American physicist, poet, publisher, editor of artists' books, illustrator and mail artist. Collection consists of five collections of mail art preserved by Porter from his own accumulation and those of fellow mail artists John Pyros, Carlo Pittore (née Charles Stanley), Robert Saunders, and Jay Yager.

Bern Porter was born Bernard Harden Porter on February 14, 1911 in Porter Settlement, Maine. Schooled in physics, Porter contributed to the Manhattan Project until 1945 when he quit shortly after he published Henry Miller's Murder the Murderer, an anti-war tract. Disillusioned by the misapplication of scientific potential, Porter began to express himself through a fusion of science and art. In 1959, he established the Institute for Advanced Thinking to encourage freelance physicists to develop ideas that combine physics and the humanities.

19.25 linear ft. (39 boxes, 1 flat file folder)

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