Clark Kerr personal and professional papers, 1800-2005,, bulk bulk 1952-2003

Summary

Creators:

Kerr, Clark, 1911-2003

Abstract:

Clark Kerr Personal and Professional Papers documents Kerr's life as an educator, labor negotiator, and, most importantly, as chancellor of UC Berkeley and then president of the University of California system. The collection spans his professional career from the beginning of his work in labor relations to his last great work, his memoir, The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967. The collection contains personal, professional, and family papers (including correspondence and papers of his parents and grandparents) of Clark Kerr, including University of California administrative records, writings, speeches, correspondence, awards, committee papers, and photographs.

Extent:

Number of containers: 70 Cartons, 6 boxes Linear feet: 90.13

Language:

Collection materials are in English.

Background

Scope and content:

Clark Kerr Personal and Professional Papers documents Kerr's life as an educator, labor negotiator, and, most importantly, as chancellor of UC Berkeley and then president of the University of California system. The collection spans his professional career from the beginning of his work in labor relations to his last great work, his memoir, The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967. The collection contains personal, professional, and family papers (including correspondence and papers of his parents and grandparents) of Clark Kerr, including University of California administrative records, writings, speeches, correspondence, awards, committee papers, and photographs.

Of especial interest for students of the sixties, might be Series 1, Administrative Files and Series 5, The Gold and the Blue. The Administrative Files reflect the most pressing concerns of Kerr's chancellorship and presidency. They include original memoranda and other official records that Kerr required to handle those issues. Included in Series 5 are background materials collected for writing his memoirs as well as candid comments by his peers on his manuscript as he wrote it. In some cases there is voluminous correspondence reflecting disagreements over the course of events described in controversial chapters.

Series 2 and 3, Professional Papers as Chancellor and as President reflect Kerr's more unofficial life during those periods. They include materials that reflect his on-going interest in labor relations and teaching and his involvement in professional organizations and committees and for the federal government. After he was fired in 1967, Kerr returned to teaching and took up positions with the Carnegie Commission. He was very active in higher education in more general ways, conducting research and chairing various national committees to study issues in higher education.

The collection is arranged into seven series: Administrative Files, 1940-1987; Professional Papers as Chancellor, 1940-1958; Professional Papers as President, 1958-1973; Personal Files Post-President, 1967-2003; The Gold and the Blue, 1942-2004; Honors and Awards, 1945-2003; and Personal and Family Papers, 1900s-2004

Biographical / historical:

Clark Kerr was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on May 17, 1911 to Samuel W. and Caroline (Clark) Kerr. He married Catherine (Kitty) Spaulding in Los Angeles, California in 1934, and they had three children: Clark Edgar, Alexander William, and Caroline Mary. Kerr died in 2003, shortly after completing his memoirs, The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967.

Kerr received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1932 from Swarthmore College, his Master of Arts degree in 1933 from Stanford University, and his PhD in economics in 1939 from the University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley). His first teaching position was at Antioch College from 1937 to 1938, and he went on to teach at International College in Elsinore, Denmark; Stanford University; the University of Washington; and Berkeley. From 1945 to 1952, he was the Director of the Institute of Industrial Relations at Berkeley. He became the first Chancellor at Berkeley in 1952, a post he held until 1958, when he became President of the University of California system. While president he lead the expansion of the University system by three new campuses and wrestled with growing student unrest and the Free Speech Movement. In 1967, under pressure from Governor Ronald Reagan, the Board of Regents fired him, he and resumed his teaching and research. He led the influential Carnegie Commission on Higher Education until 1973 and its successor the Carnegie Council on Policy Issues in Higher Education until 1979.*

*Most of the information in this biographical summary came from the Center for Studies in Higher Education web site: http://cshe.berkeley.edu/events/kerrlectures/

Acquisition information:

The Clark Kerr Personal and Professional Papers were transferred to the University Archives from Clark Kerr, The Center for Studies in Higher Education, and Marion Gade.

Physical location:

Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, University Archives

University of California, Berkeley, University Archives, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

(510) 642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

Website