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Arthur Twining Hadley, president of Yale University, records

 Collection
Call Number: RU 25

Scope and Contents

The Arthur Twining Hadley Papers contain the official correspondence produced by Hadley during his tenure as President of Yale University (1899-1921). The papers are a valuable source for documenting a period in which the University, under Hadley's leadership, was undergoing rapid change and expansion. However, to fully document Hadley's activities as president, other sources must be consulted in conjunction with these papers, e.g., the minutes of the Yale Corporation, the records of the University Treasurer, and especially the papers of University Secretary Anson Phelps Stokes. The papers are arranged in three series:

  1. I INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE
  2. II OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE
  3. III MISCELLANY

Series I, INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE, contains approximately 30,000 letters received by Hadley between 1899 and 1921. The bulk of this correspondence is of a routine, administrative nature. The letters generally fall into one of the following categories: correspondence with members of the Yale faculty and administration; requests for personal appearances, speeches, and articles; inquires from educational administrators asking how Yale deals with various problems; correspondence with alumni relating to fundraising and class reunions; requests from former students for recommendations; problems; letters from teachers seeking employment; correspondence from salesmen and people with schemes looking for a backer; crank mail.

For Hadley's responses to this correspondence see Series II, OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE. To locate Hadley's reply to a specific piece of correspondence, the reader should note the penciled date on the letter"s right hand corner and then refer to the appropriate letter book in Series II.

Among the more significant correspondents, whose letters contain discussion of substantive issues, are:

  1. Adams, George B. (Professor of History, Yale) re: History Department activities
  2. Adams, Charles Francis re: comments on English view of Americans prior to World War I
  3. Anderson, William Gilbert (Director of the Gymnasium, Yale) re: University Gymnasium
  4. Angell, James Rowland re: University of Chicago and Carnegie Corporation business
  5. Angier, Roswell Parker (Professor of Psychology, Yale) re: Department of Psychology business
  6. Bakewell, Charles M. (Professor of Philosophy, Yale) re: Department of Philosophy business
  7. Baldwin, Simeon Eben (Governor of Connecticut; Professor of Law, Yale) re: Law School and general university business
  8. Beach, Harlan P. (Professor of the Theory and Practice of Missions, Yale) re: Student Volunteer Movement
  9. Beers, Clifford W. re: Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene
  10. Bingham, Hiram (U.S. Senator, Connecticut; Professor of Latin American History, Yale) re: Yale Peruvian Expedition; general university business
  11. Blumer, George (Dean of the School of Medicine, Yale) re: National Committee for Mental Hygiene
  12. Boas, Franz re: Germanistic Society of America lectures at Yale; Foreign Service courses at Yale and Columbia
  13. Boltwood, Bertram B. (Professor of Physics and Chemistry, Yale) re: memoranda to Yale Corporation on the education of chemists at Yale
  14. Bozell, Harold V. (Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Yale) re: formation of Signal Corps R.O.T.C. program at Yale
  15. Brandegee, Frank B. (U.S. Senator, Connecticut) re: acknowledging receipt of Hadley's opinions on bills in the Senate
  16. Brown, Charles R. (Dean of the Divinity School, Yale) re: Divinity School business
  17. Bumstead, Henry Andrews (Professor of Physics, Yale) re: Sloane Physics Laboratory
  18. Butler, Nicholas Murray re: Hadley's appointment as Roosevelt Professor of History at the University of Berlin
  19. Camp, Walter (Coach and Athletic Advisor, Yale) re: proposed changes in football rules
  20. Chittenden, Russell Henry (Director of Sheffield Scientific School) re: Sheffield business
  21. Cross, Wilbur L. (Governor of Connecticut; Professor of English, Yale) re: general university and English Department business
  22. Curtis, Edward Lewis (Dean of the Divinity School, Yale) re: Divinity School business
  23. Dana, Edward Salisbury (Professor of Physics, Yale) re: Physics Department business
  24. Day, George Parmly (Treasurer of the University) re: general university business
  25. Eliot, Charles William (President, Harvard University) re: Harvard-Yale relations; inter-collegiate football rules
  26. Graves, Henry Solon (Director of the School of Forestry, Yale) re: organization and curriculum of the School of Forestry
  27. Haldane, J.S. re: Silliman lectures for 1915
  28. Jones, Frederick S. (Dean of Yale College) re: library business
  29. Jones, Frederick S. (Dean of Yale College) re: library business
  30. Keller, Albert G. (Professor of the Science of Society, Yale) re: Department of Anthropology and Sociology
  31. Keogh, Andrew (.Yale University Librarian) re: library business
  32. Lowell, Lawrence A. re: Yale-Harvard relations
  33. McClung, (Thomas) Lee (Yale University Treasurer) re: university finance
  34. MacLeish, Archibald (Yale Class of 1915) re: request for recommendation to serve with the American Ambulance Service in France; discussion of MacLeish"s strong feelings towards his years at Yale and what the University means to him
  35. Oertel, Hanns (Professor of Linguistics and Comparative Philology; Dean of the Graduate School, Yale) re: Graduate School affairs
  36. Parkin, George R. re: Rhodes Scholarship Trust
  37. Philips, Andrew W. (Professor of Mathematics; Dean of the Graduate School, Yale) re: Mathematics Department and Graduate School business
  38. Pinchot, Gifford (Governor of Pennsylvania; Professor of "ForestryCnon- residentD, Yale) re: founding of the Yale University School of Forestry
  39. Rogers, Henry Wade (Dean of the School of Law, Yale) re: Law School business
  40. Roosevelt, Franklin Delano re: Yale Naval R.O.T.C. programs
  41. Root, Elihu re: William Dodge lectures 1906-07
  42. Royce, Josiah re: reply to Hadley's comments on Royce"s William James and and Other Essays on the Philosophy of Life and thanks to Yale Corporation for honorary degree
  43. Schwab, John Christopher (Professor of Political Economy and University Librarian, Yale), re: library business
  44. Stokes, Anson Phelps (Secretary of Yale University) re: routine correspondence on almost all facets of university administration
  45. Swan, Thomas Walter (Dean of the School of Law, Yale) re: Law School business
  46. Taft, William Howard (27th President of the U.S.; Professor of Law, Yale) re: personnel recommendations, letters of introduction, routine invitations and acknowledgements
  47. Toumey, James William (Professor of Silverculture, Dean of the School of Forestry, Yale) re: Forestry School business
  48. Weir, John Ferguson (Dean of the School of Fine Arts, Yale) re: School of Fine Arts business
  49. Welles, Mary C. (Ph.D. Yale, 1904; General Secretary of the Consumers League of Connecticut) re: Consumers League Annual Reports, advocate of child labor laws, education for children working in factories, minimum wage laws, women"s rights, and pure food laws. Attempted to get Hadley's support for a woman"s college in Connecticut
  50. Wilson, Woodrow (28th President of the U.S.; President of Princeton) re: personnel recommendations, routine acknowledgements, request that Hadley join conference on reform of football rules
  51. Winslow, C.E.A. (Professor of Public Health, Yale) re: public health education at Yale, routine School of Medicine business
  52. Wood, Leonard (Major General, U.S.A.) re: military training at Yale
  53. Wright, Henry Parks (Dean of Yale College) re: Yale College administrative business

An index of selected correspondents in Series I (Appendix I) follows the box listing for Series III. The names included in this index were selected on the basis of the person's eminence or connection with Yale, and for the significance of the information contained in the correspondence. In addition, the names of all persons who wrote Hadley ten or more letters were included.

Series II, OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE, contains in letterbook form, carbon copies of Hadley's official outgoing correspondence from 1899 to 1921. Since Hadley responded to or acknowledged virtually every piece of incoming correspondence, the approximately 30,000 items in Series II includes much material of a routine nature. The letter books are arranged chronologically, with each volume preceded by an alphabetical name index.

Series III, MISCELLANY, contains the following material: subject files relating to R.O.T.C. and other military training programs; acceptances and regrets of invitations to Hadley's inauguration; newspaper clippings relating to Hadley's activities; copies of three addresses by Hadley; a notebook kept by one of Hadley's students in Economics 20 (1894-1895); Hadley's office appointment books (1900-1920); two photograph albums: one containing portraits of Hadley and members of his class at Hopkins Grammar School and the other containing photographs taken by Hadley and Henry Walcott Farnam, apparently in the western United States; a portrait of Mrs. James Hadley, Arthur Twining Hadley's mother.

Dates

  • 1899-1921

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Existence and Location of Copies

Correspondence from Rhoda Erdmann (1916-1918) is available on microfilm (55 frames on 1 reel, 35 mm.) from Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library,at cost. Order no. HM146.

Arrangement

The records are arranged as follows: I. Incoming Correspondence, 1899-1921. II. Outgoing Correspondence, 1899-1921. III. Miscellany, 1899-1921.

Extent

51.75 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ru.0025

Abstract

The records contain the official correspondence of Arthur Twining Hadley during his tenure as president of Yale University. The papers document the rapid change and expansion which occurred at Yale during Hadley's presidency. The incoming correspondence contains letters with members of the Yale faculty and administration; requests for personal appearances and speeches and articles; inquiries from educational administrators; and correspondence with alumni relating to fund-raising and class reunions. The outgoing correspondence, in letterbook form, consists of carbon copies of Hadley's official outgoing correspondence from 1899 to 1921. Also included are subject files relating to ROTC and other military training programs; acceptances and regrets to invitations to Hadley's inauguration; newspaper clippings relating to Hadley's activities; copies of three addresses by Hadley; a notebook kept by one of Hadley's students in Economics 20 (1894-1895); Hadley's office appointment books (1900-1920); and two photograph albums.

Biographical / Historical

Arthur Twining Hadley was born in New Haven, Connecticut on April 23, 1856. He graduated from Yale in 1876, and pursued graduate studies in political economy at the University of Berlin. In 1879 Hadley returned to Yale and worked as a tutor in Greek, logic, Roman law, and German until 1883. From 1883 until 1886 Hadley served as an instructor in political science under William Graham Sumner. In 1886 he accepted a newly created professorship in political science and, in 1891, went on to accept a professorship in political economy. In 1892 he was appointed as the first dean of the Graduate School at Yale, a position he held until 1895. In 1899 Hadley was elected president of Yale and became the first layman to hold that position. During his tenure, Yale grew into a great national university. Hadley died on March 6, 1930.

Arthur Twining Hadley Chronology

1856
Arthur Twining Hadley born at New Haven, Connecticut, son of Professor James Hadley, of Yale College, and Anne Twining Hadley
1868-1872
Attended Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven, Connecticut
1872
Entered Yale College
1876
Graduated Yale College, Valedictorian Class of "76
1876-1877
Studied history and political science at Yale College
1878-1879
Continued studies of history and political science under Adolph Wagner at the University of Berlin
1879-1883
Tutor in Greek, Latin, and German, Yale College
1883-1886
Instructor in Political Science, Yale College
1885
Published Railroad Transportation, Its History and Its Laws(earliest comprehensive study of subject to appear in the United States)
1880s
Called as an expert witness before the committee of the United States Senate that drafted the Interstate Commerce Laws
1885-1887
Commissioner of Labor Statistics, State of Connecticut
1886-1887
Lectured at Harvard on "Problems of Railroad Administration"
1886-1891
Professor of Political Science, Yale University
1887-1889
Associate Editor, Railroad Gazette
1891
Married Helen Harrison Morris
1891-1899
Professor of Political Economy, Yale University
1892-1895
Dean of the Graduate School, Yale University
1896
Published Economics - An Account of the Relations Between Private Property and Public Welfare
1898-1899
President of American Economic Association
1899
Inaugurated as first lay President of Yale University
1901
Published The Education of the American Citizen
1902
Delivered Lowell Institute Lectures on "The History of Academic Freedom"
1902-1903
William E. Dodge Lecturer, Yale University, on "Responsibilities of Citizenship"
1903
Pubished Freedom of Responsibility
1905
Appointed trustee of the Carnegie Foundation
1906
Delivered Kennedy lectures on "Standards of Public Morality"
1907-1908
Roosevelt Professor of American History, University of Berlin
1907
Published Standards of Public Morality
1909-1910
Acting Treasurer of Yale University
1910
Appointed Railroad Securities Commission Chairman
1913-1930
Member, Board of Directors of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad
1913
Published Some Influences in Modern Philosophic Thought
1914
Lecturer, Oxford University
1915
Published Undercurrents in American Politics
1919
Published The Moral Basis of Democracy
1920
Member of the Republican National Committee"s Committee on Policies and Platform
1921
Retired from presidency of Yale University
1922
Delivered Watson Foundation lectures on "Economic Problems of Democracy" in major cities of England
1923
Published Economic Problems of Democracy
1924
Addressed the World Power Conference on "The Relation of the State to Electrical Development"
1925
Published The Conflict Between Liberty and Equality
1926
Declined offer of the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from Connecticut
1930
Died of illness in Kobe, Japan, during the course of a world tour

General note

Forms part of Yale Record Group 4-A (YRG 4-A), Records of the Yale secretary"s office.

Title
Guide to the Arthur Twining Hadley, President of Yale University, Records
Status
Under Revision
Author
compiled by Manuscripts and Archives Staff
Date
May 1998
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours