By William E. Bigglestone, Anne Cuyler Salsich
Title: Henry Churchill King Presidential Papers, 1873-1934, undated
Predominant Dates:1902-1927
ID: RG 2/006
Primary Creator: King, Henry Churchill (1858-1934)
Other Creators: Crane, Charles Richard (1858-1939), Inter-allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey. American Section
Extent: 69.44 Linear Feet
Arrangement:
FONDS DESCRIPTIONS
The papers and other materials fall into these general categories, but have not been separated into series: I. Professional Correspondence; II. Topical Files; III. Talks and Writings; IV. Personal Correspondence; V. Appointment and Date Books; VI. King-Crane Commission Papers; VII. Personal Materials; VIII. Literary Files; IX. Materials Received in 1998; X. Materials Received in 2012; XI. Materials Received in 2014; XII. Diplomas and Maps. Categories I, II, VI, VII, and the index and calendar to the correspondence are available on microfilm (54 reels, 35mm.) in the Oberlin College Archives. The King-Crane Commission Papers are available in digital format online.
Date Acquired: 01/01/1967. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Inter-allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey--American Section, King, Henry Churchill, 1858-1934--Archives, Oberlin College--Faculty, Oberlin College--History--20th century--Sources, Oberlin College--Presidents, Palestine., World War, 1914-1918--Territorial questions--Turkey
Forms of Material: appointment books, clothing, daguerreotypes, diaries, letters (correspondence), manuscripts, maps, microfilm, petitions, photographic prints, photographs, photographs - daguerreotypes, photographs - photographic prints, postcards, publications, records (documents), speeches
Henry Churchill King was born in Hillsdale, Michigan on September 18, 1858. He was the son of Henry James and Sarah (Lee) King, his father being at that time secretary and treasurer of Hillsdale College.
King received his A.B. degree from Oberlin in 1879, and his B.D. from the Theological Seminary in 1882. That year he married Julia Coates King. He took graduate work at Harvard and in Berlin, and held honorary doctorates from Oberlin, Western Reserve, Yale, the University of Chicago, Harvard, the University of Illinois, Miami University, Columbia and Colgate.
Dr. King began his long service for Oberlin as a tutor in the Preparatory Department in 1879. He became associate professor of mathematics in the College in 1884, took over the teaching of philosophy in 1890, and the same year became College Registrar. He served as Dean of the College for one year, and at the end of that time, in 1902, was elected President. He remained in that office until his retirement in June, 1927. His connection with Oberlin's teaching and administrative staff extended over forty-eight years.
Henry Churchill King was one of the charter members of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He was president of the Religious Education Association, 1907-08; of the Ohio College Association, 1907-09; of the American Missionary Association from 1913 to 1919; of the Association of American Colleges in 1916. He was for six years chairman of the Commission on Missions of the National Council of Congregational Churches, and was National Moderator of Congregational Churches from 1919 to 1921. From 1921 to 1927 he acted as chairman of the Congregational Foundation for Education.
During the War, Dr. King was for some months Director of the Religious Work Department of the Y.M.C.A. in France. Shortly after the Armistice he was appointed, with Charles R. Crane, American representative on the Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey. For his signal work on this Commission he was in 1920 made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France.
Dr. King was the author of nineteen books, most of them published during the years of his administration. Among the best-known are: Reconstruction in Theology; Theology and the Social Consciousness; Rational Living; and The Laws of Friendship, Human and Divine.
A great alumni reunion marked Dr. King's last Commencement in 1927; and at the Centennial Commencement in June he was honored as the first recipient of the Alumni Distinguished Service Medal. King died at his home in Oberlin in 1934. He was in his seventy-sixth year. He was survived by his wife Julia Coates King and by three sons--President Philip Coates King of Washburn University; Dr. Donald Storrs King of Boston, Mass.; and Edgar Weld King, Librarian of Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. A fourth son, Harold Lee King, professor in Oberlin's history department, died in 1926.
SOURCES CONSULTED
Biographical sketch adapted from a notice in the March, 1934 issue of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine.
Inter-allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey--American Section
King, Henry Churchill, 1858-1934--Archives
Oberlin College--Faculty
Oberlin College--History--20th century--Sources
Oberlin College--Presidents
Palestine.
World War, 1914-1918--Territorial questions--Turkey
Repository: Oberlin College Archives
Accruals: Accession No: 1987/012, 1998/031, 1998/049, 1998/146, 2002/004, 2012/020, 2014/037, 2015/010
Access Restrictions: Certain papers accessible on microfilm. Entire set of King-Crane Commission materials is restricted to handling; use digital format available online. Garments are restricted.
Acquisition Method: The bulk of the King papers were transferred to the Oberlin College Archives in 1967 from an Oberlin College office, unspecified. In 1987 Ernestine Evans King donated a book by Herman Lotz, 1890, heavily annotated by H.C. King. Additional materials were received in 1998 from Peg Dalphin and Ernestine Evans King in advance of a special exhibit in the Library on the King-Crane Commission drawing on the Henry Churchill King Presidential Papers. A file of material by Pullem Hans in German was transferred from the Library’s Special Collections in 2002. In 2012 three additional files of material were received from Ernestine Evans King.
Related Materials:
See also these King family paper collections:
King, Donald Storrs (30/339)
King, Hazel Barker (30/211)
King, Leonard & Julia (30/183)
Related Publications: Donald M. Love, Henry Churchill King of Oberlin, Yale University Press, 1956.
Processing Information: Processed by William E. Bigglestone, 1976.
Finding Aid Revision History: Revised by Archives staff, April 1995; Anne Cuyler Salsich, July 2012, August 2014, April 2015, February 2017, March 2022; Louisa C. Hoffman, May 2024.
Other Note: Microfilm Note: Categories I, II, VI, VII, and the index and calendar to the correspondence are available on microfilm (54 reels, 35mm.)
