A Note on the Type
Throughout the website, I have shortened the citations and abbreviated several collections to cut down on text. The full citation note and annotation are below. For ease of the visitor, I’ve sorted the numerous sources by subject matter.
Abbreviations
COWSP – The College of Wooster Libraries Special Collections
B&G – Buildings and Grounds Collection
PC – Presidents Collection
TC – Trustees Collection
Primary Source Research Collections
Buildings and Grounds Collection. The College of Wooster Libraries Special Collections, Wooster, OH.
This collection houses materials relevant to past and present buildings owned and on the grounds of the College of Wooster. Included within the collection are photographs, blueprints, correspondence, newspaper articles, building committee meeting minutes, addresses and speeches made at dedication ceremonies, and artwork of the College’s buildings and grounds.
Presidents Collection. The College of Wooster Libraries Special Collections, Wooster, OH.
This collection houses material relevant to presidents of the University and The College of Wooster. Items housed within this collection include presidential speeches, letters to the campus community, president’s publications, biographies and autobiographies of the presidents, business and personal correspondence, and photographs. Of particular note, is Louis E. Holden’s “Autobiography,” which warrants its own citation below.
Trustees Collection. The College of Wooster Libraries Special Collections, Wooster, OH.
Materials relevant to the College of Wooster Board of Trustees are housed within this collection. Correspondence between the trustees and the College, trustee biographies and autobiographies, addresses and speeches made by the trustees, and photographs are housed in this collection. Also housed within this collection are the Minutes of the Board of Trustees as well as the Minutes of the Executive Committee.
The College of Wooster History
Cook, Niccole C. “The Resurrection and the Life: The Impact of Louis Severance on The University of Wooster, 1901-1913,” Independent Study thesis, The College of Wooster, 2000.
This thesis is a result of Cook’s Independent Study project at the College of Wooster. In it, Cook argues that Severance was Wooster’s greatest benefactor, different from many boosters in that he took an active and participatory role in shaping the University of Wooster. Severance wanted the University to be modeled after ideals of Christian brotherhood. Her research supplements Levy’ s research into the religious architecture of the College. The thesis is an outstanding contribution to the scholarship of the history of Wooster.
Holden, Louis E. “Autobiography.” March 10, 1932, Louis E. Holden Papers, Presidents Collection, The College of Wooster Libraries Special Collections, Wooster, OH.
Holden’s reminiscence covers his early life, upbringing, and entire career in academia. Of particular interest are the portions in which he recalls his special relationships with many of the great robber barons that financed much of the construction Holden oversaw at Wooster. Directed towards his children so that they may know of his accomplishments, Holden spares no detail when it comes to his successes as well as failures, particularly regarding the banning of fraternities at Wooster and his resignation from the University. Overall, Holden’s autobiography is an engaging primary source; it is a window into the president’s life at The University of Wooster during the turn of the century.
Lewis, Arn. “Letter to President R. Stanton Hales,” August 7, 2002.
Arn Lewis, a long time professor of architecture and art history at the College, wrote this letter in opposition to the proposal to paint McGaw Chapel a different color other than white. In his letter, Lewis, who served on the building committee of the Chapel, attempts to explain the circumstances behind the construction of McGaw Chapel, and Victor Christ-Janer’s vision of what the building was to represent. Lewis argues that the building is symbolic of the 1960s, and that it is representative of the College’s concern for others and strive for understanding of what was happening in the world around it. Lewis’ letter is an emotional and intellectual plea for freedom of thought and understanding from a person very much attached to the Chapel.
Levy, Rowell A. “McGaw Chapel: A Wooster Revolution,” Independent Study thesis, The College of Wooster. 1998.
Levy, a College of Wooster student, wrote this thesis as part of his Independent Study at the College. Levy argues that McGaw Chapel is a product of the College’s radicalism during the 1960s, a part of Wooster’s history that has been collectively forgotten. Levy suggests this is primary factor behind the campus communities’ negativity towards McGaw Chapel. Levy’s thesis is in line with the author’s own research and oral histories done for this project.
McClarran, Harry S. A Glimpse from the Front Porch and a Bridge to the Past: A Photographic History of Wooster Ohio 1808-2008. Wooster, OH: Wooster Book Co, 2007.
Compiled by the city of Wooster’s self-appointed historian, Harry McClarran, this book is an excellent source of historic photographs of the Wooster area, including The College of Wooster. While a large photographic collection, it contains little analysis of the individual photos. Included are several photographs of the campus that detail the various changes that have occurred to campus in the years of its existence.
McKee, John DeWitt. After Fifty Years: Reminiscences, 1920-1970, of the College of Wooster. Wooster, OH: McKee, 1975.
McKee, a 1917 graduate of the College, who served in various positions in alumni relations for fifty years, wrote this work detailing his experiences at the College of Wooster. McKee’s reminiscence is a rambling and meandering account of the College during several administrations. Its primary use is that of an overview of the college during his tenure.
Notestein, Lucy Lilian. Wooster of the Middle West: Volume I 1866-1910. Vol. 1. 2 vols. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1971.
Written by a graduate of the College and daughter of one of Wooster’s early professors, this book is a simple narrative, an almost year by year account of the University and later the College’s history. The book covers not only the major events of the day, but the trivial and mundane as well. It is a basic, albeit brief, resource for all College related incidents in the time period it covers.
———. Wooster of the Middle West: Volume II 1911-1944. Vol. 2. 2 vols. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1971.
Written by a graduate of the College and daughter of one of Wooster’s early professors, this book is a simple narrative, an almost year by year account of the University and later the College’s history. The book covers not only the major events of the day, but the trivial and mundane as well. It is a basic, albeit brief, resource for all College related incidents in the time period it covers.
Architecture, Campus Planning, and Historic Preservation
Barthel, Diane L. Historic Preservation: Collective Memory and Historical Identity. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996.
Written by a Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York, this work compares the historic preservation movements in the United States and Europe, specifically Great Britain. She argues that historic preservation was born out of the industrial revolution, as a democratization of history or, a way to “get in touch with history.” Barthel sees historic preservation as a type of consumerist history. This work pares well with Roy Rosenzweig’s work, The Presence of the Past, and is a valuable source when discussing historic preservation, memory, and the democratization of history.
Dober, Richard P. Campus Planning. New York: Reinhold Publishing, 1964.
A senior consultant at Dober, Lidsky, Craig and Associates, Inc, Richard Dober’s work is a thorough study of the different components that constitute the typical buildings comprised within American colleges and universities. The second half of the book then outlines Dober’s suggestions for effective college planning, expansion, and urban renewal. Dober’s book is primarily helpful as a reference manual of the different styles and plans associated with American colleges.
Gaines, Thomas A. The Campus as a Work of Art. New York: Praeger, 1991.
A retired head of a design and construction company who has contributed articles to Historic Preservation Magazine and the Washington Post, Gaines argues that the American Campus is seriously lacking in aesthetic qualities. He attributes this to the haste in which most universities and colleges were planned, preparing for quick expansion and ignoring artistic elements. Gaines labels American society as having poor aesthetic taste, blaming it for bad campus art, architecture, and planning. Overall, Gaines laments that little attention has been focused on the artistic form of the American college campus.
Larson, Jens Fredrick. Architectural Planning of the American College. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1933.
Commissioned by the Association of American Colleges as a guide for administrators of small liberal arts colleges, the book categorizes and illustrates developments in architecture at liberal arts colleges. The authors argue that there is a significant relationship between architecture and the educational programs of a college, which must be taken into consideration when constructing college buildings. This work is an early account that corroborates much of the work done by Turner’s Campus: An American Planning Tradition.
Meinig, D. W. “Symbolic Landscapes.” In The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays, edited by D. W. Meinig. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
Meinig, an emeritus professor of geography at Syracuse University and pioneer in landscape studies, argues in this chapter that all mature nations have symbolic architecture. This symbolic architecture has two functions: to either to designate a space or an ideal, or to evoke a specific connotation of what a certain type of space means. When ascribed to campus planning, Meinig’s work pares with Turner’s Campus and Dober’s Campus Planning.
Rosenzweig, Roy, and David P Thelen. The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Rosenzweig, late history professor at George Mason, and Thelen, professor of History at Indiana, published their findings based on research from a groundbreaking survey they conducted. This survey of the American public asked Americans on how they use history in their everyday lives. Their findings confirmed that many Americans are indeed interested in history, specifically, how history is related to them personally. This book makes the case for active public history a discipline now known as civic engagement.
Turner, Paul Venable. Campus: An American Planning Tradition. New York: Architectural History Foundation, 1995.
Written by a professor of architectural history at Stanford, Campus is a history of American college planning from the University of Virginia’s “Academical Village” to the 1970s and its modernist architecture. Turner argues that while the subject of campus planning has largely been, college planning is an American tradition that was influenced early on by British and German systems. Although influenced by old world styles and systems, American college planning is a distinct and independent innovation born out of the American concepts of democracy, nature, and wilderness. Turner’s book is as an impressive work of discriminating scholarship.
Websites of Interest – Wooster
The College of Wooster, Wikipedia Page
The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project
Websites of Interest – Online College Histories
Centennial Memories – Bowling Green State University
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