The papers of Wolfgang Stechow document several facets of his greatest academic interest—art. His non-textural teaching materials, correspondence, and academic papers all serve to enlighten the scholar of Stechow’s teaching methods, professional esteem by colleagues, and scholastic topics.

These teaching materials, which make up the bulk of Stechow’s collection, include photographs, prints, and postcards of such works as Michaelangiolo Buonarroti’s “David,” Jacopo Bassano’s “Christ at the House of Mary and Martha,” Francesco Guardi’s “Le Pont de Rialto,” and Guardi Reni’s “The Virgin in Glory” used by Stechow in describing individual works of art and their related styles of composition to students in his art history courses.

Stechow’s professional correspondence forms the second largest organizational group in the collection. This correspondence consists of letters, greeting cards and postcards. The majority of these letters come from colleagues with questions pertaining to particular works of art, and are written in both German and English. However, there are few copies of replies from Stechow in the collection. Also of interest, the this series includes Stechow’s correspondence with Dean Wittke (January 1939 through November 1939) pertaining to Stechow’s possible appointment to the art faculty at Oberlin College

This collection also includes two of Stechow’s Senior Assembly Addresses in which he discusses the relationship of scientific or analytic and humanistic or empathic subjects. Several published and unpublished works by Stechow, including two comments on published works, a lengthy art catalog entry, an editorial on the teaching of art history, a paper discussing Giuseppe Cesari’s “Christus in Gethsemane” from the Allen Art Museum, and a biography of Johann Sebastian Bach the Younger, reprinted from De Artibus Opuscula Xl are included in his writings. Also included are Stechow’s annual reports, which document his yearly activities and plans for the upcoming year.

This collection does not fully document his wider activities in the community or the college, or his work before and after his tenure at Oberlin. Also, the documentation concerning Stechow’s personal life is limited to his faculty file held by the Oberlin College Archives.

The collection is divided into the following series: 1. Correspondence, 2. Speeches, 3. Teaching Materials, and 4. Writings.

Series 1. Correspondence, 1927-70 and n.d. (4 Folders and oversize, 0.20 l.f.)

The Correspondence series consists of letters (mostly incoming), greeting cards, and postcards from relatives and colleagues, many of which are written in German. Many of the letters come from colleagues asking Stechow’s opinions regarding a particular piece of art, a photograph of which they sent with the letter. These letters also include Stechow’s correspondence with Dean Wittke of Oberlin College (January 1939 through November 1939) regarding Stechow’s possible, and later eventual, appointment to the Oberlin College faculty.

Series 2. Speeches, 1960, 1962 (1 folder, 0.01 l.f.)

This small series includes one folder containing two of Stechow’s Senior Assembly Addresses. “Communication and Communion” was delivered on 21 April 1960 in Finney Chapel and “Humanities and Science: Cold War or Alliance?” was delivered on 17 May 1962.

Series 3. Teaching Materials, 1903-04, 1928-36 (43 folders and oversize, 3.8 l.f.)

These teaching materials include photographs, postcards, and prints used by Stechow in describing individual works of art and their related styles of composition to students in his art history courses. Some of the material was grouped by Stechow in artist, subject, or time period classifications (all in alphabetical order), but the larger portion of the collection was grouped by the type of article. These materials include, among many others, images of works by Michaelangiolo Buonarroti, Jacopo Bassano, Francesco Guardi, Guardi Reni, various French artists, and several Italian artists in several time periods. Of special interest in this series is a folder of photographs and descriptive passages where Stechow attached attributive and stylistic information to particular photographs. Included among the files are two uncompleted art history tests with handwritten notes on the reverse and programs for Oberlin Musical Union and Vespers performances.

Series 4. Writings, 1924-77 and n.d. (6 folders, 0.30 l.f.)

The Writings series contains Stechow’s scholarly articles and publications, other writings Stechow collected, and his yearly reports to the president of Oberlin College. His scholarly articles include “Justice Holmes’ Notes on Albert Durer,” in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, December 1949; an unpublished review of Thomas Munro’s The Arts and their Interrelations, 1949; an unpublished catalog entry for A Grand Seaport by Tomas Major; “Art History in America,” in The Burlington Magazine, January 1962; an unpublished article entitled “Giuseppe Cesari’s ‘Christus in Gethsemane’ in Allen Memorial Art Museum in Oberlin,” in German; and “Johann Sebastian Bach the Younger” in Essays in Honor of Erwin Panofsky, 1961. Also included in this series are Stechow’s annual reports, which document his yearly activities and plans for the upcoming year.