II. Correspondence

Description:This series includes Chronological Letter Files of the Dean and other members of his administration, arranged as follows: Ernest A. Lynton, Donald B. Edwards, Warren Carrier and Stuart Miller. The inclusive dates of all the files span 1957 through 1972 and the bulk of the material relates to the years 1965-1971. The records in this series are in Box 12 and the first nine folders of Box 13. Box 12 includes two folders of miscellaneous records. It should be noted that correspondence by Ernest Lynton and Warren Carrier can also be found in the alphabetical listing, under the broad heading "Dean." Box 4, folders 7-9, contains additional correspondence of Warren Carrier, Box 4, folders 14-28, contains additional correspondence of Ernest A Lynton ranging from 1959 through October 1968, and Box 4, folder 35, contains additional correspondence of Stuart Miller.

The types of records included in the series represent an array of communications that took place between the Dean's Office and various departmental and administrative branches of Livingston College, Rutgers University, as well as communications to individual faculty. These communications take the form of formal reports, financial records, meeting agendas and minutes, memoranda, personal and professional correspondence, drafts of published articles, and informal notes. They deal with financial and budgetary matters, data collection, program and curricular proposals, personnel issues and evaluations of faculty/staff, discussions and dissemination of policies and procedures and other student issues that were of concern to the Dean's Office. The majority of the Chronological Letter Files are copies- carbon, mimeograph and Xerox. Several documents have handwritten notations or are handwritten in their entirety.

The Chronological Letter Files and Faculty and Administrative Recruitment Files are an important source of information concerning the ways and means by which the Dean's Office functioned during the period of initial organization. Records generated for mundane purposes as well as documents with a higher profile reflect how various activities were being defined and directed. They also provide a window into moments of resistance, capitulation, and resolution.

The primary purpose of most of the communications in the Chronological Letter Files and the Faculty and Administrative Recruitment Files was to impart routine details about administrative operation in the former and to recruit potential faculty/staff in the latter. One does not have to search far to recognize their connection to loftier educational goals. There are many references made to Livingston's mission, and its "innovative" approach to education. Comparisons are made to several west coast and British institutions, and the cluster college concept is explored, although not in great depth. The records in this particular series briefly explore the theoretical underpinnings of experimental education, as well as the mundane details and monumental efforts that building an institution from the ground up requires.

The Chronological Letter Files and the Faculty and Administrative Recruitment Files do provide a vital record of the administrative functioning of the Dean's Office. Files offer evidence of the important public relations and development role the Livingston College Dean's Office played. They indicate the considerable amount of time the Dean devoted to traveling to other institutions, contacting other institutions and attending special occasions, lending himself out as a figurehead and embodiment of not only Livingston College, but a new approach to higher learning education. The files show how the Dean and the college sought ways to respond to a number of factors having an impact on American education at the time. Multiracial diversity, relations with the surrounding community, and an overhaul of the typical Rutgers' curriculum were a few of the areas that were under exploration. The Faculty and Administrative Recruitment files are particularly informative with regards to instruction and the extent to which the Dean had authority over the disciplines. The Dean's Office and Livingston College departments mediated between a conception of a college as an organization of students and an understanding that instruction involved faculties and disciplines. Closely related to this matter was how to locate those faculty/staff members who would appreciate and embody the Livingston mission, and how to persuade them that Livingston College was a perfect match for their talents. The Faculty and Administrative Recruitment files demonstrate on a case by case basis how these problems were worked out in practice. It is also clearly evident in the Faculty and Administrative Recruitment files that Dean Lynton occupied the most powerful decision-making position. He represented the interests of both Livingston's own departments, university-wide disciplines, as well as those of the administration, pleading and placating as required. The process of incorporation into the New Brunswick Departments and the effects of constructing the physical infrastructure and environment are also exposed in the Chronological Letter Files.

Below are detailed descriptions of the contents of the folders that comprise series. Immense effort has been made to not only draw attention to particularly significant records, but also to document, as fully as possible, the contents of each folder.

- Ernest A. Lynton, August 1965 – December 1968 (May, June, 1967 missing) 1 box (25 folders). This series' records include correspondence between Lynton and a number of individuals including Provost R.G. Schlatter, President Mason W. Gross, Vice President Henry R. Winkler, Robin Fox, Yehudi Cohen, Thomas H. Mott, Jr., Arnold Grobman, John L. Swink, Lowell Doak and Bruce K. Whitehead, among others. They encompass his career as Dean of Livingston College. The folders within this box are filed chronologically, starting with the earliest date. The material in each of the first five (and all of the duplicates) files in this series is arranged chronologically beginning with the most recent date. The remaining files are arranged in reverse order, from earliest to most recent date. Almost all files are yellow copies, with the exception of the duplicate folders, which contain the original source material from April 1968 – September 1968.

- Donald B. Edwards, Associate Dean for Administration and Planning, August, 1969 – June, 1973 (6 folders) - Warren Carrier, Associate Dean, June, 1968 – August, 1969 (2 folders) - Stuart Miller, Coordinator of Curriculum, July, 1966 – May, 1967 (1 folder)

The material in these folders is arranged chronologically from earliest to most recent date.