RG 30. Personal Papers

Scope and Contents The papers of Sylvia H. Williams primarily document her role as a curator at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1971-1983, and as Director of the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution, 1983-1996. The biographical files, correspondence, clippings, writings, and awards and diplomas provide documentation concerning her education, her interest in art and African Art, her work at the Brooklyn Museum and the Smithsonian Institute, and her accomplishments as a successful...

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 The papers of Albert Allen Wright partially document the career of this geologist, naturalist, and trusted advisor of College affairs. The papers consist primarily of correspondence, both incoming and outgoing, along with a sampling of writings, talks, field notes, and student notes. The majority of the correspondence is written both to and from family members. The collection is arranged in eight series: 1. Correspondence (Incoming); 2. Correspondence (Outgoing); 3. Student...

Scope and Contents This small collection holds biographical information, correspondence, poems, and publications by Thornton, photographs of Carnegie and the Conservatory libraries, student assistants, library staff, and Thornton’s retirement dinner, and a scrapbook assembled and presented by library staff on the occasion of Thornton’s retirement in 1971. Included are two handmade children’s books created by Thornton in 1938, with original illustrations. Another handmade book, made by Thornton...

Scope and Contents The William A. Westervelt Papers reflect his coursework at Oberlin College and Theological Seminary in the 1830s and 1840s, and his career as a minister and itinerant preacher in Ohio from the 1840s through the 1870s. Westervelt’s student notes from lectures at Oberlin are of interest for their light on the content of early courses by professors Charles Grandison Finney, Amasa Walker, James Dascomb, and others. The bulk of the papers comprise notes for sermons and orations....

Scope and Contents The papers of Nancy Hays Teeters (1930-), spanning four decades, document the development of Teeters' career as a fiscal economist from professional staffer and research scholar (1957-78) to member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (1978-84), a Presidential appointment. She concluded her career as IBM's Director of Economics (1984-90) and Vice President (1986-90). Although the papers are largely professional in nature, providing little information about Teeters'...

Abstract The papers of Warren Taylor relate primarily to the professional life of an Oberlin College professor. Their contents reflect Taylor's interest in collecting evidence of his achievements. His friendships with students were important to him and are recorded in correspondence spanning forty years. Lecture notes used in his popular English and American literature courses are not present in the collection, although there is material relating to the academic programs Taylor initiated. There is...

Scope and Contents The papers of Lloyd William and Esther Bliss Taylor document their involvement in numerous professional and private organizations. Additionally, the papers reflect their views on temperance, belief in Christianity, and their political and social opinions. The collection is divided into two subgroups, the papers of Lloyd William Taylor, and the papers of Esther Bliss Taylor. Subgroup I contains the papers of William Lloyd Taylor from 1921 to 1952. The bulk of the materials are...

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 This small collection is comprised of certain course materials created by Sylvan Suskin, as well as syllabi from other courses in the Department of Musicology at Oberlin College; materials relating to a letter by Beethoven in the Oberlin College Library; two essays by faculty member Roderick Knight on ethnomusicology; materials generated during the celebration at Oberlin of the bicentennial of Mozart’s death, and records generated by the Oberlin Inn Advisory Committee. More information on...