Heinlen Hall papers

The W. Heinlen Hall papers contain Dr. Hall’s correspondence and files from the years of his employment as a chemistry professor at Bowling Green State University, from approximately 1931 to his retirement in 1976. The documents reveal a detailed researcher, a devoted mentor to fledgling chemists, and a respected colleague within the profession.

The Hall correspondence begins in 1931 with a small number of documents (grant related) from his undergraduate student days in chemistry at Muskingum College, his later research, and some congratulatory letters upon his retirement. The majority of the correspondence, however, is from his students and academic colleagues beginning with his employment at BGSU and continuing after he retired in 1976. Since a great deal of the student correspondence is from the World War II period, researchers might find of interest the details of Dr. Hall’s students’ war service as well as how they were creatively applying their chemistry skills learned at BGSU. From the letters one can also discern the strong influence Dr. Hall had on his students and his willingness to help them find jobs in the field. There are some scattered copies of outgoing correspondence from him that reflect this. Letters from colleagues shed some light on changes within the BGSU Chemistry Department over the years as seen from the perspective of mostly retired faculty with whom he taught in the department.

The majority of the Hall Collection is devoted to a large number of files relevant to his many activities at BGSU. The Department Files offer a general view of instruction, research, and faculty activities in Chemistry from approximately 1939 until 1996. His Personal Files include credentials, various honors, and recognition upon his retirement. The Class Files document specific courses Dr. Hall was teaching and provide a glimpse into the chemistry curriculum. These can include some of Dr. Hall’s notes and lecture details from the classes. The Special Problems Files are comprised of notebooks in which Dr. Hall describes the kind of research projects the students were completing in the class and the additional work anticipated. These are a nice snapshot from 1945-1966 of the kinds of instruction chemistry students were being given as part of the Special Problems course work.

Research files highlight not only Dr. Hall’s scholarship and interests but include some student projects and documents regarding the collaboration between the Chemistry Department and Libbey-Owens-Ford from 1953-1959. The Summer Institute Files include research projects of area high school chemistry teachers pursuing a Masters degree in the field during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Dr. Hall and some students were also doing a survey in the 1940’s on science periodicals available at the BGSU library.

The Committee and Civil Defense Files would be an important source of information for researchers interested in changes that occurred at BGSU at the end of World War II and into the approaching Cold War era. It should be noted that some of Dr. Hall’s scientific research was applied in his Civil Defense work and is included in at least one of the collection’s Civil Defense manuals discussing radioactivity.