RG 30. Personal Papers

Scope and Contents The Robbins Strong papers primarily consist of the six photographic albums and five manuscripts that detail twentieth-century China. The collection covers almost exclusively Strong’s prolific career in China as an Oberlin-in-Shansi representative and as an active Christian missionary (1930s-1960s). However, the collected works face several shortcomings in shedding insight into Strong’s personal career. Most of his correspondence between friends and family were written under strict...

Scope and Contents The papers consist of a typed manuscript by Steele titled, “The Open Secret.” On June 14, 1929, he wrote to W.F. Bohn, assistant to the president of Oberlin College, “My principal work will be entitled A Dogmatic Epistemology and will be a radical investigation of the human power of knowing.” In this letter and in subsequent correspondence he indicated that he planned to have a statement inserted in his will that his manuscripts be sent to...

Scope and Contents The papers of Erwin N. Griswold cover the term of Griswold's service on the Oberlin College Board of Trustees from 1936 to 1992.  Griswold served on the Board until 1980, and remained an Honorary Trustee until his death in 1994.  The more extensive archive relating to Griswold's service as a professor of law and Dean of the Harvard University Law School (1946-67) is held by the Harvard University Law School Library.  Records pertaining to Griswold's service (1967-73) as U. S. Solicitor...

Scope and Contents The papers of William Edwards Stevenson (1900-85) and his wife Eleanor Bumstead Stevenson (1902-87) document the joint public service careers of the Stevensons over a period of forty-five years. Correspondence with their families (1917-25) and with each other (1924-25), as well as genealogical records such as diaries, wills, and marriage certificates, bring to light the privileged New England childhoods and family relationships which fostered their social ideals. The arrangement of the...

Scope and Contents This collection is primarily comprised of copies of poems written by Stuart Friebert, as well as articles and publications related to Stuart Friebert’s work and life. The bulk of the biographical materials relate to Stuart’s time teaching at Oberlin College. The collection also includes unfinished poems from Stuart’s computer files and several talk transcripts. The collection is arranged into four records series: 1. Biographical Materials, 2. Creative Writing Program, 3. Writings,...

Scope and Contents The research files assembled and described by retired Lutheran pastor, Henry L. Lieske, document the conflict between moderate and conservative members of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) which resulted in schism in 1976. Folder and item-level notations provided by Pastor Lieske express the views of one moderate pastor who watched the conflict unfold from within the Missouri Synod. The papers reveal the extent of the moral and theological crisis provoked by the actions of...

Scope and Contents The Ira Steinberg Papers (1959-1987) document the academic career of their creator, a member of the Arts and Sciences faculty of Oberlin College since 1961. The records span Steinberg's teaching career in the departments of Education (1961-1978) and Philosophy (1978-), including his chairmanship of the Department of Education (1975-1978). The records do not document his present activities as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1987-1994?). There is virtually no...

Abstract The materials in the Douglas V. Steere Papers have exclusively to do with his interest in and study of John Frederick (Jean-Frédéric or Johann Friedrich) Oberlin (1740-1826), the Alsatian pastor who served in the Ban de la Roche region in the Vosges Mountains of Alsace in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Steere visited Oberlin’s pastorate in the years following World War II, when he was involved in recovery efforts by the American...

Scope and Contents The papers of China missionaries Alice Moon Williams (1860-1952) and her husband, the Rev. George Louis Williams (1858-1900), document in great detail the couple's life in Shanxi Province (1891-99) prior to the Boxer Uprising of 1900 in which George L. Williams died. Materials gathered by Alice Moon Williams and her daughter, Gladys M. Williams (1893-1981), provide a historical overview of the work of the Shansi Mission from 1883 to 1950. The collection is arranged into seven...