The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Frederick Taylor Gates Papers 1888-1906
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Gates, Frederick Taylor. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1888-1906 |
| Size: | 0.5 linear feet (1 box) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Baptist minister, businessman. Corresponding secretary, American Baptist Education Society, 1888-1902. Philanthropic adviser to John D. Rockefeller; president, General Education Board. Trustee, University of Chicago, 1896-1910. Summary: Correspondence to and from Gates relating to the American Baptist Education Society and founding of the University of Chicago (1888-1892). Major correspondents include Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed, William Rainey Harper, Henry L. Morehouse, and Augustus Hopkins Strong. Carbon copies of letters primarily to Gates from William Rainey Harper (1893-1906) concerning affairs relating to the university. |
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When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Gates, Frederick Taylor. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Frederick Taylor Gates (1853-1929) was a Baptist minister, businessman, and chief architect of John D. Rockefeller's great philanthropic enterprises. He worked his way through the University of Rochester -- receiving his degree in 1877-- and the Rochester Theological Seminary (1880). Superintendent of missions for the American Home Missionary Society in Kansas, in 1888 he became secretary of the newly organized American Baptist Education Society; from that time on he was associated with the founding and development of the University of Chicago. Contact with John D. Rockefeller, founder of the University, led to Gates' employment by Rockefeller in 1892, first as principal philanthropic adviser, later as President of the General Education Board (first of the unrestricted Rockefeller foundations). He was also the founder of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. F.T. Gates was for many years also a trustee of the University of Chicago.
The correspondence covers the period from 1888-1906. The correspondence section contain letters written to and by Gates in his capacity as corresponding secretary of the American Baptist Education Society. This correspondence is, thus, of direct bearing on the history of that body. Among the correspondents are W.R. Harper, T.W. Goodspeed, Augustus Strong, and Henry L. Morehouse, corresponding secretary of the American Home Missionary Society. The letters are almost entirely concerned with the founding, support, and development of the "institution for higher learning in the west" which became the University of Chicago. This portion of the collection is composed entirely of carbon copies of letters written from the time of the founding of the University until the death of President Harper.
William Rainey Harper. Papers
Thomas W. Goodspeed. Papers
Presidents' Papers 1889-1925
American Baptist Education Society. Records
Rockefeller, John D., Correspondence of the Founder and His Associates
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Correspondence, January-July, 1888 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Correspondence, August - October, 1888 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Correspondence, November -December, 1888 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Correspondence, January-March, 1889 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Correspondence, April-December, 1889 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Correspondence, January - July, 1890 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Correspondence, August-December, 1890 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Correspondence, January-April, 1891 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Correspondence, May-December, 1891 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Correspondence, January-May, 1892 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Correspondence, June-December, 1892 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | Correspondence, June, 1893 -December, 1896 |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Correspondence, February, 1897- November, 1898 |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | Correspondence, February, December, 1899 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | Correspondence, 1900 |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | Correspondence, 1901 |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | Correspondence, 1902 |
| Box 1 Folder 18 | Correspondence, 1903 |
| Box 1 Folder 19 | Correspondence, 1904 |
| Box 1 Folder 20 | Correspondence, January, 1905-May, 1906 |
| Box 1 Folder 21 | Frederick T. Gates, "The Truth About Mr. Rockefeller and the Merritts," pamphlet, n.d.
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