RG 30. Personal Papers

Scope and Contents This small collection consists mainly of correspondence between members of the Norton family, many of whom attended Oberlin College. The letters describe the Oberlin experience in the late 19th and early 20th century, specifically during World War I. One member of the family, Donald Norton, participated in the war effort through the College’s Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) program. The Noyce family is also represented in this...

Scope and Contents The George Durand Wilder Papers consists primarily of letters, 1922-45, between George Durand Wilder and his cousins and friends regarding his missionary work and family matters. In 1936, Wilder was detained by the Japanese government upon his departure from China. He wrote to his cousin, Jamie, and described his stay in Japan and corruption in China. Wilder’s reference to the actions of the Japanese can be identified as the first conflicts of WW II in the Pacific. Included with the...

Scope and Contents Ruth Easton’s personal financial records dating from 1952 until after her death in 1957 make up the greater part of this collection. Her guardian and later executor of her estate, Robert Barr, Assistant Secretary of the College, presumably kept most of these materials. Evidence of a five hundred dollar gift to Oberlin College from her estate for the Ruth Easton Scholarship Fund exists in the form of an acknowledgement slip dated April 19, 1958. The collection is divided into three...

Scope and Contents The papers of the Prudden family contain correspondence. Written mostly to George Prudden between 1836 and 1838 from his siblings Nancy and Davis, these letters provide a fascinating and rare view of early daily life, studies, traveling, and socializing in Oberlin, Ohio. Most significant are six letters written by Nancy to her brother George. Written both from Oberlin while she was a student and from her home in Lockport, New York, these letters discuss her loneliness for family and...

Abstract

The General Files of the Congressional Papers of Charles Mosher document subject areas and issues of great interest to Mosher and his constituents. The files cover the period 1954-1977 [1961-76, bulk] and include constituent correspondence on such issues as employment and labor, health care, Watergate, space, the Vietnam War and the military, and local issues in Lorain County and the State of Ohio.

Scope and Contents The Toby J. McIntosh Papers comprise copies of documents from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) files kept on Oberlin College student political activities in the 1960s and 1970s, and a small amount of related materials including an article on government surveillance at Oberlin written by Toby McIntosh for the March/April 1978 issue of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine. The first folder contains a 1978 letter from an agent in the FBI to Toby...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of 133 copies made from selected materials in the Atkins Family Papers at The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.  The Atkins family were early settlers in Ashtabula County, Ohio.  The Bancroft’s collection of Atkins Family Papers document their participation in the anti-slavery movement from 1836 through 1950.  The copies (solicited by Oberlin College’s second archivist in 1988) comprise correspondence of Josiah Atkins (1757-1828), who served in...

Scope and Contents The papers of Lewis and Lois Gilbert document their missionary work in China from 1925 to 1941. The papers consist of sixteen spiral bound volumes containing typescript copies of letters written by the Gilberts to their families during their time in China. The letters describe their work at Yali (or Yale-China), Changsha, 1926-27, and as ABCFM missionaries in North China, 1929-41. Subjects include their travels to and within China, language study, school and mission events, and social...

Scope and Contents The papers of George Edward Woodberry reflect Woodberry’s position as a poet, critic and educator. The 46 documents in the collection are letters written by Woodberry to George H. Danton, Oberlin College faculty member who, while working on his doctorate at Columbia University, had been Woodberry’s research assistant. The letters range in date from June 30, 1903 to October 29, 1927, and are largely personal in nature.  Woodberry was a charming and indefatigable letter-writer, his...

Scope and Contents The papers of Rufus Cleveland Hovey, OC enrolled, consist of original letters written by Hovey to his family, Hovey’s Civil War journal, and a poem written by Hovey. His letters concern his intention to enroll at Oberlin College, his search for a teaching position, and his military service. The Civil War journal covers the period 1 January 1862 to 18 February 1862. An additional five letters were written by others concerning Hovey’s promotion to officer in the Union Army, his...