Clarence Ward Collection, ca. 1900-1996, n.d. | Oberlin College Archives

The Clarence Ward Collection provides detail on Clarence Ward’s activities as an architectural consultant and on his administration of the Allen Memorial Art Museum.  Information also exists here on the debate of the system of faculty governance at Oberlin College.  Consisting of correspondence, memoranda, and other printed materials, this collection is organized into ten series:  Biographical File, 1901-1977, 1996; Correspondence, 1916-1987, n.d.; Diaries, 1907-1960s, n.d.; Files related to Art Museum and Oberlin College Administration; Sermons and Talks, 1929-1962, n.d.; Writings and Publications, 1914-1985, n.d.; Non-Textual Materials, 1900-70s; Trade Catalogs, n.d.; Files relating to Oberlin Archaeological Digs, 1941-42; and Equipment, consisting of a lantern slide projector devised by Ward for use in teaching.

The correspondence and diaries series provide the richest insight into Ward’s personal and professional activities. Ward’s work as an architectural consultant for churches in the Midwest United States and New England is also documented in the correspondence series, and is occasionally enhanced by accompanying drawings and photographs.  While most of the correspondence details Ward’s work for churches in Northern Ohio, a reasonable amount of material exists on the First Congregational Church of Benzonia, Michigan.  Letters from Oberlin College President Ernest Hatch Wilkins, and Cincinnati architect Charles F. Cellarus further highlight Ward’s involvement in Oberlin College’s architectural development.  The diaries by Helen Eshbaugh Ward, beginning in the year of her marriage to Clarence Ward in 1907 and continuing into the 1960s, cover the Wards' trips to Europe during which Clarence studied and documented medieval  architecture.

The series related to the Allen Memorial Art Museum and Oberlin College Administration details Ward’s administrative role as director of the Art Museum (1917-1948), and his role in helping to formulate policy on the Oberlin College campus. Of special interest is material regarding the Oberlin College Board of Trustees’ initiative to change the Faculty Council’s jurisdiction over the appointment process in 1947.  Ward’s correspondence with members of the Board of Trustees, most notably Walter K. Bailey, provides valuable insight on the continuous debate over faculty governance at Oberlin College.

Overall, this collection is thin and uneven.  Little information exists on Clarence Ward’s personal and professional development or on his academic teaching and scholarship.  Random Reminiscences: The Connecticut Boyhood of Clarence Ward (1996), located in the Biographical Series, provides some insight into his early development.  Ward’s professional education and career development is also very much under-documented.  (Such historical materials may still be held by members of the Ward family.)  An exception is Ward’s correspondence with Elizabeth Prentiss (widow of Dudley P. Allen) and her secretary, Anna Held, which provides some detail on the personal activities, health, thoughts, and travels of Ward, his wife Helen Eshbaugh, and Elizabeth Prentiss.  Another source of personal information on the Wards is a transcript of an interview with Helen E. Ward by her grandson, Andrew Spencer Ward, in 1976.

The balance of the collection is made up of writings, sermons and talks, and non-textual materials.  Portraits and family photographs dating from roughly 1900 through the 1970s make up only a small portion of the series for photographs and drawings.  The rest of the photographs are especially rich sources for the study of North American and medieval European architecture.  Photographs by British photographer James Austin of French cathedrals and churches comprise five folders. The series also includes original prints used to illustrate E.A. Ruggles’ Small Stone Houses of the Cotswold District, published in Cleveland in 1931.

The North American photographic material predominantly comprises professional architectural photographs by I.T. (Ihna Thayer) Frary (1873-1965) of Cleveland.  His published works include Early Homes of Ohio, Thomas Jefferson: Architect and Builder, Early American Doorways, They Built the Capitol, and Ohio in Homespun and Calico.  The series includes photographs solicited by Ward for an exhibition of Frary’s work entitled “Early Architecture in Ohio,” as well as Ward’s typed catalogue for the exhibition, ca. 1944.  The larger part of Frary’s work in the series comprise 8” x 10” gelatin silver prints that document architecture in twenty American states east of the Mississippi, as well as a small number of photographs taken in Quebec Province in Canada.  These represent a major effort in the 1930s and early 1940s to extensively document American antebellum architecture, including vernacular structures, particularly from the Colonial period.

In 1971 Clarence Ward gifted approximately 6,000 large-format negatives of Medieval and American architecture to the National Gallery of Art. Nearly all of the negatives were produced by Arthur Ewing Princehorn, Oberlin College photographer, under Ward's direction in the 1920s and 30s. (The Clarence Ward Archive at the National Gallery can be accessed from ArtStor.) Certain of the negatives were printed and mounted for the use of the Art Department. Many of these prints still reside with the department, while those that had been professionally matted by the Allen Memorial Art Museum for an exhibit were transferred to the Archives (see the Princehorn Collection for a list of the negatives and prints).

Of particular interest in this collection is one of Ward’s rotating lantern slide projectors, until recently installed in the projection booth in the lecture room in the Art Department.  These machines, invented by Charles Besemer Company as early as 1916, were a precursor to the modern 35mm slide carousel.  They mechanically moved lantern slides in and out of position between the lamp and the lens of the projector, and could be operated with the touch of a button or remotely from the lectern.  Ward used two machines in the projection booth for comparison of two images at a time, a common practice in art history pedagogy in the modern period. These projectors were a departure from earlier existing projectors that required manually inserting slides one by one into the slide carrier, and multiple slides could not be loaded ahead of time. The rotating projectors were installed with the opening of the original Art Buidling by Çass Gilbert in 1917. Additional projectors were installed in the 1937 wing designed by Clarence Ward, in keeping with Cass Gilbert's design.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Biographical File, 1901, 1905-1977, 1996, n.d. (0.2 l.f.)

The biographical files are arranged alphabetically by folder title.  Included are diplomas, marriage certificate, newspaper and journal clipping honoring Ward, his will, and memorial service programs for Mr. and Mrs. Ward.

Series II.  Correspondence File 1916-1987, n.d. (0.8 l. f.)

The Correspondence file is divided into two subseries: 1) Professional, and 2) Personal.  The Professional file includes Ward’s consultant files pertaining to churches, correspondence with other universities, and a First Church File.  The Personal subseries contains birthday notes, thank you letters from students, retirement notes, miscellaneous correspondence, correspondence with Helen Liello, Jean Volkmer, and condolence letters upon Mr. and Mrs. Ward’s deaths.

Series III.  Diaries, 1907-1960s (0.4 l.f.)

The loose-leaf page diaries held in two folders and the four bound diary books chronicle Clarence Ward’s trips to Europe and his early interest in architecture, and other activities.

Series IV.  Files related to the Art Museum and Oberlin College Administration, 1920-1972 (0.96 l.f.)

The file includes basic information on the art museum’s collection, administrative procedures, the list of donors of the Clarence Ward Book Fund, correspondence between the Art Museum and College, manuscripts pertaining to the museum, art courses evaluations of classes taught by Ward, and correspondence with Oberlin College Presidents.

Series V.  Sermons and Talks, 1929-1962, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)

The files contain Ward’s speeches given at baptisms, eulogies, lectures, sermons, speeches, and miscellaneous notes and quotes.

Series VI. Writings and Publications, 1914-1985, n.d. (1.17 l.f.)

This series comprises three subseries.  Subseries 1 contains a collection of writings by Clarence Ward mostly on the subjects of architecture and art, and his collection of writings by others on the subject of art and architecture.  Series 2 holds books from Ward's private library on Egyptian, Roman, and European Renaissance art, all of which are in Germn.  There is also an index card system written in German that corresponds to the art books.  Series 3 are booklets holding notes that may have been used for research and writing.

Series VII. Non-Textual Materials, 1914-1947, n.d. (10.0 l.f.)

Divided into three subseries, the Non-Textual Materials series contains photographs and drawings (subseries 1), one etching (subseries 2) and 4x5" negatives (subseries 3).

The photographs include portraits and family shots from Clarence Ward’s childhood and early adulthood, and those for his wife Helen Ward and their two children.  The larger share of the subseries comprises copies of architectural drawings, and extensive photographic documentation of European and North American architecture.  Subseries 2 contains one etching inscribed to C. Ward, ca. 1932. Subseries 3 primarily comprises 4x5” negatives of timber framed and stone architecture in the United Kingdom, France and Germany taken in the 1920s and 30s.

Series VIII. Trade Catalogs, n.d. (1.45 l.f.)

Contains catalogs of images of art works in booklet form for ordering lantern slides, published by Dr. Franz Stoedtner Institute fur Wissendschaftliche Projection, and catalogs for ordering blocks for building architectural models.

Series IX. Files relating to Oberlin Archaeological Digs, 1941-42 (2.28 l.f.)  RESTRICTED

Consists of materials relating to an archaeological dig for Erie Indian remains on the George Morris Farm, Vermillion River, 1941-42, and other digs on nearby lands.  Includes the excavation plan, news clippings, catalog cards of the items collected, one letter, and photographs. This series is restricted in deference to Native American protocols.

Series X. Equipment, ca. 1937 (25.33 cubic feet)

Lantern slide projector, 47” high, 36” long, 26” wide.  25.33 cubic feet.  Composed of certain components patented by companies such as the Stereomotograph by the Charles Beseler Company in 1913; complete machine invented ca. 1916.  This particular model was likely installed in the Art Department's projection booth in 1937 with the completion of the new wing.