.
By Roland M. Baumann
Collection Overview
Title: Robert S. Fletcher Papers, 1816-1958
ID: RG 30/024
Primary Creator: Fletcher, Robert S. (1900-1959)
Extent: 9.5 Linear Feet
Date Acquired: 12/03/1968. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Fletcher, Robert Samuel, 1900-1959--Archives, Minorities--Education (Higher)--History--Sources, Morgan, John, 1802 or 1803-1884, Oberlin College--History--Sources, Shipherd, John Jay, 1802-1844, Stone, Lucy, 1818-1893, Temperance--History--Sources
Forms of Material: letters (correspondence), manuscripts, photographs, photographs - lantern slides, photographs - negatives (photographic), photographs - photographic prints, printing plates, publications, records (documents), scrapbooks
Languages: English
Abstract
The Fletcher papers reflect Robert S. Fletcher's interest in the history of Oberlin College, an institution located in the Connecticut Western Reserve, and his interest in the history of the trans-Mississippi West.
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The collection, which is composed of nearly 200 folders of historical materials in a potpourri of formats and dates, is organized around six records series: Series I. Professional Files relating to the "History of Oberlin College," etc., 1900-1958, undated; Series II. Research Files: Original Records (from private sources), 1833-1946, undated.; Series III. Research Files: Non-Original Records, 1816-1908, undated; Series IV. Research Files: Non-Textual Records, ca. 1930s-1943; Series V. Additional Materials Received; and Series VI. Lantern Slides. In writing the history of Oberlin College Fletcher noted that as the author he "depended to a very large extent upon manuscript material: personal letters and diaries, the archives of various organizations, and unpublished narratives" ("A Partial List of Sources," p. 927). Thus, a great many of these sources, which were collected/gathered by Fletcher, represented new material or body of documentation.
Although fifty years have passed since Robert S. Fletcher last browsed among his cherished manuscripts and notes on Oberlin's history, the resources he gathered for his own historical research comprise one of the most noted and widely used manuscript collections held by the Oberlin College Archives. Fletcher's acquisition efforts are fully detailed in the incoming and outgoing correspondence (4 folders) filed under Series I and in the transmittal letters filed with sets of historical materials in the three series of Research Files: Original Records, Non-Original Records, and Non-Textual Records. Fletcher, who apparently had to fund his own historical research and travel, received some internal assistance from Librarian Julian Fowler and from graduate and undergraduate student assistants. One primary external supporter of this project was Mary Rudd Cochran (1881-1982), Class of 1903. In his capacity as institutional historian and "unofficial" archivist, Fletcher used these research materials both to produce his two-volume institutional history as well as to answer letters of inquiry for historical information received by the institution. The scope and content of this collection was further conditioned by Fletcher's plan to prepare for the Centennial an Oberlin Historical Source Book, 1833-1867. The latter was never published due to a lack of funds.
The original documents found in Series II, which were collected from private sources, represent a small lot. Included in this single box are twenty-four folders containing the letters of Mary C. Chittenden (d. 1906), diary of Mary Louise Cowles (d. 1859), letters of Delia A. Fenn (d. 1882), letters of Daniel Jerome Jones (1831-1919), letters of Hattie M. Reed (unknown), and five folders marked "Miscellaneous Correspondence of Letters," which contain a variety of documents and cover the period from Oberlin's founding years to the early decades of the twentieth century. The above material is rich in the development and history of coeducation. Two other notable folders are entitled: Library, 1889-1908, and undated (mainly early history of) and "The Gay Young Man," a manuscript of a story of an unnamed Oberlin student in the 1850s. Finally, a number of folders of original documents for Delevan Leonard (1834-1917), Nancy Prudden (1818-1910), and John J. Shipherd (1802-1844) were removed from the Fletcher Collection and filed with manuscript groups bearing their names, respectively.
Constituting the bulk of the Fletcher collection are the non-original records (Series III), consisting of typescript and photostat copies of letters, diaries, minutes, and other types of historical documents largely deposited with private persons. These research files (5.6 l.f.) have been divided into three subseries: Name Files, Subject Files, and Periodicals. Among the more prominent nineteenth century individuals to be found in these files are James and Marianne Dascomb, James H. and Mary Fairchild, Charles G. Finney, James and Elizabeth Maxwell Monroe, and Gerrit Smith. Subjects covered relating to Oberlin College include the antislavery movement, black education, the Civil War, missions, moral reform scholarships, and women's rights. Subseries 3 consists of excerpts taken from numerous newspapers and periodicals, mostly published in Northeast Ohio.
The non-textual records, consisting of varying types, represent a strong body of visual documentation on Oberlin's mid-nineteenth century history. The Fletcher lantern slides in Series VI were, until 2017, left with other lantern slides and undescribed. They reflect Fletcher’s use of visual materials in course instruction.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Professional Files relating to the "History of Oberlin College" and Other Writings, 1900-1958, undated (0.6 l.f.)
Consists primarily of files created/received by author and collector R.S. Fletcher in his effort to write A History of Oberlin College and other pieces of scholarship. Organized around three subseries, this record series includes correspondence (outgoing and incoming), Fletcher's research notes and materials, and his talks and other writings. The most important material is represented by the exchange of correspondence with potential donors for source materials and the typescript copy of his study.
Series II Research Files: Original Records (from private sources), 1833-1946, undated (0.4 l.f.)
Consists of original records, mostly dating in the years from 1833 to 1870 (the period covering Fletcher's major historical concentration). A few records Fletcher apparently received and never deposited with the College Library, or they were created by him. A majority of the originals are letters received by Fletcher from private sources. He planned to use these sources not only to write the history of Oberlin from 1833-70 but in writing about later periods of Oberlin's history as well. In many instances Fletcher's correspondence, or letters of transmittal, will be found in the same folder.
Series III. Research Files: Non-Original Records, 1816-1908, undated (5.6 l.f.)
Consists of Non-Original Records, which are mainly typescript and photostat copies of letters, minutes, petitions, and so forth, along with newspapers and/or periodical sources. There are four subseries: 1. Typescript Copies (Name Files); 2. Typescript Copies (Subject Files); 3. Typescript Copies (Periodicals); and, 4. Photostats. A folder list of the "Miscellaneous Photostats" is filed in the front of Box 19.
Series IV. Research Files: Non-Textual Records, ca. 1930s-1943 (1.5 l.f.)
Consists of six small boxes of lantern or glass slides (b/w) of Oberlin, many of which either appear in R.S. Fletcher's “History” or are photographs (glossy 8 X 10) found in the Photographic Subject Files. The three folders of glossy black/white photographs are separated into three categories: "Illustrations used in the History of Oberlin College..., Vol. I"; "Photos, Vol. II"; and, "Illustrations: Extra or not Used." Finally, a large collection of undated print blocks of Oberlin exist, which were probably created in the 1930s for Fletcher's "History" as well. The latter are placed in an oversized box.
Series V. Additional materials received, 1916-1920, 1953 (0.4 l.f.)
Consists of Robert S. Fletcher’s scrapbook compiled while he was a student at Oberlin College, and a sound recording (33½ LP) of a WEOL radio broadcast of “The Ghost of Jimmy Smith,” by Fletcher, April 8, 1953 [2004/052]. Also included are writings, correspondence, photographs and negatives (c. 1920-1971).
Series VI. Lantern Slides, ca. 1920s-50s (1.0 l.f.)
The lantern slides in this series, from boxes marked “Fletcher,” were previously stored with other lantern slides of no particular origin. The slides were projected for students in the classroom. They reflect Fletcher’s teaching methods with respect to visual materials as enhancements for the study of American History.
Collection Historical Note
Robert S. Fletcher, creator of the Fletcher Collection, was born in Forestville, New York State, on November 20, 1900. The only son of Clayton H. and Priscilla M. (Dye) Fletcher, Robert attended Forestville Free Academy, before he enrolled in Oberlin College in 1916. After being awarded an A.B. degree in history in 1920, he earned a living by teaching history at Luther L. Wright High School, Ironwood, Michigan. Two years later, with a scholarship in hand, Fletcher entered the doctoral program in history at Harvard University where he would study with Edward Channing (1856-1931), Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. (1888-1965), and F.J. Turner (1861-1932); while studying there he served as an Assistant in History at Harvard (1923-24), an Instructor in History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an Assistant Professor of History at Tufts University (1926-27). In 1925-26 Fletcher was an Associate Economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he produced a number of studies.
R.S. Fletcher earned his A.M. degree in history from Harvard in 1923. He married Mary Elisabeth Abbey (b. 1899) in 1925. Fletcher returned to Oberlin College as an assistant professor of history in 1927. In the Department of History, Fletcher replaced Harold Lee King (1883-1926, A.B., 1905; A.M., 1908), from whom he had gained inspiration for his career as teacher and writer. During his first fifteen years at Oberlin, except for several western history articles on Montana, Fletcher's main focus was to compile, write, and edit his monumental history of Oberlin College, begun as his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University. At the same time he published numerous articles about Oberlin's early history in the Oberlin College Alumni Magazine, the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, and the American Scholar. His article "The First Coeds," appearing in the American Scholar, was reprinted and quoted as a model essay in English prose style. Fletcher was also a frequent and willing speaker, giving assembly talks and addresses on early Oberlin before Alumni groups, learned societies, and before civic and community organizations/groups. Active as he was on these many fronts, Fletcher managed to earn his Ph.D degree in history from Harvard University in 1938. Five years later, in 1943, Fletcher's two-volume A History of Oberlin College, From its Foundation Through the Civil War was published by Oberlin College.
Fletcher taught at Oberlin for another fifteen years. In many respects these years were equally productive for him as a scholar. Except for the 1958 piece on "The Wellington Rescue" (Oberlin Alumni Magazine), which coincided with the centennial of that event, Fletcher's research interests moved in other directions. In 1959 Duke University Press published his Eureka, from Cleveland by Ship to California, 1849-1850. This was an account of the nine-month voyage of the Eureka, a gold-hunter's ship, built at the mouth of the Black River, which sailed from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
Robert S. Fletcher died on December 16, 1959 after a long period of poor health. Before Fletcher's unexpected death, at the age of 59, he was also working on a biography of Charles Harvey, a late nineteenth century businessman.
Even though Fletcher's institutional history ranks among one of the very finest college histories ever published, he may be best remembered as a teacher. He inspired students because he was able to "evoke the whole of the past." Some forty of his students went on to earn doctoral degrees in history. Commenting on Fletcher's life at Oberlin, his distinguished European history colleague Frederick B. Artz said: "If a college is built of men, rather than things, Fletcher's contribution to Oberlin stands as a foundation stone."
During his lifetime Fletcher was a trustee of the Ohioana Library Association, second vice-president of the Lorain County Historical Society, and a member of numerous state and national historical associations.
Mrs. Fletcher died in 1972. The Fletcher's son Daniel, Class of 1952, was a professor of economics at Denison University, Granville, Ohio.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Oberlin College Archives
Accruals:
Accessions: 67, 198, 2002/074, 2002/119, 2004/052.
Access Restrictions:
Use of copies for publication may require the permission of the institution holding the original, if other than Oberlin.
Acquisition Method:
The records and papers were received from the Oberlin College Library in 1968 and in 1969. The book Lucy Stone: Pioneer of Women's Rights (1930) was received in 2002.
Related Materials:
See the bibliography of Fletcher's book, A History of Oberlin College..., for a general review of his sources, especially pages 927-41. See also The Robert S. Fletcher Papers located in the K. Ross Toole Archives at the University of Montana. (A copy of the finding guide is located in the Fletcher Papers case file.)
Two wooden boxes (including one made from lumber from Tappan Hall) that belonged to Robert S. Fletcher are filed in RG 35 Museum Items. A property deed (1933) from the previous owners of the Fletcher residence at 291 Elm Street is filed in RG 21 Oberlin File [2002/061].
See also Museum Items Collection (RG 35), #211 [2002/119].
See Also RG 30/402, Larry L. Fouck and Robert S. Fletcher Papers.
Finding Aid Revision History:
Processed by Roland M. Baumann, 1991. Revised: 20 June 1995 by Eric Miller; 22 July 1997 by Tammy Martin, June 2002 by Archives staff, February 2017 by Anne Cuyler Salsich and Kira Zimmerman. Archives staff, March 2022.
Other URL:
http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/archon_pdfs/Fletcher_Robert_Inventory.pdf
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series I: Professional Files Relating to the "History of Oberlin College" and Other Writings, 1900-1958, undated],
[
Series II: Research Files: Original Records, 1833-1946, undated],
[
Series III: Research Files: Non-Original Records, 1816-1908, undated],
[
Series IV: Research Files: Non-Textual Records, ca. 1930s-1943],
[
Series V: Additional Materials Received, 1916-1971, undated],
[
Series VI: Lantern Slides, ca. 1920s-1950s],
[All]
- Series I: Professional Files Relating to the "History of Oberlin College" and Other Writings, 1900-1958, undated
- Subseries 1: Correspondence Files
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Letters (Outgoing), 1928-1947
- Folder 2: Letters (Outgoing), 1928-1947
- Folder 3: Letters (Outgoing), 1928-1947
- Folder 4: Letters (Incoming), 1930-1958
- Subseries 2: Author's Notes & Materials File
- Box 1
- Folder 1: "List of old Manuscripts," in Library, prepared by G. Hopkins, 1930, undated
- Notes taken by R.S. Fletcher, undated.
- Box 2
- Item 1: "Oberlin, 1833-1866"
- Bound volume (typescript) with appendix.
- Item 2: "Oberlin, 1833-1866"
- Bound volume (typescript) with appendix.
- Subgroup 1: Research Materials, 1900-1956
- Folder 1: Jacob Dolson Cox, 1900-1956
- Folder 2: "The Gay Young Man," Manuscript with Typescript by Mrs. Edward Thomas, ca. 1850s, 1857
- Folder 3: John Seixas, 1933
- Subgroup 2: Responses for Permission to Quote, 1941-1942
- Folder 1: Responses for Permission to Quote, 1941-1942
- Box 2A
- Item 1: Scrapbook re: "A History of Oberlin College from Its Foundation Through the Civil War," and Oberlin History, 1916-1920
- Oversize.
- Subseries 3: Other Talks and Writings by R.S. Fletcher
- Box 2
- Folder 1: Articles, Various Titles, 1929-1954
- Folder 2: Talk: "The New Enterprise", undated
- 13 pages.
- Folder 3: Talks, Various Articles, 1935-1955
- Folder 4: "Forgotten Men of Early Oberlin", 1933
- Series II: Research Files: Original Records, 1833-1946, undated
- Records from private sources.
- Box 3
- Folder 1: Chittenden, Mary (Letters of), 1890-1891
- Folder 2: Cowles, Mary Louise (Diary), undated [ca. April-August 1854?]
- Folder 3: Fenn, Delia (Letters of), 1835
- Folder 4: Hollis, Gilbert (Letters of), 1866-1869
- Folder 5: Jones, D.J. (Letters of), 1851, 1856, 1859, 1907
- Folder 6: Keep-Dawes Mission, ca. 1839-1840
- Regarding finances.
- Folder 7: Leonard, Delavan, Notes plus writings, 1894-1897
- Folder 8: Library, 1889-1908, undated
- Folder 9: Miscellaneous Correspondence, pre-1865
- Folder 10: Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1877-1899
- Folder 11: Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1900-1906
- Folder 12: Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1908-1946
- Folder 13: Miscellaneous Ephemera, 1833-1903
- Folder 14: Miscellaneous, 1841-1941
- Folder 15: Miscellaneous Letters, 1847-1876
- Folder 16: Reed-Thayer Letters, 1850s-1894, undated
- Folder 17: Reed-Thayer Letters, 1850s-1894, undated
- Folder 18: Reed-Thayer Letters, 1850s-1894, undated
- Folder 19: Reed-Thayer Letters, 1850s-1894, undated
- Folder 20: Reed-Thayer Letters, 1850s-1894, undated
- Folder 21: Reed-Thayer Letters, 1850s-1894, undated
- Folder 22: Reed-Thayer Letters, 1850s-1894, undated
- Folder 23: Shipherd, John J., Letters of, 1833-1835
- Folder 24: Tappan Square, 1933
- Folder 25: Warner, Hannah, 1840-1863
- Folder 26: West, Edmund A., 1839-1841
- Box OVS 1
- Folder 1: Warner, Hannah, 1841-1842
- Filed in Henry Churchill King Presidential Papers (2/6), Oversize Box 1
- Box 3A
- Item 1: Lucy Stone: Pioneer of Women's Rights by Alice Stone Blackwell, 1930
- Folder 2: Copy of Book and Related Correspondence, 1937, 1942
- [2002/074]
- Series III: Research Files: Non-Original Records, 1816-1908, undated
- Subseries 1: Typescript Copies (Name Files), 1816-1898, undated
- Box 4
- Subgroup 1: Allen, George N.-Cowles Papers, 1845-1863
- Folder 1: Allen, George N., 1845-1855
- Folder 2: Blackwell, Antoinette Brown, 1847-1848, 1851, 1853, 1855, undated
- Folder 3: Brown, John, 1859
- Folder 4: Burke, Emily P., 1850
- Folder 5: Chaney, Ann Elisa (Writings), 1839
- Folder 6: Coburn, Carrie & Mary (Letters), 1860-1865
- Folder 7: Cole, Stephen M. (Diary), 1863
- Folder 8: Collester, F.A., 1851-1852
- Folder 9: Comings Papers (F. Fletcher Letters), 1836-1837, undated
- Folder 10: Congdon, Zephaniah, 1853
- Folder 11: Cowles Papers, 1835-1839, undated
- Folder 12: Cowles-Kansas Mss. (Henry Letters), 1854-1859
- Folder 13: Cowles, Henry (Day Book), 1835-1843
- Folder 14: Cowles, Henry, Catalog & Record of Colored Students, [1862]
- Folder 15: Cowles, Alice W. (Notebooks, #1&2 Diary), 1838-1840
- Folder 16: Cowles, Mrs. _____, Lectures of, undated
- Folder 17: Cowles Papers, 1836-1863
- Folder 18: Cowles Papers, 1836-1863
- Folder 19: Cowles Papers, 1836-1863
- Folder 20: Cowles Papers, 1836-1863
- Box 5
- Subgroup 2: Cowles Family Tree-Fenn, Delia, ca. 1830s-1868, undated
- Folder 1: Cowles Family Tree, undated
- Folder 2: Cowles, Alice Welch (Various Essays), 1830s-1840s
- Folder 3: Cowles, Helen M. (Mostly Letters), 1845-1849
- Folder 4: Cowles, Mary (Diary), 1851-1852, 1854
- Folder 5: Cowles, Mary (Diary), 1851-1852, 1854
- Folder 6: Cowles, Mary Louisa (Journal), 1856-1857
- Folder 7: Cowles, Mary Louisa (Journal), 1856-1857
- Folder 8: Cowles, Mary Louisa (Journal), 1856-1857
- Folder 9: Cowles, Mary L. (to Frank P. Woodbury), 1857-1858
- Folder 10: Cowles, Myra, Papers of (Letters to Betsey Cowles), 1846
- Folder 11: Dascomb, James (Note and Account Book), 1834-1846
- Includes associated material, Phoebe Haynes Diary, 1865, 1868
- Folder 12: Dascomb, Dr. James and Marianne (Letters), 1833-1852
- Folder 13: Emerson, Joseph (Notes on his Lectures), undated
- Folder 14: Fairchild, James H (Letters to Mary Kellogg), 1838-1841
- Folder 15: Fenn, Delia, 1835
- Box 6
- Subgroup 3: Finney Letters in Library Office-Johnson, Phineas, 1816-1874
- Folder 1: Finney Letters in Library Office, 1837-1874
- Folder 2: Finney, Charles G., 1827-1870
- Two folders are genealogy.
- Folder 3: Finney, Charles G., 1827-1870
- Two folders are genealogy.
- Folder 4: Finney, Charles G., 1827-1870
- Two folders are genealogy.
- Folder 5: Finney, Charles G., 1827-1870
- Two folders are genealogy.
- Folder 6: Finney, Charles G., 1827-1870
- Two folders are genealogy.
- Folder 7: Finney, Charles G., 1827-1870
- Two folders are genealogy.
- Folder 8: Finney, Charles G. (Unpublished Mss.), 1830s-1860s
- Folder 9: Fish, George W., 1856
- Folder 10: Fletcher, Nathan P. (Treasurer), ca. 1837
- Folder 11: Fletcher, Nathan P. (Treasurer), ca. 1837
- Folder 12: Fraser, John G. (Diary & Notes of), 1865-1867
- Folder 13: Gilbert, Mary Minerva (Journal, Essays), 1853
- Folder 14: Going to Oberlin: Dascomb, Fletcher, Livingston, Sherwood, Winslow (Letters), 1834-1840
- Folder 15: Gorham, Mary, 1853-1854
- Folder 16: Hanmer, Elizabeth, 1852-1853
- Folder 17: Hubbard, Frances M. (Account Book), ca. 1856
- Folder 18: Ingersoll Letters, 1838-1844
- Folder 19: Johnson, Phineas (Fragment of Diary: Journey in Lorain County), 1816
- Box 7
- Subgroup 4: Keep, John-Scott, W.S. (Diary), 1830-1880s
- Folder 1: Keep, John (Letters, Autobiography), 1834-1868
- Folder 2: Keep, John (Letters, Autobiography), 1834-1868
- Folder 3: Keep, John (Letters, Autobiography), 1834-1868
- Folder 4: Kingsbury, Seldon B. (Civil War Diary), 1861-1862
- Folder 5: Letters, 1830s-1880s
- Folder 6: Letters, 1830s-1880s
- Folder 7: Letters, 1830s-1880s
- Folder 8: Library Miscellaneous File, 1833-1884
- Folder 9: Mahan, Asa, 1836-1884
- Folder 10: Mahan, Asa, 1836-1884
- Folder 11: Miscellaneous Documents (Copies), 1840-1886
- Folder 12: Monroe, Mr. & Mrs. James (Letters to), 1842-1866
- Folder 13: Monroe, Elizabeth Maxwell, ca. 1842-1852
- Folder 14: Morgan, John, 1866
- Folder 15: Morgan, John (Calendar of his Letters to Mark Hopkins), 1830-1883
- Folder 16: Penfields (Letters of Aaron, Peter, Austin), 1830-1844
- Folder 17: Prudden, Henry (Letters & Journal), 1859-1860
- Prudden, Nancy (Letters of) - transferred to 30/205.
- Folder 18: Reminiscences of Mary Rice Whitney, Lucretia Smith Sikes, and Oliver L. Spaulding Regarding the College in 1841-1860, undated
- Folder 19: Scott, W.S. (Diary), 1865
- Box 8
- Folder 1: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1831
- Folder 2: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1831
- Folder 3: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1831
- Folder 4: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1831
- Folder 5: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1831
- Folder 6: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1831
- Folder 7: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1831
- Box 9
- Subgroup 5: Shipherd, John J.-Stiles, Edmund R. (Diary), 1818-1876
- Folder 1: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 2: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 3: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 4: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 5: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 6: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 7: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 8: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 9: Shipherd, John J., 1818-1844
- Folder 10: Smith, Gerrit, 1834-1864
- See also box 19.
- Folder 11: Smith, Gerrit, 1834-1864
- See also box 19.
- Box 10
- Subgroup 5: Shipherd, John J.-Stiles Edmund R. (Diary), 1818-1876
- Folder 1: Stiles, Edmund R. (Diary), 1861-1862
- Subgroup 6: Stone, Lucy-Zearing, Louis, 1816-1898, undated
- Folder 1: Stone, Lucy (Letters & Talk), 1845-1898
- Folder 2: Stone, Lucy (Letters & Talk), 1845-1898
- Folder 3: Stuart, Robert & David (Notes on by R.S.F.), undated
- Folder 4: Tappan, Lewis (Letters), 1842-1865
- Folder 5: Tenny, Levi (Letters), 1834-1836
- Folder 6: Townsend, Dr. Norton S., 1840s-1850s, 1876
- Proposals for agricultural college, 1840s-1850s. Survey Agric. Ed., 1876.
- Folder 7: Upton, J. Sprague (Journal), 1857
- Folder 8: Walker, Amasa at Oberlin (Excerpt from R.S.F. Book), undated
- Folder 9: Ward, Artemus, 1863-1865
- Folder 10: Warner, Hannah & Warren (Letters), 1841-1845
- Folder 11: Warner, Lucien C., The Story of My Life (Chapter 3), undated
- Folder 12: Weld, Theodore (Correspondence), 1833-1865
- Folder 13: Whipple, Adelia A., 1858
- Folder 14: Wilder: Theodore Wilder's Notebook, 1860-1865
- Folder 15: Winegar, Sara Minerva, 1864-1865
- Folder 16: Woodbury, Benjamin, 1833
- Folder 17: Wright, James L. & Others [Salisbury], 1830-1847
- Folder 18: Zearing, Louis (Letters), 1851-1853
- Regarding gold mining.
- Subseries 2: Typescript Copies (Subject Files), 1833-1908, undated
- Box 11
- Subgroup 1: Agricultural & Horticultural Society-Finances, ca. 1830s-1908
- Folder 1: Agricultural & Horticultural Society, 1839-1847, undated
- Folder 2: Agricultural & Horticultural Society, 1839-1847, undated
- Folder 3: Agricultural & Horticultural Society, 1839-1847, undated
- Folder 4: Agricultural Society, 1835-1865
- See also Townsend, Dr. N.S.
- Folder 5: Alumni Association, 1839-1867
- Folder 6: Alumni Records Office (Miscellaneous Files), 1834-1845
- Folder 7: Board of Education (Records), 1835-1842
- Folder 8: Civil War (Letters & Miscellaneous), 1861-1865
- Folder 9: Coeducation (Comments), 1836-1858
- Folder 10: Classwork & Courses of Study (Commentary), 1836-1843
- Folder 11: College Education (Oration, W.A. Bemis), ca 1858
- Folder 12: Course of Study, 1843-1844
- Folder 13: Conservatory Director, 1872-1908
- Folder 14: Debate Questions, 1840-1860
- Folder 15: Dialectic Association (Minutes), 1839-1845
- Folder 16: Excerpts from Books Regarding Oberlin from 1840-1860, undated
- Folder 17: Faculty Meetings, 1835-1843
- Folder 18: Faculty Records, 1834-1846
- Folder 19: Female Moral Reform Society of Elyria, 1837-1850
- Folder 20: Finances, 1830s-1850s
- Box 12
- Subgroup 2: Hudson, Ohio-Oratory, 1833-1897, undated
- Folder 1: Hudson, Ohio (Reminiscences), 1897
- Folder 2: Ladies Board Proceedings, 1851-1862
- Folder 3: Ladies Literary Society (L.L.S.), 1846-1863
- Folder 4: LaGrange (Indiana) Collegiate Institute, 1837-1874
- Folder 5: Lane Seminary, 1834-1836
- Folder 6: Letters Asking Admittance, 1833-1840
- Folder 7: Literary Societies, 1849-1865
- Folder 8: Manual Labor, undated
- Folder 9: Maternal Association (Constitution, Minutes), 1835-1860
- Folder 10: Oberlin Anti-Slavery Society Constitution, 1835
- Folder 11: Oberlin Episcopal Church, 1854-1856
- Regarding appeals.
- Folder 12: Oberlin Church Records, 1834-1856, undated
- Folder 13: Oberlin Church Records, 1834-1856, undated
- Folder 14: Oberlin Collegiate Institute: First Circular, March 8, 1834
- Folder 15: Oberlin Collegiate Institute: Rules & Regulations, 1840-1867
- Folder 16: Oberlin Evangelist Association, 1840-1851
- Folder 17: Oberlin Female Moral Reform Society, 1835-1859
- Folder 18: Oberlin Musical Association & Musical Union, 1837-1887
- Folder 19: Oberlin Non-Resistance Society Constitution, 1840
- Folder 20: Oberlin Society, 1834-1841
- Folder 21: Oberlin Society & Collegiate Institute, 1833-1835
- Folder 22: Oberlin Unmasked, by Delazon A. Smith, 1837
- Folder 23: Oneida Institute, 1834
- Folder 24: Oratory, undated
- Box 13
- Subgroup 3: Peace Convention Proceedings-Treasurer's Office Files, 1833-1907, undated
- Folder 1: Peace Convention, 1843
- Folder 2: President's Annual Reports, 1867-1870
- Folder 3: Prudential Committee, 1835-1869
- Folder 4: Prudential Committee, 1835-1869
- Folder 5: Prudential Committee, 1835-1869
- Folder 6: Prudential Committee, 1835-1869
- Folder 7: Russia Township Records, 1855-1869
- Folder 8: Secretary's Office, 1833-1907
- Folder 9: Secretary's Office, 1833-1907
- Folder 10: Secretary's Office, 1833-1907
- Folder 11: Stewart Stove, undated
- Folder 12: Student Confessions, 1833-1837
- Folder 13: Students: List of Unrecorded Students, 1833-1845
- Folder 14: Students: Miscellaneous & Women's Biographical Sketches, 1836
- Folder 15: Students: Black, 1833-1908
- Folder 16: Students: Statistical, 1838-1870
- Folder 17: Tabor, Iowa, 1857-1860
- Folder 18: Tea, Coffee, & Tobacco, 1837-1852
- Folder 19: Tent, 1836-1847
- Folder 20: Theological Society's Records, 1844-1851
- Folder 21: Treasurer's Office, Files A-B
- Folder 22: Treasurer's Office, Files A-B
- Box 14
- Subgroup 1: Peace Convention Proceedings-Treasurer's Office Files, 1833-1907, undated
- Folder 1: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 2: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 3: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 4: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 5: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 6: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 7: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 8: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 9: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 10: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 11: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 12: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Folder 13: Treasurer's Office Files, C-O
- Box 15
- Subgroup 1: Treasurer's Office Files, P-W-Young Men's Lyceum, 1833-ca. 1866
- Folder 1: Treasurer's Office Files P-W
- Folder 2: Treasurer's Office Files P-W
- Folder 3: Treasurer's Office Files P-W
- Folder 4: Treasurer's Office Files P-W
- Folder 5: Treasurer's Office Files P-W
- Folder 6: Treasurer's Vault, 1834-1865
- Folder 7: Trustee Minutes, 1834-ca. 1866
- Folder 8: Trustee Minutes, 1834-ca. 1866
- Folder 9: Trustee Minutes, 1834-ca. 1866
- Folder 10: Trustee Minutes, 1834-ca. 1866
- Folder 11: Trustees' Papers (Secretary's Office), 1841-1864
- Folder 12: Union Society, 1841-1850
- Folder 13: Western Reserve College Church, 1835-1836
- Folder 14: Western Reserve Faculty Records, 1833-1839
- Folder 15: Wilberforce University, 1868
- Folder 16: Young Men's Anti-Slavery Society, 1851-1853
- Folder 17: Young Men's Lyceum, 1849-1865
- Subseries 3: Typescript Copies (Periodicals), 1833-1867
- Box 16
- Subgroup 1: Periodicals
- Folder 1: Advocate & Family Guardian, 1853-1864
- Folder 2: Advocate & Family Guardian, 1853-1864
- Folder 3: Advocate of Moral Reform, 1835-1846
- Folder 4: Advocate of Moral Reform, 1835-1846
- Folder 5: Advocate of Moral Reform, 1835-1846
- Folder 6: Advocate of Moral Reform & Family Guardian, 1848-1851
- Folder 7: Cleveland Liberalist, 1837
- Folder 8: Cleveland Observer, 1837, 1839-1840
- Box 17
- Subgroup 1: Periodicals
- Folder 1: Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1850
- Folder 2: Cleveland Whig, 1834-1836
- Folder 3: Elyria Courier, 1847-1853
- Folder 4: Lorain County News, 1860-1867
- Folder 5: Lorain County News, 1860-1867
- Folder 6: Lorain County News, 1860-1867
- Folder 7: Lorain County News, 1860-1867
- Folder 8: Lorain County News, 1860-1867
- Folder 9: Lorain County News, 1860-1867
- Folder 10: Lorain County News, 1860-1867
- Folder 11: McDowall's Journal, 1833-1834
- Folder 12: Miscellaneous Extracts from Newspapers, 1837-1860
- Folder 13: New York Evangelist, 1834-1841
- See also: box 19.
- Folder 14: Oberlin Evangelist, 1838-1849
- Folder 15: Oberlin Evangelist, 1838-1849
- Folder 16: Oberlin Evangelist, 1838-1849
- Folder 17: Oberlin Evangelist, 1838-1849
- Folder 18: Oberlin Evangelist, 1838-1849
- Folder 19: Oberlin Evangelist, 1838-1849
- Box 18
- Subgroup 1: Periodicals
- Folder 1: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 2: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 3: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 4: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 5: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 6: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 7: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 8: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 9: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 10: Oberlin Evangelist, 1850-1862
- Folder 11: Oberlin Student's Monthly, 1858-1861
- Folder 12: Ohio Atlas, 1833-1841
- Folder 13: Ohio Cultivator, 1846-1856
- Folder 14: Ohio Observer, 1834-1837, 1840-1845
- Folder 15: Ohio Observer, 1834-1837, 1840-1845
- Folder 16: Ohio Observer, 1834-1837, 1840-1845
- Folder 17: University Quarterly, 1860-1861
- Subseries 4: Photostats (Various Types of Documents), 1830-1901
- Box 19
- Folder 1: Abolitionism Unveiled..., by Henry F. James, 1856
- Folder 2: Finances, 1830s-1850s
- Folder 3: Lord, Elizabeth Russell (Papers), ca. 1838-1863
- Folder 4: Miscellaneous Copies of Letters, 1835-1901
- Folder 5: Miscellaneous from the Oberlin College Library, ca. 1830s-1865
- See listing enclosed in folder.
- Folder 6: Miscellaneous from the Oberlin College Library, ca. 1830s-1865
- Folder 7: Miscellaneous, various dates
- Other than letters.
- Folder 8: New York Evangelist, 1830-1841
- Folder 9: Smith, Gerrit (Letters Received), 1836-1866
- Folder 10: Tappan, Lewis (Letters Sent), 1842-1856
- Series IV: Research Files: Non-Textual Records, ca. 1930s-1943
- Box 20
- Subgroup 1: Lantern Slides
- Box 21
- Subgroup 2: Photographs & Illustrations
- Used and unused.
- Box 22
- Subgroup 3: Print Blocks
- Oversized. Room 420A.
- Box 23
- Subgroup 4: Unbound Copy: A History of Oberlin College...
- 2 volumes. For microfilm.
- Series V: Additional Materials Received, 1916-1971, undated
- Box 24
- Item 1: Scrapbook, Student Days at Oberlin College, 1916-1920
- Item 2: "The Ghost of Jimmy Smith," by Robert S. Fletcher, WEOL, Broadcast, April 8, 1953
- 33 1/2 LP, two sides. Elyria, Ohio.
- Box 25
- Folder 1: Correspondence, 1928-1971, undated
- Folder 2: Correspondence, 1928-1971, undated
- Folder 3: Writings (Manuscripts & Notes), ca. 1920s-1950s
- Folder 4: Writings (Manuscripts & Notes), ca. 1920s-1950s
- Folder 5: Writings (Manuscripts & Notes), ca. 1920s-1950s
- Folder 6: Writings by Others, 1937, 1968, undated
- Folder 7: Photographs, undated
- Folder 8: Negatives, undated
- Series VI: Lantern Slides, ca. 1920s-1950s
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Soldiers (unspecified)
- Folder 2: Lincoln Portraits
- Folder 3: Civil War Portraits
- Folder 4: Camera Obscura
- Folder 5: Cartoons/Political Cartoons
- Folder 6: Jesse Applegate Portrait
- Folder 7: Indigenous American Life
- Folder 8: Floor Plan (Ship)
- Folder 9: Niagara Falls
- Folder 10: Log Cabin Settlement
- Folder 11: Unspecified Portraits
- Folder 12: World War II Maps: Phillipines; France
- Folder 13: Stylized City
- Folder 14: Maps: Presidential Elections, 1870s-1890s
- Folder 15: Unspecified Crowds
- Folder 16: Laying Rails, Union Pacific Railroad, 1866
- Folder 17: Oregon Trail
- Folder 18: European Ship of 1629
- Folder 19: Horses
- Folder 20: Coastal Settlements
- Folder 21: Inflation Statistics, 1912-1940
- Folder 22: Average Wages (CIO), 1947
- Folder 23: Brawling Men
- Box 2
- Folder 1: Spanish Civil War: "Allied Case Against Franco"
- Folder 2: American Draft
- Item 1: H.R. 515
- Item 2: Political Cartoons
- Postwar training program, postwar soldier survey on draft.
- Folder 3: Crowds Walking Past Berkshire Knitting Mill
- Folder 4: Riots
- Folder 5: Territorial Changes in Northern and Eastern Europe, 1919-1924
- Folder 6: Crowds Walking on Railroad Tracks
- Folder 7: Portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Folder 8: Burning of the Merchant's Exchange, 1872
- Folder 9: Brig America
- Folder 10: Clermont on the Hudson, C.B.J.F. de Saint-Memim
- Folder 11: Steam Frigate Fulton
- Folder 12: Pawnee Tribe, 1866
- Folder 13: Westerners Breaking Up Heard of Bison
- Folder 14: Armed Man in Fringed Coat
- Folder 15: Civil War
- Item 1: Gettysburg
- Item 2: Antietam
- Item 3: Aftermath of Unspecified Battle, 1862
- Folder 16: Railcars on the Union Pacific Railroad
- Folder 17: Early Photography & Moving Images
- Item 1: Daguerreotype Gallery
- Item 2: Zooprexiscope
- Edgerton, Horse
- Item 3: Morse and Daguerreotype Camera
- Item 4: Camera Room, 1870
- Item 5: Kinematoscope
- Item 6: Saxton's First Daguerreotype
- Item 7: Ambrotype of Professor John Draper
- Item 8: Stereoscopic Daguerreotype
- Item 9: Four-tube Camera
- Item 10: Carte de Visite: Miss Nellie Grant
- Item 11: Brady Gallery
- Folder 18: Worker Demonstration and Police
- Folder 19: Village
- Folder 20: Diagram of Horse Herding Routes
- Folder 21: Exposed Rock Landscape
- Folder 22: C.L. White and E.J. Foscue, Regional Geography of Anglo-America
- Item 1: Interior Grain Belt
- Folder 23: Men on Horseback
- Folder 24: Bison Herds
- Folder 25: Richmond, VA, 1865
- Folder 26: Broadway, 1857
- Folder 27: Donald McKay
- Folder 28: Boston, MA, 1860
- Folder 29: Union Pacific Railroad Trestle
- Folder 30: Prince of Wales
- Folder 31: Andrew Jackson (Portraits)
- Folder 32: Horses
- Folder 33: System of Land Survey
- Folder 34: Railroads
- Folder 35: Harper's Ferry, 1865
- Box 3
- Folder 1: Tanning Hides
- Folder 2: Political Cartoons
- Item 1: "More for Monopoly"
- Item 2: "Boomerang"
- Item 3: Franco
- Folder 3: World War II: US and Japanese Naval Losses
- Folder 4: Bomb Shelter
- Folder 5: Recreational Games: Baseball, Soccer
- Folder 6: Military Meeting
- Folder 7: Battle Carnage
- Folder 8: "Portrait of a Bigot": Sen. Theodore C. Bilbo
- Folder 9: Headlines on Organized Labor
- Folder 10: Detective Cameras
- Folder 11: "Shanty Town"
- Folder 12: Man with Horse
- Folder 13: Clinton Anderson, Sec. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
- Text slide.
- Folder 14: Agrarian Workers
- Folder 15: Stormy Seas
- Folder 16: Germans in Search of Food
- Folder 17: Traveling Dark Tent and Stereoscope Camera, 1860-1861
- Folder 18: Flexible Film
- Folder 19: Wolcott's Camera, 1840
- Folder 20: Portraits: Heinrich Himmler; Hitler and Aides
- Folder 21: Depiction of a Forge
- Folder 22: Railroad Cartoons: "How to Fix a Railroad"
- Folder 23: Asia
- Folder 24: Graphs of World War II Factory Pay
- Folder 25: Family Incomes, 1910-1936
- Folder 26: "Welcome Ivan"
- Folder 27: Land/Coast Aerial Map
- Folder 28: Coast Geographical Formation
- Folder 29: WWI Political Cartoon
- Folder 30: Spinning Competition
- Folder 31: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Folder 32: Chinese Revolution Leaders: Mao, Chiang Kai-Shek
- Folder 33: Political Cartoons: Big Business
- Folder 34: Farm Prices Since 1939
- Folder 35: Trees
- Folder 36: Graphs of Political Participation Based on Economic Class
- Folder 37: World War II Political Cartoons
- Folder 38: Graphs of Food Prices
- Folder 39: N.Y. Harbor from Battery Castle Garden
- Folder 40: Production Graphs
- Folder 41: "Chinese Rebellion vs. USA"
- Folder 42: Dead Bodies of Chinese Workers
- Folder 43: American Air Force Statistics, WWI and WWII
- Folder 44: Casualty Graphs
- Folder 45: "Early Shack City"
- Folder 46: Joining of the Rails
- Folder 47: Stage at Salt Lake City
- Folder 48: Rail Bridge
- Folder 49: Survey: Public Opinion on Compulsory Military Training
- Folder 50: Soldiers
- Folder 51: "Somebody Must Have Dropped Something"
Browse by Series:
[
Series I: Professional Files Relating to the "History of Oberlin College" and Other Writings, 1900-1958, undated],
[
Series II: Research Files: Original Records, 1833-1946, undated],
[
Series III: Research Files: Non-Original Records, 1816-1908, undated],
[
Series IV: Research Files: Non-Textual Records, ca. 1930s-1943],
[
Series V: Additional Materials Received, 1916-1971, undated],
[
Series VI: Lantern Slides, ca. 1920s-1950s],
[All]