Collection Guide
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Sears (Jesse Brundage) papers
SC0005
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Jesse Brundage Sears papers
Creator:
Sears, Jesse Brundage
Identifier/Call Number: SC0005
Physical Description:
14.5 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1860-1973
Language of Material:
English .
Material Removed from the Collection
Multiple copies of the Sears genealogy and duplicates of forms. Three glass negatives of
Sears' grandparents have been put in the photograph collection.
Professor Sears' papers were originally received in two lots prior to January of 1965.
These groups were combined to form SC 5 when the old Stanford Collection became the holdings
base of the University Archives in that year. The portion of the following register which
covers the first six boxes was done at that time.
Subsequently, following Professor Sears' death in December of 1973, his son, Professor
Emeritus Robert Sears, donated another group of the senior Dr. Sears' professional and
biographical material. This group expanded the chronological range of the collection and
furnished a good deal more manuscriptal material than had been included in the orginal gift.
This later donation is described in the following register as boxes 7-11.
In June of 1979, Robert Sears donated yet another group of his father's records to the
Archives. For the most part this material consists of correspondence between family members
and friends, and covers the years 1860-1973. There is a small amount of material relating to
Sears' professional life, mostly correspondence with Ellwood Cubberley. Several account
books, pocket diaries or memo books, information on Sears' family history and genealogy, and
copies of pages (not bound) from his wife, Stella's autobiography, make up the remainder of
this addition to the collection. A preliminary guide to these later boxes (12-14) is
contained in the register following box 11.
DESCRIPTION OF COLLECTION
The Sears Collection represents the combination of two groups of papers obtained prior to
January 1965 with another large assemblage of papers added in March of 1974. A third
addition was added to this collection in July of 1979. Both the pre-1965 and 1974 papers
include four categories of data. A relatively small collection of Sears' correspondence in
his professional capacities is present in both sets. Some personal history appears in Box 2
(part of the pre-1965 material), and a larger amount in Box 7 (part of the 1974 material).
Except for the last three boxes which were added in 1979 and contain mostly family and
personal correspondence, the bulk of the collection consists of Sears' writings, which are
divided into a manuscript category and a reprint category. It should be noted that these
four categories are intermixed in the pre-1965 material (first six boxes), and separated in
the 1974 material. The material added in 1979 also includes account books, memo or pocket
diaries, information on the Sears family history and some professional correspondence with
Ellwood Cubberley.
MAJOR CORRESPONDENTS
Most of the correspondence in this collection is in the most recent (1979) addition of
material. As yet these boxes have received only preliminary attention, and the list of major
correspondents is not complete. Among them are Ellwood Cubberley, J.B. Sears' wife Stella
Richardson Sears, his children: Jean, Robert and Norman Sears, his brothers and sisters,
C.B. Sears, C.N. Sears, G.W. Sears, B.L. Sears H.J. Sears C.G. Sears, and D.L. Sears, as
well as numerous other relatives and friends.
Dr. Sears was a Professor of Education at Stanford University from 1912-1942. He was born
in 1876 and died in 1973.
[Identification of item], Jesse Brundage Sears Papers, SC 005, Stanford University
Archives, Stanford, Calif.
Gift of Jesse Brundage Sears and Robert Sears, 1965, 1974, 1978, and 1979. Gift of Nancy
Barker Sears, 2018.
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the
documents or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the
Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections and Univeristy Archives.