Harriet May Norton Noyce Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-270

Staff Only

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 19^th and early 20^th 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 collection through essays written by Harriet Norton Noyce’s mother-in-law, Harriet Brewster Noyce, while she was a student at Oberlin from 1882 to 1886.

Dates

Creation: 1882 - 1921
Other: Date acquired: 1996 April 24

Creator

Noyce, Harriet May Norton (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

Harriet May Norton

Harriet May Norton was born in 1898 in Grandin, Missouri. Her parents, Louise Augusta Hill and Reverend Milton James Norton met while classmates at the same high school in Berlin Heights, Ohio. Both graduated from Oberlin College in 1894, and moved around substantially due to Milton’s work as a pastor. Like her parents, Harriet also attended Oberlin, graduating in 1921 with a degree in Sociology.

Harriet met her husband, Ralph Brewster Noyce while an Oberlin student. Noyce, son of George Thomas and Harriet Louisa Brewster Noyce (OC 1886), graduated with a master’s degree from the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1920. After attending the Chicago Theological Seminary for a year in 1922, he became a Congregationalist minister.

Harriet and Ralph Noyce had four children: Donald, Gaylord, Robert, and Ralph. Ralph Sr. died in 1984 at the age of 91, and Harriet Norton Noyce passed away in 1996 at age 97. They both resided in Berkeley, California before their deaths.

Note written by Haley Antell. Revised by Emily Rebmann.

Donald Macgregor Norton

Donald Norton was born to Milton James and Louise A. Hill Norton in 1900. While at Oberlin, Donald participated in the Oberlin Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) from October through December 1918. The SATC was a nationwide program initiated by the War Department during World War I. It allowed college and university students to volunteer for the army while remaining at school. The government provided funding for tuition, room and board, and uniforms, and the colleges and universities provided the space for training. The Armistice was signed before Donald was called for duty overseas. Donald died of tubercular meningitis in 1920. He was a sophomore at Oberlin College.