Guide to the Henry Noble MacCracken Papers,
1914-1968
Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Biographical Note
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
| Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
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| Creator: | MacCracken, H. N. (Henry Noble), b. 1880. |
| Title: | Henry Noble MacCracken Papers |
| Dates: | 1914-1968 |
| Quantity: | ca. 210 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, contracts, publications, and other materials pertaining to Henry Noble MacCracken's tenure as president of Vassar College. |
| Forms of Materials: | Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, contracts, publications, and other materials. |
Biographical Note
Dr. Henry Noble MacCracken (1880-1970), was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1880. He graduated from New York University in 1900 with a degree in English literature, and returned to earn a master's degree in English in 1904. He went on to Harvard University for a second Master's and received his Ph.D. in 1907. He taught at Harvard University, Yale University, and Smith College before coming to Vassar in 1915.
MacCracken was Vassar's fifth president and his tenure was the longest in the college's history. He sparked controversy because of his advocacy for women's suffrage and his liberal views toward education and politics. He was fired in 1918 because of these views but returned to office after student-faculty protests and the resignation of three trustees. MacCracken contributed many important things to Vassar including service as an English professor and the endowment of a chair in the English department. He also worked to bring more foreign students to Vassar, increased student involvement in college policy making, established the Euthenics Department (1923), and supported Hallie Flanagan Davis in her work on the Experimental Theatre. MacCracken worked tirelessly through both world wars, spearheading Vassar's many contributions to the war effort. He also worked with the Red Cross and served as director of educational work on the New York Council of Home Defense.
MacCracken was also involved in many local and national organizations, both during and subsequent to his time at Vassar. He was a member of the National Committee of the League to Enforce Peace, an organizer for the Dutchess County Health Association, (the first county public health organization in the United States), and one of the creators of the Kosciuszko Foundation to promote relations between the United States and Poland. He was a key figure in the foundation of Sarah Lawrence College in 1926, a member of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and chairman of the conference's international meeting in London.
MacCracken also spent a significant amount of his time lecturing, at Vassar as well as at other institutions across the country. Topics included his religious views, the United Nations, civil liberties and English literature, among others. He also had an interest in local history and wrote several books on the Poughkeepsie area and Vassar. Titles included The Family on Gramercy Park, The Hickory Limb, Old Dutchess Forever! The Story of an American County, and Blithe Dutchess: The Flowering of an American County from 1812.
MacCracken died May 7, 1970 in Poughkeepsie at the age of 89.
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Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, contracts, publications, and other materials pertaining to Vassar College Trustees and administration, Buildings and Grounds, faculty, students, alumnae, programs, and activities, 1914-1950; to the World Youth Congress of 1938; to his own teaching activities; to Sarah Lawrence College, 1926-1937; to World War I, 1915-1920; to the Dutchess County Health Association, 1919-1945; and to the Kosciuszko Foundation (New York City), 1923-1962. Correspondence files from his personal involvement in such organizations as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Congregational Church, American Red Cross, International Migration Service, National Student Federation, the Southern Women's Educational Alliance, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1915-1946. Personal and business correspondence with Felix Frankfurter, F.J. Furnivall, Herbert Hoover, Charles Evans Hughes, G.L. Kittredge, Herbert Lehman, John M. Manley, Henry Morgenthau, Michael Idvorsky Pupin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Constance Rourke, Alfred E. Smith, William Howard Taft, M. Carey Thomas, Mary E. Woolley, and others, 1915-1946. His speeches, manuscripts, typescripts, publications, and related correspondence, some of which concern Dutchess County history. Scrapbook of letters and clippings concerning his radio talk on religious liberty in the United States, 1928. Letters and a notebook of miscellaneous records from the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children, 1940-1942. Photographs and biographical information.
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Access and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
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Subject Headings
Names:
- Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965.
- Furnivall, Frederick James, 1825-1910.
- Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
- Hughes, Charles Evans, 1862-1948.
- Kittredge, George Lyman, 1860-1941.
- Lehman, Herbert H. (Herbert Henry), 1878-1963.
- Manley, John M.
- Morgenthau, Henry, 1891-1967.
- Pupin, Michael Idvorsky, 1858-1935.
- Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962.
- Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.
- Rourke, Constance, 1885-1941.
- Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873-1944.
- Taft, William Howard, 1857-1930.
- Thomas, M. Carey (Martha Carey), 1857-1935.
- Woolley, Mary Emma, 1863-1947.
Organizations:
- American Civil Liberties Union.
- American Red Cross.
- Dutchess County Health Association.
- International Migration Service.
- Kosciuszko Foundation.
- National Conference of Christians and Jews.
- National Student Federation.
- Sarah Lawrence College.
- Southern Women's Educational Alliance.
- United States Committee for the Care of European Children.
- Vassar College--Administration.
- Vassar College--Alumnae.
- Vassar College--Faculty.
- Vassar College--Presidents.
- Vassar College--Students.
- Vassar College. Board of Trustees.
- Vassar College. Buildings and Grounds.
- World Youth Congress (1938)
Subjects:
- Charities.
- Children--Europe.
- College presidents.
- College teachers.
- Congregational churches--United States.
- International relief.
- Polish Americans.
- Radio programs.
- Social work with children--Europe.
- Women's colleges--New York (State)--Poughkeepsie.
- Women--Education.
- World War, 1914-1918.
- World War, 1939-1945--Europe--Civilian relief.
Places:
- United States--Emigration and immigration.
- United States--Religious life and customs.
- United States--Social conditions.
Document Types:
- Photoprints.
- Scrapbooks.
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Encoding Information
Encoded by Elizabeth Clarke, Feb 2007.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Henry Noble MacCracken Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Original proccessing date unknown. Container list updated and biographical note written by Elizabeth Clarke, March 2007.
Acquisition Information
Transfer from the Office of the President as well as gifts from the MacCracken family.
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Series List
Series I. Trustees and Administration (Boxes 1-16) |
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Series II. Buildings and Grounds (Boxes 16-19) |
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Series III. Faculty (Boxes 19-50) |
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Series IV. Students (Boxes 51-57) |
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Series V. Alumnae (Boxes 57-63) |
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Series VI. Academic Lectures (Boxes 63-64) |
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Series VII. Miscellaneous within Vassar College (Boxes 65-76) |
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Series VIII. H.N. MacCracken's Teaching at Vassar (Boxes 76-78) |
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Series IX. Associations (Boxes 78-89) |
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Series X. Personal Organizations (Boxes 89-96) |
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Series XI. Personal and Miscellaneous Correspondence and Business (Boxes 96-110) |
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Series XII.Biographical Information and Personal Publications (Boxes 111-117) |
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Series XIII.Unprocessed Personal Material (Boxes 118-167) |
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