John Frederic Shreiner Papers, 1912-1971, 1976, n.d.
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Administrative/Biographical History
John Frederic Shreiner was born on July 11, 1893 in Canton, Ohio, the son of Edward and Barbara Leininger Shreiner. He graduated from Oberlin College with an A.B. degree (economics) in 1916.
Shreiner served as secretary of the Division Street Department of the Y.M.C.A. in Chicago, Illinois, 1917-1918. The following year, 1918-1919, as a Chief Yeoman in the United States Navy, he worked in a unit administering psychological tests to new recruits at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago. At the end of World War I, he became Director of Foreign Personnel for the American Red Cross in New York City, 1919-1920, and then an employee interviewer for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, 1920-1921.
In 1921, Shreiner returned to academia. After earning an A.M. degree in economics from Williams College (Williamstown, Massachusetts) in 1922, he taught economics at Hillsdale College (Hillsdale, Michigan), from 1922 to 1926. After pursuing graduate studies in economics and political science at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), he taught political science at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 1928 to 1932. In 1933, Mr. Shreiner became an investment analyst for William J. Mericka and Company in Cleveland, Ohio before accepting the position of Secretary to the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce (1937-1940).
During World War II, he served as Director of Personnel in the United States Automatic Corporation (later a division of the Nordson Corporation) in Amherst, Ohio. These same years (1940-1949), he also taught at Fenn College (now Cleveland State University) in Cleveland, Ohio. From 1949 until his retirement in 1964, Mr. Shreiner taught economics at the Ferris Institute (now Ferris State College) in Big Rapids, Michigan.
Throughout his life, John Frederic Shreiner was active in professional and civic organizations and his church. He was a member of the American Political Science Association, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Statistical Association, and the Foreign Policy Association. He was also a member of the Board of Appeals for Zoning in Oxford, Ohio, and the Lorain County (Ohio) Industrial Council and the Lorain County Safety Council. He served terms as chairman for both organizations. He was a director of the Rotary International in Big Rapids, Michigan.
In Oberlin, Shreiner was a member of the Board of Control and the City Club, serving several terms as President, Historian, and Area Resource Person (City Club). At Oberlin’s Christ Episcopal Church, he sang in the choir, was a member of the vestry, and was a senior warden. In 1976, he received a Certificate of Appreciation for his work in the Oberlin Chapter of the American Field Service. Beginning in 1966, he served for several years as President and class agent for the Class of 1916 of Oberlin College.
On June 17, 1920, John Frederic Shreiner married Alice Estella Ralston (A.B. 1919; d. 1970). The couple had two children, Mary Alice Shreiner Dennison (b. December 14, 1922; A.B. 1944) and Robert Edward Shreiner (b. November 22, 1925). A nephew, Richard R. Hill (A.B. 1950) and a grandson, Bryant W. Dennison, Jr. (A.B. 1968) also attended Oberlin College.
In 1966, Shreiner returned to Oberlin, Ohio where he made his home until 1976 when he moved to live with his daughter in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He died there on April 24, 1980.
A photograph and biographical information about Shreiner are included in the digital collection “Oberlin College and Military Service in World War I,” presented by the Oberlin College Archives.
Sources Consulted
John Frederic Shreiner. Obituary. Oberlin News-Tribune, Oberlin, Ohio, May 1, 1980.
John Frederic Shreiner. Oberlin College Necrology Records. 1980.
Student file of John Frederic Shreiner, Alumni Records, Oberlin College Archives, RG 28/2.
Author: Elizabeth Brinkman Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The papers of John Frederic Shreiner consist of textual and non-textual materials relating to the Oberlin College Class of 1916. Shreiner served as Class President and Class Agent for several years, beginning in 1966, and collected these materials in order to plan class reunions and update class directories. Materials in the collection include letters from the Class President, letters from class members, class member lists, minutes and reports from meetings, financial records, printed matter relating to class members, and lantern slides of class members and others, ca. 1912-1916. The date span of the collection is 1912 to 1976.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Correspondence, 1916-1966, n.d. (10 folders)
Consists of letters from class presidents regarding fund raising and the activities of class members, and correspondence between class members regarding reunions.
Series II. Financial Records, 1912-1961 (2 folders)
Contains a record of the accounts of the Oberlin College Class of 1916 for the years 1912-1919, 1923-1927, 1933-1941, 1946-1961, records of dues paid, and records of alumni fund giving. Also contains lists of former members of the class of 1916.
Series III. Membership, Oberlin College Class of 1916, 1917-1971, 1976, n.d. (7 folders)
This series includes listings of class members, some with personal information (i.e., family information, employment information, etc.), and reunion materials, including booklet “Class Reunions, 1916,” with signatures of participants, for the years 1917 through 1961. Also included are Class directories released 1921, 1924, and 1933 and a publication “Who’s Who in the Class of 1916, Oberlin College,” 1947 and 1956.
Series IV. Minutes and Reports, 1912-1921, 1961 (2 folders)
Contains a booklet of the minutes of meetings of the Oberlin College Class of 1916, 1912-1921, and “Report of the President, Oberlin College Class of 1916,” 1961. The report provides details of the activities and finances of the class for the period 1946 to 1961.
Series V. Printed Matter and Memorabilia, 1914-1966 (3 folders)
Contains some materials relating to reunions and alumni gatherings, such as programs lists of attendees, and also writings of members of the class of 1916, including “Memories of Childhood and Youth, 1894-1924,” by Frederick B. Artz, and “The Fourth Book of Joness,” by M. Pauline Jeffrey. Numerous items of memorabilia from student days at Oberlin College, such as booklet entitled “History and Prophecy of the Class of 1916,” dance cards, and programs are also contained in this series.
Series VI. Non-textual Materials, 1919-1971, n.d.
Consists of group photographs of the class of 1916, 1919-1971. Several photographs of individual class members and/or their families and a letter written by class member Charlotte Belkuap Reynolds, with two accompanying photographs, are contained in this series. Also included are 111 lantern slides containing group and individual pictures of members of the class of 1916 and others. A listing of the slides is included in each box (15 slide boxes).
INVENTORY
Series I. Correspondence, 1916-1966, n.d.
Box 1
Letters from class members and other
individuals, 1916-1961 (6f)
Letters from class presidents, 1946-1961
James Craven, 1965-1966
Donald Love, 1965-1966
Paul Williams and Mrs. Robert G. Vail, 1961
Series II. Financial Records, 1912-1961
Box 1 (cont.)
Accounts of the class of 1916, 1912-1919,
1923-1927, 1933-1941, 1946-1961
Records of dues and alumni fund giving,
listings of class members and officers,
1918, 1945-1956, 1960-1961
Series III. Membership, class of 1916, 1917-1971, 1976, n.d.
Box 1 (cont.)
Directories, 1921-1933
Reunion book, 1917-1961
“Who’s Who in the Class of 1916,” 1947,
1956 (2 issues)
Box 2
Listings of class members and related
information, 1919-1946, n.d. (3f)
Reunion materials, 1966, 1971, 1976
Series IV. Minutes and Reports, 1912-1921, 1961
Box 2 (cont.)
Minutes of the class of 1916, 1912-1921
“Report of the president, Oberlin College
class of 1916,” 1961
Series V. Printed Matter and Memorabilia, 1914-1966
Box 3
Clippings, writings of members of class of
1916, 1916-1966
Materials relating to commencement and
class reunion, 1966
Memorabilia, 1914-1916
Series VI. Non-textual materials, 1919-1971, n.d.
Subseries 1. Photographs, 1919-1971, n.d.
Box 3 (cont.)
Twelve (12) class reunion photographs
(group), 1919-1971
Six (6) photographs of class members (individual),
including note from Charlotte Reynolds, 1941
Subseries 2. Lantern slides, 1915-1916, 1919, n.d.
Box 4
111 lantern slides, group and individual, n.d.