Finding Aid
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William O. Aydelotte Papers Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department. Copyright: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials. Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement. Acquisition and Processing Information: These materials were donated to the University Archives by Mr. and Mrs. Aydelotte in August 1994. Guide created by Denise Anderson, July 2007. Photographs: Box 70 |
Professor William O. Aydelotte |
Scope and Contents
This collection documents the professional career of Dr. William O. Aydelotte, professor of history from 1947 to 1978 at the University of Iowa. Lecture notes, speeches, publications, correspondence, and Department of History reports and minutes are included. These papers also contain Dr. Aydelotte's publications reviews, and document his participation in history conferences, committees and councils.
Dr. Aydelotte was a prolific writer, and preserved his notes about everything from a 1924 meeting of the home room boys during his tenth grade, to the diaries he kept over a sixty-year period, to his vacation in Ireland, and to notes on the meetings of the Know-Nothing Club -- a group of University of Iowa professors who met informally, with no official minutes recorded. Dr. Aydelotte classified and indexed his major research notes, and filed them in a dozen card catalog drawers, as noted in the box list below.
The focus of Dr. Aydelotte's research, in the area of political science, was the British Parliament. Such research topics are represented as the Victorian reformation, social attitudes in the work of Charles Dickens, politics in detective stories, as well as his research about using computers to analyze research statistics. Dr. Aydelotte maintained detailed files on subjects that interested him, such as the Latin hexameter verse machine, exhibited in London during 1845.
This collection includes some material about Dr. Aydelotte's family. Box 58 contains information about his father, Frank (1880-1956), who was president of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania from 1921 to 1940. Genealogical material about William O. Aydelotte's Irish cousins is housed in box 52.
Dr. Aydelotte was diagnosed with tuberculosis in September 1950, and he recorded the course of treatment he received at Oakdale Sanatorium, as well as descriptions of the facility, in nearly daily letters to his mother and brother during a nine-month period. These letters are arranged in chronological order in box 70.
[D. Anderson; 07/2007]
Biographical Note
William Osgood Aydelotte was born September 1, 1910, in Bloomington, Indiana. His parents were Marie Jeannette Osgood and Frank Aydelotte, who were Quakers. William O. Aydelotte graduated from Harvard University, with a major in classics in 1931. He took his Ph.D. in history at the University of Cambridge, England, in 1934. He then worked for two years at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in Washington, D.C. Dr. Aydelotte held an appointment at the University of Minnesota during the summer of 1937. Over the next ten years, he taught at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut; Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts; and Princeton University.
Dr. Aydelotte joined the faculty at the University of Iowa Department of History in fall 1947 as assistant professor. He and others immediately began work to reform the department. Dr. Aydelotte served as chairman of this committee, replacing Professor Winfred Root, who died December 9, 1947. One result of this reform was the involvement of the entire department in the appointment process. Dr. Aydelotte was promoted to full professor in 1950, with his area of research being political behavior. During the 1950s, his studies of the British Parliament of the 1840s garnered him the honor of the Order of the British Empire in 1961. He served as Carver Professor of History, 1976 to 1978, and retired from the University in June 1978.
In June 1956, Dr. Aydelotte married Dr. Myrtle Kitchell, who became the first director of the College of Nursing in September 1949. They had two daughters, Marie and Jeannette. William O. Aydelotte died January 17, 1996.
[D. Anderson; 07/2007]
Related Materials
Folder, "Aydelotte, William O. ," Faculty and Staff Vertical Files collection (RG 01.15.03)
Persons, Stow. "History at Iowa: The First Century, 1855-1948." Iowa City, 1996. 21 pp., Historical Papers Collection (RG01.01.03)
Persons, Stow. "History at Iowa: The Modern Era." Iowa City, 1996. 24 pp., Historical Papers Collection (RG01.01.03)
Papers of Stow Persons (RG99.0104)
Papers of Allan G. Bogue (RG99.0103)
Papers of Harry Plum (RG99.0107)
Records of the Dept. of History (RG06.17)
The University of Iowa Libraries Dept. of Government Publications. British Parliament publications.
Know-Nothing Club, Organizations and Clubs Vertical Files (RG01.15.04)
Records of the Oakdale Sanatorium (RG27.20)
Oakdale Campus Buildings vertical file (RG01.15.02)
Papers of Frank Aydelotte (MsC232)
Papers of Myrtle Kitchell Aydelotte, Iowa Women's Archives
National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoirs. (http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MEMOIRS_A)
Box Contents List
Box 1
Course lecture notes
Correspondence
Thesis committee work
William C. Lubenow (Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and President of the North American Conference on British Studies, and student of Dr. Aydelotte during the mid-1960s)
Box 2
Placement correspondence, 1971-1975
Rhodes Scholarship, 1948-1955
Box 3
Correspondence
Box 4
Lecture notes
Box 5
Lecture notes, cont.
Box 6
Quantification in History
---. Article title in American Historical Review, April 1966
---. Book title, 1971
History department
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
Box 7
AAUP, cont.
American Historical Association (AHA)
Woodrow Wilson fellowships
Box 8
Articles
Guttman scales, statistical tools for analyzing the Corn Laws Parliament
British political party materials
Box 9
Subject folders
Box 10
Printouts on House of Commons, 1841-1847
Box 11
Printouts, subjects of parliamentary politics and home rule
Box 12
Outline file
Box 13
Outline file, cont.
Box 14
Course materials
---. Modern European Intellectual History, 1958-1969
---. Social Science History Association (SSHA), 1973-1976
---. American Historical Review editorial board, 1976
Seminars
---. Legislative Behavior, fall 1967
---. Modern English History (course number 16:251), fall 1963
---. Congressional Behavior, 1816-1828, March 9, 1965
---. Modern England (course number 16:252),1968, 1971
---. Modern Europe (course numbers 16:241, 16:242), 1959-1965
---. On topics proposed by students, fall 1957
Ph.D. theses topics, 1949-1963
Princeton University Press correspondence, 1971-1976
Box 15
Course materials
---. Philosophy of History (course number 16:298), 1963-1973
---. Historiography (course number 16:297), 1960-1961
---. Historiography and Philosophy of History (course number 16:297), fall 1948-1960
Speech to Graduate History Society, and at Conference on the Use of Computers in Humanistic Research
Quantification in History, December 1964
Speech about Scattergood, September 30, 1958
Notes about writers of history, 1940s
Lecture by historian Arnold J. Toynbee, November 6, 1955
Criticism of Toynbee's November 1955 lecture, by Abba Eban, Israel's ambassador to U.S., January 18, 1956
Walter P. Metzger (UI Department of History) paper on economist Thorstein Veblen
James R. Wiegand undergraduate college thesis, 1953
"Ten Hours," on welfare legislation in England, 1833-1867
Box 16
Modern England, lectures
Box 17
"Serendipity," background
Latin Hexameter Verse Machine
---. Machine for Making Hexameter Latin verses, by John Clark, 1837
---. "Latin Hexameter Machine," exhibition by John Clark at Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London, 1845
Box 18
Publications of other authors, and bibliography technical offprints, A-L
Box 19
Publications of other authors, and bibliography technical offprints M-Z
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California, 1976-1977
England
---. Oxford, 1968
---. Visiting professor at University of Leicester, 1979
Kenya travel information
Box 20
Aydelotte publications
---. Books
---. Articles
---. Reviews
Box 21
Publishers
American Historical Review
Shady Hill School, elementary school in Cambridge, England
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) biography of Allan George Bogue
NAS biography of Samuel P. Huntington
Social Science History Association (SSHA)
Box 22
Philosophy of History course materials 1-8, 1970s
Box 23
Philosophy of History course materials 10-13, 1970s
Box 24
Bibliographies
Box 25
Colloquiums, seminars and lectures, 1963-1981
"History of English University," bibliography and offprints
Know-Nothing Club presentation notes
---. 1945
---. 1955
---. 1962
---. 1968
---. 1969
---. 1971
---. 1974
---. 1976
---. 1979
---. 1980
---. 1982
---. 1983
---. 1987
Know-Nothing Club membership lists
---. 1961-1962
---. 1964-1965
---. 1965-1966
---. 1966-1967
---. 1967-1968
Know-Nothing Club, description and philosophy of, 1954
Charles H. Firth, Fellow of the British Academy, publications, 1918-1920
Harold Temperley biographical information, Aydelotte's Cambridge University professor
Box 26
Diaries
---. "Minutes of the Home Room Meeting of the Tenth Grade Boys," 1924
---. 1940s
---. 1950s
---. 1960s
---. 1970s
---. 1980s
---. 1990s
Address books
Correspondence from Germany,1933
Academic advice for others
Academic career of Aydelotte
---. Appointments
---. Curriculum vitae
---. Retirement
---. Bibliography of publications
Box 27a
History Department
---. Administrative notes, 1950-1989
---. Reports, 1949-1968
---. "On Coming Into the Country, or the Rocky Road to Iowa," by Stow Persons, 1993
---. Professor Harrison John Thornton, 1951-1984
---. Administrative, 1950-1951
------. Graduate Council minutes
------. Clippings
------. Speakers
------. Courses
Department, 1980-1994
Box 27b
Department
---. 1947-1949
---. 1975-1979
Box 27c
Employee Record, University of Iowa newsletter, 1949, 1950
State Historical Society of Iowa, 1948-1972
Correspondence, 1949-1959
Reports, Department of Political Science Review Committee, January 1972
Faculty
---. Winfred Trexler Root seminar room dedication, March 28, 1952
---. Oscar Handlin
------. Correspondence, 1948-1949
---. Appointments
------. 1948, 1953
------. 1955-1956
---. Correspondence
------. 1947-1951
------. Allan Bogue, 1959
Chairman, 1959-1973
"Informal Guide to Administrative Procedures," September 1950
Box 27d
History Department meeting minutes
---. September 1950-April 1951
---. April 1959-August 1981
Box 28
Correspondence
Box 29
House of Commons, chapter 1
Box 30
House of Commons, chapter 2
Box 31
House of Commons, chapter 2
Box 32
House of Commons, chapter 2
Box 33
House of Commons, chapter 2
Box 34
House of Commons, chapter 2
Box 35
House of Commons, chapter 3
Box 36
House of Commons, chapter 3
Box 37
House of Commons, chapter 3
Box 38
House of Commons, chapter 4
Box 39
House of Commons, chapter 4
Box 40
House of Commons, chapter 4, cont.
Box 41
House of Commons, chapter 4, cont.
Box 42
House of Commons, chapter 5
Box 43
House of Commons, chapter 5, cont.
Box 44
House of Commons, chapter 6
Box 45
House of Commons, chapter 6, cont.
Box 46
History department administration, 1960s
Box 47
History department administration, 1961-1973
Box 48
History department, 1973-1975
British data bank
Conferences
---. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1957, 1965
---. Ithaca, New York, 1968
Detective story, 1949
Miscellaneous
Box 49
Aydelotte's education and employment
---. William Penn Charter School, in Germantown, Pennsylvania
---. Harvard University
---. Trinity College teaching position
---. University of Minnesota position, summer 1937
---. Job offers
Readings
"Genius," paper by Aydelotte, 1931
Stanford conference, 1957
Box 50
Charles Dickens research, chapters 1-6, 1944-1970
Dickens Characters Cocktail Set, linen napkins, ca. 1946
Box 51
"The Novelist and the Historian," ca. 1950
Applications for research support
Conference on Mathematical and Statistical Methods in History (CMSMH), Harvard, June 10, 1965
Bibliographies
Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
---. 1953-1954
---. 1969
"History and the Social Sciences," research material for
Quantitative History Project, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, July 14-August 4, 1967
Box 52
Genealogy of Aydelotte's cousins, the Childers and Barton families
---. "Notes on Glan," by Aydelotte, June 1963
---. "Glendalough House," by Aydelotte
Ireland postcards and travel information
---. The Book of Kells, published by Trinity College, Dublin
---. Glendalough and the Seven Churches of St. Kevin, 1962
Book reviews by Aydelotte, 1955-1972
Correspondence about publications
American Association of University Professors (AAUP), 1961
American Historical Association (AHA), 1964
Ann Arbor lectures, 1965
Box 53
Course materials
---. Diplomatic History (course number 16:155)
---. Intellectual History
---. Modern England
---. Drafts
Box 54
Modern England course materials, including Harvard summer session, 1966
Box 55
Quantification in History
Bismarck and British Colonial Policy
American Historical Association (AHA), 1971
Ann Arbor conference, 1967
Reisman
Metzger, Walter P., UI Department of History faculty
The Business Interests of the Gentry in the Parliament of 1841-1847
Box 56
Social Science Research Council (SSRC), Aydelotte's German-language article ("Notes on the Problem of Historical Generalization") "Bemerkungen zum Problem historischer Generalisierungen," 1963
Social Science History Association (SSHA)
National Research Council panel on relation of non-response to promises of confidentiality, 1978
Box 57
Legislative conference, 1972
SSRC, 1965-1970
Box 58
Correspondence
Lectures on Victorian studies, University of Leicester, 1971
Speeches
Drafts
Reviews
Midwest conference of British Historical Studies, 1962-1963
Legislative Behavior conference suggestions, 1971
Conferences, 1971-1972
History of Parliamentary Behavior, introduction
Correspondence about trip to England, 1968
Paper delivered at Ithaca, New York
Frank Aydelotte biographical material
Correspondence with Abraham Flexner, Institute for Advanced Study, 1933-1947
Frank Aydelotte autobiography material
Correspondence with Frances Blanshard about biography, 1954-1966
Family
---. William O. Aydelotte's report cards, 7th and 9th grade
---. Frank Aydelotte at Swarthmore College
---. Journal to Frank Aydelotte from his son, February-June 1953
---. Correspondence, 1922-1929
Box 59
Appointment booklets
---. 1927
---. 1929
---. 1930s, except 1931
---. 1940s
---. 1950s, except 1952
---. 1960s
---. 1970s
Box 60
Card catalog, Members of the Corn Laws Parliament, 1-380
Box 61
Card catalog, Members of the Corn Laws Parliament, 381-526
Box 62
Card catalog, Members of the Corn Laws Parliament, 527-671
Box 63
Card catalog, Members of the Corn Laws Parliament, 672-815
Box 64
Card catalog, Members of the Corn Laws Parliament, 450-600
Box 65
Card catalog, divisions, British legislative behavior, 1841-1847
Box 66
Card catalog, divisions, British legislative behavior, 1841-1847
Box 67
Card catalog, divisions, British legislative behavior
Box 68
Correspondence, 1951-1975
Box 69a
Correspondence, A-C
Box 69b
Correspondence, D-H
Box 69c
Correspondence, H-L
Box 69d
Correspondence, M-P
Correspondence to his mother, brother, paternal grandmother, and one early photograph, 1922-1938
Correspondence to his mother and brother, 1928-1951
---. During tuberculosis treatment at Oakdale Sanatorium, September 12, 1950-June 1951
---. Regarding comparative studies of religious group's influence on social history, 1941-1943
---. Description of problems at Trinity, Smith, and Yale, 1941-1943
Code book preparation
Order of the British Empire honor
---. Clippings and correspondence, May-November 1961
---. Prints and negative of document, 1961
Book review, Sir James Graham, by John Towers Ward
Box 71
Card catalog
Box 72
Card catalog, cont.
Box 73
Card catalog, cont.
Box 74
Card catalog, cont.
Box 75
Card catalog, cont.
Box 76
Awards
Notebook
High School albums
Box 77
Articles
