RG 30. Personal Papers

Scope and Contents Material at the Oberlin College Archives (Accession 1983/41) The material given to the Oberlin College Archives consists of clippings, programs, writings by and about William Grant Still and Verna Arvey, a book of Still’s music, press kits and publicity for the opera “A Bayou Legend,” photographs, a copy of an oral history with William Grant Still for the California Black Oral History Project at California State University, Fullerton in 1967, and...

Abstract These are primarily financial and legal papers of the Eddys, a pioneering family in Camden Township, Lorain County, Ohio. Fifty‑six items cover the family's period as farmers in western New York State in the area called the Holland Land Purchase (1805‑1830). John Eddy (1766‑1842) was then the head of the family. These items include two deeds (1816, 1817) to land in Genesee County, New York; a Sheldon, N.Y., school tax bill (1820); and a notice (1829) to quit the...

Scope and Contents The papers of Mariah Crabb document her manumission, include information about her former enslavers, and detail the activities of her family members in the 1830s and 1840s. Of particular note is Mariah Crabb's handwritten Manumission Indenture. On July 1, 1831, Mariah and her family purchased their freedom for $150 from Martin, Elizabeth, and David Hausman. Consisting largely of personal letters written to Mariah Crabb from her former enslavers, Martin and Elizabeth, the letters...

Scope and Contents The papers of Calvin C. Hernton consist of files relating to the Oberlin College African-American Studies Department (formerly the Black Studies Department). Hernton served as chairman of the department from 1997 to 1999 and was a faculty member from 1970 to 1999. This collection consists of the files and correspondence that he maintained during his time as chairman and as a faculty member. The collection provides documentation concerning the history of the African-American Studies...

Scope and Contents The papers of Frances Walker-Slocum contain biographical material, correspondence, greeting cards, performance and recital programs, ephemera, publicity files, and several scrapbooks. The bulk of the collection is made up of greeting cards, performance programs, and publicity materials. The most significant materials are the performance programs in series 3. Dating from the 1940s to the mid-2000s, these files document Walker-Slocum's performances at Oberlin College and at venues across...

Scope and Contents The James Dascomb papers document his medical career in Oberlin. The collection contains many of his own notes concerning his practice. These notes include lists of births and deaths (and in some cases, the cause of death), visits and treatment of patients, and exploration of medical botany. Some of the items are typed, including a formal copy of an address he delivered on the topic of homeopathy. Most of the notes are in a handwritten journal, which includes several pages of pressed...

Abstract

The Fletcher papers reflect Robert S. Fletcher's interest in the history of Oberlin College, an institution located in the Connecticut Western Reserve, and his interest in the history of the trans-Mississippi West.

Scope and Contents The papers of Sydney Nettleton Fisher document the Fisher family and his days as a student at Oberlin College. The collection is rich in documentation about the Fisher family, including an autobiography of Sydney N. Fisher and biographies of Robert Dean Fisher and Fisher's parents, Addison Washburn Fisher and Pearl Nettleton Fisher. The correspondence series contains letters between Sydney Fisher and family, including accounts of his teaching appointment at Robert College in Istanbul,...

Abstract

The A. Hunter Dupree Family Papers primarily document the life and career of A. Hunter Dupree, a prominent historian of American science and technology, active in the profession for over a half-century. The related family papers relate to the lives of Dupree's wife, Betty Arnold, and his parents, George and Sarah Dupree.

Scope and Contents

The papers of Olive Bell Daniels consists of College memorabilia, including a memory book, photographs, programs, an expense record (1909-1913), essays, letters, and a bound copy of “Minnetonka Mornings.” Copies of letters written by Mrs. Daniels to family members, 1960-1961, describe her travels in Europe and Asia with her husband.