Margaret Reynolds Schauffler Papers

Margaret Reynolds Schauffler was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 4, 1896, as the youngest of the ten children of Dr. Henry A. Schauffler, a clergyman and missionary. Together, he and his wife, Clara Hobart Schauffler, founded the Schauffler Missionary Training School (Cleveland, Ohio). The school, which later became Schauffler College, merged with the Oberlin College Graduate School of Theology (Oberlin, Ohio) in 1954. Currently, its endowment supports the Schauffler programs in religious education and social work at Defiance College (Defiance, Ohio).

After graduating from Fowler Elementary School in Cleveland and Oberlin High School, Schauffler entered Oberlin College where she majored in music. In 1914, she joined the Musical Union in which she sang as late as 1987, thus probably becoming the longest-standing member of the organization. She received the AB degree and earned Phi Beta Kappa honors from Oberlin in 1918. She then embarked upon a four-year program of art studies at the Cleveland Institution of Art and earned a diploma in 1922. Schauffler subsequently taught art at the Elyria (Ohio) High School (1922-23) before becoming an instructor in art at Oberlin College in 1923. In 1926, she was promoted to the rank of assistant professor and in 1959 to associate professor. Following her retirement from Oberlin College in 1961, she taught art at Ashland College (Ashland, Ohio) for eight years and for several years chaired the department. In 1962, she returned to Oberlin where she taught painting, enamel work and calligraphy privately and through the Firelands Association for the Visual Arts (FAVA).

Throughout her career, Schauffler continued to study art and exhibit her own works. In 1931, she received an MA degree in art from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland. During summers and sabbaticals, she studied art at the Breckenbridge School of Painting in Gloucester, Massachusetts, The Berkshire (New Hampshire) Sumner School of Art, Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York), Columbia University (New York City) and the New York University School of Fine and Applied Arts in Paris (France). In 1940 she won a research grant to study art at the summer session of University of Chicago (Illinois). During a sabbatical leave in 1955‑56, she studied Japanese art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Massachusetts) and later worked in Tokyo (Japan) under Michiko Hirayama. She also studied privately with William O. Forrest and Abel G. Warshawsky.

A specialist in painting and crafts, Schauffler exhibited her works widely at art centers and universities both within and outside Ohio, including the Allen Memorial Art Museum (Oberlin College), the Cleveland Museum of Art, Case Western Reserve University, and also at the Ohio State Fair. Nationally, she participated in exhibitions in Ogunquit (Maine), the University of Illinois (Champaign‑Urbana), the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and Wichita State University (Kansas), where the then-governor of the state bought one of her paintings. In 1933, she designed the Oberlin College Alumni Medal that was for a time awarded annually.

Margaret Schauffler was a member of several professional organizations: The American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Artists and the College Art Association. She also continued her parents' dedication to promoting social and civic causes. She was a staunch advocate for temperance and sought to prohibit the sale of alcohol in Oberlin. For many years she was a member of the Oberlin Consumers Cooperative, serving as secretary during 1949-51. As a member of the social action committee of First Church, she organized candidates' nights and forums on community concerns. Also active in the church's sewing circle, she made clothing for Appalachian and indigenous children on South Dakota reservations. As a life-long pacifist, she joined other members of the national pacifist organization, Peacemakers, in refusing to pay income taxes in 1949. Schauffler stated that "A large percentage of our federal taxes are used for vast military expenditures surely leading toward atomic war [which I believe] would be a crime against humanity." In 1953, she participated in a social action seminar and traveled to several European countries under the auspices of the social action committee of Congregational Christian churches. She sponsored the education of a Hong Kong student, Kwok-Sang, which enabled him to earn a PhD in Engineering. At its May 30, 1988 commencement ceremonies (also Schauffler's 70th class reunion), Oberlin College presented her an award for distinguished service to the community.

In 1993, Schauffler gave to Oberlin College President S. Frederick Starr a lithograph portrait of Tomas Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. Subsequently, President Starr arranged for United States President George Herbert Walker Bush to present it to Vaclav Havel who placed it in Prague Castle.

Margaret Reynolds Schauffler died in the Elyria (Ohio) United Methodist Home on February 23, 1994 at the age of 97.

Many members of her family attended Oberlin College including her sister Grace, AB 1916, her half-sister, Mary (Mrs. F. G. Platt), L.B., 1888, and her brother Lawrence, AB 1915; Master of Music, 1949. A great-grand niece, Nancy, and a great-grand nephew, David, graduated in 1918 and 1983 respectively.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Oberlin College Archives, RG 28. Alumni File, Margaret Reynolds Schauffler.

Oberlin College Archives, RG 28. Faculty/Staff File, Margaret Reynolds Schauffler.

Note written by May Tran.