Edward M. Lewis Papers, 1910-1936
General International Standard for Archival Description
Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Finding aid encoded in Note Tab Pro. Encoded by Eric S. Cartier. 2004-05-10
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Edward M. Lewis Papers
Creation of Edward M. Lewis Papers
Time of Creation of Edward M. Lewis Papers
Lewis, Edward M., 1872-1936
Biographical History for: Edward M. Lewis Papers
Biographical Note 1872Born Dec. 25, 1872 at Machulleth, Wales, the son of John C. and Jane (Davies) Lewis.1881Family migrates to Utica, N.Y.1891-1893Student at Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio.1893-1896Student at Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.1896B.A., Williams College. Marriage to Margaret H. Williams, daughter of Richard P. Williams, at Utica, N.Y., on July 1, 1896.1896-1901Postgraduate courses at Harvard University, Emerson College and Curry School; pitcher for Boston Nationals (now Atlanta Braves) 1896-1900, and Boston Americans (now the Red Sox), 1901; coach, Harvard College Baseball team.1899A.M., Williams College.1901-1903Instructor in elocution, Columbia University.1903-1911Instructor and Assistant Professor of public speaking and oratory, Williams College; teacher of public speaking at Yale Divinity School from time to time.1910Unsuccessful Democratic candidate for U. S. House of Representatives, First Massachusetts District.1911Assistant Professor of English and Assistant Dean, Massachusetts Agricultural College.1912Associate Dean and Professor of Literature.1913-1914Acting President in Butterfield's absence from June to following May.1913Chairman, State Democratic Convention.1913-1927Head, Dept. of Languages and Literature.1914Unsuccessful Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, Second Massachusetts District.1914-1926Dean of the College, succeeding George F. Mills.1918-1919Acting President in Butterfield's absence from November to following June.1919-1927Acting Head and Head of Division of Humanities.1921-1922Acting President in Butterfield's absence from August to following February.1922-1923On leave of absence from October through following March.1924Named Acting President in June, following Butterfield's resignation.1926Named President in June. William L. Machmer becomes Dean.1927Resigns Presidency in May to become President of University of New Hampshire, 1927-1936; honorary LL.D's, Amherst College and MAC.1929Honorary LL.D., Marietta College; Litt. D., Rhode Island State College.1931Honorary LL.D., Northeastern University.1932Honorary LL.D., Williams College.1936Died on May 23, 1936 at Durham, N.H.; survived by widow, two sons and a daughter.
The Edward M. Lewis Papers originated primarily from two sources: the standing files in the Archives before 1972, (which provided the bulk of the materials now in the Subject Files of Series 1 and in the Dean's Papers of Series 2) and the two lots of Secretary's Papers covering presidencies from 1908 through 1954 (discussed more fully in the Scope and Contents of the inventory for the Butterfield Papers). The latter source provided nearly all the materials in the Presidential Administrative Papers of Series 3.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Edward M. Lewis Papers, 1910-1936, relate primarily to his roles as an academic administrator at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, where he was Dean for thirteen years, several times Acting President during and after Kenyon L. Butterfield's presidency, and, for one year, President. Among the papers are memoranda and correspondence with other officials of the College, especially with President Butterfield; correspondence with State officials and legislators, with students and alumni, with high school headmasters, and with private individuals; reports from faculty members, and papers relating to some College committees and Student Life committees, both central to the responsibilities of the Dean, along with some student records created in the office of the Dean. Before becoming President, during his seventeen years at the College, Lewis served as a professor, department and division head, assistant dean, and dean. As Dean, he held the second most responsible office on campus, and had general charge of the College's instructional program and matters incidental to it. Lewis was three times Acting President when President Butterfield was on extended leaves of absence, and in 1920 he served as the Board of Trustees' agent with the administrative and legislative authorities of the State when it relieved Butterfield of that role. And finally, Lewis served from 1924 to 1926 as Acting President following Butterfield's resignation, and was President in his own right during 1926-27. He resigned for many of the same reasons that had led to Butterfield's departure -- the issue of State House control -- and moved to the presidency of the University of New Hampshire. The collection includes nothing relating to Lewis' family, his long career as a teacher, or his shorter one as a baseball player before coming to MAC. Otherwise, the papers appear to be representative of those created in the execution of his commissions at the College, and articulate his concerns as one of its officials.
The collection is open for research.
Related Material For related materials in the Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, see: Chronological Budget File, RG 4/2 includes papers related to the formulation of annual budgets forwarded to State authorities for enactment by the General Court, and the apportionments of the resulting funds. The following Record Groups include minutes and other papers of individual college units during Lewis' presidency: Advisory Council of Women (1925-1927), RG 30/24Associate Alumni (1921-1938), RG 50/2Cabinet: Celebration Committee (1912-1917), Semi-Centennial Committee (1919-1921), RG 40/2/C2Course of Study Committee (1909-1921), RG 40/2/A2Employment Committee (1910-1920), RG 40/2/E4Faculty Committee on Graduate School (1910-1913), RG 40/2/G7"Graduate School of Agriculture," summer session of 1916, RG 6/17Scholarship Committee (1911-1922), RG 40/2/A3Student Life Committee (1911-1924), RG 40/2/S7L5 Further information about the College during Lewis' tenure is available in the narrative portions of the published annual reports of the President and officers of the College in RG 1/00/2, and in the papers of other College officials of his day, especially those of Kenyon L. Butterfield, his mentor and predecessor in the office of President, and of William L. Machmer, his Assistant Dean and successor as Dean of the College and of the University. For materials related to Edward M. Lewis at other repositories, see: University of New Hampshire Archives, Series Number UA2/1/5. Lewis Presidential Papers, 1927-1936.
Processed by W. B. Cook, Jr., 1982.
Fraternities--Massachusetts.
lcnaf
Butterfield, Kenyon L. (Kenyon Leech), 1868-1935.
Massachusetts Agricultural College. Faculty.
lcsh
Massachusetts Agricultural College. President.
Massachusetts Agricultural College. Dean of the College.
Massachusetts Agricultural College. Dept. of Language and Literature.
Massachusetts Agricultural College--Students.
University of Massachusetts Amherst. Faculty.
aat
series
Series 1. Subject files
Creation of Series 1. Subject files
Time of Creation of Series 1. Subject files
The Subject Files document the period during which Lewis was a member of the faculty of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Head of Department of Language and Literature and of Division of Humanities, and Assistant Dean and Dean (except while he was Acting President during Butterfield's absences). The series consist of some personal correspondence, typescripts of a number of Lewis' addresses on campus and around the state, newspaper clippings and two folders of biographical items.
Series 2. Dean's Records
Creation of Series 2. Dean's Records
Time of Creation of Series 2. Dean's Records
This series is dominated by Lewis' papers as Dean of the College, in which position he functioned as manager of its instructional program and chief monitor of all student academic and nonacademic activities. The Dean's Papers include administrative memoranda, a chronological file of communications to Lewis together with carbon copies of many of his replies. Most of the exchanges were with Butterfield, but on occasion other members of the College staff were involved, especially those instructors who advised students. Some of Lewis' papers relating to matters before the Course of Study Committee are here. The Student Life files include memoranda and correspondence concerning the academic and extra-curricular activities of students, including papers on eligibility; fraternities, notably with regard to allowing Jewish fraternities; and a few papers related to the Student Life Committee. Two groups of student records created in the Dean's office have survived. One, a set of "Student Problem Cards," begins with entries from 1910, a year before Lewis arrived. They record a variety of matters dealing with individual students, such as excused absences from classes (at that time the Dean, not the course instructors, adjusted grades for unexcused absences). The second set of records comprises individual students' "Work and Character Records," 1915-1920, broad assessments of the "Quality" of individuals made by instructors on completion of their classroom contacts with each student. Other papers in the series of Dean's Papers include materials on class monitors, correspondence of the Dean with individuals who were not part of the College community, material on the course of study, including entrance requirements, specific courses, general requirements, and papers on the system of final examination, on the Graduate School, various departments and divisions, and scholarships and prizes.
Complementary material is found in Record Group 6/1, the files of Dean William L. Machmer, Lewis' assistant and successor. As Dean, Lewis served on several of the important committees of the College, the minutes and papers for which are in Record Group 40/A2, such as the Committees on Course of Study and on Employment (sometimes called Student Labor). He served as well on the College's senior management committee (called the Cabinet) the papers of which are located in Record Group 3/12.
Series 3. Presidential Administrative Records
Creation of Series 3. Presidential Administrative Records
Time of Creation of Series 3. Presidential Administrative Records
This series contains Lewis' correspondence with President Butterfield during his service as Acting President in the latter's absences, and papers generated during Lewis' administration from 1924 to 1927. The administrative problems on campus and the political problems associated with the State House in Boston faced by Butterfield and Lewis were similar. The administrative files of both were managed by the same man, Secretary of the College Ralph J. Watts, until his resignation in 1926, and nearly all the materials in this series were drawn from the Secretary's papers. The Secretary's office held the administrative papers of several presidents, from Butterfield (1908-1924) into the term of Baker (1933-1947) as essentially one large file, organized around the issues the College dealt with. The similarities between the files of Presidents Butterfield and Lewis are reinforced by the nature of the fourteen-year association of the two men. Lewis' training was that of a classicist and rhetorician rather than an agriculturist and social scientist; he did not continue Butterfield's frequent surveys and analyses of the organization of the institution. The arrangement of the papers in this series indicates nonetheless their similarities to Butterfield's MAC Administrative Papers. Lewis served as Acting President from June 1913 to May 1914 and from November 1918 to June 1919. He was the agent of the Board of Trustees for dealing with the State's administrative and legislative authorities in 1920, and he served again as Acting President in Butterfield's absence from August 1921 to February 1922. Correspondence between Butterfield and Lewis during each of these commissions, except the last, survive, and are filed at the head of the series under headings beginning with "Acting...". The main administrative papers of the College for each of these interludes are to be found among Butterfield's MAC Administrative Papers. The remainder of the papers in this series document Lewis' administration following Butterfield's resignation in 1924. He served as Acting President during 1924 to 1926 and as President from 1926 until he resigned in 1927. Included in this series are papers on administrative planning, admissions and attendance, alumni affairs, associations (educational or agricultural), buildings and grounds, conferences (on campus), correspondence, course of study, the departments and divisions of the College, the Experiment Station, the Extension Set-vice, faculty committees, farmers' organizations, the Massachusetts State Department of Education, its Division of Administration and Finance, proposed state legislation (other than budgetary), personnel, public relations, the purpose of the College, Lewis' resignation, the Schedule Committee, scholarships, prizes and trust funds, Student activities and life, student matters, the appointment of President Thatcher, reports to the U.S. Bureau of Education, and materials on U.S. Government funds and on the Women's Program. Some of the highlights of this series are materials on "State House Control," regarding problems created by the relationship between the College and State authorities following the reorganization of the state government in 1919 which resulted from the subordination of the College to the State Dept. of Education. These problems led to Butterfield's resignation, and then to Lewis', and they were to plaque the institution into the 1960's. Papers bearing on this issue are found throughout the files, but especially in folders 4 & 5, Administrative Planning, and in folders with "Massachusetts (State)" headings, where the treatment of College officials by the Division of Administration and Finance in regard to printing Experiment Station and Extension Service publications is set out, and where the 1925 survey of how other states controlled expenditures of their funds appropriated to colleges and universities is found. Other outstanding matters include the resolution of the long standing problem of admitting to the College students from agricultural vocational high schools, folders 6 and 7, and the transgressions and subsequent transfer of Captain Daniel Keane, folder 35.
Inventory
Addresses 1913-1916
Addresses 1919-1921
Addresses 1925-1927
Addresses n.d.
Biographical and Memorabilia 1914-1924
Biographical: Obituaries and Memorials 1936
Correspondence, Personal 1917-1932
Newspaper Clippings 1924-1925
Newspaper Clippings 1926-1927
Administrative Memoranda 1914-1915, 1915-1916
Administrative Memoranda 1916-1917
Administrative Memoranda 1917-1918
Administrative Memoranda 1918-1919
Administrative Memoranda 1919-1920
Administrative Memoranda 1920-1921
Administrative Memoranda 1921
Administrative Memoranda 1923-1924
Associations-National Collegiate Athletic Ass. 1920, 1924
Class Monitors and Instructors 1916, 1918-1920
Committees: Miscellaneous [1915-1921]
Correspondence 1921-1924, 1926
Course of Study 1913-1919
Course of Study 1920-1924
Course of Study-4 Term Year 1914-1915
Final Examination Survey 1920
Graduate School 1919-1922
Humanities Division 1915-1921
Languages and Literature Dept. 1914-1920
Miscellaneous Memoranda and Correspondence 1913-1921
Scholarships and Prizes 1916-1921
Student Life Committee [1913-1919]
Student Life: Eligibility [1910-1913]
Student Life-Fraternities (General) 1921-1923
Student Life-Fraternities (Jewish) 1917
Student Life: Fraternities (Jewish) 1912-1920
Student Life-General 1915-1921
Student Records: Problem Cards, A-L 1910-1914
Student Records: Problem Cards, M-Y 1910-1914
Student Records: Work and Character-General 1915-1919
Student Records: Work and Character-Summaries 1916-1920
Student Records: Work and Character A-F 1916
Student Records: Work and Character G-L 1916
Student Records: Work and Character M-Z 1916
Student Records: Work and Character A-E 1916-1917
Student Records: Work and Character F-R 1916-1917
Student Records: Work and Character S-Z 1916-1917
Student Records: Work and Character A-G 1916-1918
Student Records: Work and Character H-L 1916-1918
Student Records: Work and Character M-W 1916-1918
Student Records: Work and Character A-H 1916-1918
Student Records: Work and Character J-W 1914-1918
Acting President 1913-1914
Acting President 1918-1919
Acting for the President 1920
Administrative Planning (General) 1925-1926
Administrative Planning-State House Control 1924-1927, n.d.
Admissions and Attendance-County Agri. Schools 1924-1925
Admissions and Attendance-County Agri. Schools 1926
Alumni 1925-1926
Associations- Mass. Schoolmasters' Club 1922-1927
Associations-New England Council on Marketing and Food Supply 1926
Buildings and Grounds 1924-1927
Conferences-Off Campus Groups 1927
Conferences-Summer Schools 1926-1927
Correspondence 1927
Course of Study 1924-1927
Course of Study-Agri. Curriculum 1924-1925, n.d.
Departments and Divisions-Agri. 1924-1927
Departments and Divisions-Military 1925, n.d.
Experiment Station 1924-1927
Extension Service 1924-1925
Faculty Committees-General 1924-1927
Farmers' Organizations 1924-1927
Massachusetts. Dept. of Education 1924-1926
Massachusetts. Div. of Administration and Finance General 1925-1927
Massachusetts. Div. of Administration and Finance Printing 1925
Massachusetts. Div. of Administration and Finance Printing 1926, n.d.
Massachusetts. Legislation 1924-1925, n.d.
Massachusetts. Legislation (F-H Smith Correspondence) 1924-1925
Massachusetts. Legislation 1925-1926, n.d.
Massachusetts. Legislation-State Control Survey- General A-M 1925-1926
Massachusetts. Legislation-State Control Survey N-W 1925-1926
Personnel-General 1925-1932, n.d.
Personnel-Hasbrouck Death 1924
Personnel-Keane Case 1925-1926, n.d.
Personnel-Union Activities 1925, n.d.
Public Relations 1925-1927, n.d.
Purpose of the College 1926-1927, n.d.
Resignation 1921-1927, n.d.
Schedule committee 1919-1921
Scholarships, Prizes and Trust Funds-General 1924-1927
Scholarships, Prizes and Trust Funds- Mass. Society for Promoting Agriculture 1926-1927
Student Activities and Student Life 1924-1927
Student Matters-Chapel Speakers 1926-1927
Student Matters-Senior Committee on Curriculum. Report 1926
Thatcher Appointment 1927, n.d.
Tuition and Fees 1924-1925, n.d.
U.S. Bureau of Education. Reports 1925-1927
U.S. Funds-Purnell (Experiment Station) 1921-1925, n.d.
U.S. Funds-Purnell (Experiment Station) 1925
U.S. Funds-Purnell (Experiment Station) 1925-1926, n.d.
Women's' Program 1924-1927