© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
Some material in Series III is restricted. Files in Subseries 1 are restricted for 50 years from the date of creation. Files in Subseries 3 and 4 are restricted for eighty years from the date of creation.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Hutchinson, William Thomas. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
William T. Hutchinson (1895--1976), Preston and Sterling Morton Professor of American History, was a member of the University of Chicago faculty for almost fifty years. After receiving his A.B. at Rutgers and A. M. at Columbia, Hutchinson came to Chicago in 1924 as both instructor in history and graduate student. Awarded a Ph.D. in 1927, his advancement in professional rank was steady, culminating in his appointment to the Morton chair in 1956. An authority on American constitutional history and historiography, Hutchinson joined Louis Gottshalk and James Lea Cate in formulating a pioneering course on historical methods. Hutchinson retired from the University in 1961, but continued to offer courses until 1967. His major publications include biographies of Cyrus Hall McCormick (1927, 1935) and Frank O. Lowden (1957). He also served as senior editor of the Papers of James Madison.
The William Thomas Hutchinson Papers contain personal and professional correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, reports, minutes, speeches, articles, teaching materials, research materials, bibliographies, papers and notes Hutchinson wrote as a graduate student, student papers, as well as two ties. The collection documents Hutchinson's correspondents include George Beadle, Chauncey Boucher, Samuel Eliot Morison, Bessie Louise Pierce, Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., Leonard White, and others. Contains notes and correspondence relating to biographies of Cyrus Hall McCormick and Frank O. Lowden. Also included in the collection are materials relating to the editing and publishing of the papers of James Madison.
The Hutchinson papers offer a rich source of information on mid-twentieth century academic life, especially that of the University of Chicago. Hutchinson's diary, begun in 1912 and ending in 1971, provides a daily chronicle of the activities of an energetic scholar and a view of the institution at which he worked. His extended correspondence with scholars throughout the country, colleagues at Chicago, and several generations of students have been preserved, along with material deriving from numerous faculty and administrative responsibilities.
The Hutchinson Papers are made up of ten Series: Series I: Hutchinson's Diaries; Series II: Personal Correspondence; Series III: Professional Correspondence; Series IV: Research Projects; Series V: Publications and Speeches; Series VI: Hutchinson as Student; Series VII: Faculty and Administrative Committee Materials; Series VIII: Teaching Materials; Series IX: Addenda Diaries; and Series X: Ephemera.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
The first entry of the diary of William T. Hutchinson coincides with his entrance to Rutgers University in 1912 at the age of seventeen. The diary's early years are filled with his experiences as an undergraduate at Rutgers, a graduate student at Columbia, a Marine in World War I France, and a world-traveling supercargo managing a ship's commercial concerns for the U. S. Shipping Board. The major part of the diary, which Hutchinson entitled "Graying on the Midway," concerns life in Chicago and at the University of Chicago.
The diary, as now preserved, is not the original document written by Hutchinson, but excerpts from it which he transcribed after retirement. In 1975, when Hutchinson gave a copy of "Graying on the Midway" to the University Archives, he explained that he had deleted many references to personal or family matters. What remains is a daily account of life on the Quadrangles and in Hyde Park. Each entry is a synopsis of one day's happenings: what classes were taught, the lunch-time discussions with colleagues, the movie seen that evening. Faculty appointments, the Hutchins controversy, oral examinations, sermons at Rockefeller Chapel, all are mentioned in the diary's pages. The entries are concise, yet most capture Hutchinson's emotions.
This series of roughly 200 letters pre-dates Hutchinson's arrival at the University of Chicago. Written during his years as a student, Marine, and supercargo, the letters were primarily addressed to his step-mother, Lida Hutchinson and his sister, Ada. A few letters to his future wife, Frances Runyon, are also included along with several from wartime comrades. Correspondence concerning Hutchinson's military service and work for the U. S. Shipping Board are filed in this sequence.
Hutchinson's first major publication was a two-volume biography of the inventor and entrepreneur, Cyrus Hall McCormick. The encouragement and support which he received throughout the project from Professor William E. Dodd, the McCormick family, and the McCormick Historical Association are conveyed by this body of correspondence. The papers also chart the progress of the research over eight years, from its inception in 1926 to the publication of the second volume in 1935.
Hutchinson's heavy teaching and administrative load during the 1940's and 1950's slowed the pace of his research on Frank O. Lowden. Begun in 1942, the two-volume biography of the former governor of Illinois was published in 1957. The material relating to this work is largely correspondence, although notes and working instructions for Hutchinson's research assistant are interspersed.
Publication of the Papers of James Madison began as a joint effort of the University of Chicago and the University of Virginia in cooperation with the National Historic Manuscripts Commission. Appointed one of the editors at its inception, Hutchinson became senior editor in 1958 upon the death of the project's originator, Leonard D. White. He continued to serve in that capacity until 1970 when the University of Virginia assumed complete control of the project. The Hutchinson papers include the correspondence, annual reports,
and financial reports relevant to the publication of the Papers. This series also includes correspondence and reports of the National Historic Manuscript Commission and the Madison Memorial Commission related to the Madison Project.
Hutchinson produced a number of articles and book reviews which appeared in scholarly journals. These, together with the speeches that he gave to various social and academic audiences, are the subjects of this series. Hutchinson's handwritten lists of titles for each category introduce this material, which includes the actual texts and related correspondence. Some unpublished articles and numerous informal reviews of books for colleagues, students, and the University of Chicago Press are also located in this series.
This series contains research papers written by W. T. Hutchinson as a graduate student, a copy of his doctoral dissertation, The Bounty Lands of the American Revolution in Ohio, and lecture notes taken by Hutchinson in history courses taught by William E. Dodd, Chauncey Boucher, and James West-fall Thompson during the mid-twenties.
During the period from 1941 to 1958, Hutchinson served on numerous faculty and administrative committees. The reports, minutes, correspondence and other miscellaneous records associated with this work form the substances of this series.
The earliest material concerns a proposed series of orientation lectures discussing the background of World War II to be given as part of army training in 1941--42. Hutchinson undertook this work at the request of William Benton, then vice-president of the University and Sixth Corps Area Regional Advisor and Coordinator for this program.
Following the Army lectures, the Series includes correspondence and other materials dealing with Hutchinson's relationship with the Encyclopedia Britannica from 1941--1955. An original member of the group asked by Walter Yust, general editor of Encyclopedia Britannica, to consider a new edition in 1941, Hutchinson served on the Senior Advisory Committee for the publication from 1944. Also, in his capacity as chairman of the History Department from 1942 to 1950, Hutchinson was responsible for the Encyclopedia Britannica Fellows in history. The file of papers relating to the fellowship program as well as the material dealing with the Advisory Committee traces an aspect of the relationship between the faculty and the editorial staff of the Encyclopedia.
The College curriculum and the relationship between the College and Division of Social Sciences were topics considered by several committees. Hutchinson was a member of the College History Review Committee from 1947 to 1949, and served from 1950 to 1954 on the Inter-Faculty Committee on Curricular Articulation in the College. This latter group considered the College curriculum as it pertained to the Division. As a member of the Committee on the College B. A. Degree and its successor, the College Council on Tutorial Studies (1952--57), Hutchinson studied a preceptorial program for students in their last year in the College. He was also appointed, in 1955, to the Joint Divisional-College Committee to discuss a joint undergraduate program leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in the Social Sciences.
From 1950 to 1954, Hutchinson was a member of the Social Sciences Division Curriculum Committee. Primarily concerned with instruction for M. A. students, the committee was organized to make recommendations for improvements of the curriculum which honored current economy measures. The papers in this collection indicate, however, that the committee actually dealt with a wider range of topics, including Ph. D. instruction, Ph. D. oral examinations, the utilization of a Ford Foundation Grant in behavioral sciences, and formulation of Divisional statements concerning curricular goals, criteria, or policies. This committee also served as the Social Sciences' adjunct to the Inter-Faculty Committee on Curricular Articulation in the College.
The final group of committee papers concern the Committee on the Limitation of the Number on Tenure which Hutchinson chaired in 1952. The major portion are replies to a questionnaire submitted to deans, directors, chairmen of departments and committees, and faculty members. The results of this survey are also present.
Included at the end of this series is a report prepared by the National Opinion Research Center, entitled "Faculty Opinion of the 4-E Contract," the final report and recommendations of the Subcommittee on Retirement Policy, May 1, 1950, and the final report of the Subcommittee on Pensions, January, 1953.
This small series includes test and examination questions for the general survey course in United States history (1926--61), some reading lists, and several compilations of students taught and directed by Hutchinson.
Series VIII contains Hutchinson's personal diaries that cover the years from 1912 to 1976. These are the original diaries from which the extracts in Series I of the Hutchinson papers were taken. The diaries are numbered consecutively. Included with the World War I diaries is a notebook with notes on map reading, observation and sniping, apparently kept while Hutchinson was in a military training school in 1918.