Jeanne Ragner Papers, 1941-1978
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Jeanne Ragner (née Montégut), born on August 20,1894 in Estampes, Gers in the Southwest of France, was the third director of the French House in Oberlin from 1948 to 1965, and was known as the “Grande Dame” of the Oberlin College community. She was educated at Bordeaux University, the Sorbonne, and College Sevigne. In 1923 she married Bernhard Ragner, the managing editor of the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune. In August of 1940 Bernhard left France through Portugal for the United States, and a year later Jeanne, along with their two daughters, also left France to join him in Pittsburgh. When Bernhard died suddenly in 1947, Jeanne Ragner applied for American citizenship; she became a U.S. citizen in 1955. In 1948 she joined the faculty of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Oberlin College, and assumed her position as director of French House, a language program residential house for Oberlin students, until her retirement in 1965. Ragner insisted that the students in French House speak French at all times, and while she was described as brilliant and demanding, she was very popular with the students. After retirement she moved to central Pennsylvania to be near her daughter, Jacqueline Rogers, and her family. Jeanne Ragner died in October 1982 after a brief illness.
Sources Consulted
Jeanne Ragner faculty file (RG 28).
Letter to Roland Baumann, Archivist, from Susan Fox Rogers, March 27, 2008 (Ragner
Case File).
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationFor additional photographs of the French House, see RG 32/4, Photographs: Buildings.
Records relating to the residential houses reside in RG 12, Dean of Students.
See also the subjects file for Dormitories.
Vinio Rossi, “Un demi-siècle de Maison francaise (pour J.M.R.),” Alumni Magazine, Vol. 73, No. 5, September/October 1977, 9-12.
The Jeanne Ragner Papers contribute some documentation of student life in a language program house at Oberlin College during the 1940s through the 1960s, particularly in the photographs series. Most of the photographs are informal snapshots of Ragner, students, and others associated with French House. There are a few professional college photographs in the series that were likely used in publicity vehicles such as the Alumni Magazine. At least three of the French House locations in former private homes rented or owned by the College are documented, as are some of the activities enjoyed by the program house residents. Only a few of the photographs capture Ragner family members.
The correspondence series reveals close mentoring relationships between Madame Ragner and her students, in which some students and graduates recount their experiences in the study abroad program in France, graduate school or employment, military service, and marriage and family matters. Some letters from family members and friends concern personal matters.
Series 1. Correspondence, 1941, 1951, 1953-69, 1978, n.d.
Letters, cards, announcements, and telegrams from family, friends, and former students, mostly in French. Letters cover personal and work matters, as well as Jeanne Ragner’s retirement in 1965. Invitations and announcements concern marriages, births, and a range of other events.
Series 2. Photographs, 1948, 1950-53, 1956-62, n.d.
Many photographs of Jeanne Ragner in Oberlin with family, including her daughter, Helene Ragner Gulbenkian, friends, students, and staff. The collection includes photographs of the French House (La Maison Française), at Oberlin College. French House had four different locations during Ragner’s tenure as director. Prior to 1953 the language program house was located at 135 West College Street. In 1953, the program moved to 58 E. College Street; in 1955-56, it was moved to Webster Hall (demolished 1968) at 51 South Professor Street. In 1963-64, French House moved to Baldwin Cottage at 30 South Professor Street until 1967.
INVENTORY
Series 1. Correspondence, 1941, 1951, 1953-69, 1978, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)
Box 1
Correspondence, June 1953 – Oct. 1958
Correspondence, July 1959 – Dec. 1969, Feb. 1978
Correspondence, n.d.
Fragments of Letters, Oct. 1956, n.d.
Invitations and Announcements, 1941, 1951, 1955-56, 1958, 1960-61, 1965-66,
1968, n.d.
Letters Re: Retirement, 1965
[Notes for Calendar of Letters by Betty Cleeton, 2008]
Series 2. Photographs, 1948, 1950-53, 1956-62, n.d. (0.5 l.f.)
Box 2 (tall legal)
Photographs, 1948, 1950-53, 1956-62, n,d. (5f)
Photographs from Scrapbook, n.d.
Framed photo collage, n.d.