Charlotte Briggs Papers, 1978-1986
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Charlotte Heineken Lucie Briggs was born in Maine on August 1, 1962 to David Warren Briggs and Gertraude Heineken Briggs.
Charlotte Briggs enrolled at Oberlin College in 1981. During her time at Oberlin, she was highly involved in the campus opposition to the Solomon Amendment. This federal law required students to sign a Selective Service registration status form in order to receive federal grants or loans. She temporarily withdrew from the College in 1983 in protest of the amendment, which unfairly targeted students in need of financial assistance. Briggs remained on campus and played an integral role in pressuring the college to provide alternative loans to students who lost their federal financial aid as a consequence of their refusal to comply with the Solomon Amendment. She returned to school after the College Board of Trustees announced they would provide students with alternative loans. The Solomon Amendment has since been revised to exclude penalties to financial aid. In its current form, the Solomon Amendment sanctions the denial of federal grants to institutions of higher education that prohibit or prevent ROTC or military recruitment on campus.
In December of 1985, Briggs graduated with High Honors in History, and received the Comfort Starr Prize in History. Following graduation, she won a placement as a Shansi Representative to teach English in Japan. After returning to the United States, Briggs obtained a doctorate degree in Higher and Postsecondary Education from the University of Michigan. During her career she has worked at several colleges and universities as a Professor of Education.
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
This is a small collection of materials gathered by Charlotte Briggs during her time as a student at Oberlin College. The materials document student involvement in campus opposition to the Solomon Amendment. At least three students, including Briggs, left the college publicly to protest the amendment. Briggs also co-chaired committees that insisted the College provide financial assistance to students affected by the Solomon Amendment. In response to this and other pressures, the College Board of Trustees approved a program to provide alternative loans to students who chose not to comply with the Solomon Amendment in November of 1983.
The collection also contains a report that is unrelated to the Solomon Amendment, titled “Research on the Impact of a Computerized Circulation System on the Performance of a Large College Library.”
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Correspondence, 1983, n.d.
The correspondence relates to the implementation of the Solomon Amendment. Included is correspondence between the parents of Charlotte Briggs and the United States Senate. The series also contains communications within Oberlin College, including from the Oberlin Ad Hoc Committee of Students Against the Solomon Amendment, and the Ad Hoc Committee of Students and Ex-Students on the Draft Financial Aid Cut-offs. There is also a letter to the student body written by the newly appointed president of the college, S. Frederick Starr.
Series II. Memos and Notices, 1983-84
These memos were written by President S. Frederick Starr to the Board of Trustees, and from student groups to the faculty and the Board of Trustees in response to the College’s implementation of the Solomon Amendment. Also included are three memos related to President S. Frederick Starr’s decision not to renew the appointment of Reverend Willis Ludlow, as College Chaplain.
Series III. Notebook, 1983
Charlotte Briggs kept this notebook, which contains meeting minutes, agendas, and to-do lists.
Series IV. Oberliniana, ca. 1983-86
Some of these items are related to Starr’s presidency and the Solomon Amendment, while others are more general Oberlin memorabilia. The series includes examples of buttons worn by 1984 graduates to protest Starr’s stance on the amendment, a comic strip related to President Starr’s inauguration drawn by Peter Miller ’84, and a cartoon drawn in 1986 by Anne Rubenstein, OC 1984, in reference to Reagan’s election in the fall of her first year at Oberlin.
Series V. Clippings, 1983-84
These clippings were collected by Briggs and discuss student opposition to the Solomon Amendment.
Series VI. Reports, 1978-81
This series contains a report on the study conducted at Oberlin titled, “Research on the Impact of a Computerized Circulation System on the Performance of a Large College Library.” It also contains the proposal for funds for research from the National Science Foundation.
INVENTORY
Box 1
Series I. Correspondence, 1983, n.d.
Correspondence, 1983, n.d.
Series II. Memos and Notices, 1983-84
Memos and Notices, 1983-84
Series III. Notebook, 1983
Notebook, 1983
Series IV. Oberliniana, circa 1983-86
Oberliniana, circa 1983-86
Series V. Clippings, 1983-84
Clippings, 1983-84
Series VI. Reports, 1978-81
Proposal submitted to the National Science Foundation, Information Science
Research, Division of Science Information, by the Oberlin College
Library, 1978
Report conducted by the Oberlin College Library, “Research on the Impact of a
Computerized Circulation System on the Performance of a Large College
Library, Part I: Main Library Data,” 1981