrum of issues. Prominent are letters from individuals concerning problems and their need to leave the religious life. Responses from the Bearings staff are generally attached.
CLIENT FILES represent the heart of the Bearings efforts. The series consists of files on approximately 3000 clients. With the exception of a few files overlooked during filming, this series is available only on microfilm. The files present a wealth of information about BFR clients. Although individual files vary in completeness, the most extensive files contain a biographical reference form, activity logs and status forms, an activity log from OPT, staff notes, a complete five-part Inventory of Meaningful Ability, a psychiatric evaluation, resumes and drafts, correspondence, and invoices for services performed. A file containing most of the above material exists in about ten to fifteen percent of the cases. Most files contain at least the “confidential” biographical reference form and/or a client status form.
Although most of the information in the file is self-explanatory the Inventory of Meaningful Ability requires some comment. It was the only form not developed by the Bearings staff. Instead it was developed by Thomas Brown of the Northeast Career Center, with whom Bearings worked closely. The form provides information on the client, including childhood and teenage desires, needs, feelings, and information about current ideas and career directions. The series begins with client statistics for the period 1970-1973, together with some analysis.
The RELATED AND AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS series is a wealth of information concerning members and former members of religious communities during the late 1960's and early 1970's. This section also includes records of BFR's subsidiary, Opportunities for Professional Transition. Other than the OPT files, the alphabetically-arranged files consist of material on non-profit social agencies counseling the religious; religious non-profit organizations; research and information groups; non-religious organizations that had some relation to the religious movement; orders and provincials of nuns, sisters, priests, and brothers; and miscellany. The files generally contain varying amounts of correspondence and publications.
The records of Opportunities for Professional Transition, created by Bearings as its profit-making arm, have been separated from the main administrative records even though they shared some staff. Very little material is present for OPT. Included are by-laws and a rationale for its formation, minutes from the rare meetings held by the group, correspondence, board materials, agreements, information about clients, promotional brochures and forms, and financial records.
Other files of note include the materials on the Career Development Council, which promoted a coordinated national approach to church career counseling and to which Bearings was a consultant. The records consist of by-laws, a detailed yet incomplete set of minutes, information on accreditation, correspondence, reports, and the working file of Catherine Murphy, a member of the council who also worked at Chicago BFR office. Her file reflects efforts to organize church counseling in the Chicago area.
Since members of the Bearings staff worked at the Manhattan Career Development Center, a substantial number of files on that center exist here, including by-laws, correspondence, client breakdowns, and financial records. The files on the Sisters of Mercy are also of special note, as they contain results and summaries of a study Bearings conducted. Other well represented organizations include the National Association for Pastoral Research, the National Federation of Priests Councils, the Northeast Career Center, and the Society of Priests for a Free Ministry.
VISUAL MATERIALS consists of one film, titled Heritage: New Bearings, 1967. The film was produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and consists of an interview by Shirley Cull with William Restivo, founder of Bearings for Re-establishment.
