Preparing our Past for the Future: Evaluation of the Otterbein University Archives
FAIN: PG-263551-19
Otterbein University (Westerville, OH 43081-2004)
Stephen D. Grinch (Project Director: May 2018 to March 2021)
A preservation assessment of the university’s archives
and special collections, comprising 3,000 linear feet of official records,
personal papers, publications, and artifacts.
Materials primarily document the history of the university, founded in
1847 by the United Brethren Church, the nation’s first Christian denomination
not transplanted from Europe. Highlights
of the collection include the papers of alumni John and Zella Bates King, who
ran the United Brethren’s Albert Academy Missionary School in Freetown, Sierra
Leone, from 1894 to 1912, and of alumna Ila Grindell, who served as secretary
to Ernest Cherrington, a leader of the American temperance movement in the
early 20th century.
The Otterbein University Archive in Westerville, Ohio is dedicated to the collection of historical materials related to the university and the United Brethren Church, which founded Otterbein in 1847. Small colleges stand at the intersection of the intellectual history of the country and the social history of their communities. Otterbein’s archive, unique in both size and scope, documents the interplay of those histories. Its 3000 + linear feet of materials capture everything from the birth of the Temperance Movement to personal accounts of the lives of our alumni. This archive is actively used by our community and outside historians, but we want to improve our preservation and access efforts. We are seeking this grant to hire a professional archival consultant to assess the state of our collection, specifically the means of preservation; the facility; the ways in which the collection is made available for research; and the policies governing the collection in our operation.