PAPERS, 1906-1949, n.d.
The papers of James Caldwell McCullough document his greatest interests--photography and chemistry. His personal and professional correspondence and laboratory manuals make up the bulk of his collection. McCullough's letters document his professionalism through his dealings with other corporations and with the college itself. He never received a doctorate in his field, but he managed to convince the college that his years of service and experience surmounted his limited schooling. McCullough's correspondence with Harry N. Holmes and Frank Fanning Jewett detail this process. Thus, he became a full professor. However, aside from testimonies from former students, McCullough's laboratory manuals are our only guide to his effectiveness as an instructor.
Also of interest are McCullough's records of the Location, Plans and Construction of College Buildings Committee. These files exemplify the planning documentation used in the program phase of design conception during the 1930s and 40s. As a secretary of the committee, he collected architectural renderings of buildings to be build or renovated including several drawings by Cass Gilbert. Unfortunately, his records do not document why the committee failed to implement any of its proposals.
In addition, McCullough was a prolific amateur photographer. Half of his 450 plus slides illustrate the built environment of the Oberlin College campus. The other half illustrate his fascination with natural phenomena, such as forests, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. Of other interest is the photographic album in which McCullough reverently kept photographs of his academic classes through most of his teaching years. McCullough's collection is full of his personal and professional life at Oberlin.
However, this collection fails to adequately document McCullough's activities from his adolescence through his undergraduate years.
The collection is divided into the following series: 1. Biographical File; 2. Correspondence; 3. Writings; 4. Architectural Work; and 5. Photographs.
Series 1. Biographical File, 1911-1949 and n.d. (5 Folders, 0.10 l.f.)
The Biographical File is arranged alphabetically by subject. This series includes newspaper articles clipped from local sources, letters from Oberlin College, and professional membership documents. Several examples of McCullough's and his son's, Uel, fingerprints are in a restricted file here. In addition, as McCullough was the executor for the estate of Edward Dickinson (1853-1946), his friend and colleague in the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, McCullough's papers include Dickinson's will--and several earlier editions--and the correspondence relating to its fulfillment.
Series 2. Correspondence, 1907-48 (24 Folders, 0.50 l.f.)
This series is organized alphabetically by individual or company. McCullough's correspondents are generally companies selling chemical or photographic supplies, persons involved in chemistry or photography, and a few Oberlin College faculty members and former students. A majority of his correspondence is letters received, but some are carbon copies of letters sent. In addition, this series includes a few autographed letters by McCullough. Among his more significant correspondents, Harry N. Holmes and Frank F. Jewett were colleagues. Their letters debated the merits of allowing McCullough, who never earned his doctorate, to become a full professor. McCullough's correspondence with Oberlin College Presidents Henry C. King and Ernest H. Wilkins were mainly of an official nature.
Series 3. Writings, 1906, 1920-36, 1941-43, and n.d. (3 Folders, 0.15 l.f.)
The writings of James Caldwell McCullough consist of published and unpublished works arranged chronologically. They include all but his earliest published works in scientific journals, his thesis for his BS degree from Case, "A Study of the Synthetic Formation of Indigo," and his mimeographed laboratory manuals for Physical Chemistry, and a course in photography. McCullough's copies of William Chapin's texts and lab manuals have been removed to Chapin's collection.
Series 4. Architectural Work, 1928-31 and n.d. (3 Folders, 0.05 l.f. and oversize)
This series consists of records from the Location, Plans, and Construction of College Buildings Committee, which formed to consider the building and renovation of several buildings on campus. It includes a textural description of building use and funding for a Hall Auditorium; two architectural drawing photostats of the Eastman School of Music Auditorium in Rochester, New York; four floor plan photostats and planning documents for the proposed renovation projects for Wilder Hall. It also includes miscellaneous architectural drawings of the James Brand House, ca. 1928, Men's Building (Wilder Hall) 1930, Graduate School of Theology, Bosworth Quadrangle, and several proposed freshman dormitories. Of great interest are several large photostats of Cass Gilbert's plans for the Oberlin College Auditorium (Hall Auditorium), ca. 1931.
Series 5. Photographs, 1907, 1919-45, and n.d. (1 records carton, 1.25 l.f.)
This series contains mainly of glass slides, photographs, and negatives. It includes a photographic album containing photographs of McCullough's classes, c. 1919-45. It also contains approximately 250 glass slides and negatives. Some are color stereoscopic slides take in 1928-29 and some are early color slides. Many are 3.5" x 4" in size. In addition, the series contains approximately 100 2" x2" color slides and approximately 100 non-glass negatives taken about 1910. There also are several miscellaneous photographs of varying sizes and negatives, some of which correspond with the photographs. A majority of these slides, photographs, and negatives are of Oberlin buildings and the campus landscape.
See the papers of William H. Chapin (RG 30/286) for copies of Chapin's chemistry texts and lab manuals removed from McCullough's collection. Also, see Chapin's collection for examples of teaching chemistry in the early twentieth century.
The Oberlin College Archives received the papers of James Caldwell McCullough from Katharine McCullough Grant, his daughter, on 28 April 1971.
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