IV. Research Files,, 1950-2000

Summary: The research files pertaining to "Rutgers University, 1963-1989," are organized according to publication/research topic and further arranged alphabetically or chronologically. These files relate to several books and reports that McCormick authored, including Academic Reorganization in New Brunswick, Report on the Bergel-Hauptmann Case, which was ultimately published as The Case of the Nazi Professor, The Black Student Protest Movement at Rutgers, and Rutgers, A Bicentennial History. Miscellaneous Rutgers' research subjects are listed alphabetically within their own "Other" sub-subseries. The university history material is supplemental to the research conducted for the history of Rutgers, but was not directly linked to, or specified for, research for McCormick's bicentennial history book.

The files relating to Academic Reorganization in New Brunswick consist of fact sheets, drafts of correspondence, interdepartmental communications from the Provost's Office and various meetings' minutes, as well as faculty memoranda from the Office of Dean of Rutgers College. Items of note include copies of McCormick's "Comments on Federation" (October 9, 1979), "An Alternative to Federation" (October 19, 1979), and "Thoughts on Academic Reorganization" (January 28, 1981).

The material in the next subseries concern the December 1986 Report on the Bergel-Hauptmann Case written by McCormick, Daniel Horn and David Oshinsky. The three Rutgers historians were asked by Dean Tilden Edelstein (at the request of President Edward J. Bloustein) to form a special faculty committee to investigate the firing of German professor Lienhard Bergel from the New Jersey College for Women in 1935. They later expanded their report, which was published by Rutgers University Press under the title, The Case of the Nazi Professor (1989). The research materials and notes include interview transcripts and questions, early personnel information on Bergel, enrollment notes, testimony transcripts, and periodical/newspaper clippings, as well as outlines for and drafts of the report. Some items of note beyond the general information about the case include interviews with Alan Silver, a Rutgers alumnus who involved himself greatly with the case of "clearing" Bergel's name both in 1935 and in 1986. There are also copies of correspondence between Silver and McCormick, as well as between Silver and the other historians.

Research materials for McCormick's 1990 book, The Black Student Protest Movement at Rutgers, is arranged according to the order imposed by the author. The dates and information originally detailed on the folders were retained and listed in the container list. Rather than just focusing on the events of 1968 and 1969, the book begins with the year 1963 and works its way up to the particular events of those years. It discusses the protests as they occurred on the three Rutgers campuses (New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark). McCormick's notes are more than just secondary research, as they also include material he collected as Chairman of the special faculty committee formed to address the demands of the Rutgers College Student Afro-American Society.

Files pertaining to Rutgers, A Bicentennial History consists of research notes, periodical clippings, and notes on secondary sources used for researching McCormick's 1966 history of Rutgers. They were originally filed in small 5 x 8 index card boxes under the following headings: History of Rutgers I: 1824-1906, History of Rutgers II: 1906-1932, and History of Rutgers III: 1932-1966. Also included in this subseries are two folders whose original headings were "Chapter I" and "Chapter II," and they also consist of research notes and material (either photocopies or photostats) for the 1966 book, but they include the history of Rutgers from the Queen's College era onward.

McCormick's research material on other Rutgers' topics is arranged according to subject. Included in the folders is material on the Heimlich-Finley Case (1952-1966, bulk in 1952-1953), a significant event in Rutgers' history that involved the University's reaction to Professors Simon W. Heimlich and Moses I. Finley's refusal to talk to the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. This event significantly affected McCormick, and he was very much involved in the faculty response to the official University position. The material includes the following: The Statement of Dr. Lewis Webster Jones, President of Rutgers University, Tuesday, October 4, 1952 (with attached report of the Special Committee set up by him to advise him on Finley and Heimlich's refusal to talk to the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee); December 3, 1952 letter to Dr. Lewis Webster Jones from the Special Faculty Committee of Review Concerning Simon W. Heimlich and Moses I. Finley (with attached report); the Resolution of the Rutgers University Board of Trustees adopted at a meeting dated December 12, 1952; a January 19, 1953 Memorandum to the Members of the Board of Trustees of Rutgers University from the Emergency Committee of Rutgers Faculty on the Trustees' Decision of December 12, 1952 (with attached statement of the Emergency Committee of the Faculty on the Trustees' Action of December 12, 1952); McCormick's notes on the Memorandum of the Emergency Committee; and the Statement of President Lewis Webster Jones of Rutgers University on the Heimlich-Finley cases, January 24, 1953 (with a handwritten note on it by RPM: "Prepared for release before the January 23rd Board of Trustees meeting at which oral arguments were presented").

The "New Jersey/Regional files" consist of research material on various New Jersey or Regional subjects and include maps, notes, photos, citation lists, clippings, photostats, flyers, speeches, and correspondence. Of particular note is his research on William Whipper (Box 26, Folders 3-5), which was used for his 1976 article on Whipper.

The "American History files" include extensive research materials relating to McCormick's work, including "Ambiguous Authority," The American Interregnum, "Golf for Women," The Presidential Game, and The Second American Party System. Also included are miscellaneous research files on additional topics in American political history and theory.