Office of the Treasurer Records, 1822-1997

The records of the Treasurer's Office date from 1822 to 1997.  They include incoming and outgoing correspondence, bills and receipts, records of student manual labor and teacher pay, student account and scholarship records, files and ledgers documenting gifts and bequests, and financial statements of student organizations.  Topics covered in these records include the establishment, organization, and funding of Oberlin College, biographical and financial information on individual students, antislavery agitation, aid to blacks, education of blacks and women, temperance, and evangelical religious activities.  Portions of this record group have been microfilmed and indexed.  The records were not interfiled when received, so the two subgroups generally reflect the individual accessions which make up the collection:

Subgroup I: Administrative Records, 1832-1965

          7/00/1 --  Associated Organizations of Oberlin College, 1921-50

          7/1/1  --  Records of Manual and Domestic Labor and Teacher Pay, 1834-69

           7/1/2  --  Bookkeeping Records (Ledgers), 1833-1946

           7/1/3  --  "Miscellaneous Archives," 1832-67

          7/1/4  --  Miscellaneous Records, 1833-1938

          7/1/5  --  Letters Received by Oberlin College, 1822-1907

          7/1/6  --  Other Administrative Files, 1834-1965

Subgroup II: Administrative Records, 1976-97

          7/2/1  --  Office Files, 1976-94

          7/2/2  --  Reports for the Investment Committee, 1994-97

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Subgroup I:  Administrative Files, 1832-1965

This series consists of records received through 1965.  It is arranged into six series.

          Series 7/00/1:  Associated Organizations of Oberlin College, 1921-50 (0.4 l.f.)

          Annual publication listing the financial statements of all student organizations and "houses" (dormitories).  Lists income and expenditures and provides the name of the student responsible for maintaining and reporting the finances of each organization.  Arranged chronologically (30 volumes).

          Series 7/1/1:  Records of Manual and Domestic Labor and Teacher Pay, 1834-69 (1.2 l.f.)

          Receipts for labor performed by students indicating name of student, type of work, rate of pay or number of hours, total pay, and name of person for whom work was performed, 1834-68.  Receipts for teaching give name, number of hours, hourly rate, and total, 1837-69.  Arranged chronologically.

          Series 7/1/2:  Bookkeeping Records (Ledgers), 1833-1946  (25 l.f.)  (223 vols.)

          This series contains among the earliest of the college's financial records.  Included are several varieties of account books created and maintained by the treasurer and his office clerks and bookkeepers.  They record the receipt and disbursement of Oberlin College funds in the form of donations, student fees, scholarships, subscriptions both general and specialized, loans, interest received, and property assets.  The treasurer consulted these account books in the preparation of his annual report to the President.  As a whole, they possess not only evidential value but also informational value, showing the development of bookkeeping and accounting practices.

          The series is arranged into nine subseries by type of record book: 1. General Ledgers; 2. Cash Journals; 3. Treasurer's Journals; 4. Cashbooks; 5. Daybooks; 6. Student Fee Registers;7. Subscription and Donation Registers; 8. Scholarship Registers; and 9. Special Ledgers.  Subseries 6 through 9 include registers, cash books, and subscription and scholarship lists which were transferred from series 7/1/4, Miscellaneous Records.  In the original box listing, these items were called "Miscellaneous cash books and ledgers".

                    Subseries 1.  General Ledgers, 1834-1929  (18 vols.)

                    The general ledgers contain debits and credits for individual accounts and named funds.  Figures have been transferred or "posted" to the ledger from cashbooks, cash journals, and day books, in which entries were made on a daily basis.  When a transaction is posted, it is "paged" or cross-referenced to the general ledger page, and the page number of the cash or daybook added to the ledger.  Thus, a system of cross-reference links the ledgers of Subseries 1 with the journals, cashbooks, and day books of Subseries 2 through 5.  The general ledgers are chronologically arranged in a complete run, from 1834 to 1929.  All but one are indexed by name or subject.  (See Office of the Secretary, RG 5, for microfilm of general ledgers from 1937-1954.

                    Subseries 2.  Cash Journals, 1833-37, 1839-45, 1847-53, 1856-70, 1872-71, 1894-97  (23 vols.)

                    In format and function, the cash journals resemble the general ledgers.  Cash journals are usually ruled in six columns and they analyze balances (unlike day books); however, as they are not intended as the final record of transactions, they are not self-indexed.  Entries are paged to the general ledgers.  The dating system, where it is consecutive, follows a daily rather than yearly sequence.  Cash journals are chronologically arranged.

                    Subseries 3.  Treasurer's Journals, 1843, 1853-1902  (11 vols.)

                    Includes a series of cash journals entitled "Treasurer's Journals".  Journals show transactions relating to various named funds, interest on investments, and payments received.  Overlapping volumes contain similar entries and nearly identical balance figures.  The dating system follows a daily rather than yearly sequence.  Arranged chronologically.

                    Subseries 4.  Cash Books, 1834-40, 1847-76, 1902-20  (15 vols.)

                    Cash books contain a daily record of receipts and disbursements, with receipts generally entered on the left-hand page and disbursements on the right-hand page.  There are departures from this format among the volumes here.  Single volumes may span from two to nine years.  Cash books are chronologically arranged.

                    Subseries 5.  Day Books, 1836-39, 1850-51, 1870-72, 1891-93, 1897-99, 1902  (11 vols.)

                    Like cash books and cash journals, day books (or blotters) constitute a diary accounting of transactions subsequently  entered into ledgers.  In the day book, transactions are not analyzed in terms of debits and credits.  Here, many day books are ruled in journal format but function as day books.  Day books are chronologically arranged.

                    Subseries 6.  Student Fee Registers, 1834-95, 1911-22, 1931-46, n.d.  (45 vols.)

                    Includes registers listing student fee payments for spring, summer, and fall terms, organized under "Oberlin College Registers" and "Special Fee Registers".  Oberlin College Registers include two consecutive runs of registers: 1834-95 and 1911-20.  Two systems of entry are employed.  For volumes 1834-71, payment is recorded by student name, alphabetically.  From 1871 on, payment is recorded by date.  Registers are chronologically arranged.

                    Subseries 7.  Subscription and Donation Registers, 1835-46, 1859-89, 1901, n.d.  (43 vols.)

                    Includes various registers and record books which record donations, funds, and subscriptions received.  There is no uniformity of format in these volumes.  Of note are two volumes (1835-46) recording donations to the fledging Oberlin Collegiate Institute.  Registers are arranged alphabetically by subject.

                    Subseries 8.  Scholarship Registers, 1845-93  (24 vols.)

                    Contains registers of scholarships, including one which documents the first sale of scholarships, authorized by the Board of Trustees in 1851 to raise an endowment.  Registers also document the subsequent repurchase of scholarship certificates by the college after 1874.  Registers are chronologically arranged.

                    Subseries 9.  Special Accounts and Ledgers, 1835-1902  (32 vols.)

Miscellaneous ledgers chronologically arranged.  The ledger titled "Trial Balances" is paged to the General Ledgers for the same period in Subseries 1.  One volume, untitled, is cross-referenced to subseries 7, as it contains entries relating to the Dascomb and Morgan Annuity Fund and the Finney and Morgan Professorship.  Other ledgers record bills payable and receivable, loans, student activity fee receipts and distribution, and accounts for the year 1841, bound with student applications for the same period.

          Series 7/1/3:  “Miscellaneous Archives,” 1832-1867 (11.5 l.f.)

          Consists primarily of bills, promissory notes, and receipts for payment of bills and for donations.  Also includes minutes of meetings of the Oberlin Society, the Board of Trustees, and the Oberlin Bible Society, and a great deal of miscellany, such as a petition to the Board of Trustees to meet in Oberlin regarding the “question of colored students,” marriage licenses, contracts, and printed material such as clippings about the Ipswich Female Seminary.  Arranged Chronologically.

          Series 7/1/4:  Miscellaneous Records, 1833-1938 (11.5 l.f.)

          Similar to series 7/1/1 and 7/1/3 in that it contains records of manual labor, bills and receipts for purchases and teaching, and student accounts.  A large portion of this series, however, pertains to fundraising, endowment, gifts, and bequests, including six files on the origins and purposes of gifts and named funds, 1879-1936, and information regarding the Charles Martin Hall estate, 1914-38.  These files also include unindexed correspondence, 1925-35, and copies of letters sent, 1836-95 (10 vol.).  Various sections of files are generally in chronological order, but the sections themselves are not in any particular order.

          Series 7/1/5:  Letters Received by Oberlin College, 1822-1907 (17.3 l.f.)

          Letters received by the Office of the Treasurer, dealing with a wide variety of subjects, including activities of John J. Shipherd prior to 1833, the founding and organization of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute in 1833, fundraising, inquiries from and about students and prospective students, antislavery agitation, aid to blacks, the education of blacks and women, temperance, and evangelical religious activities.  An index to this entire series is available and letters dating from 1822 to 1866 have been microfilmed.  This series is further divided into two sub-series by date (1822-1866 and 1867-1907).  Subseries 1 is chronological; Subseries 2 is alphabetical.

          Series 7/1/6:  Other Administrative Files, 1834-1965  [acc. 1992/65 and 1995/97]  (4.6 l.f.)

          This series consists of Ledgers, 1834-43; General Files, c. 1915-60; Records of Class Funds, 1928-43; and Associated Organizations Annual Reports, 1921/22-1949/50.  These materials were kept by the College Treasurer and subsequently maintained in a vault following the elimination of that office on the administrative chart.  This series also contains records that were received from the Treasurer's office after the 1979 reorganization.  This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Subgroup II:  Administrative Files, 1976-1997  (3.75 l.f.)

This subgroup contains material recently received and covering the time period 1976 to 1997.  The subgroup is divided into two series.

          Series 7/2/1: Office Files, 1976-94 [acc. 1996/79] (2.5 l.f.)

          This series consists of office files, 1976-1994, as maintained by Oberlin College Treasurer, Charles Tharp, 1989-1995.  They include general subject files, his Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association trustee files, and select files regarding the College’s divestment of funds in South Africa, 1985-1990.  The sub-series is arranged alphabetically by subject.

          Series 7/2/2: Reports for the Investment Committee, 1994-1997 [acc. 1997/093 and 1997/123] (1.25 l.f.)

          This series consists of soft-bound reports and materials compiled by the Investment Office for the Board of Trustees Investment Committee.  The notebooks date from 1994 to 1997.  The subseries is arranged chronologically.