Dickinson College Administration

The records contained in the President Robert Emory record group pertain only to his time and affairs as president of Dickinson College. As such, any papers from Emory’s acting presidency during John Price Durbin’s sabbatical are not included here, neither are his personal papers, nor his papers as a faculty member. Please see the Robert Emory Personal Papers in the Manuscript Collections for further personal information. The Emory records are divided into three series: General Business, Personnel, and External Affairs.

The McClintock Riots sub-series revolves around the aftermath of the incident and includes letters to the school about the incident, with regards to funding, enrollment, and concerns for the school and its students.

Francis Gurney (1738-1815) was a veteran of the French and Indian Wars, the American Revolution, and the Whiskey Rebellion. A prominent Philadelphia merchant, Gurney held several political offices such as city Alderman and representative and senator to the state legislature. Gurney also served as a trustee of Dickinson College from 1798 until his death in 1815; the majority of the collection reflects his service to the College, particularly in soliciting funds in Philadelphia under the direction of Treasurer John Montgomery.

This collection primarily provides evidence of the personal and professional life of Charles Francis Himes, student, photographer, scientist, teacher, administrator, amateur historian and father. Also found in this collection is evidence of the lives of family members including, most notably, C. F. Himes' wife Mary and her father Joseph A. Murray. Information on Dickinson College is featured prominently throughout this collection through the close association of C. F. Himes with the institution during most of his life. Beyond family and institutional history, this collection offers information on a number of social, political, economic, and historic topics. Some of these broader topics include post-secondary education in the latter half of the nineteenth century, south central Pennsylvania society, the history of photography, and nineteenth century travel.

The records contained in the President Herman Merrills Johnson record group pertain only to his time and affairs as president of Dickinson College. As such, no personal papers or papers pertaining to Johnson’s tenure as a faculty member are included in this record group. For records concerning Johnson’s interactions with students, please refer to RG 5/1. The Johnson records are arranged into two series: General Business, and Personnel.

Please see the Herman Merrills Johnson Personal Papers (MC 2003.9) and the Herman Merrills Johnson Scrapbook (MC 2000.9) in the Manuscript Collections for further personal information.

These records contain materials related to the termination of Dr. Laurent R. LaVallee, assistant professor of economics.  In 1956, the Dickinson Board of Trustees voted unanimously to dismiss LaVallee as a result of his failure to answer questions about his alleged participation in Communist activities. 

Steven G. Leventhal graduated from Dickinson College in 1984. This collection documents his efforts to gain an honorary degree from Dickinson for Soviet refusenik Dr. Yuri Medvedkov, an effort in which he was not successful. It also contains information regarding Leventhal’s role in establishing the Dickinson Senior Class Award, which was granted to Medvedkov in 1984.

George Armstrong Lyon was a Carlisle lawyer, bank president, Presbyterian elder, and a trustee of Dickinson College. Church affairs are the central concern of these papers, which include accounts of Lyon's hostile view of the Rev. George Duffield's theology and of Lyon's part in the founding of the Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle in 1832. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, notes, and other documents pertaining to the governmental and financial affairs of Carlisle's First and Second Presbyterian Churches. The collection also contains some items related to Lyon's position as a Dickinson College trustee, specifically in regard to his role in a conflict between College President Samuel Blanchard How, Rev. George Duffield, and Professor Alexander McFarlane.

This collection primarily provides evidence of the personal and public life of Frank E. Masland Jr., environmentalist, preservationist, explorer, entrepreneur, author, and community leader.  Also found in this collection is correspondence from prominent twentieth-century figures such as leaders of the National Park Service, journalists, politicians throughout the world, and American presidents. Information on Dickinson College is featured prominently throughout this collection through the close association of Masland with the institution during most of his life. This collection offers information on a number of social, political, economic, and historic topics through the eyes of a man who witnessed nearly the entire twentieth century.  Some of these broader topics include the industrialization of the United States, south central Pennsylvania community, the rise of environmentalism, reactions to communism, the rise of the New Left, and twentieth-century exploration. The processing of this collection was made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

The records contained in the President James Andrew McCauley record group pertain only to his time and affairs as president of Dickinson College. As such, no personal papers or papers pertaining to McCauley’s time as a student are included in this record group. For records concerning McCauley’s interactions with students, please refer to RG 5/1. The McCauley records are arranged into two series: General Business, and Personnel.

The collection consists of the papers of Charles Nisbet, first president of Dickinson College, and his family, particularly his son-in-law, William Turnbull. The majority of these papers is correspondence conducted between Nisbet and his daughter, and also between Nisbet and Lady Leven of Scotland. The business ventures of William Turnbull are reflected through legal, financial, and other miscellaneous documents; the collection's single artifact is Turnbull's leather wallet.

The records contained in the President Eugene Allen Noble record group pertain only to his time and affairs as president of Dickinson College. As such, no personal papers are included in this record group. For records concerning Noble’s interactions with students, please refer to RG 5/1. The Noble records are arranged in one series: General Business.

The General Business series is comprised of records concerning miscellaneous affairs of college business. The records within this series are arranged chronologically, with undated material housed first. All records concerning college financial affairs and interactions with the church are housed within the Board of Trustees record group.

Record group 5/2 consists of both materials dating from 1962-1989 while the Office of the Chaplain existed under the leadership of a full-time chaplain, as well as materials regarding campus religious affairs functions prior to the establishment of the chaplaincy, as early as 1924. The bulk of the material, however, dates from the appointment of Paul Kaylor in 1967 to the resignation of Mary Anne Morefield in 1989. The record group is organized in eleven series:

Series 01 General Administrative Materials

Series 02 Finances

Series 03 General Correspondence

Series 04 Chapel Programming for Weekday Services and Special Events (before fall 1965)

Series 05 College Church Programming for Sunday, Holiday, and Other Special Services

Series 06 Events

Series 07 Social Action

Series 08 Other Religious Traditions/Organizations

Series 09 Other Campus Organizations

Series 10 Other Chaplain’s Activities

Series 11 Chaplains’ Personal Papers

A fuller description of each series is given before each series inventory.

The records contained in the President Jesse Truesdell Peck record group pertain only to his time and affairs as president of Dickinson College. As such, no personal papers or papers pertaining to Peck’s tenure as a faculty member are included in this record group. For records concerning Peck’s interactions with students, please refer to RG 5/1. The Peck records are housed in one document box with RG 2/2 through RG 2/10 and are arranged into three series: General Business, Personnel, and External Affairs.

The Presidents 1783-1833 Record Group contains papers related the presidency of the seven men who served at Dickinson from 1783 to 1833. This Record Group corresponds with that of RG 1/1, the Trustees 1783-1833, which also documents the first fifty years of the college. The materials in this record group pertain to the president’s duties in the administration of his office; any papers relating to his employment such as letters of acceptance or resignation and vouchers for salary are housed in RG 1/1. In addition, personal papers of the presidents have been removed to individual collections where applicable. The majority of the papers in this record group are correspondence with individual trustees regarding college business; also included are reports and resolutions from the faculty, as well as drafts of publications dealing with the curriculum. 

Below is a timeline of the presidents of Dickinson College from 1783 to 1833.

1785 – Charles Nisbet
1785-1786 – Robert Davidson (acting)
1786-1804 – Charles Nisbet
1804-1809 – Robert Davidson
1809-1815 – Jeremiah Atwater
1815-1816 – John McKnight
1816-1821 – College closed
1821-1824 – John Mitchell Mason
1824 – Alexander McClelland (acting)
1824-1829 – William Neill
1829-1832 – Samuel Blanchard How
1832-1833 – College closed

The records contained in the President George Edward Reed record group pertain only to his time and affairs as president of Dickinson College. As such, no personal papers are included in this record group. For records concerning Reed’s interactions with students, please refer to RG 5/1. The Reed records are arranged into two series: General Business, and Personnel.

Robert Fleming Rich attended Dickinson College from 1903-1906 before withdrawing to take up a position in the family business, the Woolrich Woolen Mills. He later became active in Republican politics, serving in the United States House of Representatives from 1930-43 and 1945-51. This collection contains papers related to Rich's role as a member of Dickinson's Board of Trustees and as an active alumnus.

In the nineteenth century, the activities pertaining to admissions and student affairs were performed by the President of the College, with some assistance from the other faculty members. Inquiries concerning admissions were generally made directly to the President of the College. Members of the faculty (including the President) supervised students both inside and outside the classroom. Besides taking attendance, delivering lectures, and grading students, faculty members also monitored students’ behavior and managed the financial accounts of underage students. Communications with parents and other day to day affairs were handled directly by faculty members. This state of affairs lasted until the early twentieth century, when the College began establishing separate offices to handle the necessary paperwork for running an institution of higher learning with an ever increasing enrollment. For ease of access, the following Student Affairs/Registrar papers, representing the period prior to the modern college office system, have been assembled into one record group.

The Student Affairs/Registrar 1783-1914 Record Group is organized into seven series:

Series 1 - General Student Affairs
Series 2 - Matriculation/Registrar
Series 3 - Attendance and Deportment
Series 4 - Grades
Series 5 - Student-Patron Accounts
Series 6 - Individual Students
Series 7 - Admissions

These records document the activity and structure of Dickinson's student government.

Karl Tinsley Waugh ws born in 1879 in Cawnpore, India. His family moved back to the U.S. when he was a teenager, and he later received degrees from Ohio Wesleyan University and Harvard. He served in teaching and administrative positions at numerous colleges and universities, and he served as president of Dickinson College for just one year - from 1932 to 1933. This collection includes papers of Karl and his wife Emily, as well as their children Charles and Eleanor. There is also some material reflecting the time that Karl's parents served as missionaries in India, including numerous photos. Much of the collection includes family correspondence, financial records, school notes and essays, and photographs.

This collection is mostly comprised of correspondence received by Philadelphia printer William Young from Charles Nisbet, President of Dickinson College. Young was a scotsman who settled in Philadelphia and set up a bookshop, a printing press, and later, a paper mill. As the president of a fledgling college, fellow scotsman Nisbet wrote frequently to Young upon a wide variety of topics, ranging from Nisbet's transactions with Young as a printer and book dealer, to local events and world news. The collection also contains other letters to Young from various clients, as well as one letter from Young to his wife.