Administrative Note

The Oberlin College Archives was founded in 1966. Dedicated in 1974 to the memory of Miss Margaret Morfoot (d. 1972), its vault is located on the fourth floor of the Mudd Center in room 420. The records of the Oberlin College Archives hold documentation accumulated by Oberlin College’s two archivists—William E. Bigglestone, 1966-1986, and Roland M. Baumann, 1987-present—and the Oberliniana acquired by college librarians over a century.

Scope and Content

Subgroup II, Series 15 “Publications and Special Project Files” contains collected historical materials pertaining to the Memorial Arch, gathered for a special display about the 1902 monument prepared by the archives staff in 1990. The contents of this file consist of photocopies gleaned from other archival sources. Included are articles from newspapers and campus publications, essays written on various topics concerning the arch, a chronology of events surrounding the arch’s placement on the Oberlin College campus, and a number of letters and opinion pieces. Of special interest are copies of letters from Judson Smith, corresponding secretary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, pertaining to the funding, appearance, and dedication of the arch. Collected contemporary viewpoints, including 1990 student comments placed on the bulletin board, about the arch point to the controversy surrounding the monument and how this landscape structure is understood historically by the Oberlin community.