Board of Trustees Records, 1833-1982
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
The Oberlin College Board of Trustees first met on March 10, 1834, a month following the chartering of the Oberlin “Collegiate Institute” by the State of Ohio. Under the 1834 charter, or Act to Incorporate the Oberlin “Collegiate Institute,” twelve persons were authorized to serve on the Board of Trustees, and the President of the College was made an ex officio member. In 1850, the charter was amended, changing the name of the institution from “Collegiate Institute” to Oberlin College. The number of trustees increased in 1874 to 18 and in 1878 to 24, with membership divided into six groupings of four trustees elected for six-year terms. Membership on the governing body of the College was expanded to 28 in 1970.
In 1870, the Board of Trustees voted to invite the “Society of College Alumni” and also the “Theological Alumni” to represent their bodies in future meetings of the Board by a committee of three “corresponding members.” In 1878, the trustees authorized participation by the alumni in the selection of one trustee each year. Until 1892, candidates were selected by the alumni but elected by the trustees. Since 1892, alumni have elected trustees directly.
Under the current Bylaws of Oberlin College, as adopted in 1904 and amended from time to time through December 1991, the composition of the Board of Trustees remains at 28 Trustees, together with the College President, who is ex officio a member of the Board. The membership, which is today drawn from across the country, is divided into three groups: Alumni-Elected Trustees, Board-Elected Trustees, and Class-Elected Trustees. Alumni-Elected trustees are eligible to serve for two six-year terms, with one such trustee elected each year. Eighteen members of the Board are elected to membership by the Board; three such trustees are elected or reelected each year. Three trustees are elected to membership by the current senior class and the two classes most recently graduated. Class-Elected trustees serve three-year terms.
Under Article III, the Board of Trustees can operate with constituent committees to carry out its diverse duties in the areas of trustee elections, development, personnel matters, property management, curricular changes, and campus buildings. The first such committee, and one of the two most influential, was the Prudential Committee, established on October 10, 1834. Its five charter members, mostly founders and local residents, included the Rev. John J. Shipherd (1802-44), Peter P. Pease (d. 1861), Addison Tracy (d. 1864), Frederick Hamlin (d. 1860), and Philo P. Stewart (1798-1868). Under Article VIII of the By-Laws adopted in 1904, the committee was to consist of the President, the Assistant to the President, the Treasurer, the Secretary, and seven others, with five members constituting a quorum. Its charge was the day-to-day management of the institution in areas “not especially intrusted to the President, Treasurer, Secretary, Faculty, or other Committees of the Trustees.” Although the Prudential Committee operated under the direction of the Board, at no time were the trustees allowed to interfere in the “internal control” of the College.
In time, Prudential Committee business came to be transacted by numerous subcommittees. The first subcommittees, seven in number, were in place by 1896. By 1950, Prudential subcommittees had multiplied to include the following: Appointments of Administrative Assistants; Building and Grounds; Chance Creek and Oberlin Beach; Cox-Cochran Endowment; Hospital Board of Managers; Labor Relations; Museum Accessions; Oberlin Inn; Publications; Residences and Dining Halls, Student Aid and Loans; and Use of Buildings. Trustee Bernard L. Gladieux (1907-97; A.B. 1930), in the 1961 “Report of the Trustee Committee on Administrative Organization,” recommended the retention of these subcommittees as “policy advisory committees to appropriate administrative officers,” and advanced the abolishment of the Prudential Committee. The long-standing committee, Gladieux’s Trustee Committee concluded, “disperses and obscures responsibility.” Accordingly, the Prudential Committee went out of existence as a By-Law body on July 1, 1962.
An Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees was established in November 1928 to permit the exercise of the full power of the Board during intervals between meetings. The Executive and Prudential Committees worked closely together, with the Executive Committee retaining authority in all matters brought to it by the Prudential Committee. Initially, membership on the Executive Committee consisted of the President and four other members of the Board. Currently, the committee consists of the President, the Chairman of the Board, and not fewer than eight other trustees.
In addition to the Prudential and Executive Committees, several committees have historically functioned in the area of College finances. In February of 1852, the Investment Committee was formed under Trustee Uriah Thompson (d. 1890) for the purpose of overseeing the investment of College funds. Under Article VI of the By-Laws, the Committee was to consist of six members, to include the President and Treasurer of the College and four members of the Board. This Committee still stands. A Budget Committee, in place by 1892, initially served as a subcommittee of the Prudential Committee but, subsequently, became an autonomous standing committee; today, it is called the Budget and Finance Committee. An Auditing Committee, formed at the turn of the century for the purpose of examining the books of the Treasurer, continued in existence until 1973. The Development Committee, created in 1953 under President William E. Stevenson, holds responsibility for all matters relating to soliciting and managing financial and property gifts to Oberlin College.
Currently, the Board has standing committees in the following areas: Academic Affairs; Audit; Budget and Finance; Capital Planning; Development and Alumni Affairs (Campaign Executive Subcommittee); Executive (Compensation Subcommittee); Investment (Debt Subcommittee); Nominations and Governance; and Student Affairs. The full Board meets for one and one-half days four times a year: once in the early fall, once late in the first semester, once in the spring semester, and once in June. At the fall meetings, election to the various subcommittees takes place. For a complete listing of trustees from 1834 to the present, consult the case file for this record group and the Alumni Register, 1960, which lists trustees and members of the Executive and Prudential Committees from 1834 to 1960. Following is a list of secretaries responsible for the minutes of Board of Trustees meetings:
1899-1938 George M. Jones
1938-1962 Donald M. Love
1962-1968 J. Robert Williams
1968-1969 Karl Aughenbaugh, Acting
1969-1970 Stanley Ornstein, Acting
1970-1974 Stanley Ornstein
1974-1978 Carolyn Spatta
1978- Robert Haslun
Sources Consulted
General Catalogue of Oberlin College (Oberlin: Oberlin College, 1908)
Fletcher, Robert S., A History of Oberlin College… (Oberlin: Oberlin College, 1943)
Gladieux, Bernard, “Report of the Trustee Committee on Administrative Reorganization,” 1961 (unpublished report)
“1991 Alumni Trustee Election Information,” (pamphlet) Office of the Secretary, Oberlin College
Oberlin College Charter and By-Laws, 1976 edition, with revisions of June 9, 1990
Archival
Committee Lists, College General, RG 0/21, Box 1
Love, Donald M., “The Government of Oberlin College,” unpublished talk, 1956; revised 1961. Records of the Office of the Secretary (RG 5)
Records of the Board of Trustees (RG 1), including case file documentation
INTRODUCTION TO AND HISTORY OF THE CHARTER AND BYLAWS OF OBERLIN COLLEGE
THE CHARTER
The Charter of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute was passed by the Ohio State Legislature on February 28, 1834. The Charter was amended on March 21, 1850, to change the name to Oberlin College. It was amended again on April 11, 1890 to allow for the creation and election of Alumni-elected trustees. In 1970 the Ohio Legislature further amended the Charter to allow the Board of Trustees to create, alter, or otherwise modify the number of trustees and the manner in which they are elected and serve. This latter amendment gave the Board authority over its own composition and terms of service, but was specifically enacted to allow for the creation of the Class Trustees.
On June 12, 1948, the Board of Trustees adopted a resolution clarifying the correct and proper name of the Corporation for use in legal documents and general contracts.
THE BYLAWS
On October 28, 1834, the Board of Trustees of the newly-chartered Oberlin Collegiate Institute adopted the “By Laws of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute.” These exist only in manuscript form and, according to Oberlin historian Robert Fletcher “their very existence was apparently forgotten for nearly half a century.” The original manuscript is located in the Oberlin College Archives. In fact, the regulations were amended from time to time during the nineteenth century. In the 1890s, a trustee committee consisting of Merritt Starr, Irving Metcalf, and Judson Smith was appointed to draw up a general revision. A draft was presented to the Board on June 15, 1903, and a final version was adopted on November 16, 1904. The current Bylaws are those adopted in 1904 as from time to time amended.
A major revision occurred in 1931 in which arrangement of the material was reorganized and new captions were added. In 1997 and 1998 a major revision was undertaken to make the Bylaws gender-neutral and bring them up to date with the current practices of the Board.
OBERLIN COLLEGE AS A CORPORATION
From time to time a person or firm the College is doing business with may feel the need to check the corporate status of Oberlin College with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Corporate Information Office. The Corporate Information Office has the correct information about the College, but with some annoying frequency gives it out without explanation and this leads the inquiring party to believe that Oberlin College’s corporate status was canceled by the Secretary of State on July 17, 1987. Here is a brief explanation of why this happens, what’s really the state of the College, and a source for the paper trail to back this up.
Oberlin College is unique in that it was incorporated and chartered as a non-profit corporation by an act of the Ohio Legislature on February 28, 1834 as opposed to receiving corporate status directly from the Secretary of State. As such, it is not subject to various rules and regulations of the Secretary of State’s Office.
On March 6, 1970, the Ohio Secretary of State arbitrarily and without the College’s knowledge or consent decided to carry the College as simply an ordinary Ohio corporation not for profit under statute 1702 of the Ohio Revised Code.
In the mid 1980s, the Board of Trustees formally objected. The Board felt, and counsel agreed, that the College was better off exercising its corporate privileges, “under the constitution of this state and the laws passed in pursuance thereof, and not otherwise.” Accordingly, the Secretary of State canceled that imposed status on July 17, 1987, and we reverted to our 1834 status. At no time during or after this period did Oberlin College lose its corporate status. Efforts were made to put an explanation in the records of the Corporate Information Office, but these are not always cited by the clerks handling inquiries.
For purposes of supporting the above information, written material and official correspondence is on file in the Office of the Secretary of the College and is available for copying as needed.
Robert A. Haslun
Secretary of the College
July 1, 1998
Author: William E. Bigglestone; Robert A. Haslun Subjects (links to similar collections) Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationMicrofilm Note
Board of Trustee records available on microfilm (positive prints) in the Oberlin College Archives include the following:
Minutes of the meetings of the Board, 1834-1964 (2 rolls)
Minutes of Prudential Committee meetings, 1835-1900 (1 roll)
Organized around eleven records series, the records of the Board of Trustees document the work of the College’s governing body from its creation in 1834 to 1974. Records series are: Series I. Charter and Bylaws of Oberlin College; Series II. Minutes of the Meetings of the Board; Series III. Document Files Supporting Minutes of the Board; Series IV. Prudential Committee Minutes; Series V. Executive Committee Minutes; Series VI. Budget Committee (currently Budget and Finance Committee) Records; Series VII. Development Committee Records; Series VIII. Investment Committee Records; Series IX. Presidential Search Committee Records; Series X. Records of Various Committees; and, Series XI. Records Relating to Property Appraisals. For series comprised of committee minutes, subseries further divide the records into indices to the minutes, official minutes, and microfilm copies of the minutes.
The most valuable records are those reporting on the full meetings of the Board (1834-1974). The minutes, which are also available on two rolls of microfilm in the Archives, are indexed up to 1904 in two folio volumes. Series III. Document Files, comprising the bulk of the entire group, contains documents supporting the business of the Board’s meetings, such as correspondence, vital records, financial and budgetary records, affidavits, other legal documents, and memoranda. These materials provide valuable contextual information relating to all matters of college governance overseen by the Board. Records making up the early years of the document files give the appearance of having been informally kept or of having been recreated after they had been dispersed. Some of the pre-Civil War documents may have been selected for this file by Robert S. Fletcher during his research into the history of Oberlin College. Some documents for the years 1853-69 are in the records of the Office of the Treasurer. There are no items for the years 1875-78, 1880, 1882-83, and 1887-91. It is likely that a fire in 1903 destroyed many of the records. After 1900, file numbers begin with DF 197 and continue chronologically. These DF numbers also appear in the minutes themselves. Clearly, the numbering system was intended as a cross-referencing device between minutes and relevant documentation. The system was most likely developed by College Secretary George M. Jones (1870-1948) to enhance control over the records in his custody.
Significant documentation exists for both Prudential and Executive Committees, the two most important trustee committees. Prudential Committee minutes span the committee’s lifetime, from 1835 to 1962, and include both the official minutes (1835-1962) and draft (unofficial) minutes (1907-62), which contain valuable insertions and marginalia. Minutes are in both bound and unbound formats. Prudential Committee minutes are indexed jointly with those of the Executive Committee for the period 1924-43. Executive Committee minutes are available from the committee’s founding in 1928 to 1967. The official minutes are currently stored in the vault of the Cox Administration Building of Oberlin College.
Other committee records include those of the Budget Committee (1892-1959), Development Committee (1952, 1958-60), the Presidential Search Committee (1945-75), the Investment Committee (1892-1973), and various other committees (1903-59). Among these, the best documented is the work of the Investment Committee, although records are lacking for the period 1852-91 and 1897-1905. Some of the records for the period 1852-91 are filed with the records of the Office of the Treasurer (RG 7). Investment Committee files in this collection include minutes (1892-96; 1906-53, 1957-72), the committees’ annual reports (1933-70); letters received by the committee (1961-72) related to committee business; files documenting local and out-of-town real estate held by the College; and trustee correspondence. For additional records relating to the work of the Presidential Search Committee, consult record group 33, Committees (Various).
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Charter and Bylaws of Oberlin College, 1834, 1903-72 (0.41 l.f.)
Contains the Charter of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute (dated 28 February 1834). Includes a complete run of printed Charter and By-Laws of Oberlin College, which were revised sixteen times between 1904 and 1972 by the Board of Trustees. Early reports of the Committee on Codification (1903-04) contain typed or ms. emendations to articles and by-laws under revision. Materials are chronologically arranged.
Series II. Minutes of the Meetings of the Board, 1834-1965, 1969-78 (3.99 l.f.)
Subseries 1. Indices to the Minutes, 1834-1904
Includes two bound indices to the minutes (1834-78; 1879-1904), prepared by Secretary George M. Jones from 1901 to 1917, and one hand-written card file index to the ms. minutes for 1834-77 only. The card file, which may have been intended to supersede the bound volumes, contains two hands; one belongs to Secretary Jones. Indices chronologically arranged.
Subseries 2. Official Minutes, 1834-1906, 1951-65, 1969-78
Includes two bound volumes containing original ms. (1834-1906) (plus photocopy set for reference use) and typescript drafts (1834-66) of minutes, and three boxes housing the “first copy” of the minutes (1951-65, 1969-78). These loose minutes were formerly housed in three 3-ring binders. Minutes are chronologically arranged.
Subseries 3. Microfilm Copies of the Minutes, 1834-1964
Microfilm master negative and positive prints of minutes (1834-1917; 1918-64) are available in the Archives on two rolls of film.
Series III. Document Files Supporting Minutes of the Board, 1833-1974 (24.8 l.f.)
The individual documents contained in the “Document File” represent all attachments or supporting materials distributed as packets to Trustee members in support of agenda items taken up at a given Board meeting. Primarily filed and grouped by meeting date, each file bears a Document File number (e.g., DF 628 March 15, 1952). Individual documents within each file are further identified under a sub-lettering and/or numbering system. This practice, initiated by Secretary George M. Jones, begins with the June 25, 1900 meeting and ends in 1972 when Trustee Notebooks were introduced. The latter are divided in tab form and organized in accordance with the numbering of the main agenda. Sets of numbers for each document are parenthetically noted, along with the title for each attachment or supporting document, in the finished minute of the meeting itself. This series includes some supporting documents of the Prudential and Executive Committees. The array or original documents—both rich and vast in character—includes memoranda, correspondence, legal and financial records, personnel files, and vital records.
Series IV. Prudential Committee Minutes, 1835-1962 (10.5 l.f.)
Subseries 1. Indices to Prudential and Executive Committee Minutes, 1908-14, 1924-43
Includes a one-volume index prepared by Secretary George M. Jones to Prudential Committee minutes, 1908-14; a six-volume index, in an unidentified hand, for both Prudential and Executive Committee minutes, 1924-37; and a card file index (with cards typed and hand-written) to Prudential and Executive Committee minutes, 1937-43. Indices are chronologically arranged. Also included are photocopies of index cards for the Building and Grounds Committee, 1879-1930 (span)—(originals in Secretary’s Office Records RG5)
Subseries 2. Official Minutes, Prudential Committee, 1835-1962
The official or final version of the minutes of Prudential Committee meetings (1835-1962), signed in ink by the corporate secretaries of Oberlin College, are bound in 19 black and red leather record books and housed in seven boxes. Those record books for the period 1835-77 are extremely fragile, and the ink has faded. Spine labels on the succeeding volumes indicate the date span covered by each volume. Volumes are chronologically arranged.
Subseries 3. Official Minutes, Prudential Committee, Duplicates (Loose), 1903-39, 1951-58
Official, duplicate minutes for the period 1903-39 (loose) are housed separately in three boxes. Minutes for 1951-58, formerly housed in one three-ring binder, are now boxed together. Minutes are chronologically arranged.
Subseries 4. Draft Minutes, Prudential Committee, 1907-62
Draft minutes exist for the period 1907-62. Minutes for the period 1907 July 28–1925 May 25, formerly housed in four three-ring binders, are now housed in four boxes. Minutes for the period 1925 June 3–1962 June 27 are bound in 20 red leather binders and housed in nine boxes. These minutes, lacking the Secretary’s final signature, consist of heavily annotated typescript drafts. Volumes indexed individually (in both tabbed and untabbed formats) include those for the period 1913 Nov 29–1944 July 5. Minutes are chronologically arranged.
Subseries 5. Microfilm Copy of the Minutes, 1835-1900
A positive print of minutes for 1835-1900 is available in the Archives; a master negative also exists.
Series V. Executive Committee Minutes, 1928-68 (1.0 l.f.)
Subseries 1. Indices to the Minutes
Indices to Executive Committee minutes are combined with those of Prudential Committee minutes. See Series IV, Subseries 1, above.
Subseries 2. Official Minutes, 1928-67
Official Executive Committee minutes (1928-67) are contained in five quarto volumes currently stored in the vault of the Cox Administration Building. Each volume contains its own tabbed index. Minutes are in typescript form, signed by the Secretary or Secretary Pro-Tem, and contain citations to individual Document Files by DF number. Topics voted on by the Executive Committee include faculty and staff appointments, reappointments, and promotions; financial payments; and the selections of contractors and architects for various building projects.
Subseries 3. Draft Minutes, 1928-45, 1962-68
Draft, or unofficial, minutes of Executive Committee meetings are contained in one hinged binder (1928-45) and in six tag-board binders (1962-68). Minutes in the binder are accompanied by two tabbed indices. The latter set includes a yearly “Summary of Trustee Actions.” Volumes are chronologically arranged.
Series VI. Budget Committee Records, 1892-1959 (1.6 l.f.)
Consists of paste-up College budgets (1892-1959), which were formerly housed in binders. Early budget tables are pasted down; later budgetary records are mimeographed copies. Budgets are chronologically arranged. (The committee is presently called the Budget and Finance Committee.)
Series VII. Development Committee Records, 1952, 1958-60 (0.2 l.f.)
Includes the papers of trustee Walter K. Bailey (1897-1996) and Frank C. Van Cleef (1881-1984) relating to development matters. Files contain the 1952 policy statement by the Board of Trustees used as a basis for Development Committee recommendations, as well as records for the 1958-60 building fund drive. For related materials, consult record group 26, the Records of the Office of Development. Files are chronologically arranged.
Series VIII. Investment Committee Records, 1892-1903, 1906-73 (3.2 l.f.)
Records include one volume of original ms. minutes (1892-96); minutes and memoranda (1906-53, 1957-72); reports on investments (1893-c. 1903); annual reports (1933-70); and correspondence (1952-72) related to annuities, investments, real estate holdings, and routine committee matters. Gaps exist for the period 1851-91 and 1896-1905. Trustee correspondence files have been weeded and include those (by name and date span of the correspondence) of Harry E. Barnard (1943-71), Robert S. Danforth (1964-71), Percy J. Ebbott (1952-71), Frank C. Fisher (1951-67), Louis S. Pierce (1955-69), and honorary trustee Erwin N. Griswold (1936-53).
Series IX. Presidential Search Committee Records, 1945-46, 1960, 1973-75, 1982 (2.05 l.f.)
Includes correspondence and records relating to the selection of presidents W.E. Stevenson (served 1946-59), Robert Kenneth Carr (1960-70), E.C. Danenberg (1975-82), and S. Frederick Starr (1983-94). No file is extant for the search leading to the appointment of Robert W. Fuller. Records are chronologically arranged. Permission of the Archivist is required to consult these files.
Series X. Records of Various Committees, 1903-07, 1916, 1934, 1959, 1965 (0.2 l.f.)
Includes the reports of several advisory committees to the Board of Trustees (1903-07), reports of the committee appointed to consider the relations between the trustees and faculty (1916), a report of the trustee committee on the Graduate School of Theology (1965), and reports and related documents of the special Committee on Organization (1959) responsible for the Gladieux report. Records are alphabetically arranged.
Series XI. Records Relating to Property Appraisals, c. 1942 (1.4 l.f.)
Consists of a seven volume (3410 pages) property appraisal report submitted by the Lloyd-Thomas Company Appraisal Engineers (Chicago, Illinois) to the Trustees of Oberlin College, c. 1942. The report is organized by Oberlin College building name (arranged alphabetically). The report includes an assessment of the condition of each building (by floors) and the cost to replace old/damaged materials.