Office of the President Records

Collection

Call Number: UA001

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Scope and Contents

This record group contains the administrative records--including correspondence, financial reocrds, newspaper clippings, photographs, publications, reports, speeches, and subject files--of the presidents of Tufts. Information about all aspects of the college and university are found in the records of the Office of the President. Often this material is in summary form. Records prior to 1976 were inconsistently kept and are even less complete for nineteenth-century presidents.

Most of the collections of the early presidents contain personal correspondence, teaching material, and writings.

Materials regarding John P. Marshall (acting president, 1861-1862) are located in his vertical file.

Content Warning

This finding aid contains language that may be offensive or outdated. Because such language is in titles or direct transcription of published materials, it has not been changed. Keeping this language intact provides the most accurate depiction of the creators’ intent, and can potentially tell us important things about bigotry and bias on the part of the creators, or in a particular historical context. It can also preserve terms formerly applied by a group to self-identify that have since fallen out of common usage. For more information on TARC's content warning policy please visit our website.

Dates

Creation: 1824 -- 2021
Creation: Majority of material found within 1925 -- 2014

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Access

This collection contains some restricted material. Restrictions related to specific material are listed in the detailed contents list. This collection may require review before it is available for use. Please contact TARC for further details.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Please see “Reproductions and Use” on the Tufts Archival Research Center website for more information about reproductions and permission to publish. Copyright to all materials created by Tufts University employees in the course of their work is held by the Trustees of Tufts University.

Biographical / Historical

The Office of the President is responsible for regulating and overseeing the general administration of the University. Along with various administrative duties, each year the president prepares an annual report which is delivered to the Board of Trustees. This state of the university report generally includes information about past and present college affairs and policies, as well as future plans and suggestions. The Office of the President was the first, and for a time only, administrative office. Originally, the president performed virtually all administrative duties. Presidents usually were members of the faculty as well. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as administrative functions became more complex, the duties of the president were spread among other administrators. With the professionalization of college and university administration in the mid-twentieth century, specialized administrative offices were created, and faculty no longer performed dual roles of educators and administrators.

Extent

262.42 Linear Feet (279 boxes and 18 oversize folders)

7 Artifact(s)

99 Digital Object(s)

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is organized in 19 series: Hosea Ballou 2d; Alonzo Ames Miner, records; Elmer Hewitt Capen, administrative records and related papers; Frederick William Hamilton, administrative records and related papers; William Leslie Hooper, administrative records and related papers; Hermon Carey Bumpus, administrative records and related papers; John Albert Cousens, administrative records and related papers; George Stewart Miller, administrative records and related papers; Leonard Carmichael, administrative records and related papers; Nils Yngve Wessell, administrative records and related papers; Leonard Chapin Mead, administrative records and related papers; Burton Crosby Hallowell, administrative records and related papers; Jean Mayer, administrative records and related papers; John DiBiaggio, administrative records and related papers; Historical presidential correspondence; Artifacts; Annual report of the president; Lawrence Seldon Bacow, administrative records and related papers; and Unprocessed accessions.

Custodial History

Processing Information

All material accessioned prior to 1997 was originally arranged by subject by Russell Miller. No attempt was made to recreate original order, although material relating to administering the collection was removed to the documentation files of the collection in the archives.

Related to series 013, Jean Mayer administrative records and related papers: The 8 boxes originally cataloged as MS 144, Jean Mayer papers were integrated into UA001.013 in March-April 2014 by Dan Bullman, under the supervision of Susanne Belovari (Archivist for Reference and Collections). These boxes are now labeled UA001.013.039-44; unprocessed material: UA001-102, UA001-103). The decision was taken because MS144 in fact contained a mix of Jean Mayer’s presidential files, research files and personal records as well as folders related to the newspaper column. MS144 was dissolved after these files were moved to UA001.013. However in doing so, we did not reorganize or relabel the material because the overall series needs more detailed processing and rearrangement in order to differentiate between Jean Mayer’s records as Tufts president and his research and other files. Rusty paperclips and staples were removed at accession. Records in boxes 41 and 42 are water damaged and have indications of non-active mold.

Box 30 (barcode 39090010625495) could not be found as of June 19, 2017.