The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Charles David O'Connell papers 1946-1951
© 2008 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | O'Connell, Charles David. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1946-1951 |
| Size: | 7.25 linear feet (15 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Charles David O'Connell (1923-2002) served in the University of Chicago administration after receiving of his M.A. in English (1947). He was named Assistant Director of Admissions in 1952, then served as Dean of Students from 1967 until his retirement in 1986. He was also named Vice President of the University in 1973. O'Connell developed a national reputation as a major influence on the development of policies on college recruitment, admissions and financial aid. This collection contains materials related to O'Connell's tenure at the University as a graduate student in the English department. These include class notes, exams, lecture notes, and academic publications. The majority of the collection, however, is composed of correspondence written during this period. |
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: O'Connell, Charles David. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Charles David O'Connell (1923-2002) came to the University of Chicago in 1947 to pursue a Masters degree in English literature. After several years in the PhD program, O'Connell accepted a counseling position with the University of Chicago's Admissions Office. He becamse Director of Admissions in 1958 and remained in this post until named Dean of Students in 1967. O'Connell retired in 1986.
O'Connell held several academic positions over the course of his life, at the University of Chicago and, as a graduate student, at Roosevelt and Creighton Colleges. Upon his retirement as Dean of Students, he maintained his post as Associate Professor in the English department.
During his tenure in the University administration, O'Connell developed a national reputation as a major influence on the development of policies on college recruitment, admissions and financial aid. He belonged to the National Association of College Admissions Counselors and from 1983-86 served as chairman of the trustee committee on finance for the Educational Testing Service. O’Connell was also involved with several philanthropic organizations, including the Chicago Tribune Foundation, the Pullman Foundation, and the Parish Board of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Hyde Park.
From 1943 to 1946, O'Connell served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. And in 1950 was recalled to duty in order to serve during the Korean War.
This collection consists of two series: Academic Materials and Correspondence. The first includes documents produced during O'Connell's time as a graduate student at the University of Chicago: notes on English and American literature, exams, academic texts. The correspondence series consists primarily of letters exchanged with his family. Of particular interest in the collection is the correspondence regarding O'Connell's position in the United States Army and his status as a war veteran (folder 1 of box 7 and folder 2 of box 13).
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html
Series I: Academic Materials |
This series primarily contains materials related to O'Connell's life at the University of Chicago, including: notes on various authors and subjects in English and American literature, lecture notes, academic publications, and exams. Also included in these series are a group of photographs taken in Hyde Park during O'Connell's time as a student at the University of Chicago. Lastly, the series contains a few miscellaneous items: student identification cards, bookplates, diplomas, and a small collection of newspaper clippings.
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Notes and outlines for Shakespeare, Daniel, Bacon, Johnson, Webster, Milton, Wycherley, n.d. |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Notes and outlines for Addison & Steele, Pope, Yorrick, Lamb, Morris, Conrad, Tyler, Irving, James, Thoreau, n.d. |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Notes and outlines for Wilde, Synge, Dryden, Johnson, Hawthorne, "The Frankeleyn’s Tale," and "Prothalmion," n.d. |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Notes and outlines for Frost, Franklin, Lewis, Joyce, Kyd, Goldsmith, Sheridan, Poe, Emerson, Forster, n.d. |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Notes and outlines for Arnold, Burns, Tennyson, Sidney, O’Neill, Paine, More, Gay, Thompson, Thackeray, n.d. |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Notes and outlines for Donne, Hardy, Brooks, Swift, Shelley, Austen, Whitman, Wordsworth, Housman, n.d. |
| Box 1 Folder 7-8 | Notes and outlines for Victorian English literature, n.d. |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Spiral notebook titled "American literature," n.d. |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Spiral notebook titled "Dudley Nichol Smith Lectures," 1947 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Spiral notebook titled "Chaucer's Canterbury Tales," exam notebooks, 1947 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Spiral notebook titled "Addison and Steele," 1946-47 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Spiral notebook titled "English Grammar - Historical and Analytical," exam notebooks, 1947 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Spiral notebook titled "Shakespeare," n.d. |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Typewritten text titled "Elizabeth Bowen - Notes on Writing a Novel," n.d. |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Typescript of lecture, titled "Dickens as a Critic of Society," given to the Illinois Club for Catholic Women, 1948 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Typescript and notes for lecture on Catholic literature delivered to the Illinois Club for Catholic Women, 1948 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Copy of James Root Hulber's dissertation, Chaucer’s Official Life, 1912 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | Copy of Aristotle's Poetics, 1948 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | The Great Investigation: An account of the investigation of the University of Chicago by the State Seditious Activity Investigation Commission in the Spring of 1949, and including the complete testimony of Chancellor Hutchins and Dean Thompson of Rockefeller Chapel (The All-Campus Committee Opposing the Broyles Bill and and the Broyles Investigation), 1949 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Copy of Carl L. Becker's "The Marxian View of History," n.d. |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Copy of Albert Jay Nock's "The Disadvantages of Being Educated," n.d. |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | University of Chicago and University of Toronto diplomas, 1944, 1947 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Two English exams, written by O'Connell, 1951 |
| Box 3 Folder 7-8 | Notes for comprehensive examinations for the Master’s Degree, 1947 |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | University of Chicago student identification cards, 1947-1948 |
| Box 3 Folder 10-11 | Copies of Time magazine and the University of Chicago's Maroon that have feature stories on Robert Hutchins, then the University of Chicago's Chancellor, 1949-50 |
| Box 3 Folder 12 | Newspaper clippings from The Times Literary Supplement and an unknown source, 1949 |
| Box 3 Folder 13 | Box of bookplates, n.d. |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Box of name cards, n.d. |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Snapshots of individuals and groups in Hyde Park and Chicago (labeled on back), 1946-50 |
| Box 5 Folder 1-3 | Snapshots of individuals and groups in Hyde Park and Chicago (labeled on back), 1946-50 |
Series II: Correspondence |
The bulk of the correspondence in this collection was written by O'Connell's
family. The rest of the series contains letters written received from friends and
professional contacts. Of particular note is the correspondence regarding
O'Connell's difficulties as a war veteran, to be found in the "Veterans
Administration and the United States Army" and "Fieghan, Michael A." folders.
| Box 5 Folder 4 | A, 1946-51 |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | B, 1946-51 |
| Box 5 Folder 6-7 | Baskerville, Catherine Q. and C.R. Baskerville, 1946-51 |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | C, 1946-51 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Christen, Mrs. Pat (sister), 1946-51 |
| Box 6 Folder 3-4 | Connolly, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E., 1946-51 |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | D-F, 1946-51 |
| Box 6 Folder 6-7 | Dent, Bob, 1946-51 |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Feighan, Michael A., House of Representatives (correspondence regarding O'Connell's status as a war veteran), 1946-51 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | G, 1946-51 |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | H-I, 1946-51 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | Harth, Betty, 1946-51 |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | J-K, 1946-51 |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | L, 1946-51 |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | M, 1946-51 |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | N-P, 1946-51 |
| Box 8 Folder 1-2 | Nardin, Jim, 1946-51 |
| Box 8 Folder 3-6 | O'Connell, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Patrick (some correspondence with Charles' O'Connell's father mixed in), 1946-51 |
| Box 9 Folder 1-6 | O'Connell, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Patrick (some correspondence with Charles' O'Connell's father mixed in), 1946-51 |
| Box 10 Folder 1-6 | O'Connell (maiden name), Marg (sister), 1946-51 |
| Box 11 Folder 1-3 | O'Connell (maiden name), Marg (sister), 1946-51 |
| Box 11 Folder 4-6 | O'Connell, Mr. and Mrs. (mother and father), 1946-51 |
| Box 12 Folder 1 | O'Connell, Neal (brother), 1946-51 |
| Box 12 Folder 2-3 | Posig, Mike J., 1946-51 |
| Box 12 Folder 4 | Q-R, 1946-51 |
| Box 12 Folder 5-6 | S, 1946-51 |
| Box 12 Folder 7 | Simons, Ag (sister), 1946-51 |
| Box 13 Folder 1 | T-Z, 1946-51 |
| Box 13 Folder 2 | Veterans Administration and the United States Army, 1946-51 |
| Box 13 Folder 3-6 | Wuka, Flo, 1946-51 |
| Box 13 Folder 7 | Unidentified family (Niece Sheila, Aunt Kitty, Moira), 1948-49 |
| Box 14 Folder 1-2 | Unidentified, 1946-51 |
| Box 14 Folder 3-4 | Ed (friend - last name unknown), 1946-51 |
| Box 14 Folder 5-6 | Correspondence miscellany including receipts, official correspondence regarding book orders and memberships, and official notifications from the University of Chicago, 1946-51 |
| Box 15 Folder 1-2 | Correspondence miscellany including receipts, official correspondence regarding book orders and memberships, and official notifications from the University of Chicago, 1946-51 |