Charles A. Mosher Papers, 1815-1984
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Charles Adams Mosher, son of Oberlin preparatory students Edward Castle (b. 1872) and Jessie Maria (Adams) Mosher (b. 1872), was born in Sandwich, Illinois on May 7, 1906. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1928 with the A.B. degree in Philosophy, he undertook brief periods of graduate work at Columbia University (1928) and the University of Chicago (1928‑29). Subsequently, he worked in the advertising department of the Aurora, Illinois Beacon-News (1929-38) and served as advertising manager of the Janesville, Wisconsin Gazette (1938‑40).
In 1940, Mosher moved back to Oberlin, Ohio. He purchased Oberlin's weekly newspaper, the Oberlin News‑Tribune, and began a twenty‑year career as its editor and publisher and President of the Oberlin Printing Company. From 1942 to 1947, he was editor of the Oberlin College Alumni Magazine. A member of the Republican party, he served as Vice‑Chairman of the Oberlin Village Council (1945‑51) and was President of the Oberlin Chamber of Commerce, Community Chest, and Rotary Club. He served as Director (1964-73) of the Oberlin Improvement and Development Corporation and as a trustee of First Church in Oberlin. He was twice elected as a trustee of Oberlin College, serving from 1964 to 1970 and from 1973 to 1977.
In 1951, Mosher was elected to the Ohio State Senate, where he served for five terms until 1961. As a state senator, he was instrumental in ending state censorship of movies and in setting up the state Board of Education and school‑foundation system. Upon his election in 1961 to the U. S. House of Representatives, Mosher sold the News‑Tribune to his associate, Bradford H. Williams (A. B. Oberlin 1951). During his eight terms representing the 13th Congressional District of northern Ohio, Mosher was a member of the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, advocating federal aid for Lake Erie ports and shipbuilding projects in his region. In 1967, Mosher became the first Republican member of Congress to vote against appropriating funds for the Vietnam War.
Following his official retirement from the House in 1977, Mosher served as committee staff chief of the Science and Technology Committee (of which he had been the ranking Republican member). In 1979, he was named public programs director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A year later, he began his one‑year appointment as a fellow at the Smithsonian's Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.
The Moshers retired to Oberlin in 1982. The same year, Mosher reenrolled in Oberlin College in order to complete coursework for the M.A. degree in Government. He was awarded the M.A. and an honorary LL.D. at Commencement in 1983. Charles Mosher died in Oberlin on November 16, 1984.
Mosher married Harriet Mary Johnson (A.B. Oberlin 1927) on October 5, 1929. They had two children: Frederic Adams Mosher, born December 20, 1932 (A.B. Oberlin 1954), and Mary Jane Mosher, born February 23, 1943.
Sources Consulted
Student File of Charles A. Mosher (28)
Subjects (links to similar collections) Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The papers of Charles A. Mosher offer partial documentation of Mosher's student days at Oberlin College (1924‑28), of his career as a newspaper publisher in Oberlin (1940‑60), of his second term of service as a trustee of Oberlin College (1973‑77), and of his research leading to the completion of his M.A. thesis at Oberlin College in 1983. For records relating to Mosher's service in the Ohio State Senate (1941‑60) and U. S. House of Representatives (1961‑77), consult Record Group 30/226.
The Mosher papers are arranged into the following series: I. Personal Miscellany; II. Special Files: Newspaper Editor and Publisher; III. Special Files: Oberlin College Trustee; IV/1. Millikan Family Correspondence; IV/2. Charles A. Mosher Correspondence; V. Miscellany Collected by Charles Mosher; VI. Research Files; and VII. Photographs.
The bulk of these papers dates from the period of Mosher's tenure as publisher and editor of the Oberlin News Tribune in Oberlin, Ohio. Correspondence (1941‑60) largely consists of letters from citizens or civic leaders commenting on editorials and community issues such as the organization of an interracial barbershop in the 1940s and the hiring of black teachers by the Oberlin public school system. Correspondents include radio broadcaster Raymond Gram Swing (b. 1887) and journalist William Allen White (1868‑1944). A separate run of correspondence (1945‑59) between Mosher and Oberlin College trustees pertains exclusively to Oberlin College matters, including the 1945 presidential search culminating in the appointment of President William E. Stevenson (1900‑85); the appointment in 1959 of President Robert Kenneth Carr (1908‑79); and the 1959 rift between College faculty and trustees. Also present are select editorials written by Mosher (1940‑60), notes for talks, clippings reporting visits to Oberlin by Wendell L. Wilkie (b. 1892) and Eleanor Roosevelt (1884‑1962), and miscellaneous files pertaining to specific matters addressed by Mosher in his editorials. Topics covered by these files include the expansion of Allen Memorial Hospital (1949‑57); controversy over Japanese‑American students at Oberlin College during World War 11 (1942‑43); and debate over the Lorain County Health Commissioner (1944).
The balance of the papers consist of chronological files relating to Mosher's second term as a trustee of Oberlin College (1973‑77), which occurred during the 1973 governance controversy documented in the files. Also present is a scrapbook covering Mosher's undergraduate years at Oberlin College (1924‑28); Mosher's 1983 Oberlin M.A. thesis; and miscellaneous historical files collected by Mosher relating to his family and to Oberlin's second physician, Dr. Alexander Steele.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Personal Miscellany, 1924-1928, 1972, n.d. (3 folders, 0.10 l.f.)
Six incoming letters (1927‑29) relating to alumni matters, a scrapbook containing undergraduate memorabilia and photographs, the 1928 Oberlin College yearbook edited by Mosher, Mosher's 1928 diploma, and 1972 Oberlin Alumni Award and citations. Arranged by subject.
Series II. Special Files: Newspaper Editor and Publisher, 1940-60, n.d. (13 folders, 0.30 l.f.)
Correspondence and attached and related materials, ms. and typescript drafts of talks, ms. notes, photocopies of newspaper editorials and printed materials, organized alphabetically by type of material.
Series III. Special Files: Oberlin College Trustee, 1973-76 (6 folders, 0.20 l.f.)
Chronological files of correspondence, memoranda, and related materials, arranged alphabetically by topic and type of material.
Series IV. Correspondence
Subseries 1. Millikan Family Correspondence, 1815-1816, 1836-1837, 1845, 1850, 1888 (9 folders, 0.05 l.f.)
Consists of correspondence to and from members of the Millikan Family including Daniel F. Millikan, his son Silas Millikan, his grandson Robert Millikan, Sally Aurelia Pease Millikan, and Martha Millikan. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by author.
Subseries 2. Charles A. Mosher Correspondence, 1931, 1940, 1942-44, 1949, 1961, 1968-1972, 1975-76, 1978 (28 folders, 0.15 l.f.)
Consists of numerous letters received by Charles A. Mosher (or in one case his father Edward Castle Mosher) by such notables as Gerald Ford, Lyndon B. Johnson, Henry A. Kissinger, Richard M. Nixon, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Wendell L. Willkie. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by author.
Series V. Miscellany Collected by C.A. Mosher, 1936-1947, ca. 1954 (2 folders, 0.04 l.f.)
Manuscript letters from family relation Robert A. Millikan; miscellaneous papers and land deeds of Dr. Alexander Steele, an early Oberlin physician; and a carbon draft of an unpublished essay written by a friend of Mosher. Chronologically arranged.
Series VI. Research Materials, 1978-84 (6 folders, 0.35 l.f.)
Correspondence, research notes, and drafts of Mosher's Master's thesis written at Oberlin College, "Reinterpreting Congress and its Works" (1983‑84). Also present is a bound, unpublished copy of the thesis.
Series VII. Photographs, 1959, n.d. (1 folder, 0.01 l.f.)
Consists of four black and white photographs of Charles Mosher, one of Mosher and his wife, Harriet, and holiday greeting card with a photograph of the Mosher family. The photographs were separated from the Archives photograph collection and placed here October 2000.
INVENTORY
Series I. Personal Miscellany, 1924-1928, 1972, n.d. (3 folders, 0.10 l.f.)
Box 1
College Miscellany, 1924-28 (1f)
Oberlin College diploma, 1928 [1992/89]
Oberlin College Handbook, 1926-27
Scrapbook, 1924-28
Miscellany
Oberlin Alumni Award citation, 1972 [1992/89]
Series II. Special Files: Newspaper Editor and Publisher, 1940-60, n.d. (13 folders, 0.30 l.f.) [1982/9]
Box 1 (cont.)
Allen Memorial Hospital, 1949-57
Correspondence (general), 1941-60 (3f)
Correspondence (re: Oberlin College), 1945-59
Editorials, 1940-60
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1942
Japanese-American controversy, 1942-43
Lorain County Health Commissioner (Dr. L.E. Kerr)
controversy, 1944
Political, 1948-59
Talks, 1940-50
Wendell L. Willike, 1943
Miscellaneous, 1941-82, n.d.
Series III. Special Files: Oberlin College Trustee, 1973-76 (6 folders, 0.20 l.f.)
Box 2
Chronological files, 1973-76 (4f)
Oberlin College governance controversy, 1973 (2f)
Series IV. Correspondence
Subseries 1. Millikan Family Correspondence, 1815-1816, 1836-1837, 1845, 1850, 1888 (9folders, 0.05 l.f.) [1993/63]
Box 2 (cont.)
P.P. Byington to Mrs. Sally Aurelia Pease Millikan,
November 2, 1815
P.P. Byington to Mrs. Sally Aurelia Pease Millikan,
November 28, 1816
Amanda to Daniel F. Millikan (brother), April 19, 1837
Robert Millikan to Rev. Silas Millikan (father),
January 27, 1888
Sally Aurelia Pease Millikan to Mrs. (A.?) Swift, n.d.
A.P.M. Lee to unknown (report of Annual meeting),
May 8, 1845
A.P.M. Lee to Miss Martha Millikan, August 15, 1850
A.S. Pease to Daniel F. Millikan, July 9, 1836
Misc. letters 1945-53 (1f)
Allan Millikan to unknown, 1941?
Robert A. Millikan to Margorie (sister),
September 20, 1949
Robert A. Millikan to Margorie (sister),
February 23, 1953
Robert A. Millikan to Charles Mosher,
December 19, 1945
Robert A. Millikan to Edwin M. Griswold,
November 26, 1945
Edwin M. Griswold to Robert A. Millikan,
December 12, 1945
Subseries 2. Charles A. Mosher Correspondence, 1931, 1940, 1942-44, 1949, 1961, 1968-1972, 1975-76, 1978 (28 folders, 0.15 l.f.) [1993/63]
Box 2 (cont.)
Dwight D. Eisenhower to Charles A. Mosher,
January 10, 1961
Gerald Ford to Charles A. Mosher, December 9, 1975
Gerald Ford to Charles A. Mosher, December 16, 1975
Gerald Ford to Charles A. Mosher, December 20, 1975
Gerald Ford to Charles A. Mosher, December 31, 1975
Gerald Ford to Charles A. Mosher, February 21, 1976
Walter M. Heller to Charles A. Mosher,
December 23, 1975
Herbert Hoover to Edward Castle Mosher,
December 16, 1940
Edgar J. Hoover to Charles A. Mosher, November 4, 1970
Robert M. Hutchins to Charles A. Mosher,
November 25, 1949
Lyndon B. Johnson to Charles A. Mosher,
January 17, 1969
Edward M. Kennedy to Charles A. Mosher,
January 9, 1976
Edward M. Kennedy to Charles A. Mosher,
October 29, 1978
Henry A. Kissinger to Charles A. Mosher, October 2, 1970
Christopher Morely to Charles A. Mosher,
November 16, 1931
Richard M. Nixon to Charles A. Mosher,
December 5, 1968
Richard M. Nixon to Charles A. Mosher,
November 14, 1969
Richard M. Nixon to Charles A. Mosher, January 28, 1970
Richard M. Nixon to Charles A. Mosher,
September 26, 1970
Richard M. Nixon to Charles A. Mosher, n.d. 1970?
Richard M. Nixon to Charles A. Mosher, August 6, 1971
Eleanor Roosevelt to Charles A. Mosher, March 25, 1942
Wernher Von Braun to Charles A. Mosher, May 26, 1972
W.A. White to Charles A. Mosher, June 21, 1943
Wendell L. Willkie to Charles A. Mosher,
October 22, 1943
Wendell L. Willkie to Charles A. Mosher, March 16, 1944
Wendell L. Willkie to Charles A. Mosher, April 10, 1944
Wendell L. Willkie to Charles A. Mosher, July 17, 1944
Series V. Miscellany Collected by C.A. Mosher, 1936-1947, ca. 1954 (2 folders, 0.04 l.f.) [1984/29]
Box 3
Land transactions of Dr. Alexander Steele, ca. 1836-72
“The Negro in Cleveland: An Historical Sketch,” by Harry E Davis,
ca. 1954
Series VI. Research Materials, 1978-84 (6 folders, 0.35 l.f.)
Box 3 (cont.)
Correspondence, 1978-84, n.d. [1992/50]
Manuscript drafts of M.A. thesis, 1983, n.d. [1992/89]
Manuscript typescript drafts of M.A. thesis, 1982-83 [1992/89]
Notes, 1979-83 [1992/50]
Miscellaneous reports and printed material, 1976-84 [1992/50]
“Reinterpreting Congress,” 1983, M.A. thesis, Oberlin College,
222 pp. [1992/50]
Series VII. Photographs, 1959, n.d. (1 folder, 0.01 l.f.)
Box 3 (cont.)
Photographs, 1959, n.d.