Title: Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work Records, 1887-1980

ID: RG 34/

Extent: 5.3 Linear Feet

Predominant Dates: 1930-1980

The Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work was founded in 1886 in Cleveland, Ohio as a school for immigrant home missionaries to Bohemian, Polish, and Slovak populations. The school evolved into an institution of collegiate grade for young women of American and foreign origin in training for religious, educational, and social leadership. The school's founder was the Rev. Henry Albert Schauffler, D.D. (1837-1905), a former Protestant missionary in Turkey and Bohemia who came to Cleveland at the invitation of Charles T. Collins, pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, to work with the Czech community. In October 1883, the Congregational Home Missionary Society appointed Schauffler to the newly created post of Superintendent of Slavic Missions in the United States under the auspices of the Bohemian Mission Board of Cleveland.

Henry Schauffler recognized the need to establish a training program for young Slavic women aspiring to become missionaries. He persuaded his future wife, Miss Clara Hobart (d. 1942), a teacher with long experience in the Slavic community, to establish a school for this purpose. The school began in the home of Clara Hobart's parents on 23 January 1886. In 1890, the Bohemian Bible Readers' School, as it was then called, moved into its own building; it now began to accept women of all nationalities. After Dr. Schauffler's death in February 1905, the school was renamed the Schauffler Missionary Training School. The Schauffler school and the Slavic Department (1886-1921) of Oberlin Theological Seminary supplied the young men and women who advanced the work of Henry Schauffler for the Bohemian Mission Board of Cleveland.

During the administration of Dr. Raymond G. Clapp, Principal from 1924-41, the school changed from a three-year training school to a four-year college. In 1943, Schauffler College was recognized by the American Association of Schools of Social Work, and in 1953, men were admitted. Under the leadership of George P. Michaelides (1892-63), the school transferred in 1954 to the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology where it became known as the Schauffler Division of Christian Education. The last students graduated in 1957. When the School of Theology moved to Vanderbilt University in 1966, the Schauffler assets reverted to the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ. An agreement between the Ohio Conference and Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio arranged for the Schauffler College to move there in 1967. Operation of the Schauffler programs rests with the faculty and staff of Defiance College, who work closely with the Ohio Conference, issuing regular reports to the Conference's Board of Trustees and meeting annually to discuss long-range programs. The teaching of Christian education under the Schauffler Program for Christian Education and Social Work continues today.

Author: Valerie S. Komor

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Languages of Materials

Administrative Information

Acquired: 03/01/1969. Accession Nos: 73, 143, 2005/048.

Restrictions: Unrestricted.

Acquisition Note: The records of the Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work were received by the Oberlin College Archives in March 1969 in two separate accessions. Additional accession books of the Schauffler College Library were received from the Oberlin College Library Special Collections Department in 2005. Additional materials were received in December 2008 from Christina Lehman.

Related Materials:

For student files of Schauffler College see the Alumni and Development Records (RG 28, Series 8). For information relating to the Slavic Department of the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology and to the Schauffler Division of Religious and Social Work, consult the records of the Graduate School of Theology, record group 11, and the Office of the Secretary, record group 5. The letters of Henry A. Schauffler which accompanied donations to the Oberlin Slavic Department are housed in Box 35 of the Records of the Treasurer's Office, 7/1/5. The Papers of Margaret Schauffler (30/204) include a 1986 pamphlet on the history of her father's and mother's missionary training school. The papers of Gertrude Jacob (30/24) include further information relating to the transfer of Schauffler to Defiance College. Other historical collections relating to missionary work among Slavic immigrants in Cleveland are held by the Western Reserve Historical Society and Cleveland Public Library.

The Defiance College Archives are the repository for the Schauffler College Archives — https://pilgrimlibrary.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/schauffler-college-archives-at-defiance/ — except for some materials from the early years of the school and the years that Schauffler was associated with Oberlin College (see this finding guide for the records that are held by the Oberlin College Archives). Some materials such as commencement programs, yearbooks, and periodicals published by Schauffler are available digitally at: http://goo.gl/hcqsXm. For questions about the Schauffler Archives at Defiance College, contact a member of the Pilgrim Library staff: http://library.defiance.edu/c.php?g=334196&p=2244562 .

Finding Aid Revisions: Processed by Valerie S. Komor, 20 June 1991. Revised August 2005 and March 2009 by Archives staff.

Collection Material Type: Official Records

Scope and Contents:

The records (1887-1980) of the Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work (1886-1957) consist of annual reports of missionaries, correspondence, photographs, and printed materials relating to Henry A. Schauffler's missionary work among Slavic populations in Cleveland which led to the formation in 1886 of the Slavic Bible Readers' Home (School), subsequently named the Schauffler Missionary Training School and later Schauffler College. The collection is divided into three series: I. Cleveland Missionary Activity of Henry A. Schauffler; II. Schauffler College Administrative Records; and III. Historical Accounts of Schauffler College.

In spite of its title, this collection does not contain substantive administrative records for the period 1920 to 1950. Lacking are budgetary records, institutional annual reports, and administrative correspondence from the school's founder, its deans, or other administrators. Some of these materials may be held by Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio. Series II, Schauffler College Administrative Records, contains a variety of printed leaflets of a religious, commemorative or official nature which collectively summarize Schauffler's evolving mission from its inception to its transfer to Oberlin College in 1954. More recent correspondence from Gertrude Jacob (1908-89) to Schauffler alumnae relates to the school's transfer in 1967 to Defiance College. Other administrative materials include library accession books, clippings, student data cards, and photographs.

Of particular interest to the student of the history of Christian missions to the immigrant Slovak, Czech, Polish, and Hungarian populations of the Northeast and northern Midwest are two complete series of annual reports from missionaries(1888-1903) housed in Series I, Cleveland Missionary Activity of Henry A. Schauffler. The unsigned annual reports of the Cleveland Slavic Mission were most likely prepared by its Superintendent, Henry A. Schauffler, for the Congregational Home Missionary Society. These reports discuss mission work in Cleveland at the turn of the century; activities at Bethlehem Congregational Church (the center of missionary activity among Bohemian immigrants); and the training of Slavic missionaries by Oberlin Theological Seminary's Slavic Department and the Bible Reader's School in Cleveland. A second series of annual reports, those of the Slavic Department of the Congregational Home Missionary Society, were prepared by field missionaries working among immigrant communities in Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Their accounts describe the level of learning and spiritual sophistication among their congregations, church attendance, and various religious programs initiated by the missionaries.

Also housed in Series I are conversion stories (1894-ca. 1890) of students in the Slavic Department at Oberlin Theological Seminary recruited as missionaries by Henry A. Schauffler. Some of Schauffler's own writings, recounting the history of his work in Cleveland, are contained in three issues of The Home Missionary. The three monographs in Series III, Fields of the Lord (1957), The Schauffler Missionary Training School (1915), and Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work, 1886-1986 (1986) offer complete historical accounts of the Schauffler School. The brochure for the 100th anniversary celebration of the Schauffler School (included in this series) contains historical information.

<h1> SERIES DESCRIPTIONS</h1>

<p style="margin-left:.5in;"> Series I. Cleveland Missionary Activity of Henry A. Schauffler, 1887-1906, 1918, 1920, n.d. 2 l.f.

The series includes two sets of annual reports chronologically arranged: the Annual Reports (1888/89-1902/03) of the Cleveland Slavic Mission and the Annual Reports (1888/89-1902/03) of the Slavic Department of the Congregational Home Missionary Society. Also filed here are Bethlehem Congregational Church photographs and publications, correspondence of H.A. Schauffler relating to building plans for the Bible Reader's School (1887-90) and ms. conversion accounts. Files are arranged alphabetically by type of material.

Series II. Schauffler College Administrative Records, c.1887?-1980 3.15 l.f.

Records include two alphabetical series of 3x5 data cards for Schauffler students compiled by the Oberlin College Office of Alumni Records (ca. 1955-60); accession books used by the Schauffler library; and official publications. The accession books in boxes 5-7 are organized by subject (General Works – History/Biography) and are undated. After comparing these accession books with those that are dated, the College Archives staff assigned the following to the undated books [c.1876-1916?]. Correspondence of Gertrude Jacob (1908-89), Executive Secretary of the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology, and supplementary printed material relate to Schauffler alumnae activities and to the transfer of the school to Defiance College in 1967. Files are arranged alphabetically by type of material.

Series III. Historical Accounts of Schauffler College, 1910, 1915, 1918, 1922, 1930, 1957, 1986 .15 l.f.

Contains the 1915 history, The Schauffler Missionary Training School, 1886-1914, 1914-19 by the Rev. Henry Martyn Tenney, D.D. (1841-1932), Dean of the Schauffler Missionary Training School 1911-13 and Member of the Board of Trustees of Oberlin College (1885-1930). Also contains the 1957 publications by Grace L. Schauffler (A.B. 1916), Fields of the Lord, and Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work, 1886-1986 (1986), by Margaret R. Schauffler (A.B. 1918) that chronicle the history of Schauffler College to 1957. The brochure for the 100th anniversary celebration (included in this series) contains historical information.

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