Office of Development and Alumni Affairs Records

Collection

Identifier: RG 26

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The records of the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs document the fund-raising, reporting, research, and public relations activities of the development arm of Oberlin College from 1887 to the present. These records do not provide a consecutive account of the complicated history of the Development Office per se. That history may be constructed by consulting this collection and related holdings of institutional records and personal papers (as detailed below) in the Oberlin College Archives which fill a great many of the informational gaps in these records. Inevitably, gaps will remain in such a history; for example, the correspondence of such key development administrators as C.R. Keesey, Charles Isackes, Richard Fenn Seaman, David W. Clark, and Richard J. Dunn is either unavailable or no longer extant.

Records are arranged into two subgroups: Subgroup I, Administrative Files; and Subgroup II, Campaign Files. Within each subgroup, records are subdivided into records series as follows: Subgroup I (Administrative Files): Series 1. Annual Reports; 2. Board of Trustees, Reports to; 3. Budgetary Reports; 4. Gift Reports and Summaries; 5. Consultants' Reports on Fund-Raising; 6. Miscellaneous Correspondence; 7. Donor Correspondence Files; 8. Estate Appraisal Records; 9. Named Funds and Foundations; 10. Office Procedures for Handling Gifts; 11. Personnel Files; 12. Public Relations Files; 13. Funded Educational Project Files; and 14. Subject Files. Subgroup II (Campaign Files): Series 1. Early Capital Campaigns; 2. Henry Churchill King Memorial Campaign; 3. Capital Campaigns 1960-83; and 4. Campaign for Oberlin. Within series, records are typically arranged alphabetically or chronologically. Some records series are further subdivided into subseries. The records of the Alumni Association (1887-1986) and the Alumni Information Services (formerly Alumni Records, 1833-1991) are segregated within the archives for classification purposes.

Within the Administrative Files of Subgroup I, the annual reports (1944, 1958-69, 1974, 1980-90) and correspondence (1946-83) offer modest research potential. Annual reports for the period 1906-58, prepared by the Presidential Assistants in charge of fund-raising, are available in the Office of the Secretary (5). Related documentation is housed with the professional papers (Record Group 3) of these officials: William F. Bohn (1878-1947), who spearheaded fund-raising drives from 1913 to 1944 under Presidents Henry Churchill King (1858-1934) and Ernest Hatch Wilkins (1880-1966); Charles Whiting Williams (1878-1975), Harold Sanford Wood (1898-1989); Thomas Edward Harris (1908-90); and Bayley F. Mason (b. 1929). The published annual reports of the presidents of Oberlin College (1876--) contain submissions from the development office, and they are relatively rich in detail.

In this collection, statistics on alumni/ae and friends giving are available in the annual publication of the Development Office, the Oberlin College Gift Report (1956-91) and in statistical charts summarizing giving (1928-55); these records are housed in Series 4, Gift Reports and Summaries. Additional statistics are available in the records of the Alumni Fund in Series 9 and in the Campaign Files of Subgroup II. The papers of President Robert Kenneth Carr contain statistics on giving (1960-71); these are located in Subgroup IV, Series 2, Boxes 21 and 22.

A small but significant body of documentation exists in this collection relating to the establishment of a permanent development program at Oberlin. Reports of the New York firm of Marts and Lundy (1946-58) recommend the creation of a Development Office headed by a Director of Development and reveal Oberlin's public relations concerns and financial needs during the first decade of the Stevenson administration. Cresap, McCormick, and Paget's "Administrative Survey of Oberlin College" (1951), available in the papers of President Stevenson (2/8), contains similar recommendations. The involvement of the Board of Trustees in initiating a formal development program is in part documented by the policy statements (1952) of Walter K. Bailey (b. 1897; AB 1919), and by a transcript of a discussion among trustees Arnaud C. Marts (1888-1970), Erwin N. Griswold (b. 1904), and President William E. Stevenson (1900-85) debating methods of fund-raising (1956). Additional Board of Trustees records relating to the implementation of a major capital campaign and development program are filed as "Trustee Committee on Building Fund," in the professional papers of President Stevenson (2/8), Subgroup II, Series 1, Board of Trustees Committees. The records (1892-1973) of the Board of Trustees' Investment Committee (1), include annual reports for the years 1933-36, 1958-70, and minutes and memoranda for the period 1906-53.

In general, the correspondence (1946-83) is thin and of a routine administrative nature. Correspondents include Paul Douglas (b. 1918), Director of Public Relations from 1953-58; C. Robert Keesey (b. 1923), Director of Development 1953-57; Robert Buss (b. 1919) of the Cleveland-based Endowment Advisory Service; counsel for the College, Scribner and King Fauver (1958-78); and David W. Clark (1981-83) in his capacity as Vice President for External Affairs. Subjects treated include campaigns, legal and financial questions relating to donor gifts, and donor prospects. For additional correspondence, consult the presidential papers of Ernest Hatch Wilkins (2/7), William E. Stevenson (2/8), and Robert Kenneth Carr (2/9).

The bulk of Subgroup I, Administrative Files, consists of donor correspondence files (1916-83). These files constitute a sampling of the files originally received by the Archives which were weeded in order to reduce bulk. They include file copies of letters sent to individuals, private foundations, business concerns, government agencies, and other groups acknowledging receipt of current-use gifts from alumni (the Annual Fund), outright gifts of cash or property for current and capital purposes (endowment, plant and equipment, student loans) or designated funds for scholarships, memorials, or other special purposes. Additional records relating to property gifts and foundation support to the college are housed in Series 9, Named Funds and Foundations. Series 8, Estate Appraisal Records, contains extensive documentation of the legal wrangling which led to the settlement of two major estates, the Seabury C. Mastick (1960-77) and Eva Renz Young-Hunter (1951-83) estates. Files include appraisal records of the Mastick's Florida property (1960-72) and the Young-Hunter's Taos, New Mexico property and art collection (1980), as well as correspondence, legal documents, and development proposals. For lists of early donors to Oberlin, consult the donor files (1901-05) of President John Henry Barrows in 2/5. The presidents' annual reports include a section entitled "Donors" which enumerates major donations.

Additional administrative files include office procedures for handling gifts (1958-70); personnel records (1958-68), and public relations files (1887-1987), which contain a complete chronological run of Development Office publications. Series 13, Funded Educational Projects, includes files relating to fundraising for such entities as the Allen Memorial Art Museum, the Jesse Philips Physical Education Center, and the Mudd Learning Center, as well as for curricular programs like Women's Studies, the Special Educational Opportunities Program, and foreign language study abroad programs. Series 14, Subject Files, includes files relating to student life which were retained by the Development Office as a source of ready reference. Files include memoranda sent to the office by various college offices, departments, and programs.

Valuable materials chronicle the history of fund-raising at Oberlin from 1900 to the present. Subgroup II, Campaign Files (1900‑91), documents early fund drives (1900-14), the institution of the Living Endowment Union (1900), the first capital campaign of 1923, the Henry Churchill King Memorial Campaign (1954-66), and several recent campaigns, including the Campaign for Oberlin (1987-91). Best documented of the campaigns is the King Memorial Campaign. All phases of the campaign are recorded: the kick-off in 1953; statistics on giving (1953-58); nationwide soliciting from Akron to San Francisco (1954-57); the planning and design of the King Building (1957); and the building's groundbreaking (1959) and dedication (1966) ceremonies. Photographs (1960‑62) depict various activities associated with the campaign, including successive phases in the King building construction. Additional files on campaigns are located in the records of the Office of the Secretary (5). For the subscription books (1839) of the Rev. John Keep and William Dawes kept during their fund-raising mission to England, consult the Oberlin File (21), section VI.

Dates

Creation: 1857-2012

Creator

Oberlin College Office of Development and Alumni Affairs (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Some restrictions apply.

Administrative History

From 1833 to 1852, Oberlin College (known as the Oberlin Collegiate Institute before 1850) struggled to support itself financially, relying on the charity of its abolitionist friends for survival. In 1839, only four years after Arthur Tappan's benefaction made it possible for Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) to establish a theological department, conditions had become so desperate that the Rev. John Keep (d. 1870) and William Dawes (d. 1888), Soliciting Agent for the young Institute, set out for England to solicit subscriptions. "If effectual relief be not speedily afforded," wrote Keep, "operations must inevitably cease.... The Professors and their families have for a long time been reduced to such straits," he added, "even for their daily food, and raiment, that from week to week they have not known From whence the next Providential Supply would come." In the course of eighteen months, Keep and Dawes raised $30,000, enough to cancel Oberlin's debts.

In 1851, the Board of Trustees approved the establishment of an endowment fund by means of the sale of scholarships. Taken together, these scholarships brought in about $85,000. The scholarships, entitling the bearer to free tuition, were of three varieties, for six years, for eighteen years, and perpetual, costing respectively $25, $50, and $100. Before 1880, most all he "terminable" scholarships were exhausted. In 1874, faced with the necessity of increasing tuition in order to raise faculty salaries, the Board of Trustees voted to gather in such certificates by gift or purchase, with the aim of assuring that income from such certificates would revert to the College upon the donor's death.

Growing annual deficits in its operating budget throughout the 1870s and 1880s led to a recognition that the endowment must be greatly increased. Under the brief leadership of President John Henry Barrows (1898-1902), the Board of Trustees developed a plan to raise a general endowment fund of $500,000. In 1901, John D. Rockefeller, Sr. pledged $200,00 towards the balance, and major gifts from the estates of W. E. Osborn and Mrs. Katharine Wright Haskell (A.B. 1898) raised the total endowment value to nearly $600,000. Annual giving was encouraged with the establishment in 1900 of The Living Endowment Union, which enabled alumni and friends to make annual contributions to the College. On March 1, 1909, there were 916 outstanding subscriptions to the fund, providing for annual payments of $3,900.70.

Over the first seventy-one years of the College's operation (1833-1904), responsibility for receiving, soliciting, and reporting gifts fell to several offices, including the President, who often contacted donors directly, the Financial Secretary, the Treasurer, and the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees, established in 1892. Under the administration of President Henry Churchill King (1902-27), fund-raising duties were officially delegated to the newly created office of Assistant to the President. The duties of the post included "maintaining and enlarging the friendly and supporting constituency of the College, and...increasing its material resources." To this end, the Assistant was enjoined to seek "close and helpful" relations between the College and its alumni.

Charles Whiting Williams (1878-1975) served as Assistant to the President during the early years of the King Administration, from 1904 to 1913. During his tenure, the library endowment of $100,000 was completed (1906) with the support of Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). A second Half-Million Fund drive, completed the same year, permitted construction of the new Carnegie library building, a Men's Building, and funding for the seminary's Slavic Department, faculty salary increases, the Finney Memorial Chapel Fund, scholarships and loans, and various equipment needs.

Williams' successor was William Frederick Bohn (1878-1947), who held the position of Assistant to the President for thirty-one years (1913-44), under Presidents King (1902-27) and Ernest Hatch Wilkins (1927-46). Bohn believed that winning gifts for the College depended primarily upon the excellence of the College and secondarily upon the clear presentation of that excellence to alumni. During his tenure, endowment funds rose from $2,323,900 to $20,605,463. With support from the New York firm of Tamblyn and Brown, Bohn directed the college's first national capital campaign, the 1923 Endowment and Building Fund Drive. Not only did the campaign fail to meet its targeted financial goals, but also it did not result in a permanent development office as had been envisioned.

Following the 1926 settlement of the Charles Martin Hall estate, which had increased the endowment by over $10,000,00, President King warned of the "grave danger that the Alumni may regard the addition of so great a sum as relieving the College from all necessity for many years to come of making a financial appeal." His words went unheeded, as alumni complacency set in and slowed the pace of alumni giving for the next twenty years. In 1934, during the presidency of Ernest Hatch Wilkins (1927-46), the Annual Alumni Fund was organized with the hope that alumni could be persuaded to overcome their complacency and develop strong habits of giving. The total gifts began in 1936 at $4,500 and increased gradually over the next ten years to a total in 1951 of about $50,000.

Credit for creating the modern office of development must go to President William E. Stevenson (1946-59), who brought to Oberlin not only a first-hand knowledge of legal and business practices but also an impressive list of personal friends and business associates who generously contributed their time and resources to Oberlin. In 1951, two firms completed studies of the College and offered identical recommendations. The management engineers, Cresap, McCormick, and Paget, recommended in May 1951 that a Director of Development be appointed to plan future development drives and to supervise public and alumni relations and activities. The public relations firm of Marts and Lundy, headed by Oberlin trustee Arnaud C. Marts (1888-1970; AB '10), released its "Fund-Raising Survey Report" in October 1951, in which it advocated not only the creation of a permanent development department but also a Development Committee of the Board of Trustees "with the specific duties of planning and promulgating a program for bringing new capital funds to the College." Accordingly, in 1952-53, the Board of Trustees Development Committee was formed. Members of the new committee included President W. E. Stevenson (1900-85), Harry E. Barnard (1893-1973), Percy J. Ebbott, (1888-) Frank C. Fisher (1893-1974), Walter M. Halle (1905-72), John W. Love (1892-1958), William A. Mitchell (1892-1980), E. Earl Newsom (1897-1973), Grove Patterson (1881-1956), and Chairman Walter K. Bailey (1897-).

Marts and Lundy's 1951 report had also recommended a ten-year Development Program which would provide capital funds totaling $10,655,000 with which to meet the major building and endowment requirements of the College during that period. The firm was retained by the College to supervise the campaign, which was launched on October 7, 1953. The Henry Churchill King Memorial Campaign, with Walter K. Bailey (b. 1897; AB 1919) as national chairman, was the first major capital campaign in thirty years. The ten-year campaign goal included $1,380,000 for the Henry Churchill King building, which would house classrooms and faculty offices. Funds were also raised for eight dormitories, a laboratory building for the Life Sciences, a library and rehearsal hall for the Conservatory, endowment for ten professorial chairs, for scholarship funds, and for apartments for married theology students. The King campaign was highly successful. Not only was the quota oversubscribed, but also the broadened base of donors needed to ensure future support had been identified. Through the campaign, Oberlin alumni had become better informed of Oberlin's needs, more interested, and involved in the future of the College.

First to occupy the newly created post of Director of Development was C. Robert Keesey, former Secretary of the Alumni Association (1949-53), then serving as Assistant to the President. Keesey served as Director of Development from 1953 to 1957. He was assisted by Paul M. Douglas (b. 1918), Thomas E. Harris, (1908-90) John C. Kennedy (b. 1904), and John E. Wirkler (1879-1958). In 1958, Cincinnati fund-raising executive Charles French Isackes (A.B. 1938) replaced Keesey, serving until 1967. Isackes, assisted by Walt Reeves (b. 1923), directed the successful 1960-61 Science and Music Building Fund Campaign to raise $6,500,000 for construction of the Kettering Science Building and the Conservatory of Music. Most notable among gifts to the building fund was the 1961 benefaction of $700,000 from Mr. and Mrs. Seabury C. Mastick (AB 1891, 1892) for a new Warner Concert Hall, named for Mrs. Mastick's parents, Dr. and Mrs. Lucien C. Warner. Dr. Warner was an Oberlin trustee and alumni correspondent on the board for 52 years before his death in 1925.

In the last twenty years, three major capital campaigns have been undertaken. The 1970 "Outlook Campaign" sought $15,000,000 in four years to support construction of Philips Gymnasium and the Mudd Learning Resources Center. The gymnasium, dedicated in 1971, was made possible through the gift of one million dollars from trustee Jesse Philips (AB 1937). In 1979, the "19/83" Sesquicentennial Campaign, led nationally by Lloyd Morrisett (AB 1951) and locally by David W. Clark, was launched to raise $19,000,000 to support scholarships, endowment, educational programs, and building renovation. Most recently, under the leadership of President S. Frederick Starr, Oberlin undertook the largest development program to date, the Campaign for Oberlin. To achieve its goal of $80,000,000 over five years required unprecedented levels of giving. The Campaign for Oberlin, launched publicly in May 1988, sought $39,900,000 in new endowment, $20,100,0009 in new facilities and equipment, and $20,000,000 in new unrestricted and restricted annual monies. Under the leadership of Richard J. Dunn, who was promoted to Vice President of Development and Alumni Affairs in 1984, campaign goals were surpassed in 1991.

During the nineteen eighties, various special projects were launched in the Development Office to increase endowment yield. In 1982, David Clark took charge of the real-estate gift program, which generated more than four million in gifts of property before being phased out in 1984. In 1985, the Office of Capital Ventures was established. Headed by Clark and accountable to the Board of Trustees' Investment Committee, Capital Ventures had responsibility for endowment investments in real estate and related projects. Due to declining values in the real estate market at the end of the decade, the Investment Committee voted to close the office in November 1990. David Clark remained Senior Trust Officer and Administrator of Capital Ventures through the early spring of 1991. The assets are presently being administered and liquidated by the Office of the Treasurer.

The fundamental duties of the development office remain the creation of a loyal donor constituency, maintenance of good donor relations, and thorough involvement with the life of the College. In attracting financial support to Oberlin, the office must try to present to younger donors a modern image of the school, while reassuring older alumni that Oberlin's founding ideals and the pursuit of academic excellence will not be sacrificed to "progress".

Following is a list of Development Office directors serving after 1967, with their titles.

Richard Fenn Seaman, 1967-71: Director of Development/Executive Assistant to the President, 1967-71

David Walter Clark, 1966-91: Associate Director of Development, 1966-76; Vice President for External Affairs, 1976-84; Director of Capital Development, 1984-86; Real Estate Gifts program, 1982-84; Office of Capital Ventures, 1985-91

Richard J. Dunn, 1983-91: Associate Vice President for External Affairs, 1983-84; Vice President of Development and Alumni Affairs, 1983-91

Ronald J. Stephany, 1991-92: Vice President of Development and Alumni Affairs, 1991-92

Young P. Dawkins, 1993-97: Vice-President for Development and Alumni Affairs, 1993-97

Kay Thomson, 1997-2001: Acting Vice President for Alumni and Alumni Affairs, 1997-98; Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs, 1998-2001

John C. Hays, 2001-03: Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs, 2001-03

Ernest B. Iseminger, 2003-08: Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs, 2003-08

Mike Nolan, 2008-09: Interim Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs, 2008-09

Wiliam Barlow, 2009-: Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs, 2009-

Major Capital Campaigns at Oberlin College, 1923-2013:

1923 Endowment and Building Fund Campaign ($4,500,000): Launched by President Henry Churchill King, November 2, 1923. The first campaign to mobilize alumni in every section of the country. National Campaign Director, W. F. Bohn ('00). Failed to reach its goal.

1954 Henry Churchill King Memorial Campaign ($10,655,000): A ten-year campaign launched by President W. E. Stevenson to raise funds for constructing the King Building, life sciences laboratory, dormitories, and expanding the Conservatory. National Chairman, Walter K. Bailey ('19).

1960 Science and Music Building Fund Campaign ($6,500,000): A twenty-month campaign to raise funds for construction of Kettering Science Building and the Conservatory of Music. National Chairman, Walter K. Bailey ('19).

1970 Outlook for the Seventies ($15,000,000): Goal to be met by June 30, 1974. Funds to support construction of Phillips Gymnasium and the Learning Resources Center (Mudd Library). National Chairman, Walter K. Bailey ('19).

1979 1983 (Sesquicentennial) Campaign ($19,000,000): Goal to be achieved by 1983, the 150th anniversary of Oberlin's founding. Funds to support scholarships, the endowment, educational programs, intercollegiate athletic programs, and building renovation and modification. National Chairman, Lloyd N. Morrisett ('51).

1986 Campaign for Oberlin ($80,000,000): Goals surpassed in 1991 through unprecedented levels of giving. Funds used to support endowed professorships, financial aid, residential life, and academic programs. National Chairman, George R. Bent ('52).

1997 New Oberlin Century Campaign ($175,000,000): Goal surpassed in 2004 by ten million dollars for the largest campaign in the institution’s history. Funds were directed to four critical areas: student support (i.e., 27 endowed scholarships); faculty support (i.e., endowed funds, 8 endowed professorships); facilities enhancement (i.e. Science Center, Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies); and current-use support (i.e., financial aid, faculty salaries, student support services).

2013 Oberlin Illuminate: A Campaign for College and Conservatory ( Goal: $250,000,000): Seven-year campaign with a goal that exceeds that of the New Oberlin Century Campaign by $75 million. The campaign aims to broaden access to an Oberlin education, strengthen the campus community, enrich the academic program, make Oberlin more competitive, and better position students for success after they graduate. The campaign will sustain Oberlin’s commitment to academic, artistic, and musical excellence, and will advance its position as a humane and courageous leader in higher education. The Oberlin Illuminate campaign concluded on June 30, 2016, having raised $318 million, 127% above the original goal.

SOURCES CONSULTED

I. Monographic

Annual Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Oberlin College (Oberlin College: Oberlin, Ohio), 1925-26, 1953-54, 1954-55, 1956-57.

General Catalog of Oberlin College, 1833-1908 (Oberlin College: Oberlin, Ohio, 1909).

II. Archival

Bailey, Walter King, "Outline of the Development Needs of Oberlin College," November 7, 1952.

Keep, Rev. John, introductory remarks to his ms. Subscription Book (ms.), 1839.

Keesey, C. Robert, letter (typescript) of 15 December 1956.

"Oberlin's Ten-Year Development Program" (internal memo, unsigned), 1953.

Nancy S. Dye Presidential Papers (RG 2/13), Oberlin College Archives finding guide, 2008.

III. Articles and Reports

Cresap, McCormick, and Paget, "Administrative Survey of Oberlin College," 1951.

Marts, Arnaud C., "Fund-raising Survey Report," 1951.

Merrill, Karen, "The Color of Money: Race, Religion, and 'High Ideals' in Oberlin College's 1923.

Campaign," (unpublished seminar paper), 1990.

"Oberlin Tomorrow," vol. 1, No. 2, First Quarter, 1954.

IV. Websites

Oberlin Illuminate website, Oberlin College.

Note written by Valerie S. Komor.

Extent

71.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The records of the Office of Development were transferred to the archives in thirty (30) separate accessions. A box of printed financial reports, annual reports produced by the Development Office, and consultants' reports was transferred to the Archives but not accessioned on November 15, 1991. Additional material relating to the 1923 Oberlin Endowment and Building campaign was received from the Oberlin College Library, Special Collections, in 2001.

Accruals and Additions

Accession Nos: 26, 1979/10, 1986/25, 1988/158, 1989/45, 1989/46, 1990/101, 1992/1, 1993/22, 1993/53, 1993/62, 1993/69, 1996/044, 1996/090, 1996/129, 1997/027, 1998/072, 1999/047, 1999/115, (1999/122, 2000/018 - not interfiled), 2001/94, 2001/121, 2002/096, 2005/042, 2006/032, (2011/042 - not interfiled), 2012/052, (2012/063, 2013/046 - not interfiled).

Related Materials

For files relating to fund-raising activities prior to the creation of a separate office for the purpose, consult the papers of the presidential assistants (3) and their Annual Reports in the Office of the Secretary (5). Also consult the files of Oberlin College Presidents Henry Churchill King, Ernest Hatch Wilkins, William Edwards Stevenson, and Robert Kenneth Carr (2) for administrative correspondence related to development matters. For materials relating to the management of college finances, consult the records of the Office of Business and Finance (6) and the records of the Board of Trustees Investment Committee (1/2). The annual reports of the President contain reports by the Director of Development and other development staff. Consult these in College General, 00/0. Alumni Records are located in record group 28. Cassette tapes filed in RG 37/4.