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Inventory of the John Franklin Crowell Records and Papers, 1883 - 1932 and undated

Abstract

John Franklin Crowell was an educator, economist, and journalist. He served as President of Trinity College (Randolph County, and Durham, N.C.) from 1887-1894. The John Franklin Crowell Records and Papers primarily consist of materials concerning Crowell's research interests and publications; his presidency of Trinity College; and his activities after leaving Trinity. The collection includes correspondence, reprints, manuscripts, memoranda, scrapbooks, photographs, printed matter, account books, cash books, and grade books. Materials range in date from 1883 to 1932.

Descriptive Summary

Title
John Franklin Crowell Records and Papers, 1883 - 1932 and undated.
Creator
Crowell, J. Franklin (John Franklin), 1857-1931.
Extent
9.5 Linear Feet, , 9500 Items
Repository
University Archives, Duke University
Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult University Archives, Duke University.
Language
English.

Series Quick Links

Collection Overview

The collection includes correspondence, reprints, manuscripts, memoranda, scrapbooks, photographs, printed matter, account books, cash books, and grade books. The correspondence includes letters about the relocation of Trinity from Randolph County to Durham and Crowell's vision for Trinity College. Research and writings include research notes, reprints, manuscripts, photographs, and memorandum books. The memorandum books include notes on a variety of subjects including NY tenements, economic and financial subjects, and personal notes. Scrapbooks include printed matter concerning Trinity College, newspaper clippings on commodity markets, and shipping reports. The printed matter consists of clippings, flyers, newspapers, announcements, and other material pertaining to Crowell's interests. The account books, cash books, and grade books are part of the Trinity College Records, and give details about college life. Major subjects of the collection include Crowell's presidency of Trinity College (Randolph County, and Durham, N. C.); his research interests and publications; and activities after leaving Trinity.

Administrative Information

Collections are on the move for the renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Contact Rubenstein Library staff before visiting. Read More »

warning Access Restrictions

Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.

warning Use Restrictions

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Contents of the Collection

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The correspondence includes letters about the relocation of Trinity from Randolph County to Durham, the building program, means for publicizing the College, increasing the endowment, and related subjects.

1883-1887
Box 1 Folder 1
Jan.-May, 1888
Box 1 Folder 2
June-Aug., 1888
Box 1 Folder 3
Sept.-Nov., 1888
Box 1 Folder 4
Dec. 1888-Jan.1889
Box 1 Folder 5
Feb.-March, 1889
Box 1 Folder 6
April-May, 1889
Box 2 Folder 7
June-July, 1889
Box 2 Folder 8
Aug.-Oct., 1889
Box 2 Folder 9
Nov. 1889-Jan. 1890
Box 2 Folder 10
Feb.-March, 1890
Box 2 Folder 11
April 1890
Box 2 Folder 12
May 1890
Box 3 Folder 13
June 1890
Box 3 Folder 14
July 1890
Box 3 Folder 15
Aug. 1890
Box 3 Folder 16
Sept. 1890
Box 3 Folder 17
Oct. 1890
Box 3 Folder 18
Nov.-Dec., 1890 1890
Box 3 Folder 19
Jan.-Dec., 1891
Box 3 Folder 20
Jan.-June, 1892
Box 4 Folder 21
July-Dec., 1892
Box 4 Folder 22
Jan.-May, 1893
Box 4 Folder 23
June-Dec., 1893
Box 4 Folder 24
1894
Box 4 Folder 25
1894
Letter press book.

This book is extremely fragile. Please consult staff before using.

Box 4 Folder 26
1895-1921
Box 5 Folder 27
1922-1923 and undated
Box 5 Folder 28

Crowell's writings and research materials include manuscripts of Personal Recollections of Trinity College (1929), Stray Notes of a Traveller (1898), and The Process of Social Development: Theoretical Foundations of Educational Policy from the Standpoint of Sociology (1898). Scrapbooks, 1887-1910, include printed matter concerning Trinity College, when it was located in Randolph County and in Durham; newspaper clippings on commodity markets; shipping reports; and other matter. Memorandum books, 1890-1926 and undated, include an enumeration book and clippings from an 1894 tenement house inquiry made by the New York State Tenement Committee, of which Crowell was a member; notebooks on economic and financial subjects; plus small miscellaneous personal notebooks. The printed matter consists of clippings, flyers, newspapers, announcements, and other material pertaining to Crowell's interests, along with some personal records, including certificates of membership and honoraries.

Reprints of Addresses and Outlines of Lectures, 1888-1899 and undated
Folder 29
Manuscript, Stray Notes of a Traveller, 1898.

Pages 19-28 are missing from Section II.

Folder 30
Manuscript, The Process of Social Development: A Theoretical Foundation of Educational Policy from the Standpoint of Sociology, 1898
Folder 31
Manuscript, Cotton in the World's Market, 1912
Folder 32
Lecture Notes, 1912-1921 and undated

Includes poem by Crowell, The Little Mountain Rose, 1920

Folder 33
Manuscript, Personal Recollections of Trinity College, North Carolina, 1887-1894, 1929
Box 6 Folder 34-37
Lectures, Manuscripts, and Notes, undated

Includes notes and copies of lectures, divided into three folders, on a wide variety of topics. Titles include The Scientic Problem, The Instruments and Documents of Commerce, Slavery, The Economic Solution to the Social Question, and others.

Box 7 Folder 38-40
Photographs, 1919-1920 and undated

Eleven black and white photographs showing several U.S. ports, wharves, and terminals, as well as cargoes of coffee, lumber, and hemp.

Box 7 Folder 41

Includes an enumeration book and clippings from an 1894 tenement house inquiry made by the New York State Tenement Committee, of which Crowell was a member, small miscellaneous personal accounts, and notebooks on econocmic and financial subjects.

1890-1891
Box 7 Folder 42
[1892]
Box 7 Folder 43
Notes and Clippings on N.Y. Tenements, 1894
Box 8 Folder 44
2 Books, Economic Subjects, 1898
Box 8 Folder 45
1910-1926
Box 8 Folder 46
1914-1917
Box 8 Folder 47
1915-1917
Box 8 Folder 48
1916
Box 8 Folder 49
1920
Box 8 Folder 50
Financial Subjects, undated
Box 8 Folder 51

The scrapbooks contain materials collected by Crowell on a wide variety of topics. The scrapbooks from 1887-1894, 1890, and 1891-1910 deal with Trinity College, when it was located in Randolph County and in Durham. These scrapbooks contain printed matter produced by or for the college, such as application forms, commencement programs, letterhead, sample forms, notices, and advertising, along with clippings, newspaper articles by Crowell, and other material. The two scrapbooks from 1906-1908 deal, almost exclusively, with the development of agricultural markets within the United States.

These scrapbooks are fragile. Please consult staff before using.

1887-1894

Scrapbook removed to Oversize Box 15.

Box 8 Folder 52
1890

Scrapbook removed to Oversize Box 16.

Box 8 Folder 53
1891-1910

Scrapbook removed to Oversize Box 16.

Box 8 Folder 54
1906-1907
Box 9 Folder 55
1907-1908
Box 10 Folder 56

Includes printed materials collected by Crowell to aid his writings and research, and for personal use.

Clippings, bulletins, and souvenirs, 1888-1932
Box 10 Folder 57
Clippings, 1889-1923 and undated
Box 10 Folder 58
Clippings, 1893-1894
Box 10 Folder 59
Charts, 1894 and undated
Box 10 Folder 60
Biographical Information, 1901-1905 and undated

Includes biographical sketch and certificates of membership.

Box 10 Folder 61

Includes petitions from students for holidays and breaks, departmental reports, notes on operating expenses, rules for awarding scholarships, the duty of monitors, room rates, student conduct, and groundskeeping activities, library reports, and athletic reports.

Petitions, [1888]-[1890?]
Folder 62
Proposals, [1889]-[1891]

Includes proposals for the creation of a preparatory school (Trinity Park School?), plans for Trinity Law School and a plan for the inauguration of a hospital and medical college at Trinity.

Folder 63
Copy of The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,edited by W. P. Harrison, 1890

Inscribed with the notation, Presented by T.J. Gattis & Son for insertion in the cornerstone of Trinity College, N.C., Nov. 11, 1890.

Box 11 Folder 64
Library Reports, 1890-1894
Box 11 Folder 65
Athletics, [1890?]-1892
Box 11 Folder 66
History of Trinity College, [1890?]-[1893]

Includes manuscript by W.M. Robbins, Trinity College: Its Antecedents, Its Early Day, Its Founders.

Box 11 Folder 67
Committee Reports, [1890?]-1894

Includes reports from the buildings committee, groundskeeping, a discipline committee appointed by the faculty, and others.

Box 11 Folder 68
Departmental Reports, 1891-1893

Includes reports from mechanical, school of technology, biology, history, and mathematics.

Box 11 Folder 69
Correspondence, 1891-1894
Box 11 Folder 70

Trinity College financial records consist of volumes and papers. They include bills and receipts, many for the Trinity College Book Room, and five account books, 1886-1890, one of which includes memoranda and minutes of faculty meetings, 1889-1890; the remaining volumes are bookstore cash and day books, 1889-1892.

1887-1888
Box 11 Folder 71
1888-1889
Box 11 Folder 72
1889
Box 11 Folder 73
1890
Box 12 Folder 74
1890-1891
Box 12 Folder 75
1891
Box 12 Folder 76
1891-1892
Box 12 Folder 77
1892-1923
Box 13 Folder 78

Includes list of receipts and expenditures.

1886
Box 13 Folder 79
1887
Box 13 Folder 80
1888
Box 13 Folder 81
1889-1890
Box 13 Folder 82
1889-1890

Includes receipts for fees and tuition; expenditures for salaries, repair, equipment, and operating expenses; and minutes of faculty meetings.

Box 13 Folder 83

Includes four cash books with receipts for purchases made at the bookstore.

Sept. 1888-June 1889
Box 13 Folder 84
Nov. 1889-June 1890
Box 13
Sept. 1891-July 1892
Box 13
undated
Box 13

The academic records include a volume of prepared examinations for various courses offered between 1889 and 1894; a record of courses (1893); scholarships offered and awarded (1893-1894); roll books for 1891-1894 with lists of matriculants, class and course records; grade books and grade book stubs from 1887-1893; and what may be Trinity College's oldest thesis, Compulsory Education: Why and How? by Gustavus T. Adams (1889). .

Degree Applications, 1889
Box 14 Folder 85
Thesis by Gustavus O. Adams, Compulsory Education: Why and How, 1889
Box 14 Folder 86
Examination Papers Scrapbook, 1889-1894

Includes questions from a wide variety of disciplines, such as physical geography, english history, and algebra.

Examination papers scrapbook removed to Oversize Box 17.

Box 14 Folder 87
Roll Book, 1892
Box 14 Folder 88
Absence Record, 1892
Box 14 Folder 89
Matriculates, Record of Courses, and Scholarships Sept. 1893-June 1894
Box 14 Folder 90

Each book is made up of the stubs from the grade books.

Freshman Class, 1887
Box 14 Folder 91
Fall, 1889
Box 14
[Spring], 1890
Box 14
Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Classes, Fall, 1890
Box 14
Freshman Class, Spring, 1891
Box 14
Sophomore Class, Spring, 1891
Box 14
Junior and Senior Classes, Spring, 1891
Box 14
Grades, 1888-1891

Includes weekly and semester grades.

Box 14 Folder 92
Grade Book, [B.B. Nicholson], 1893
Box 14 Folder 93
Scrapbook that was removed from Box 8, Folder 52.
Scrapbook that was removed from Box 8, Folder 53.
Scrapbook that was removed from Box 8, Folder 54.
Examination Papers Scrapbook that was removed from Box 14, Folder 87.

Historical Note

John Franklin Crowell was born in York, Pennsylvania in 1857, and received his A.B. from Yale University in 1883. After serving as principal of Schuylkill Seminary in Pennsylvania, Crowell returned to Yale to study for one year in the Divinity School and for one year in the Graduate School.

At the age of 29, Crowell became President of Trinity College. He served as President, in Randolph County and in Durham, from 1887-1894. Crowell was instrumental in moving Trinity College to Durham and gaining the support of the Duke family. His vision was for Trinity to become a great university and he traveled across the state to publicize its programs. Crowell gradually upgraded the faculty and improved the educational facilities of the college. He was responsible for modernizing Trinity's curriculum, turning it away from recitation and towards research. Crowell was also interested in athletics and introduced intercollegiate football to the South.

After leaving Trinity, Crowell became head of the Department of Economics and Sociology at Smith College. Crowell received his Ph.D. in economics and sociology from Columbia in 1897. Two areas of interest to him were the plight of the poor in N.Y. tenement houses and the development of the cotton markets. Crowell was an economist and statistician for several years in New York and Washington. From 1906 to 1915, he was an associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, and later became director of the World Market Institute in New York. Crowell retired in 1925, and died in East Orange, New Jersey in 1931.

Subject Headings

Related Material

  • Herbert Baxter Adams Papers, 1891-1913 (bulk 1891-1902). (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. )
  • Board of Trustees Records. (University Archives, Duke University. )
  • [Forms part of:] Duke University President Records. (University Archives, Duke University. )
  • Trinity College (Randolph County, N.C.) Collection, 1836-1990. (University Archives, Duke University. )

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], John Franklin Crowell Records and Papers, University Archives, Duke University.

Provenance

The John Franklin Crowell Records and Papers was received by the University Archives as a gift in 1938 (A38-1733) and ca. 1941.

Processing Information

Processed by Linda Daniel

Completed November 2003

Encoded by Linda Daniel, November 2003

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.