Karl Frederick Geiser Papers, ca. 1906-1992, n.d.
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Administrative/Biographical History
Born on June 18, 1869, in Fairbanks, Iowa, Karl F. Geiser was the son of John and Agatha Haist Geiser. (His immigrant parents left Germany in 1867.) After graduating from local public schools, Geiser enrolled in Upper Iowa University, Fayette, Iowa, where he received a B.A. in 1893 and a Ph.B. in 1896. He completed his Ph.D. at Yale University in 1900. His formal education also included postgraduate study abroad at the University of Berlin (1905-1906) and, later on, at Harvard University Law School (1918-1919).
Geiser honed his teaching before coming to Oberlin College. By way of illustration, in 1893, he taught history and economics in the public school system of Fayette, Iowa. He also taught the American History survey at Yale University (1899-1900), and he was Professor of Political Science at the Iowa State Normal School (1900-1908) in Ames, Iowa. Thus, it came as no surprise that he earned the reputation at Oberlin of being a superb, patient teacher who knew how to engage students intellectually.
In 1907 Karl Geiser was appointed the first Professor of Political Science and Chairman of that new department at Oberlin College. For the next seventeen years, he was the only member of that department. By 1925 additional faculty were recruited, including Oscar Jaszi (1875-1957) and P. Thomas Fenn, Jr. (1892-1964). Under his direction, he built the Political Science Department into one of international and national stature. He created the curriculum, set the department’s tone, and mentored many students who studied the democratic processes and liberal political thought of the Western World. Many of his students went on to Harvard University to study law. Between 1920-1935, Geiser held the James Monroe professorship and held emeritus professor status from 1935 to 1951.
Besides being a gifted teacher, he applied his knowledge both locally and nationally in practical ways. Because he grew up professionally during the so-called “progressive period,” it followed that Geiser would use government as his laboratory. For example, he was instrumental in beginning the city manager form of government in Oberlin in 1923 and was elected to the first City Council under that system (1926-1931). In the early 1920s, he involved himself in the establishment of municipal lighting systems here and elsewhere. An active faculty member in service to his institution, Geiser was a prime sponsor to strengthen faculty councils in Oberlin College’s governance structure.
His expertise as teacher and activist extended beyond Oberlin throughout his career. This busy academician taught at several different summer schools in the United States. In sabbatical years, he studied/lectured at numerous German universities (Berlin, Marhurg, Gottingen, Meunster, Danzig, and Königsberg), often supported by research grants from Oberlin. On other occasions, he was invited as a consultant on study and inspection tours in Europe pertaining to political, municipal, and social conditions. He was a prolific author on a wide range of subjects, most notably as an interpreter of Germany in the years between World War I and II. The list of his contributions to historical and political periodicals, learned journals, and book reviews is extensive. Fluency in the German language enabled him to edit and translate major works in that language, such as Werner Sombart’s A New Social Philosophy (1937) and Sombart’s Der Moderne Kapitalisimus, a six-volume refutation of Marx’s Das Kapital. Sombart’s Modern Capitalism was completed in the years before his death. Efforts by both Oberlin College and Geiser during his retirement years to find a publisher who would print his work ultimately failed when Princeton University Press rescinded an agreement because of expense after Geiser’s death in 1951.
It is noteworthy that Geiser, as a political scientist, also wrote about the Western Reserve. His articles “The Western Reserve in the Anti-Slavery Movement, 1840-1860” and “New England and the Western Reserve” were published in the Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, in Volumes V and VI, respectively, for the years 1911-1912 and 1912-1913. These scholarly pieces underscore the early character of the discipline of political science in that history (past politics) was still dominant over the theoretical studies that emerged in subsequent decades.
In addition to his teaching and writing, Geiser was an avid photographer. The collection includes pictures of his family. The negatives record both interior and exterior views of their three Oberlin homes, especially the property of 337 Reamer Place during construction, gardens, and interior furnishings. Oberlin is well documented (c. 1909), including scenes of the Arboretum and the Oberlin Golf Course that made up the Charles Martin Hall Arboretum and Parkway. (Geiser’s photographs documenting his many trips to Germany and the rest of the continent are housed at the Archives of Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio.)
Geiser was a very controversial faculty member. By openly affirming his admiration of all things German his entire life, he offended his colleagues who preferred better sensitivity on his part. He spoke the German language fluently, had intimate knowledge of German political and economic issues in pre World War I through World War II, and enjoyed personal contacts with leaders in that period. His strong public convictions about the cause of international disorders in World War I era and his pro-German views strongly expressed in his writings and lectures widened his estrangement with his Oberlin colleagues. Faculty and administration agitation to fire the tenured Geiser during World War I led to the formation of a faculty committee by the College Board of Trustees to investigate his fitness to teach. However, a 1919 report to the Trustees affirmed his academic freedom to teach.
But in the Oberlin Community, local citizens ostracized Geiser for the rest of his life. In the 1930s he grew somewhat messianic in his pro-Hitler views and moved to outright affirmation of German actions. In November 1938, when Hitler awarded him the Order of the German Eagle, 1st degree, local anti-Geiser feelings naturally grew in Oberlin. This development even prompted a special session of the general faculty of Oberlin College to condemn him for pro-German sentiments. He retired in 1934, probably against his wishes, at age 65, two years short of mandatory retirement. President Ernest Hatch Wilkins took the lead in convincing Geiser that this needed to be done.
He continued to live in Oberlin until his death on April 1, 1951. Geiser was preceded in death by his first wife, Addie Finch (m. 9/19/1899, d. 1/20/1909 in Oberlin) and by his second wife, Florence Mary Chaney, O.C., A.B. 1911; A.M. 1915 (b. 4/20/1889, m. 9/12/1912, d. 1969). She had taught German and Physics in Maquoketa, Iowa High School, 1911-1912, and served as an Instructor in German at Oberlin College, 1912-1913. Subsequently, Florence did free-lance work (namely German translations for pay). One example is Josephine Siebe’s Kasperle’s Adventures (1929). She reported on her “Alumni Questionnaire” that she attended a Congregational Church. Karl and Florence had one daughter, Gretchen Eleanor Geiser Sappington (b. 1916), who attended Oberlin College, 1925-1926, 1931-1935.
Sources Consulted
Faculty file of Karl F. Geiser (RG 28/3)
“Embattled Professor: Oberlin College Debates the Third Reich,” by Geoffrey Blodgett, Timeline (August-September 1992): 2-19.
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The papers of Karl Frederick Geiser consist of biographical information, clippings, correspondence, and writings concerning Geiser’s pro German stance and reaction by the Oberlin College administration, the community of Oberlin, and the nation. Included in the biographical file is a copy of the “Report of the Committee on the Case of Professor Karl F. Geiser” (1919). This report provides insight into how Geiser’s writings and teachings were viewed by the College trustees, administration, and faculty. The correspondence series includes a series of incoming and outgoing letters (May 14, 1918; May 23, 24, 26, 1919; and, November 8, 1934) concerning Karl Geiser’s pro-German attitude. Other letters concern funding to publish the translation of Werner Sombart’s Der Moderne Kapitalisimus. Correspondents included Edward I. Bosworth (copy of letter), the Trustees of Oberlin College, and William Bohn.
The writings and clippings series provide further evidence of the concern, both locally and nationally, about Geiser’s views of Germany and Hitler. The writings files contain works by Geiser in which he wrote about the Western Reserve, America and its role in World Cooperation, Roosevelt and Foreign Outlook, and Democracy and Autocracy. (See inventory for listing.) Writings about Geiser include Oberlin History Professor Geoffrey Blodgett’s “Overtaken by Events: Understanding Hitler’s Germany” (manuscript, 1991) and “Embattled Professor: Oberlin College Debates the Third Reich” (Timeline, Aug-Sept. 1992).
The photographic series consists of glass and film negatives (both safety and nitrate) with prints taken by Geiser and family members. Pictures include the Oberlin Golf Course, Geiser, and his family. Negatives record exterior and interior of their three homes in Oberlin, several Oberlin College buildings, and places in Germany (early 1900s).
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Biographical File, 1919-1920, 1926, 1928-1929, 1935-1938, 1942, 1951
Includes a copy of the “Committee on the Case of Karl Geiser” (1919), correspondence concerning Geiser’s death, Oberlin College employment records, and releases about Geiser’s pro-German stance.
Series II. Correspondence (incoming and outgoing), 1916-1946 (28 letters)
This series contains letters written to and from Geiser concerning his pro-German stance. The correspondents include the Oberlin College Trustees, William F. Bohn (assistant to the President), and Edward I. Bosworth. Other letters concern funding for the translation of Werner Sombart’s Der Moderne Kapitalisimus. The letters include handwritten originals, typed originals, typed copies, and are arranged chronologically.
Series III. Clippings, 1926, 1931-1941, 1951, n.d.
Copies of articles concerning campus and nation reaction to Geiser’s pro-German stance and the Germans. Publications include The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Elyria Chronicle Telegram, and the Oberlin Alumni Magazine.
Series IV. Writings, 1912-1913, 1915, 1923-24, 1933, 1991, 1992
Consists of writings by Geiser and writings about Geiser. Geiser’s works include photocopies of two early titles (1912 and 1913) concerning the Western Reserve and reprints of “America and World Cooperation” (1924) and “Roosevelt and the Foreign Outlook—Problem of Germany” (1933). Writings about Geiser include a copy of the 4 January 1919 book review of Geiser’s Democracy and Autocracy by The New York Tribune, and Geoffrey Blodgett’s “Embattled Professor: Oberlin College Debates the Third Reich” (Timeline, Aug-Sept. 1992) and “Overtaken by Events: Understanding Hitler’s Germany” (manuscript, 1991).
Series V. Photographs, ca. 1906-1949, 1987
Comprises Subseries 1, photographic prints, and Subseries 2, negatives (glass and film). Subjects include Geiser’s family and friends, family homes in Oberlin and in Germany, a few photos of people and places in Germany, the Finch family, Oberlin College buildings and environs, and the Oberlin Golf Course. Also included is a list of the photographs by Geiser held at the Heidelberg College Archives.