Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Stevens, David Harrison (1884-1980) and Rockefeller Foundation
- Extent:
- 1.71 Cubic Feet and 4 letter document cases 1 1/2 letter document case
- Language:
- English .
Background
- Scope and Content:
The David H. Stevens papers contain little material of a personal nature. Consisting of reports, correspondence, pamphlets, articles, speeches, and a book manuscript, the papers focus narrowly upon Stevens's term as Director of the Humanities Division of The Rockefeller Foundation (1932-1949) and upon some of his retirement activities. Such correspondence as exists in this collection is mainly concerned with Stevens's contacts among Foundation personnel and grantees or the disposition of his papers with the Foundation archives. Approximately eighty percent of the material in this collection consists of reports and other records related to the operations of the Humanities Division. None of the material relates to Stevens's service with the General Education Board.
- Biographical / Historical:
Educator and author, David Harrison Stevens was born on December 20, 1884, in Berlin, Wisconsin. He received his undergraduate (1906) and master's (1910) degrees from Lawrence College, a second master's degree from Harvard University (1912), and the Ph.D. in English from the University of Chicago (1914). During his undergraduate years, he met Ruth Frances Davis, whom he married on March 26, 1915. Their family included three children.
After a brief tenure as Instructor of English at Northwestern University (1908-1912), Dr. Stevens received a similar post at the University of Chicago, where he rose to Professor of English and later Associate Dean of Faculties. During this period, interrupted briefly by military service in World War I, he published scholarly studies on Milton and Restoration drama.
On October 19, 1929, Dr. Stevens was named Director of Education for the General Education Board. The following year, he became Vice President of that organization, a position he held until May 20, 1938.
At the beginning of 1932, Dr. Stevens was appointed the first full-time Director of the Humanities Division of The Rockefeller Foundation. Under his leadership, Foundation appropriations for the humanities developed from a series of random grants into full-scale programs of library support, creative work in drama, film, and radio, and intensive training in modern languages and foreign culture. Dr. Stevens retired from the Foundation on December 31, 1949.
During his retirement years, Dr. Stevens continued his active interest in education and authorship, producing two books: "The Changing Humanities" (1953, later title "A Time for Humanities," 1969) and "Ten Talents in the American Theatre" (1957). In 1967, he and his wife endowed the Stevens Lectureship in the Humanities at Lawrence University. Dr. Stevens died in La Jolla, California, on January 29, 1980.
- Acquisition information:
- David H. Stevens donated his papers to The Rockefeller Foundation between 1969 and 1975.
- Arrangement:
The David H. Stevens Papers are divided into two series:
Series 1 - Personal Papers
Series 2 - Rockefeller Foundation Records
Indexed Terms
- Subjects:
- Humanities
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
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Open for research. Brittle or damaged items are available at the discretion of RAC. Researchers interested in accessing digital media (floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, etc.) or audiovisual material (audio cassettes, VHS, etc.) in this collection must use an access surrogate. The original items may not be accessed because of preservation concerns. To request an access surrogate be made, or if you are unsure if there is an access surrogate, please contact an archivist.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
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Rockefeller Foundation has title, copyright, and literary rights in the collection, in so far as it holds them. Rockefeller Archive Center has authority to grant permission to cite and publish archival material from the collection.
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
- CONTACT:
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