UA 002D - Office of the President (Ralph W. McDonald) Records, 1939-1961
MLA Citation
“UA 002D - Office of the President (Ralph W. McDonald) Records, 1939-1961.” Finding Aids. BGSU University Libraries, 6 Mar. 2018, lib.bgsu.edu/finding_aids/items/show/2532. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.
Tags
Title | UA 002D - Office of the President (Ralph W. McDonald) Records, 1939-1961 |
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Introduction | Dr. Ralph McDonald became Bowling Green State University’s fourth president in 1951 and served until 1961. During his ten-year presidency, student enrollment nearly doubled and the total campus acreage increased from 240 acres to 600 acres. In addition, McDonald oversaw the construction of ten new buildings and the renovation of many others. At the outset of Dr. McDonald's presidency, lack of on-campus housing was a major problem. In response to this need, Rodgers, Founders, Conklin Quadrangles, and the Alice Prout Residence Hall were constructed. In addition, the University Union, Memorial Hall (housing Anderson Arena), West Hall, and South Hall were completed. By the end of Dr. McDonald’s term, all but one of the temporary buildings put in place during World War II had been eliminated or replaced. The total cost of all this building construction and renovation amounted to almost $35 million. Dr. McDonald’s experience and qualifications marked him as someone who would move Bowling Green State University from its traditional role as a teacher training college to a full-fledged liberal arts university, preparing its graduates for leadership in a troubled and complex world. With this goal in mind, Dr. McDonald sought to increase the number of faculty holding Ph.D. degrees who were active in research and publication, in addition to classroom teaching. During this time there was a movement at universities across the United States aimed at providing faculty and students with greater liberty and opportunities to influence university policy. In contrast, Dr. McDonald viewed the role of university president as strongly authoritative. Controversies inevitably flared from time to time, and faculty and student morale suffered. Over the years, the situation worsened, culminating in student demonstrations in 1961 and numerous faculty petitions. Dr. McDonald resigned the office of president in 1961. More information about McDonald's tumultuous time in office can be found in the Presdient Ralph McDonald Controversy Collection (MS 1126). Duplication of materials in this collection is permitted for the purposes of preservation and research. No restrictions exist on the use of this collection. As described in the Visiting Researcher Application Form, researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright. Materials found in this collection may be duplicated in other University Archives collections including overlaps between this collection and the collections of President Prout and President Harshman. |
Biographical Sketch | Ralph Waldo McDonald was born March 1, 1903 in Gallatin County, Illinois. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1925 from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. At Duke University, he earned both his Master's and doctoral degrees (1933, in educational psychology) and attended law school, later serving as a member of the North Carolina legislature. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and active in many professional associations relating to higher education, Dr. McDonald served as executive secretary of the Department of Higher Education of the National Education Association for seven years before accepting the presidency at BGSU. The Board of Trustees approved a leave of absence for Dr. McDonald following his resignation as president and retained his position as a professor of higher education. After leaving the university, McDonald served as executive director of the National Committee for the Support of Public Schools in Washington, D.C. Upon his retirement from that position in 1965, he and his wife lived in Florida for ten years, retiring to Arkansas in 1975. Dr. McDonald died in January, 1977. |
Scope and Content | The collection consists of subject files on various topics, correspondence, memorandums, and official statements. The records date from 1939-1961 with the bulk being from the 1950s. Collection size: 4 legal sized manuscript boxes (2 cubic feet) |
Inventory | Box 1: 1: Administrative Organization, [1951] 2: Alice Prout Scholarship, 1953-1957 3: Alma Mater Contest 4: Alumni Association-Amendments to Constitution, 1959 5: American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Correspondence, 1957-1962 (sc.) 6: AAUW Accreditation, 1947-1961 7: Association of American Medical Colleges, Correspondence, Reports, 1960-1961 8: BG City Board of Education-Student Teaching Contracts, 1957-1961 (sc.) 9: Branch Campuses, 1953, 1958 10: California Poly Tech, 1960-1962 11: Chemistry Request for Overtime Work Approval, 1960 12: Circle K. Club, 1956 13: Civil Rights, 1960 14: Councils and Committees-Annual Reports, 1955-1956 15: Discrimination at BGSU and Other Institutions, 1939-1961 16: Dedication - Hall of Music, 1956-1957 17: Dedication - Memorial Hall, 1961 18: Dedication Rogers Quadrangle/Alice Prout Hall, 1955 19: The Falcon - Class Gift, 1959 20: English Doctoral Program, 1958-1961 21: Fiftieth (Golden) Anniversary-paper by R. Freeman Butts for Education Symposium, 1960 22: Fiftieth Anniversary-Medallion-Correspondence, 1959 23: Financing Higher Education: Successful Capital Expansion Programs in Publicly Controlled Institutions, 1956 24: Fostoria Branch-establishment of, 1958-1959 25: Fremont Branch-establishment of, 1957 26: General Motors Scholarship, 1958-1961 (sc.) 27: Golden Anniversary Celebration, 1957-1959 28: Health, Education and Welfare Department (HEW): Questionnaires, 1958-1961 29: Honors Banquet, 1959-1960 30: Housing Statistics, 1954-1958 (sc.) 31: Humanist Society, 1961 32: Inauguration Program, 1952 33: International Program, 1960-1961 34: IUC Committee on the Superior Student, 1959 35: IUC Ad Hoc Committee on Admissions Policies Report, 1957 36: IUC Ad Hoc Committee to Consider Promotion, Leaves for Faculty: Reports, 1959 37: IUC Branch Campuses Budgets, 1959-1960 38: IUC Constitution, 1952-1961 (sc.) 39: IUC Construction, 1956 40: IUC Correspondence, 1961 41: IUC Dollar Expenditures, Charts, 1959-1961 42: IUC Educational and General Expenditures, Charts, 1960-1961 Box 2: 1: IUC-Faculty Salary Data, 1952-1953 2: IUC-Faculty Salary Data, 1954-1955 3: IUC-Faculty Salary Data, 1956-1957 4: IUC-Faculty Salary Data, 1958-1959 5: IUC-Faculty Salary Data, 1960-1961 6: IUC-Fiscal Authority of State Universities in Ohio, 1961 7: IUC-Fiscal Officers Meetings, 1960 8: IUC-"For a Better Tomorrow" Informational Brochure, 1953 9: IUC-Graduate Study, a Proposal, 1952 10: IUC-Student Fees, 1959 11: Journalism Activities Committee, 1961 12: Land Acquisition, 1956, 1960 13: Lausche, Frank-Correspondence on number of BGSU Employees, 1954 14: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1951-1952 15: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1953 Box 3: 1: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1954 2: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1955 3: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1956 4: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1957 5: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1958 6: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1959 7: Memorandums/Official Statements, 1960-1961 8: Mid-American Conference-Code/Regulations (Revisions) 1953, 1955 9: Mid-American Conference-Code/Regulations (Revisions) 1956, 1961 10: Mid-American Conference-Meetings/Reports, 1952-1957 11: Mid-American Conference-Meetings/Reports, 1958-1961 12: MidWest Program on Airborne Television Instruction, 1960- 1961 (sc.) 13: National Defense Student Loan Program, 1960-1961 14: National Education Association-Questionnaire, 1953-1960 15: North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools-Correspondence/Reports, 1951-1960 16: North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools-Correspondence/Reports, 1961 Box 4: 1: Prout, Frank J., 1951-1961 2: Religious Activities Committee, 1954, 1956 3: Resignation (McDonald), 1961 4: ROTC, 1953, 1957, 1961 5: ROTC, Air Force, 1956-1958 (sc.) 6: Sidney Frohman Scholarship, 1954, 1956-1960 (sc.) 7: Social Policy Committee-Minutes/Correspondence, 1958-1961 8: State Attorney General Opinions, 1951-1960 (sc.) 9: State Department of Education, 1952-1958 (sc.) 10: State Department of Education-Annual Report of BGSU, 1951-1960 (sc.) 11: State Universities-Financial Support-Statistics, 1954-1960 (sc.) 12: Sterling Farm Acquisition, 1956, 1958 13: Student Court-Files/Manuals, 1954-1961 (sc.) 14: Summer Swimming Program, 1960 15: Teaching Loads-Memos/Reports, 1952-1955 (sc.) 16: Ticket Sales, 1961 17: Toledo University - BGSU Melee Report, 1951 18: Union Activities Organization-Memos, Proposals, 1959-1961 19: University Union, 1954, 1958 20: “Speak Now! We Are Sure You Can" (in College and University Business by Ralph McDonald, page 17), 1958 21: State Tax Dollars per Full Time Equivalent Student Approximated by Forty Two States for Educational and General Operating Expenses of Eighty State Universities for 1959/60 22: Step One Committee in the Planning of Expanded Educational Facilities Report, 1955 23: Veterans Administration, 1951-1959 |