Newell L. Sims Papers, 1899-1940, n.d.
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Administrative/Biographical History
Newell Leroy Sims was born in Jamestown Township, Steuben County, Indiana on 3 December 1878. He was the son of Charles N. and Elizabeth McClew Sims, both listed as deceased by Professor Sims when he began his Oberlin career in 1924.
Sims entered Tri-State College, Angola, Indiana, in 1897 from which he graduated in 1901 (A.B.). During the next 15 years he served as a minister in city and rural parishes in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Carthage, Missouri, Scarsdale, New York, and Columbus, Ohio. He continued his education throughout these years, earning a second A.B. at the University of Kentucky (1905). He completed an M.A. (1910) and a Ph.D. degree (1912) in Sociology at Columbia University and also studied at Union Theological Seminary (1908-1913).
Prior to coming to Oberlin, Sims was professor and head of the Sociology and Political Science Department of the University of Florida, 1915-1920, and at Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1920-1924. He taught summer sessions at Simmons College School of Social Work (1923), at Amherst College (1922), and at Smith College (1923). By the time he came to Oberlin in 1924, Sims was already recognized as a pioneer in American Sociology, highly regarded for his substantial work in rural sociology and social change. He was a professor in the Oberlin College Sociology Department from 1924 to 1944 (emeritus, 1944-1965).
Sims wrote many articles and books in his field, including his textbook Elements of Rural Sociology (1927) which was adopted as a text in many colleges and universities. Although he is more widely known for his published textbook and for his interest in rural sociology, Sims was a pioneer in taking up such topics as race problems and immigration in the making of American society. He taught academic courses in these subjects as well as directed advanced students who cared to pursue sociological investigations in cultural and race issues. This led him in 1939 to publish The Problem of Social Change.
He was prominent in many professional organizations, a member of the American Sociological Society, President of the Ohio Sociological Society, and a special advisor to the American Red Cross. Additionally, he served as an associate editor of the American Sociological Review. In 1926 he was a delegate to the International Rural Life Congress in Brussels. He was a member of the American Social Science Committee delegation to the Soviet Union in 1931-32, and he led a European Seminar to study cooperatives in the Soviet Union in 1938.
Professor Sims married Florence Anna McNutt (b.1885) in Cincinnati, Ohio (n.d.). The couple had two children, Elizabeth Florence Sims (Mrs. James Tenure) and Joe R. Sims.
Professor Sims died in Oberlin at age 86 on 31 July 1965. His wife died in the same year at age 80 on 30 September. They are buried in Westwood Cemetery in Oberlin. Both were members of First Church in Oberlin.
Sources Consulted
Faculty file of Newell L. Sims, Alumni and Development Records, RG 28.
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The papers of Newell L. Sims document his days as a college student, and his career as a teacher and author in the fields of Sociology and Political Science. A small amount of material in one notebook, 1902-1905, contains information concerning his service as a minister. Also included is a modest amount of biographical information and correspondence.
The bulk of the collection includes notebooks relating to class notes of courses taken by Sims, schedules and appointments, notes for lectures given by Sims, and lists of baptisms, funerals and other ministerial services performed by Sims. The collection also contains writings of Newell Sims relating to social change, the democratic process, race, and a study of the standard of living in Oberlin, Ohio exclusive of Oberlin College (1931).
The collection is divided into four series: 1. Biographical File, 2. Correspondence, 3. Grade Books and Notebooks, and 4. Writings by Newell L. Sims.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Biographical File, 1925, 1932, 1940 (1 folder)
Consists of copies of newspapers articles concerning the activities of Newell L. Sims.
Series II. Correspondence, 1905, 1923, n.d. (1 folder)
This series contains three letters, including one from an unknown author to Sims, a letter from Sims to Alexander Meiklejohn, President of Amherst College, and a letter from Florence M.Sims to Mrs. Hamilton (re: resignation from an Oberlin's women's group).
Series III. Grade Book and Notebooks, 1899-1917 (2 folders, 18 notebooks)
Consists of notebooks containing lecture notes of courses taken by Newell L. Sims during his days as a student at the University of Kentucky, Columbia University, and the Union Theological Seminary. Other notebooks contain schedules, miscellaneous notes, daily logs, and lecture notes during summer meetings, 1899-1900. A separate book contains a chronology of church pastorates, lists of baptisms, funerals, and other ministerial functions performed by Newell L. Sims. Also is included is a grade book used by Sims for courses in Political Science and Sociology, the University of Kentucky, 1916-17. Access to the grade book is restricted.
Series IV. Writings by Sims, 1931, 1936, 1940 (1 folder)
The writings of Newell L. Sims include a reprint of an article titledTechniques of Race Adjustment (1931); a joint publication with Chester R. Wasson titledThe Adequacy of Farm Standards of Living or A Comparison of the Institutional Facilities, Exclusive of the College, Afforded the People of Oberlin Village, Through Taxes and Voluntary Subscription, WithThose Available to the People of the Oberlin Trade Area, a joint publication of Department of Rural Economics, Ohio State University Agricultural Experimental Station and the Department of Sociology, Oberlin College, March 1931; a reprint of the article The Swing Change (1936); and, a reprint of the article Democracy Under Three Different Cultures (1940).
INVENTORY
Box 1
Series I. Biographical File, 1925, 1932, 1940
Biographical file, 1925, 1932, 1940 (See also
the faculty file of Newell L. Sims Alumni
and Development Records, RG 28)
Series II. Correspondence, 1905, 1923, n.d.
Correspondence, 1905, 1923, n.d.
Folder contents:
________ to Rev. Newell Sims, 1905
Newell Sims to Alexander Meiklejohn,
President of Amherst College,
1923
Florence M. Sims (Mrs. Newell Sims)
to Mrs. Hamilton, n.d.
Series III. Grade Book and Notebooks, 1899-1917
Class notebooks, Divinity Studies, c.
1904-13 (2 f, 14 notebooks)
Grade Book, Political Science and Sociology,
University of Florida, 1916-17 (Restricted)
Miscellaneous notebooks: journals, logs, and
notes, 1899-1900, 1902-05,
1911-12 (3 notebooks)
Series IV. Writings, 1931, 1936, 1940
Writings by Sims, 1931, 1936, 1940
Folder contents:
"Techniques of Race Adjustment;" reprinted
from The Journal of Negro History,
Jan. 1931 (2 copies)
"The Adequacy of Farm Standards of Living
or A Comparison of the Institutional
Facilities, Exclusive of the College,
Afforded the People of Oberlin Village,
Through Taxes and Voluntary Subscription,
With Those Available to the People of
the Oberlin Trade Area," a joint publication
of Department of Rural Economics, Ohio
State University Agricultural Experimental
Station and Department of Sociology,
Oberlin College, March 1931 (2 copies)
"The Swing of Social Change," reprinted from
Social Forces, Vol. 14, No. 4, May 1936
"Democracy Under Three Different Cultures,"
reprinted from American Sociological
Review, Vol. V, No. 4, February 1940