Collection ID: 6228599 UA#0145

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Cordier, Andrew W (Andrew Wellington), 1901-1975
Abstract:
This collection consists of correspondence, both personal and professional, of Andrew Cordier from the late 1920s through 1974, as well as administrative records related to Cordier's tenure at Columbia University.
Extent:
11 Linear Feet and 11 record cartons
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Andrew Cordier Papers at the Columbia University Archives (Box and Folder), University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Background

Scope and Content:

The collection consists of correspondence, both personal and professional, of Andrew Cordier from the late 1920s through 1974. The collection also includes Cordier's administrative records, such as committee information, Trustees files, University Senate files, budget information, President's Report drafts, and other reports and press releases related to his time at Columbia. Folders within each series are arranged in alphabetical order unless otherwise noted in the series description. The material within all folders is arranged in chronological order or, in the case of Correspondence, Post as Acting President, Correspondence, Post as President and Correspondence, Columbia University General, Alphabetical where the material is arranged alphabetically by sender's last name. All original photographs were moved to the photograph collection except headshots of refugees, which are attached to correspondence within Series I. Correspondence, Subseries I.1. Personal. Photographs are housed under "Academics-Schools and Departments, Psychology, Department of," "Cordier, Andrew," "Buildings and Grounds-Morningside Campus, Engineering Building, exterior," and "Buildings and Grounds-Morningside Campus, International Affairs Building Construction, 1969." Photocopies of the images were placed in the original location of the photographs (Correspondence, Columbia University, General, March-April 1969, Correspondence, Columbia University, General, October-December, 1969, Correspondence, Columbia University, Alphabetical "W-Z," 1968-1970, and Assorted Material, Construction of School of International Affairs Building) and marked with the new location of the original.

Biographical / Historical:

Andrew Wellington Cordier was born in 1901 in Ohio to Wellington J. Cordier and Ida Mae Anstine. He graduated from Hartville high school as the valedictorian and varsity quarterback. He then attended Manchester College in Indiana where he received his B.A. in 1922. He subsequently received his M.A. (1923) and Ph.D. (1926) in history from the University of Chicago. His academic career began with teaching history at Manchester College from 1923 to 1927. During that time he married Dorothy Elizabeth Butterbough in 1926 and had two children. From 1927 to 1944 Cordier was chair of the department of history and political science at Manchester College. Although he had some contact with the government, he began his major government service in 1944 when he became adviser on international security for the United States State Department. In 1946, Cordier became executive assistant to United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Trygve Lie. From 1946 to 1962, among other appointments, he advised sixteen General Assembly leaders, served as a special representative to Korea, acted as Dag Hammarskjold's envoy in the Mount Scopus affair, and was the U.N.'s representative in the Congo.

In 1962, Cordier left the U.N. to become dean of the School of International Affairs at Columbia University. On August 23, 1968, after the first protests and student riots of 1968 on Columbia's campus forced President Grayson Kirk to resign, the Trustees appointed Cordier as Acting President. After a successful year, Cordier was appointed the fifteenth President of Columbia University in 1969. He only served as president for one year and in September 1970 returned to the School of International Affairs as Dean. He remained in that position until he retired in 1972 and became Director of Development for the School of International Affairs and Regents Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, until 1974. Cordier died of a liver ailment on July 11, 1975 in Long Island.

(The above information was taken from Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2000; and Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 9:1971-1975. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994. For more biographical information on Andrew Cordier, see Historical Biographical Files.)

Processing information:

This collection was processed by Abby Lester in 2002. Finding aid written by Abby Lester in September 2002. Finding aid was re-formatted by Evan Roth (SEAS 2010) and Jocelyn Wilk in October 2008.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in nine series.

Accruals:

No additions are expected.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection has no restrictions.

This collection is located off-site. 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.

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); Andrew Cordier Papers at the Columbia University Archives (Box and Folder), University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

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