Office of the Registrar Records, 1859-1999
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
The first reference to an Oberlin College Registrar appears in the Catalog of the Officers and Students of Oberlin College, 1887/88. Students wishing general information regarding degrees and diplomas are invited to address the College Registrar, Albert Allen Wright (1846-1905), Professor of Geology and Natural History. Prior to the appointment of faculty registrars, prospective students wrote to the Secretary of the College. At the Graduate School of Theology, students made application to the Junior or Senior Dean; from 1944 until 1966, Gertrude Fisher Jacob (d. 1989) served as the seminary's Secretary and Recorder and then as its Registrar.
In 1905, Assistant Registrar Flora Isabel Wolcott (1864-1942, L.B. 1884) was named the first full-time Registrar of the college. Since 1891, she had provided support to a series of six faculty registrars who succeeded each other rapidly within sixteen years. After Albert Allen Wright (1889-90), faculty registrars included Henry Churchill King (1890-93), Fred Eugene Leonard (1893-1900), Frederick Orville Grover (1900-01), Lyman Bronson Hall (1901-03), and Charles H.A. Wager (1903-05).
During Flora Wolcott's tenure (1905-29), the position of Registrar continued to be that of recorder and records custodian. Accuracy and attention to endless detail were necessary, as the use of forms had not yet become routine. Student grades and information relating to student academic performance were entered by hand into bound books. Such information was supplied by faculty members and those committees concerned to uphold academic standards, including the Committee on Additional Work and Substitutions and the Committee on Failure in Scholarship.
Donald Melbourne Love (1893-1974, A.B. 1916) succeeded Flora Wolcott as Registrar, serving from 1929 to 1935. Love introduced a new and revolutionary system of grading which went into effect in academic year 1931/32. Under the plan, passing work was to be evaluated on a relative rather than absolute basis. Each student was given his class rank in terms of a number from 85 to 15, with the letter grades F and E retained to designate failure or the need for reexamination.
Implementation of the new grading system was one of several changes which occurred in the Registrar's Office while Donald M. Love served as Secretary of the College. Love's successor as Registrar was Edith Stanley (1892-1955). Stanley was hired to modernize an obsolete office by establishing a vertical file system of records. This required typing hundreds of hand-written records onto filing cards. In addition to her clerical duties, Stanley developed strong collegial relationships which had the effect of making the Registrar a visible presence on campus.
Stanley's twenty-year service to Oberlin was interrupted by her death in 1955. Then followed an eight-year period of rapid changeover in personnel. John C. Kennedy (b. 1904, A.B. 1927), Registrar at the Conservatory of Music from 1939 to 1942 and from 1952 to 1959, became Acting Registrar in 1955 and was appointed Registrar in 1956. Kennedy was the first individual to hold the dual positions of college and conservatory registrar. Following his departure in 1959, the registrar of the college also served the Conservatory of Music. George H. Langeler (b. 1927), Acting Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, replaced Kennedy on a two-year appointment. In 1963, the Office of Admissions changed its name to the Office of Admissions and Academic Records, thus bringing the recording function under the titular supervision of William A. Richardson (1962/63) and then of Robert Lodington Jackson (d. 1989), Director of Admissions since 1949.
In 1969, the office of the Registrar emerged from its six-year placement under the aegis of the Office of Admissions and Academic Records. The office moved into its own space in Peters Hall, leaving the Admissions Office in the Administration Building. Charles Wantman (b. 1942, A.B. 1963) became Registrar. In collaboration with Provost John W. Kneller (b. 1916), Wantman outlined new functions for the Registrar's Office. These included the streamlining of office procedure through the addition of computers and the establishment of an on-line data bank to enhance institutional research at Oberlin. The first terminals arrived in 1978.
The changeover to a fully automated system required several years to complete and was set back by frequent changes in personnel. Several registrars served brief terms, creating discontinuity in the office. Following Wantman's resignation in 1971, Assistant Professor of Physics David C. Montgomery (b. 1938) was named Registrar and Assistant Provost. During his two-year tenure, Montgomery developed new automated collection and retrieval systems. On Montgomery's promotion to Director of Institutional Research and Planning in 1973, Robert Jackson assumed the position of Registrar. Jackson presided over the continuing transfer of the card-based registration and record-keeping system to a computer-based system. He brought years of experience in the Admissions Office to his registrar duties and provided needed continuity in the office.
On Jackson's retirement in 1981, Douglass S. Gardner was appointed Registrar. He served until 1987, when Assistant Registrar Lori Gumpf was named Acting Registrar by President S. Frederick Starr; she was promoted to Registrar in 1988. Still to be completed is an upgraded student records computing system; its operation is foreseen for the fall of 1992.
In 2001, Registrar Lori Gumpf moved to the Department of Human Resources. Elizabeth S. Clerkin was appointed Registrar.
Registrars of Oberlin College
1889-1890 Albert Allen Wright
1890-1893 Henry Churchill King
1893-1900 Fred Eugene Leonard
1900-1901 Frederick Orville Grover
1901-1903 Lyman Bronson Grover
1903-1905 Charles Henry A. Wager
1905-1929 Flora Isabel Wolcott
1929-1935 Donald Melbourne Love
1935-1955 Edith Stanley
1955-1959 John Cecil Kennedy
1959-1961 George H. Langeler
1961-1963 William A. Richardson
1963-1969 Robert Lodington Jackson
1969-1971 Charles Wantman
1971-1973 David C. Montgomery
1973-1981 Robert Londington Jackson
1981-1987 Douglass S. Gardner
1987-2001 Lori Gumpf
2001- Elizabeth S. Clerkin
Registrars, Conservatory of Music
1916-1938 Mabel D. Brown
1939-1942 John C. Kennedy
1942-1944 Katherine M. Eide
1952-1959 John C. Kennedy
Registrars, Graduate School of Theology
1956-1966 Gertrude Fisher Jacob
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The records of the Office of the Registrar (1859-1987) document the multiple functions of the office: registration of students in classes; assigning of classroom space; initiation of student billing; transfer of credit from other institutions; recommendation of degree candidates; reporting of grades; and reporting, through its annual reports, on academic performance. The collection consists primarily of student grade records (1859-1939) in ledger, card, and transcript format. The remainder of the collection includes a small amount of administrative files from the registrars of Oberlin’s three divisions, the College of Arts and Sciences (1894-1987), the Conservatory of Music (1958-68), and the Graduate School of Theology (1963-68). Files include class schedules, degree-authorization forms, program information, and billing records. Missing are records for the Conservatory registrars John C. Kennedy (1939-42, 1952-59) and his predecessor, Mabel D. Brown (1916-38). Also missing are the early records (1937-63) of Graduate School of Theology Registrar (1956-66), Gertrude F. Jacob.
The collection is divided into three subgroups alphabetically arranged: I. Administrative Files of the Registrar, College of Arts and Sciences; II. Records of the Registrars of the Conservatory of Music and Graduate School of Theology; and III. Student Grade Records. Within series, files are typically arranged alphabetically and there under chronologically. In Series III, records are arranged by format in the following order: ledgers, cards, and transcripts. A full listing of these materials is included in the appended Inventory.
The administrative files of Series I include annual reports, statistical studies, correspondence, committee records, and student applications to summer foreign language programs. The annual reports cover the periods 1939-58, 1960-78, and 1981-87, with gaps for 1958/59, 1978/79, and 1979/80. Each report consists of numerous individual studies on such characteristics of the graduating class as attrition, number of degrees awarded, parental occupations, grade distribution and averages, faculty teaching load, and course enrollments. Statistical studies on enrollment and class rankings exist for the years 1920-49 and 1961-67. Of related interest are files (1932-36) describing Oberlin’s move to a numerical ranking system under the guidance of Donald M. Love, Registrar from 1929-35 and 1937-38.
The records of several committees (1894-1946) are also housed in Subgroup I. They reveal not only stringent academic standards but also the college’s early record-keeping and enforcement practices. The files of the Committee on Failure in Scholarship (1908-12) contain letters of warning from Committee Chairman Edward Alanson Miller (1866-1958) to the parents of failing students. The work of the Committee on Substitutions is documented by entries in record books indicating committee approval for substitutions of one course for another. Files of the Faculty Committee on Graduate Study and Degrees (1896-1926) include student applications, letters of recommendation, and committee correspondence.
Three-fourths of the collection consists of 67 volumes of student grade ledgers (1859-1939), grade cards (1850-80) for the Collegiate department and Conservatory, and Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School transcripts, c. 1890-1930. These records list student names, grades, home addresses, Oberlin addresses, place and date of birth, and preparatory school. They provide a valuable resource for the study of student profiles and academic achievement over an eighty-year period. The following degrees have been awarded at Oberlin College:
A.B. The Bachelor of Arts degree was awarded upon completion of the Classical Course; it was the only degree awarded at Oberlin until 1873. It remains the only degree conferred by the College of Arts and Sciences.
S.B. The Bachelor of Science degree was first awarded in 1873 to the first student completing the Scientific Course. Before the course was dropped in 1900, thirty students received this degree.
A.M., S.M. These degrees were first announced in the catalog for academic year 1871/72. They were awarded to students holding the A.B. degree who pursued advanced work in literary or scientific fields and who were of good character.
Ph.B. The Bachelor of Philosophy was granted from 1887 to 1901 to those completing a variant of the Classical Course.
Lit, L.B. The designation "Lit." applies to those graduates who completed the work of the Ladies Course from 1836 to 1874, and the Literary Course from 1875 to 1894. These graduates received diplomas only and were not awarded degrees until 1894, when the L.B. was granted to those who applied for it.
SUBGROUP AND SERIES DESCRIPTIONS:
Subgroup I. Administrative Files of the Registrar, College of Arts and Sciences, 1894-1989 (16.1 l.f.)
Subgroup I includes those records maintained by the Registrar in the course of registering students in classes, assigning classroom space, billing students, reporting grades, awarding transfer credits, and conferring degrees. This subgroup is divided into six series, arranged alphabetically: 1. Annual Reports, 2. Committee Records, 3. Correspondence, 4. Miscellaneous Administrative Files, 5. Statistical Files, and 6. Student Applications for Study Abroad.
Series 1. Annual Reports, 1939-1994, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99 (2.9 l.f.)
Consists of the annual reports of the Registrar (1939-1994). Each annual report contains numerous statistical studies that report on enrollment, geographical distribution, majors, grade distribution, instructional units, and course analyses. Arranged chronologically. No annual reports were produced for 1999-2000 and 2000-2001
Series 2. Committee Records, 1894-1946 (1.9 l.f.)
Contains the record books of several early committees (1894-1946) charged with monitoring student academic progress. Included in these records are several files relating to the adoption of the ranking system of evaluation at Oberlin (1932-36).
Series 3. Correspondence, 1924-1935 (5.6 l.f.)
This series consists of correspondence (1924-35) from the Office of the Registrar. The correspondence dates mainly from the tenure of Donald M. Love (1929-35). Arranged alphabetically.
Series 4. Miscellaneous Administrative Files, 1901-04, 1914-1978 (0.6 l.f.)
This series contains administrative files (1914-78) of various types. Included are several class schedules, forms, documents, and memos, as well as correspondence of Registrars Flora Wolcott (1905-29) and Edith Stanley (1935-55). Included also are records of Chinese students (1921-38), Navy V-12 trainees at Oberlin (1945-46), scholarship holders (1929-34), the Oberlin Kindergarten Training School (1926-39), reports on faculty grading 1960-73), female student attendance, College and Academy (1901-04), and miscellaneous personnel office files (1930-32). Arranged alphabetically.
Series 5. Statistical Files, c. 1893, 1920-49, 1961-1967 (4.1 l.f.)
Consists of statistical reports (1920-49, 1961-67) on enrollment and class rankings. Arranged chronologically. Also includes charts and statistical tables on oversize paper comparing data from as early as 1834 to 1893 (c. 1893).
Series 6. Student Applications for Study Abroad, 1966-1975 (1.2 l.f.)
Consists of student application files and final grades for summer language study abroad (1966-75). Arranged alphabetically by program.
Subgroup II. Records of the Registrars of the Conservatory of Music and Graduate School of Theology, 1952-68 (0.8 l.f.)
Subgroup II includes a sampling of records maintained by the Registrars of the Conservatory of Music and the Graduate School of Theology. This subgroup is divided into two series: 1. Registrar’s Office, Conservatory of Music and 2. Registrar’s Office, Graduate School of Theology.
Series 1. Registrar’s Office, Conservatory of Music 1952-64 (0.4 l.f.)
Files include a sampling of class schedules and late-degree authorization forms; performance evaluations for seniors; and records of the Conservatory’s program at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria (1958-63).
Series 2. Registrar’s Office, Graduate School of Theology 1963-68 (0.4 l.f.)
Incomplete files contain a sampling of forms signed by Registrar Gertrude Jacob (d. 1989) announcing candidates for degrees; course schedules; student billing forms; and correspondence of Professor of Church History Richard C. Wolf (1912-84), Chairman, Committee on Student Schedules and Standing, relating to student academic performance.
Subgroup III. Student Grade Records, 1859-1939 (67 vols.) (19.5 l.f.)*
Subgroup III consists of 67 volumes of ledgers, boxes of cards, and files of student transcripts. The first 36 volumes bear Roman numerals on their spines (vols. 0-XXXV) and include listings of student grades and relevant biographical information. Listings are separate for men, for the Ladies Department, and for the Preparatory Department. Some grades are listed by course. All listings are alphabetical and indexed on microfiche.
Volumes 100-109 list Preparatory and Academy department grades, 1891-1916. Corduroy volumes in this series are unnumbered.
Grades on cards (boxes 1-5) exist for the Preparatory, Ladies, and Collegiate departments, ca. 1860-1880.
Grades for the Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School, 1894-1907, are listed in one volume; Boxes 6 and 7 include OKPTS grade cards for non-graduates, S-Z. Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School transcripts, application blanks, and related correspondence for graduates and non-graduates, c. 1890-1930, are housed in boxes 8-13.
Grades for the Graduate School of Theology, 1884-1942, are listed in seven volumes with preceding indices; records for the years 1945-66 are currently on file at the Office of the Registrar.
Grades for the Conservatory of Music, 1899-1914, are kept on cards which have been microfilmed and indexed.
(See RG5 Office of the Secretary for microfilm of academic records for the College of Arts and Sciences (1953-66), Graduate School of Theology (1931-66), and Conservatory of Music (c.1890s-1966).
Subgroup IV. Photographs, ca. 1988 (1.45 l.f.)
Comprises five oversize color photographs of the board system used to assign courses to rooms throughout campus, ca. 1988.