RG 30. Personal Papers

Scope and Contents This collection is divided into three series, but largely consists of diaries and transcripts of two Oberlin students from the 1880s.The collection contains little biographical information of either woman, apart from what can be gleamed from the everyday occurrences in their diaries.Close and Mann were evidently friends, as well as cousins. Close’s diary mentions a “Maud” quite frequently, and as Mann’s student file lists her as “M. Maud Mann,” it is quite likely that...

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 Tony Musante ‘58 document his career as an actor, director, and writer.  Musante’s career included theater, television series, and feature films in the United States and other nations such as Italy. The documentation provides insight into how Tony Musante became an accomplished actor, director, and writer, beginning with his student days at Oberlin College, 1954-58.Of particular interest are notebooks containing Musante’s comments and observations during the filming...

Scope and Contents The Laurence H. and Frances MacDaniels papers contain biographical and college-related files, correspondence, and photographs. The bulk of the material is correspondence (with indexes initially prepared by Ellen Speers), and most of the material documents their Oberlin connection up to 1920. Photographs, almost all dated before 1920, strongly complement the correspondence in that they capture visually their lives at Oberlin.The papers are organized around 10 records series....

Scope and Contents The papers of Athena Tacha primarily document her teaching as a member of the Oberlin College Department of Art, and her role as Consultant Curator of the Weltzheimer/Johnson House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Oberlin, Ohio. Tacha used these materials in writing the manuscript “Frank Lloyd Wright at Oberlin: the story of the Weltzheimer/Johnson House.”The collection is organized into two Subgroups, I. Materials Relating to Athena Tacha  and II. Materials relating to the...

Scope and Contents The Belden and Lisa Paulson Papers primarily document the life of Belden Paulson, who began his varied service-oriented career resettling refugees in post-World War II Europe. As a maverick academic, his professional endeavors involved urban development, alternative futures, sustainability, and substantial, practical projects related to each of these fields. The records of the High Wind Association document a non-profit intentional community founded by Belden and Lisa dedicated to educating...

Scope and Contents The Mary Rudd Cochran papers primarily consist of biographical files, correspondence, financial and property files, professional records, writings files, and photographs. Though the papers cover many activities of her life, the collection mainly documents her private life as a member of an educated, upper middle class family.  Her personal files detail life as a child and into adulthood, which focuses much on the Cochran family and their interactions with two other great families of Oberlin,...

Scope and Contents The papers consist mainly of 6 letters by Wright and ten by his secretary, 2 telegrams by Wright, 8 blueprints for the house and 2 blueprints for chairs (see the Architectural Records Collection, RG 53, for the blueprints). Filed with them are copies of published articles that describe Wright's ideas and the building of the house plus its restoration by Miss Ellen Johnson and donation to Oberlin College. There is also a copy of a letter written by Kristen Weltzheimer in 1985 in which she...

Abstract

The papers of Ellsworth C. Carlson document his undergraduate days at Oberlin College, his years as an Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association representative to China and Shansi board member, his professional contributions as a faculty exchange member, and his special interest in East Asian History.

Scope and Contents The papers, photographs, and objects originating with Frances Cade and E. John Hamlin reflect the lives of two Oberlin graduates who met during their service in China as Shansi representatives in the mid-1930s, and continued after their marriage in 1942 to pursue a lifetime of service in the Far East.  Both the Hamlins wrote articles for their hometown newspapers during their time at Taigu, and gave presentations on their experiences later in life as employees of the World Council of...