Theodore B. Comstock, 1849-1915,
Howard Billman, 1854-1928,
Millard M. Parker, 1849-1928,
Frank Yale Adams, 1867-1919,
Kendric C. Babcock, 1864-1932,
Collection Name:
University of
Arizona Office of the President records,
Inclusive Dates:
1891-1905
Physical Description:
7.5 linear feet
Abstract:
This Collection contains all of the surviving manuscript materials from
the files of the first five Presidents of the University.
Collection Number:
AZ 427
Repository:
University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections
University of Arizona
PO Box 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
Phone: 520-621-6423
Fax: 520-621-9733
URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/
Scope and Content Note
This Collection contains all of the surviving manuscript materials from
the files of the first five Presidents of the University. There are, obviously
and unfortunately, many missing letters and related docuemtns, lost or
destroyed before this assortment reached the Library. The user should remain
aware of this fact.
There are also other manuscript materials in Special Collections closely
related to this collection, chiefly the following:
AZ 406 Papers of the the Agricultural Experiment Station,
1890-1905, 1913-1915. 28 Boxes.
The establishment of both the University of Arizona and the Agricultural
Experiment Station was linked in a rather complex and overlapping way. While
the University was "established" in 1885 by Legislative action, and ground was
broken in 1887 for a building ("Old Main") designated as the School of Mines,
it was the prospect of government funds (through the Hatch Act), granted
annually to state schools of agriculture, which influenced the Board of Regents
to create a sudden School of Agriculture. Frank A. Gulley, the first paid
faculty member, was appointed Dean of this unborn School in 1890. In the months
preceeding the opening of the University in the autumn of 1891, he selected the
faculty, oversaw the completion and furnishing of the first buildings, equipped
the laboratory for the Experiment Station, selected sites for the field
Stations, and issued the first publications. While not formally designated
"President" of the University, he carried out many of the activities and
responsibilities of that office, and his papers will be found in the
above-mentioned Experiment Station material. His counterpart in the School of
Mines, Theodore B. Comstock, employed by Gulley in 1891, later became the fist
official President of the University.
Other related collections are:
AZ 34 Letters, reports, and other miscellaneous papers of Howard
Judson Hall, professor of English and the fist librarian at the University of
Arizona, 1892-1904. 1 box.
AZ 422 Letter-book, University of Arizona Board of Regents, May
1897-June 1901.
In addition are various early financial and student records, as well as
the minutes of the Board of Regents.
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish
from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record,
the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The
user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the
University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all
claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of
copyright.
Access Terms
Personal Name(s)
Hall, Howard Judson, 1869-
Adams, Frank Yale,
1867-1919
Babcock, Kendric Charles,
1864-1932
Billman, Howard,
1854-1928
Comstock, Theo. B. (Theodore Bryant),
1849-1915
Hughes, Louis C., 1844-1915 --
Correspondence
McCord, Myron H. (Myron Hawley),
1840-1908 -- Correspondence
Murphy, Nathan Oakes, 1849-1908 --
Correspondence
Parker, Millard Mayhew,
1849-1928
Corporate Name(s)
University of Arizona --
Faculty
University of Arizona --
History
University of Arizona -- Records and
correspondence
Students, President's Correspondence with Parents,
1892-1895
2
3
Students, President's Correspondence with and about
Parents,
1892-1895
2
4
Students, Mark Walker, Jr.,
1892-1895
2
5
Students, John D. Young,
1892-1895
2
6
Students, Assembly Programs,
1892-1895
2
7
Students, Military Matters,
1892-1895
2
8
Students, Miscellaneous Material,
1892-1895
Includes material on disciplinary problems, the University "Hack
Line," the "Students Organization," and the Zeckendorf prizes.
2
9
Commencement,
1895
2
10
Micellaneous Presidential Papers,
1892-1895
Includes material regarding class schedules, policies of
administration (including the Agricultural Experiment Station), telephones
service, and the State Museum.
2
11
Financial Records, Boarding Department,
1892-1895
Includes advertisement from San Francisco employment firm
specializing in Oriental cooks, laundrymen, and house servants.
2
12
Financial Records, Various,
1892-1895
Includes general appropriations, salaries, student fees, labor
and repairs, wood purchases, travel and telegraph expenses, horse care and
equipment, and assorted bills from various Tucson establishments.
2
13
President's House, Plans from the Co-operative Building
Plan Association,
1892-1895
2
14
President's House, Robert Mitchell Furniture Co.-
Fireplace mantels,
1892-1895
2
15
President's House, Venetian Blinds and Window Screens,
1892-1895
2
16
President's House, Miscellaneous, Furniture and
Fixtures,
1892-1895
Correspondence, Douglass, Andrew E. and Pickering, W.
H., 1894,
1892-1895
5
3
Correspondence, Graham, A.A.,
1892-1895
5
4
Correspondence, Storment, E.L., President Arizona
Territorial Normal School, Tempe,
1892-1895
5
5
Correspondence, Tully, Charles H., Principal, Tucson
Public Schools,
1892-1895
5
6-7
Requests for Information about UA from Prospective
Students,
1892-1895
5
8
Requests for Information about UA, General and
Miscellaneous,
1892-1895
5
9
Requests for Information about UA, Mines and Mining,
1892-1895
5
10
Requests for Information about UA, Miscellaneous,
Including Arizona as a place to live,
1892-1895
5
11
Requests for Bulletins and other Publications,
1892-1895
5
12
Requests for UA Catalogs,
1892-1895
5
13
Requests for Opinions,
1892-1895
box
folder
6
1-2
Miscellaneous Correspondence,
1892-1895
6
3-9
Applications for Faculty/Staff Positions,
1892-1895
Includes applications of John A. Spring to teach various
languages, and John A. Roebling (grandson of the Brooklyn Bridge builder) to
teach mathematics, mechanics, and physics-both in July 1893.
box
folder
7
1
Mining Correspondence,
1892-1895
Includes correspondence with John F. Blandy, ex-territorial
geologist; and Charles B. Allaire, regarding a trip to inspect coal mining
property.
7
2-7
Assay Work, Lot no. 1-399, November 1891-January 1895,
1892-1895
7
8
Miscellaneous Correspondence with Bills regarding Assay
work,
1892-1895
Includes correspondence regarding the Arizona Antiquarian
Association; letter of May 3, 1897 from R.E. Peary (discoverer of the North
Pole) offering walrus skins to the Museum; letters in December 1896 seeking the
flag pole from old Fort Bowie for UA; and correspondence concerning the comet
which fell in February 1897.
8
23
President Billman Personal Correspondence,
1895-1897
Mining and Assay - includes Mineral collections,
1895-1897
9
7
North Hall - construction and furnishing,
1895-1897
9
8
Railroad Matters - chiefly concerning passes for
students,
1895-1897
9
9
"Summer School of Science" at Flagstaff - proposed,
1896,
1895-1897
9
10
Office/Classroom Furniture and Supplies - W.S. Pierce,
1895-1897
9
11
Office/Classroom Furniture and Supplies - Various and
Miscellaneous,
1895-1897
9
12
Equipment - Chemical and Scientific Apparatus,
1895-1897
9
13
Equipment - Machinery,
1895-1897
9
14
Equipment - New Water Tank,
1895-1897
9
15
Equipment - Miscellaneous,
1895-1897
9
16
Requests - Information about UA - General,
1895-1897
9
17-18
Requests - Information about UA from Prospective
Students,
1895-1897
9
19
Requests - Catalogs and other Publications,
1895-1897
9
20
Requests - Various,
1895-1897
box
folder
10
1-4
Applications for Faculty/Staff Positions,
1895-1897
Includes May 17, 1897 applications of C.A. Turrell, University
of Nebraska, for a position in modern languages. He was later employed in 1904
and served until 1923.
Practically all of President M.M. Parker's outgoing correspondence
has been lost or destroyed -- only that for 1901 remains in two letter-books.
For replies to 1901 letters in Boxes 11, 13-16 the user should consult those
letter books in Box 12.
South Hall - Construction and Furnishing,
1897-1901
15
8
Military Uniforms and other Clothing,
1897-1901
15
9
Pianos and Music,
1897-1901
15
10
Printing and Engraving,
1897-1901
15
11
Miscellaneous,
1897-1901
Includes an annual report (1900?) by Pres. Parker, and items
relating to lighing, insurace, Post Office, mail and delivery services, and the
proposed Santa Catalina Forest Reserve.
15
12
Brown, Herbert - Superintendent, Territorial Prison,
Letters relating to material destined for the Territorial Museum.
, 1897-1901
15
13
McCrea, S. P. - Principal, Tucson Public Schools,
1897-1901
15
14
McNaughton, James - President, Arizona Territorial
Normal School, Tempe,
1897-1901
15
15
Mead, Elwood - U.S.D.A., Office of Experiment Station,
and Others regarding Irrigation Investigations,
1897-1901
15
16
Miscellaneous Correspondence,
1897-1901
15
17
President Parker Personal Correspondence,
1897-1901
box
folder
16
1-2
Requests for Information about UA - General,
1897-1901
16
3-4
Requests for Information about UA from Prospective
Students,
1897-1901
16
7
Requests for Information about Tucson and Arizona,
1897-1901
16
8
Requests for Catalogs and other Publications,
1897-1901
16
9
Requests for Recommendations,
1897-1901
16
10
Requests for Students to Act as Agents,
1897-1901
16
11
Requests for a Degree from UA - Thomas Grindell,
1897-1898,
1897-1901
16
12
Requests for Opinions, Also miscelleneous,
1897-1901
16
13
Invitations to Speak,
1897-1901
16
14
Requests to Join, Attend, Send Delegates,
1897-1901
Little material has survived from the Presidencies of Frank Yale
Adams and Kendric C. Babcock: a bit of 1901 correspondence, some financial
records and bills from 1901-1905, and three letter books (out going
correspondence only) from December 10, 1902 to September 22, 1903. Librarian
Howard J. Hall served as Acting President, July-August 1903, between the terms
of Adams and Babcock.
Includes letter to V. Suarez (Solomonville) from President
Adams, requesting that his son Benito be permitted to remain in school - at
least until December - as he is needed as the "chief trumpeter" and " one of
the best players on the football team." Benito was a member of the first (1899)
team.
