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Preliminary Inventory of the Joel A. Benedict Papers 1914-1997 (bulk 1960-1997)

2007-04122

Biographical Note

Joel Avery Benedict was born to pioneer parents in 1909 in the Arizona Territory. He worked his way through Tempe Normal School (now Arizona State University) beginning as a janitor and later working as a part-time Industrial Arts teacher. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in 1930 and his Master’s Degree in 1942. In 1959, he earned his Doctorate from Stanford University with a dissertation entitled The Development of an In-Service Training Program in Audiovisual Methods through Television.

After two years as an elementary school teacher in Gilbert, Arizona, Benedict was appointed Superintendent of the Mayer School District. During World War II, Joel Benedict was commissioned as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the US Navy, where he served thirty-nine months as a flight instructor. After retiring from active duty as a Lieutenant Commander, he was appointed the first Director of Audiovisual Services and part-time faculty member at Arizona State University. In this position, he established the Central Arizona Film Cooperative to provide the schools of Arizona with educational films and established a program of graduate studies in Audiovisual Education.

In 1962, Benedict was appointed a visiting professor of education at Indiana University to establish an audiovisual program in the Eastern Region of Nigeria for the US Office of International Development. He was appointed director of Media Research and Development in 1974 retired in 1978 after 32 years of outstanding service to Arizona State University. During ASU’s Centennial year in 1985, Dr. Benedict was awarded the Medallion of Merit, which honored 100 individuals who have made significant contributions to public schooling in Arizona during the past 100 years. In addition, the College of Education designated him the first recipient of its Hall of Fame Award in 1990.

In 1988, Joel and Irene Benedict established the Visual Literacy Collection at Arizona State University in order to preserve multimedia materials for students and scholars. It was renamed the Benedict Visual Literacy Collection in 1994 in honor of the Benedicts' contribution and commitment to the University. Throughout his prolific career as an audiovisual pioneer, Joel Benedict developed a national reputation for university film and audiovisual work. He produced and published numerous educational materials, copyrighting 93 of them in the name of the university. Many of these sound filmstrips, motion pictures, books, and devices have been distributed throughout the United States and in over 20 foreign countries.

Scope and Content Note

This collection hosues correspondence, budgets, evaluations, ephemera, lesson plans, grant proposals, research papers, and audio and visual materials documenting Joel Benedict's career as a professor and work with the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) and the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA). This collection has not been processed in full and can be viewed only by appointment. Contact Archives and Special Collections for more information.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.

Related Material

A guide to processed materials created by Joel A. Benedict is available at http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/benedict.xml

Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Joel A. Benedict Papers, 2007-04122, Arizona State University Library.

Provenance

Irene Benedict donated these materials to the Visual Literacy Collection in 2007.

Container List