Gertrude F. Jacob Papers

Gertrude Fisher Jacob, the daughter of Brent Cooke (1879-1949) and Gertrude Maud Fisher Jacob (1882-1970), was born January 21, 1908, in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She had one younger brother, Brent Cooke Jr (1911-2010). In 1925, she entered Oberlin College where she was active in the Sigma Gamma Literary Society, the Classical Club, and as a reporter for the Oberlin Review. Completing majors in both Greek and philosophy, she graduated magna cum laude and with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1929. She then entered the Ohio State University where she earned her M.A. in 1930. While at Ohio State, she prepared bibliographies of Bertrand Russell for 1929 and 1930 issues of the quarterly Bulletin in Bibliography.

Returning to Cleveland, she spent seven years (1930-37) as an Aide in Case Work and Clerical Work for the Cuyahoga County Relief Administration (later Associated Charities). Then, following a few months in labor cost accounting for Industrial Brownhoist in Bay City, Michigan, she relocated to Oberlin to serve her college and her church for over fifty years—until her death on August 26, 1989.

After working as an assistant in the Secretary’s Office at Oberlin College during 1937-43, Gertrude Jacob became secretary to First Church (U.C.C.) in Oberlin. The next year, she left to assume the duties of Secretary and Recorder and then Registrar at the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology (1944-61). In 1961 she became the Executive Secretary, a position she held until the Graduate School of Theology moved to Vanderbilt University in 1966. At that time, she moved to the office of the Oberlin College Archives where she worked as an Administrative Assistant until her “official” retirement in 1974 when she became a part-time assistant. She continued to work there as a volunteer until 1989, becoming a legend in support of alumni records and earning the moniker “an archive in and by herself.”

However, Gertrude Jacob also maintained her activities on behalf of the Graduate School of Theology after it left Oberlin. In 1967, she was invited to attend the Cole lectures and Alumni Dinner at Vanderbilt Divinity School; the following year the Alumni Association asked her to serve as Committeeman for the Northern region. She took an active interest in the work of the Schauffler College for Religious and Social Work even after it transferred to Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio, regularly visiting the campus for special occasions. She became a Trustee of the Schauffler College in 1978.

Her service to Oberlin College and First Church extended far beyond her official responsibilities. She had an extraordinary memory for the names and faces and whereabouts not only of the countless students she encountered but also of their families. She corresponded faithfully with this network of her “boys and girls,” and she was regularly seen writing her letters before and during the intermissions of the recitals and concerts she unfailingly attended. At First Church, she was an active participant on various committees—Pastoral, Toddler, Greeter—and represented the church at state and district conferences. She was a diligent worker for the Community Chest Drives and a loyal supporter of A.A.U.W. study groups.

Although she never sought recognition, her kind and caring manner, her dedication to duty, her unswerving attention to detail, and her extraordinary memory garnered her deeply-felt appreciation. In 1963, she became an Honorary Alumna of the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology; in 1966, she received the Special Alumni Award in recognition of her 22 years of dedicated service; in 1970, she became a member of the Alumni Board as a representative of the Graduate School of Theology. At the banquet marking the tenth anniversary of its move to Vanderbilt, the Graduate School of Theology presented her a golden pin with the Oberlin College seal and announced the formation of a scholarship fund in her name. In 1979, she was presented the Alumni Award for Distinguished Services to Oberlin College, and in the same year was recognized at a dinner held in her honor as part of the Herbert G. May Memorial Lecture and Workshop.

In November 1987, the college archivist organized an event to recognize Gertrude Jacob’s fifty years of service to Oberlin College. Some 180 colleagues, friends, relatives, and former students from Oberlin College and the community attended the celebration held at First Church in Oberlin. Tributes came in many forms, including proclamations passed by the Oberlin City Council, The General Assembly of Ohio, The U.S. House of Representatives, and a tribute from the State of Michigan. In addition, she was recognized by the establishment of the “Gertrude F. Jacob Archival Publications Fund…to be used to support archival publications, ensuring greater access to its holdings.” During the festivities, Professor Geoffrey Blodgett (1931-2001) recalled hearing Gertrude say many times: “I’ve never been trained for anything I’ve done, and I’ve never done anything I’ve been trained for.” “These are the words,” he commented, “of a truly liberally educated person.” To his words, her life bears witness. She died in Oberlin on August 26, 1989.

Sources

Jacob, Gertrude Fisher. Oberlin College Biographical Form, undated

Oberlin College. Obituary, August 27, 1989.

“Service of Worship Celebrating the Life of Gertrude F. Jacob.” (First Church, Oberlin, Ohio). August 29, 1989. n.p.

Smith, Dorothy. “Gertrude Jacob: Archives Volunteer, Bridge to the Past.” Oberlin Alumni Magazine (Winter 1988): 37.

Van Dyke, Mary Louise. Personal Interview.

Note written by Elizabeth Brinkman.