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Charles W. Cole (AC 1927) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MA.00163

Scope and Contents

Letters, reports, minutes, speeches, photographs, printed matter and other materials documenting Charles W. Cole's personal life and professional career as President of Amherst College (1946-1960) and as a member of a variety of committees and boards in the private and public sector. The collection also includes correspondence and other personal papers of Cole's first wife, Katharine. Charles Cole's personal papers include a large volume of correspondence with his parents and with Charles H. Morgan; also undergraduate material, family photographs and awards. Amherst College material is limited to speeches made as President and materials documenting his visit to Doshisha University, Japan, in 1953, including a photograph album. Cole's writings include mainly manuscripts for his 1935 book Colbert and a Century of French Mercantilism. The rest of the collection consists of files relating to Cole's service on a variety of boards and committees, including the Fund for the Republic, Committee on the National Security Organization, American Cancer Society, U.S. Air Force, Merrill Foundation for the Advancement of Financial Knowledge, Educational Testing Service, and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

Dates

  • Creation: 1906-1979
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1920-1960

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

There is no restriction on access to the Cole Papers for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Conditions Governing Use

Requests for permission to publish material from Cole Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Extent

26 Linear feet (23 records storage boxes, 4 archives boxes, 1 half archives box and 3 flat boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Letters, reports, minutes, speeches, photographs, printed matter and other materials documenting Charles W. Cole's personal life and professional career as President of Amherst College (1946-1960) and as a member of a variety of committees and boards in the private and public sector. The collection also includes correspondence and other personal papers of Cole's first wife, Katharine, but does not include any significant material related to Cole's appointment as Ambassador to Chile or Trustee of Hampshire College.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into fourteen series:

  1. Series 1: Correspondence, 1921-1978, undated
  2. Series 2: Appointment Calendars, 1938-1958
  3. Series 3: Speeches, 1938-1960, undated
  4. Series 4: Amherst College, 1945-1954
  5. Series 5: Personal Affairs, 1906-1953, bulk: 1920-1953
  6. Series 6: Writings, 1920-1958
  7. Series 7: Fund for the Republic, Inc., 1952-1960
  8. Series 8: Committee on the National Security Organization, 1948-1950
  9. Series 9: American Cancer Society Advisory Committee on Institutional Research Grants, 1956-1958
  10. Series 10: Air Force Committee, 1949-1951
  11. Series 11: Merrill Foundation for Advancement of Financial Knowledge, Inc., 1945-1958
  12. Series 12: Educational Testing Service, 1949-1956
  13. Series 13: Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, 1950-1955 (unsorted)
  14. Series 14: Katharine Cole Papers, 1916-1964

Related Materials

Alumni Biographical Files -- Class of 1927 -- Cole, Charles W.

Cole-Hamill family correspondence (Accession 2022-031; please consult archivist)

Chronology

1906
February 8: Born in Montclair, New Jersey, son of Charles Buckingham and Bertha Woolsey (Dwight) Cole. Attends Montclair High School.
1923
Enrolls at Amherst College, where he is a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, The Amherst Student, and Phi Beta Kappa.
1926
April-December: serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Amherst Student.
1927
June: Graduates summa cum laude from Amherst College.
1928
MA degree, Columbia University.
Teaches economic history at Columbia while pursuing doctorate
August 28: Marries Katharine Salmon (Smith College, 1928) in St. Louis
1931
PhD, Columbia University
Book: French Mercantilist Doctrines Before Colbert is published
1935-1940
Professor of Economics, Amherst College
1939
Book: Colbert and a Century of French Mercantilism is published
1940-1946
Professor of History, Columbia University
1941-1945
During World War II, Cole spends a year with the Office of Price Administration in Washington and two years in New York City as Regional Price Executive
1942
LHD (hon.), Amherst College
1943
Book: French Mercantilism, 1683-1700 is published.
1946-1960
12th President, Amherst College. Under Cole's administration the "New Curriculum" is introduced, in which each student is required to take a course in science, English, European civilization and a foreign language. Also, the teaching faculty is strengthened, the student body grows in size from 1,000 to 1,200 and its endowment grows from $16 million to $42 million. Upon his retirement he is elected President Emeritus by the Board of Trustees.
1948 October
Cole is appointed advisor to the Committee on the National Security Organization (Ferdinand Eberstadt, Chairman), one of many U.S. governmental task forces making up the Hoover Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch of Government
1949
Book: History of Europe (with Carlton J. H. Hayes and Marshall W. Baldwin) is published
1949-1956
Trustee, Educational Testing Service
1952
Book: Economic History of Europe (with S. B. Clough) is published
Joins the Board of Directors of Fund for the Republic, Inc.
1956-
Trustee, Merrill Foundation for the Advancement of Financial Knowledge, Inc.
1960-1961
Vice-President, Rockefeller Foundation
1961-1964
Cole serves as U.S. Ambassador to Chile in Santiago
1965-
stee, Clarke School for the Deaf (Northampton, Massachusetts)
Trustee, Hampshire College
1966-1968
Director, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
1967
Book: History of Western Civilization is published
1970
Book: A Free People (2 volumes) is published
1972
Wife Katharine dies of a heart attack at home
1974
Marries Marie Greer Donahoe
Moves to Seattle, Washington
1978
February 6: Dies of a heart attack while at sea returning from a trip through the Caribbean. Burial in Wildwood Cemetery, Amherst

Children: Elizabeth (wife of Hugh M. Hamill, Jr. AC 1951)
Katharine (wife of John C. Esty, Jr. AC 1950)

Honorary degrees: American International, Amherst, Clarkson, Columbia, Doshisha, Hamilton, Trinity, University of Massachusetts, Wagner, Wesleyan, Williams

Hobbies: Gardening, trout fishing

Status
Completed
Author
Peter A. Nelson, Assistant Archivist
Date
2005
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Robert Frost Library
61 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst MA 01002-5000
(413) 542-2299