Margaret Reynolds Schauffler Papers, 1914-1994
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Administrative/Biographical History
Margaret Reynolds Schauffler was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 4, 1896 as the youngest of the ten children of Dr. Henry A. Schauffler, a clergyman and missionary. Together, he and his wife, Clara Hobart Schauffler, founded the Schauffler Missionary Training School (Cleveland, Ohio). The school, which later became Schauffler College, merged with the Oberlin College Graduate School of Theology (Oberlin, Ohio) in 1954. Currently, its endowment supports the Schauffler programs in religious education and social work at Defiance College (Defiance, Ohio).
After graduating from Fowler Elementary School in Cleveland and Oberlin High School, Schauffler entered Oberlin College where she majored in music. In 1914, she joined the Musical Union in which she sang as late as 1987, thus probably becoming the longest-standing member of the organization. She received the AB degree and earned Phi Beta Kappa honors from Oberlin in 1918. She then embarked upon a four-year program of art studies at the Cleveland Institution of Art and earned a diploma in 1922. Schauffler subsequently taught art at the Elyria (Ohio) High School (1922-23) before becoming an instructor in art at Oberlin College in 1923. In 1926, she was promoted to the rank of assistant professor and in 1959 to associate professor. Following her retirement from Oberlin College in 1961, she taught art at Ashland College (Ashland, Ohio) for eight years and for several years chaired the department. In 1962, she returned to Oberlin where she taught painting, enamel work and calligraphy privately and through the Firelands Association for the Visual Arts (FAVA).
Throughout her career, Schauffler continued to study art and exhibit her own works. In 1931, she received an MA degree in art from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland. During summers and sabbaticals, she studied art at the Breckenbridge School of Painting in Gloucester, Massachusetts, The Berkshire (New Hampshire) Sumner School of Art, Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York), Columbia University (New York City) and the New York University School of Fine and Applied Arts in Paris (France). In 1940 she won a research grant to study art at the summer session of University of Chicago (Illinois). During a sabbatical leave in 1955‑56, she studied Japanese art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Massachusetts) and later worked in Tokyo (Japan) under Michiko Hirayama. She also studied privately with William 0. Forrest and Abel G. Warshawsky.
A specialist in painting and crafts, Schauffler exhibited her works widely at art centers and universities both within and outside Ohio, including the Allen Memorial Art Museum (Oberlin College), the Cleveland Museum of Art, Case Western Reserve University, and also at the Ohio State Fair. Nationally, she participated in exhibitions in Ogunquit (Maine), the University of Illinois (Champaign‑Urbana), the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and Wichita State University (Kansas), where the then-governor of the state bought one of her paintings. In 1933, she designed the Oberlin College Alumni Medal that was for a time awarded annually.
Margaret Schauffler was a member of several professional organizations: The American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Artists and the College Art Association. She also continued her parents' dedication to promoting social and civic causes. She was a staunch advocate for temperance and sought to prohibit the sale of alcohol in Oberlin. For many years she was a member of the Oberlin Consumers Cooperative, serving as secretary during 1949-51. As a member of the social action committee of First Church, she organized candidates' nights and forums on community concerns. Also active in the church's sewing circle, she made clothing for Appalachian and Native American Children on South Dakota reservations. As a life-long pacifist, she joined other members of the national pacifist organization, Peacemakers, in refusing to pay income taxes in 1949. Schauffler stated that "A large percentage of our federal taxes are used for vast military expenditures surely leading toward atomic war [which I believe] would be a crime against humanity." In 1953, she participated in a social action seminar and traveled to several European countries under the auspices of the social action committee of Congregational Christian churches. She sponsored the education of a Hong Kong student, Kwok-Sang, which enabled him to earn a PhD in Engineering. At its May 30, 1988 commencement ceremonies (also Schauffler's 70th class reunion), Oberlin College presented her an award for distinguished service to the community.
In 1993, Schauffler gave to Oberlin College President S. Frederick Starr a lithograph portrait of Tomas Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. Subsequently, President Starr arranged for United States President George Herbert Walker Bush to present it to Vaclav Havel who placed it in Prague Castle.
Margaret Reynolds Schauffler died in the Elyria (Ohio) United Methodist Home on February 23, 1994 at the age of 97.
Many members of her family attended Oberlin College including her sister Grace, AB 1916, her half-sister, Mary (Mrs. F. G. Platt), L.B., 1888, and her brother Lawrence, AB 1915; Master of Music, 1949. A great-grand niece, Nancy, and a great-grand nephew, David, graduated in 1918 and 1983 respectively.
SOURCES CONSULTED
Oberlin College Archives, RG 28. Alumni File, Margaret Reynolds Schauffler.
Oberlin College Archives, RG 28. Faculty/Staff File, Margaret Reynolds Schauffler.
Author: May Tran Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationPapers of Grace Schauffler (RG 30/269)
Archives Objects Digital Catalogue at http://cdm15963.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/objects
The Margaret Schauffler papers primarily consist of thirty-six sketches, two essays, four journals, and an oversize scrapbook that document her life as a political activist and prolific artist. The collection covers almost exclusively Schauffler’s activities as an undergraduate student at Oberlin College (OC ’18), her career as an art professor, and her commitment to activism and the visual arts even in her retirement.
Of significance to Oberlin’s institutional history are the thirty-six sketches of buildings, sites, and historical figures associated with Oberlin College (see series descriptions). The majority of these preliminary sketches were used in several Oberlin College publications, including a 1930 Oberlin College Calendar. Three copies of this calendar are included in the drawings file.
Her personal diaries and journals document a freshman bible course taught by Professor William J. Hutchins (d. 1958), 1915, a Social Action Seminar, an around the world tour led by Dr. Rev. Ray Gibbons and Mrs. Ray Gibbons, 1960, and a personal trip to Japan in 1955. Schauffler’s two essays, “The Anti-Saloon League in Oberlin,” 1971, and a women’s liberation essay entitled “Oberlin Women in the Temperance Movement,” 1972 shed insight on her political ideology. Also contained in the collection is a telegram from Albert Einstein (d. 1955), n.d., which requested her support for the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists.
One of the more interesting and insightful documents in the Schauffler collection is her oversize scrapbook, which consists of printed material (i.e., pamphlets, invitations, and awards), photographs, and other memorabilia. The pages also contain signatures from former colleagues, mentors, friends, and family. Highlights of the scrapbook are photographs from the graduating class of OC ’18, their class reunion in 1928 and candid shots of her personal trip to Japan in 1955. This scrapbook documents her career as an artist, her interests in political activism and her personal relationships with her students, colleagues, friends and family.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Biographical File, 1929-94 (2 folders)
The biographical file and articles and clippings file span from 1929 to 1994. Both files primarily consist of pamphlets on Schauffler’s prominent family history, including their connections with Oberlin College and the Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work in Cleveland, Ohio; various clippings, photocopied articles, and letters that highlight major events in Shauffler’s personal and professional career; and lastly her obituary.
Series II. Correspondence, n.d. (1 folder)
The correspondence file consists of an original telegram from Albert Einstein concerning the future of the atomic bomb, n.d.
Series III. Diaries, Journals, and Notebooks, 1915-1955 (4 folders)
This series consists of four items: a notebook of notes and tests from a Freshman Bible Course with Professor William J. Hutchins, second semester 1915; a diary of lecture notes and comments from a Social Action Seminar (an around the world tour) led by Dr. Rev. Ray Gibbons and Mrs. Ray Gibbons, 1960; a personal journal from the Social Action Seminar, 1960; and a daily diary from a personal trip to Japan, July-December 1955.
Series IV. Drawings File, c. 1930 (6 folders)
The series of Schauffler’s sketches and calendars encompass six folders. Nineteen of the thirty-six drawings are of buildings and sites affiliated with Oberlin College-- Old Chapel, Cabinet Hall, Ladies’ Hall, Severance Hall. Old Warner Conservatory, John Frederick Oberlin’s Church in Waldersbach, Alsace, Old Campus View, Door of Allen Memorial Art Museum, Memorial School in Shansi, Finney Revival Text, Fairchild House, Early Chapel, Tappan Hall, Society Hall, Old Laboratory, and Council Hall. The remaining nineteen are portraits of historical figures of Oberlin College, former presidents, and former classmates-- Frank Jewett, President W.G Ballantine, Lucy Stone, President Charles G. Finney, President John H. Barrows, Fenelon B. Rice, Charles Churchill, Edward I. Bosworth, President Asa Mahan, Marianne P. Dascomb, Adelia A. F. Johnston, President Henry Churchill King, John Frederick Oberlin, President James H. Fairchild, and Ernest Hatch Wilkins. These preliminary sketches were used in many Oberlin College publications, including a 1930 Oberlin College Calendar. Three copies of this calendar are also included in the drawings file.
Series V. Writings by Margaret Schauffler, 1971-2 (1 folder)
Schauffler’s writings file consists of an anti-saloon essay entitled ”The Anti-Saloon League in Oberlin,” 1971, two copies of a women’s liberation essay entitled “Oberlin Women in the Temperance Movement,” 1972 and a pamphlet of the essays about the Schauffler College, 1986.
Series VI. Scrapbook, c. 1914-1918, 1918
Schauffler’s scrapbook consists of printed material (i.e., pamphlets, invitations, and awards), photographs, and signatures from former colleagues, mentors, friends and family. This series also consists of one photograph of Schauffler among her graduating class of faculty and students at the Vassar Nurses Training School, summer 1918. A number of Oberlin graduates, such as Irene Dole and Harriet Long are included in the photograph.