Collection ID: 4079585 MS#1073

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Robinson, Geroid Tanquary, 1892-1971
Extent:
33 linear feet and 79 boxes 2 oversize boxes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Geroid Tanquary Robinson papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Background

Scope and Content:

Correspondence, manuscripts, notes, documents, subject files, photographs, art works, and printed materials. This collection covers the entire span of his life, although by far the greatest part relates to his activities as a professor from the 1930s to the 1960s. Among the correspondents are many important figures in American Russian studies or Columbia University; there are also many letters from his wife, Clemens T. Robinson, and Lewis Mumford. Manuscripts by Robinson include his "Rural Russia under the Old Regime" lectures, notes, speeches and essays, and also miscellaneous pieces (essays, reviews, poems, stories, plays, etc.) that he wrote while he was an aspiring young journalist and writer in the 1910s and 1920s. Manuscripts by others consist of student theses, papers, books and reports that were given him for review or comment. Subject files deal with such topics as his service in World War I; Columbia University (especially the Libraries and the History Department); and various aspects of academic life and Russian studies. Almost nothing in the collection has any bearing on his government service during World War II; items from the war years concern personal affairs or scholarship. There are photographs of Robinson and his wife; family photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and Russian scenes. Art works include items by Clemens T. Robinson. Among the printed materials are two books inscribed by Mumford to Robinson.

Biographical / Historical:

Geroid T. Robinson, 1892-1971 (Columbia A.M. 1922; Ph.D. 1930) professor of Russian history at Columbia University. He was born Rodney G. Robinson in Virginia; after marrying Clemens Tanquary in 1921 he took her surname as his middle name. He had hoped to be a journalist and writer, and was on the staff of THE DIAL and THE FREEMAN from 1919 to 1924. From 1925 to 1927 he did doctoral research in the Soviet Union, which resulted in his only book RURAL RUSSIA UNDER THE OLD REGIME (1931). During World War II he was chief, USSR Division, Research and Analysis Branch, OSS. From the 1920s onward, Robinson taught in the History Department at Columbia Undiversity and was involved in the developing field of Russian studies. From 1946 to 1951 he was the first head of Columbia's Russian Institute. In 1950 he became Seth Low Professor of History and retired in 1960.

Acquisition information:
Papers: Source of acquisition--Various. Method of acquisition--Gift.
Custodial history:

Bequest of Geroid T. Robinson, 1971.

Transfer from S.I.A. Library, 1977, 1986 & 1989.

Processing information:

Papers Entered in AMC 11/28/90.

Arrangement:

Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged.

Accruals:

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 2-80. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

There is no Box 77 in the collection; it appears that the number was skipped during processing as there is no Box 77 in the original container list for the collection.

This collection has no restrictions.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Geroid Tanquary Robinson papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
6th Floor East Butler Library
535 West 114th St.
New York, NY 10027, United States
CONTACT:
(212) 854-5590
rbml@library.columbia.edu