Doc 351 (and Doc 352–365 and MSA 112)

Royce Stanley “Tim” Pitkin (1901-1986) Papers, 1912-1983

Scope and Content

This collection contains the professional papers of Royce Stanley “Tim” Pitkin (1901-1986), founding president of Goddard College in Plainfield, , educational innovator, labor arbitrator, and active Unitarian. The collection contains Pitkin’s office files which document the operation of a small, progressive liberal arts college during the period 1938-1969. The collection also includes Pitkin’s voluminous correspondence, notes and outlines for 30 years’ worth of speeches (usually on education), files relating to his involvement with other educational institutions, community organizations, the Unitarian church, and labor arbitration.

The collection came to the Vermont Historical Society in 1987, a gift of Pitkin’s widow, Helen (ms. acc. no. 87.44) The collection takes up 15.25 linear feet of shelf space and is housed in 15 document storage boxes and one archival flip-top box.

Biography

Royce Stanley Pitkin was born June 7, 1901, in Marshfield, Vermont, the seventh child of Ozias Cornwall and Olive Jane (Severance) Pitkin. He received his early education in the Marshfield public schools and at Goddard Seminary in Barre, Vermont. In 1923, he was awarded the Bachelor of Science degree from the where he majored in agriculture.

He received the M.A. and Ph. D. from Columbia University in 1928 and 1933. While at Columbia, he was greatly influenced by the folk high school concept and seminal ideas about liberal thought and .

Pitkin married Helen Kathleen McKelvey in 1924. They have three children. He held a number of teaching positions and headmasterships at various places in before being invited to become the Director of Goddard Junior College (an outgrowth of the earlier Seminary) in 1935. Several re-organizations of the Junior College took place until finally Goddard College was founded on new educational principles in 1938. The campus was moved from Barre to Plainfield, Vermont, that year and Pitkin remained as President of the College until his retirement in 1969.

During his tenure at Goddard, “Tim,” as he was almost universally known, had an immense influence on the development of American education. He took the basic concepts of progressive education, the Danish folkschool, Universalism, and the traditions of Vermont town meeting democracy and put together a new and impressive set of educational principles which have come to be highly regarded on national and Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 2 international levels. He worked vigorously to promote these principles through the Goddard instructional program as well as through numerous conferences and meetings.

In addition to his work at Goddard College, Pitkin had a number of other important associations. During World War II, he was a public panel member of the War Labor Board and later served as an arbitrator in labor-management disputes. He was President of the Vermont and Quebec Universalist-Unitarian Convention; Chairman of the section on residential Adult Education of the Adult Education Association; President of Vermont Foundation of Independent Colleges; Chairman, Board of Directors of the Vermont Labor and Farm Council; Member of the Board of Directors for the Advancement of Small Colleges; Chairman of the Committee on Research and Development of the Council for the Advancement of Small Colleges; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education.

Pitkin wrote on various aspects of education and conservation in Saturday Review, Parent’s Magazine, The Nation’s Schools, The NEA Journal, and The New York Times. He also wrote a very popular children’s book entitled Maple Sugar Time.

Following his retirement from the presidency of Goddard College, Pitkin continued a very active life as a consultant, advisor, and trustee to many educational institutions. He died in 1986.

For further biographical information, see Doc 351 Folder 5 in the Pitkin Papers as well as To Know For Real: Royce S. Pitkin and Goddard College by Ann Giles Benson (VHS Lib. Call No. 378.743 GE).

Related Collections

The VHS library has two collections of audio tapes containing interviews with Pitkin. One set was created by Ann Giles Benson for her book To Know For Real: Royce S. Pitkin and Goddard College; the 15 cassettes are M-115 in the VHS collection. The second set was created by Beverly B. Cassara who was director of Adult Education at Goddard 1966-1970. The four reel-to-reel tapes are R-32 in the VHS collection.

There are photographs of Pitkin at the Vermont Historical Society in the Picture File, F-PO-Pitkin. Materials at the VHS on Goddard College can be found in the card catalog, picture file, broadside collection, and manuscript index.

The family of Royce Pitkin has retained his diaries and may have other manuscript material. The library at Goddard College has archival material from the college.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into nine series: Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 3

I. Personal II. Goddard College’s Predecessor Institutions III. Goddard College A. Pitkin as President i. Governance ii. Alphabetical Files B. Pitkin as Teacher C. Pitkin as Trustee IV. Speeches V. Correspondence VI. Other Educational Activities VII. Community Service VIII. Universalist-Unitarian Convention IX. Arbitration

Inventory

I. Personal

Doc 351 Folder 1 Appointment calendars, 1960-1965

2 _____, 1966-1968

3 _____, 1969-1970

4 Australia (Evalyn Bates)

5 Biographical

6 Book Reviews

7 Clippings 8 Editorials

9 Expense Accounts

10 Fairchild/Pitkin Family

11 Family Reunions

12 Manuscripts, undated

13 _____, 1931-1933

14 _____, 1934-1940 15 _____, 1953-1979 Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 4

16 _____, (All Around The Farm, first draft)

17 _____, (All Around The Farm, final draft)

18 _____, (T. Jefferson)

19 Mounted Flowers

20 Photos

21 Pitkin Farms Maple Syrup

22 Published Writings

23 Song Book

24 Taxes, 1978

II. Goddard College's Predecessor Institutions

Doc 351 25 Green Mountain Central Institute

26 Goddard Seminary, Alumni

27 _____, Budget and Finance, 1931-1938

28 _____, Clippings

29 _____, Trustees

30 Goddard Seminary and Junior College

III. Goddard College

A. Pitkin as President

i. Governance

31 Trustees, 1938-1969

32 President's Reports, 1939-1947

33 _____, 1948-1953

34 _____, 1954-1957

Doc 352 Folder 1 _____, 1958-1959 2 _____, 1960-1962

3 _____, 1963-1965 Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 5

4 _____, 1966-1967

5 _____, 1968-1969

6 Budget and Finance, 1938-1941

7 _____, 1942-1947

8 _____, 1952-1960

9 _____, 1961-1979

ii. Alphabetical files

10 Academic Standards

11 Action Group Experiment

Doc 352 12 Accreditation

13 Administration

14 Admissions Office

15 Adult Degree Program

16 Alumni

17 American Association of University Professors

18 Bookstore

19 Buildings and Grounds

20 By-Laws

21 Campus Planning

22 Catalogs

23 Class Schedules

24 Clippings

25 Commencement Programs

26 Community Government, Constitutions Doc 353 Folder 1 _____, Memoranda

2 Comparative Cultures Program Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 6

3 Current Magazine

4 Curriculum Notes

5 Development

6 Education-Experimental Methods

7 Education for Living

8 Educational Policies Committee

9 _____.

10 _____.

11 _____.

Doc 353 12 _____.

13 _____.

14 _____, 1944-1952

15 _____, 1953-1956

16 _____, 1957-1959

17 _____, 1960-1962

18 _____, 1964

19 _____, 1964

Doc 354 Folder 1 _____, 1964

2 _____, 1965-1968

3 Faculty

4 Faculty Meetings, 1938-1957

5 _____, 1958-1960

6 _____, 1961-1962

7 _____, 1963-1965 8 _____, 1966-1969

9 Goddard Publications Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 7

10 Graduate Program

11 Greatwood Campus, 1965

12 _____, 1966

13 _____, 1967

14 _____, 1968-1969

15 Handbooks

16 History

17 Independent Studies

18 Judiciary Committee

Doc 354 19 Northwood Campus, 1965-1968

20 Off Campus Field Services

21 Photos

22 Presidential Search Committee, 1977

23 Press Releases

24 Public Relations

25 Self-Study

26 Silo Quarterly

27 Students, 1942-1959

Doc 355 Folder 1 _____, 1960-1969

2 Test Scores

3 Work Program

B. Pitkin as Teacher

4 American Society, 1960

5 Class Notes, 1941-1952 6 Community School

7 Contemporary America, 1961 Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 8

8 _____, Student Papers, Pt. I

9 _____, _____, Pt II

10 Education Seminars, 1953-1958

11 Education Seminar, 1961, Pt. I

12 _____, _____, Pt. II

13 Farm School, 1955

14 The Idea of the College

15 Philosophy of Education, 1952-1962

16 _____, 1963, Pt. I

Doc 355 17 _____, _____, Pt. II

18 _____, 1964-1967

19 Seminar Outlines

20 Student Papers, 1951

21 Teaching Materials

C. Pitkin as Trustee

Doc 356 Folder 1 Trustees, December 1974

2 _____, 1975

3 _____, January-June 1976

4 _____, July-December 1976

5 _____, 1977

6 _____, 1978-1979

IV. Speeches

7 Speeches, undated

8 _____, 1930 9 _____, 1931

10 _____, 1932 Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 9

11 _____, 1935-1936

12 _____, 1937

13 _____, 1938-1939

14 _____, 1940

15 _____, 1941

16 _____, 1942

17 _____, 1943

18 _____, 1944

19 _____, 1945

Doc 356 20 _____, 1946

21 _____, 1947

22 _____, 1948

23 _____, 1949

24 _____, 1950

25 _____, 1951

26 _____, 1952

27 _____, 1952

28 _____, 1954

29 _____, 1955

30 _____, 1955, June 20

31 _____, 1956

32 _____, 1957

33 _____, 1958

Doc 357 Folder 1 _____, January 18, 1958 2 _____, March 6, 1958

3 _____, 1959 Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 10

4 _____, 1960

5 _____, 1961

6 _____, May 5, 1961

7 _____, June 19, 1961

8 _____ , October 26, 1961

9 _____, 1962

10 _____, April 17, 1962

11 _____, 1963

12 _____, September 10, 1963

Doc 357 13 _____, 1964

14 _____, April 26, 1964

15 _____, May 9, 1964

16 _____, 1965

17 _____, June 27-July 2, 1965

18 _____, November 23, 1965

19 _____, 1966

20 _____, June 10, 1966

21 _____, June 14, 1966

22 _____, October 7, 1966

23 _____, 1967

24 _____, September 12 & 13, 1967

25 _____, 1968

26 _____, _____, Greatwood Senior Studies

27 _____, _____, Northwood Senior Studies 28 _____, 1969

29 _____, June 13, 1969 Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 11

30 _____, 1970

31 _____, 1971

32 _____, 1972

33 _____, April 14, 1972

34 _____, 1973

35 _____, August 11, 1973

36 _____, 1974

37 _____, December 21, 1974

38 _____, 1975

Doc 357 39 _____, September 18, 1975

40 _____, 1976

41 _____, December 17, 1976

42 _____, 1977

43 _____, 1978

44 _____, May 19, 1978

45 _____, 1979

46 _____, 1980

47 _____, 1981

48 _____, 1983

V. Correspondence

Doc 358 Folder 1 Adams, Frank

2 Anderson, Adolph

3 Baskin, S. , 1962-1968

4 _____, 1969-1976 5 Hamlin, W.

6 Miller, Marianne Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 12

7 Morris, David

8 Polkinghorne, Don

9 Pratt, E., 1942-1955

10 _____, 1956-1958

11 _____, 1959-1962

12 _____, 1963-1969

13 Snitzer, Herb

14 Stephen Daye Press

15 Walton, Dick

Doc 358 16 Watson, Dori, Pt. I

17 _____, Pt. II

18 Wright, Marilyn D.

19 Williger, Gusti (Weiss)

Doc 359 Folder 1 1935-1952

2 1953-1959

3 1960-1964

4 1965-1968

5 1969, January 1- May 20

6 1969, May 21-July 30

7 1969, July 2-July 30

8 1969, August-December

9 1970, Pt. I

10 _____, Pt II

11 1971 12 1972, Pt. I

13 1972, Pt. II Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 13

14 1973, Pt. I

15 _____, Pt. II

16 1974, Pt. I

17 _____, Pt. II

18 _____, Pt. III

19 1975

Doc 360 Folder 1 _____, 1975

2 1976, Pt. I

3 _____, Pt. II

Doc 360 4 _____, Pt. III

5 1977, Pt. I

6 _____, Pt. II

7 _____, Pt. III

8 1978, Pt. I

9 _____, Pt II

10 1979, Pt I

11 _____, Pt. II

12 1980, Pt I

13 _____, Pt. II

14 1981, Pt. I

15 _____, Pt. II

VI, Other Educational Activities

16 Adult Conferences

17 Adult Education, Atlantic City Conf. 18 _____, Cincinnati Conf.

19 _____, Fund For Advancement of Education Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 14

20 _____, Lambton Folk School

21 _____, Laquemac, Camp

22 _____, Liberal Studies

23 _____, Meeting Europe, Pt. I

24 _____, _____, Pt. II

Doc 361 Folder 1 _____, Meijer, Flora C.

2 _____, Residential, Correspondence, 1955

3 _____, _____, _____, 1956

4 _____ , _____ , _____ , 1957

Doc 361 5 _____, _____, _____, 1958

6 _____, _____, _____, 1959-1960

7 _____, _____, _____, 1961-1963

8 _____, _____, _____, 1964

9 _____, _____, _____, 1973-1974, Pt. I

10 _____, _____, _____, _____, Pt II

11 _____, _____, _____, 1975-1976

12 _____, St. Louis Conf.

13 Babson College

14 Covenant College

15 Council for the Advancement of Small Colleges

16 Educational Change, Inc.

17 Educational Resources Center

18 Field Study Centers

19 Hartwick College 20 Institute For Academic Improvement

21 Kauai Field Study Center Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 15

22 Lea College

23 Magnolia Manor Conf.

24 Mercyhurst College

25 Mitraniketan, Budget and Finance

26 _____, Correspondence, 1963-1969

Doc 362 Folder 1 _____, Correspondence, 1970

2 _____, _____, 1971-1977

3 _____, Publications

4 Nasson College, Budget and Finance

Doc 362 5 _____, Clippings

6 _____, Correspondence

7 _____, Reports and Memoranda, 1960-1966

8 _____, _____, January 1969-March 1969

9 _____, _____, April 1969-1971

10 _____, Trustees, 1963-1968

11 _____, _____, 1969-1972

12 New England College Faculty Conf., 1961

13 Rutland Alternative High School

14 Scandinavian Seminar, Budget and Finance

15 _____, Correspondence

16 _____, Clippings

17 _____, Reports and Memoranda

18 _____, Trustees, 1973-1977

19 _____, _____, 1978-1980 20 Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union

21 Stowe School, "Application . . . For . . .Approval" Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 16

22 _____, Budget and Finance

23 _____, Correspondence

24 _____, Memoranda

Doc 363 Folder 1 _____, Trustees, 1972-1975

2 _____, _____ 1975

3 _____, _____, 1976-1977

4 Strategies for Change

5 Trinity College, Budget and Finance

6 _____, Correspondence

Doc 363 7 _____, 50th Anniversary

8 _____, Memoranda, Pt. I

9 _____, _____, Pt. II

10 _____, Trustees

11 Twinfield School District, 1969-1970

12 _____, 1970-1971

13 _____, 1971

14 _____, 1972, Pt. I

15 _____, _____, Pt. II

16 _____, 1973-1974

17 Vermont Council on the Humanities, Budget and Finance

18 _____, Correspondence

19 _____, Meetings

Doc 364 Folder 1 _____, Memoranda, Pt. I

2 _____, _____, Pt. II 3 _____, Projects, 1973-1974

4 _____, _____, 1974, Pt. I Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 17

5 _____, _____, _____, Pt. II

6 _____, _____, 1974-1976

7 Vermont Educational Advisory Council, 1971

8 _____, 1972

9 _____, 1973

10 _____, 1974-1975

11 Washington Northeast Supervisory Union

12 Wilmington College Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 18

VII. Community Services

Doc 364 13 Agricultural Conservation Programs

14 Barre Opera House

15 Cabot Creamery

16 Consumer Co-operative of Plainfield, Vt., 1936-1950

17 _____, 1951-1959

18 Labor Organizations

19 Marshfield Agricultural Society

Doc 365 Folder 1 Upper Winooski Development Assoc.

2 Vermont Cooperative Council, Co-op Briefs, Pt. I

3 _____, _____, Pt. II

4 _____, Notes and Memoranda

5 Vermont Secondary School Program

6 Vermont Youth Study

VIII. Universalist Unitarian Convention

7 Constitution

8 Correspondence, 1941-1953, Pt. I

9 _____, _____, Pt. II

10 Gentile, Frank

11 Pennoyer, C.H., Pt. I

12 _____, Pt. II

13 Perry, George

14 Programs

15 Putnam, Ralph 16 Real Estate, Morrisville

17 _____, Plainfield Doc 351 Royce S. Pitkin Papers Page 19

Doc 365 18 _____, Rutland

19 _____, St. Albans

20 _____, Vernon, Concord

21 Treasurer's Reports

22 Vernon Church

23 Voss, Carl

IX Arbitrations

24 Dartmouth Woolen Co.

25 General Notes

26 Cone Automatic Machine Co.

MSA 112 Folder 1 Florence Stove Co.

2 Jones and Lamson Machine Co.

3 Sullivan Machinery Co.

4 Vermont Foundries

5 Vermont Tap and Die Corp.

6 White Pigment Corp.

7 Windsor Foundry Corp.

8 Worcester Pressed Steel Corp.

By William E. Osgood

With the assistance of: Daisy Doyle Marcia Dwinell Olive Franzi Helen Tannen Ingrid Wackernagel

April 1994