Eric B. Nye Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-342

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers of Eric B. Nye, Oberlin Class of 1970, document his days as a student at Oberlin College (1966-70), including his summers spent at Cape Cod (1967) and on the Oberlin programs in France (1968) and Vienna (1969). His time at Oberlin College spanned an era of increasing unrest among college students across the country in reaction to the Vietnam War and civil protests at home, and Oberlin experienced its share of this unrest.

The collection consists of a notebook from a Music Theory course, preparatory school teacher evaluations, travel journals (and a substantial amount of related printed matter) from his trips abroad, and a large amount of non-textual material (including photographic negatives, a drawing, slides, and reel-to-reel recordings).

Also in the collection are the letters Eric Nye wrote home to his family from Oberlin and from his travels abroad. These letters document Nye’s adjustment to Oberlin as well as the events and happenings at the time. Although there is no evidence that Nye was not active in anti-war demonstrations of political activism, his letters refer to significant events, including a 1967 campus demonstration in response to the presence on Navy recruiters, and later, the reaction of Oberlin students to the shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio. Nye played trombone in the memorial concert of Mozart’s “Requiem,” given by Oberlin musicians at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in May 1970. The collection includes letters describing the purpose of this concert, and also the shutdown of classes and suspension of the normal grading system at Oberlin in the spring of 1970, in reaction to the continued presence of American troops in Cambodia and in response to the events at Kent State.

A scrapbook contains transcriptions of the letters Eric Nye wrote to his mother and father during his freshman year, maps, photographs, newspaper clippings and concert programs.

Dates

Creation: 1961-1981, undated
Other: Date acquired: 2001 June 19

Creator

Nye, Eric B. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Coursework and teacher evaluation forms in Series II are restricted.

Biographical Sketch

Eric B. Nye was born in 1948 in Dallas, Texas. He was the only son of Hermes Nye, an attorney, folksinger, and author, and Mary Nye, an art dealer. His grandparents (“Madre and Da”) owned Whittle Music Company. Eric attended St. Mark’s School in Dallas. In the spring of 1965, Eric Nye visited Oberlin. He heard Dizzy Gillespie play in Finney Chapel, ate with students in Talcott Hall, and attended Professor Geoffrey Blodgett’s history lecture in Peters Hall. Afterwards, he applied for early admission and was accepted.

In the fall of 1965, Eric Nye arrived on Oberlin's campus. During his freshman year he lived in Barrows Hall and ate in Fairchild while studying trombone in the Conservatory. He played second trombone with the Gilbert and Sullivan Players in Falmouth on Cape Cod in the summer of 1967. During his sophomore year he returned to Oberlin to live off-campus at 175 Morgan Street. He ate in Afro House (Talcott) and witnessed the student anti-war protest that took the form of surrounding a Navy recruiter’s car. He spent the summer of 1968 with the Oberlin program in France studying culture in Aix-en-Provence, drama in Avignon, and art in the Louvre. During Eric Nye’s junior year at Oberlin he lived in East Hall, ate in French House (Baldwin Cottage), and began studying German. He attended the Oberlin program in Vienna the summer of 1969. During his senior year he lived and ate in French House (Price) and majored in German.

After graduation, Nye auditioned for the Navy band and eventually worked in naval intelligence. He served 20 years and retired in 1991.

Sources Consulted

Eric Nye provided the biographical information.