THE UNIVERSITY OF OKIAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE SPEECHES OF ADOLPH LINSCHEID; A STUDY OF IDEAS IN OKLAHOMA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE ŒIADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY DOROTHY IRIS SUMMERS Norman, Oklahoma 1956 THE SPEECHES OF ADOLPH LINSCHEID; A STUDY OF IDEAS IN OKLAHOMA APPROVED BY , A. p. (gk ERTATION COMMITTEE ACKNOTIÏLEDGÎÎENTS The ■writer is greatly indebted to Professor Albert J. Croft who gave valuable aid in the work on this study, and to the Linscheid family for loaning the Linscheid Collection for this research. iii table of contents Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION........................................... 1 The Subject and Purpose of This Study ........ 1 The subject of this study ........ 1 The purpose of this study ...... ........... 3 Other studies on Linscheid. ............ 6 The Sources, Method, and Plan of This Study ...... 7 Sources used in this study. ...... ......... 7 Method used in this study......................... 11 The plan of this study...................... 14 II. ADOLPH LINSCHEID, THE MAN AND HIS TIMES...................16 The Early Years, 1879-1896. ....................... 16 Ancestry and birth........... 16 Boyhood in Minnesota. .................... 18 The Young Educator, 1896-1920 ..... 21 The Mature Educator, 1920-1945. ........ ..... 25 The college teacher, 1920-1933 ................... 26 The college administrator, 1920-1945. 29 Professional and community services, 1920-1945. 36 The Last Years, 1945-1949 ........................... 40 Personal Characteristics and Public Recognition .... 46 Summary ....... ......... 51 III. ADOLPH LINSCHEID, THE PUBLIC SPEAKER.......................53 The Course of Linscheid*s Speaking Career ........... 54 Early training. ......... 54 The young speaker............. 55 The mature speaker. ...........................57 The last years of speech-making................... 62 The Nature of Linscheid's Audiences ................. 63 Religious audiences ............................ 67 Community audiences ........... ........ 73 Educational audiences ...... 74. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page The Reaction of Audiences to Linscheid's speeches. • • .76 The acceptance of his beliefs...................... 76 The desire to spread his beliefs ................. 81 The Nature of Linscheid's Speech Subjects.............. 90 Summary.............................................. 94 IV. LINSCHEID'S SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY; THE INSTITUTION OF RELIGION. 97 The Institution of Religion. ....... ......... .97 The Individual Is Divine in Origin ...........99 Interpretations of God before the time of Jesus. .100 Interpretations of God after the time of Jesus . .102 Prayer as a means of communication with God........ 105 The Individual Is Sacred and Endlessly Precious in His Life on This Earth .................................. 108 The individual is paramount in the Christian religion........................................109 Every individual should live a good life ..........115 It is tragic when individuals do not live good lives............................................124 Religion helps sustain an individual in the midst of evil..........................................126 The church helps the individual maintain a good life . ........................................ 131 Summary. .................................. 1 ^ The Individual Is Heavenly in Destination. ......... .143 All of life is a part of the infinite plan .... .144 A good life on earth is a prerequisite for eternal life............................................146 Death is a part of the infinite p l a n............. 148 Eternal life is the reward for Christian living. .150 Summary. .......................... 153 V. LINSCHEID'S SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY: THE INSTITUTION OF GOVERNMENT............................................. 156 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page A Philosophy of Government. ............... 157 The American tradition of government.............. 158 The conflict of democracy and totalitarianism . 166 The preservation of democracy.................... 181 A Government in War and Peace.................. 189 From isolation to w a r ............................189 The brave new world............................. 207 Summary........................ 229 VI. LINSCHEID'S SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY: THE INSTITUTION OF EDUCATION............................................. 231 Introduction......................................... 231 A Philosophy of Education............................236 The objectives of education .................... 236 The curriculum needs of education......... 257 The teacher needs of education. .......... 269 The Financial Support of Education.................... 280 The instability of financial support....... 281 The improvement of financial support........ 288 An Evaluation of American Education .......... 294 American education has failed in some respects. 295 American education has been successful in many respects.................... 298 Summary............................................ 299 VII. AN ANALYSIS OF LINSCHEID'S RHETORIC...................... 305 The Projection of Linscheid's Ideas in His Speeches . « 306 The arrangement of ideas........ ........... 306 The basic forms of support. ...... ..... 311 The presentation of ideas............. 320 Linscheid's Philosophy of Public Speaking ........... 331 Characteristics of a good speech. ......... 333 Method's of preparing a speech. .... ............. 337 Summary .... ................... ......... 339 Vi TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page VIII. CONCLUSIONS............................................... 341 Linscheid's Career in Oklahoma........................ 341 Linscheid's System of Ideas ...... .............. 345 Linscheid's family of ideas ................ 347 Basic themes of Linscheid's Speeches. .......... 349 BIBLIOGRAPHY............... ..................................... 355 APPENDIX: MANUSCRIPTS OF SPEECHES IN THE LINSCHEID COLLECTION . 363 Manuscripts Classified in the Religion Group........... 363 Manuscripts Classified in the Government Group......... 366 Manuscripts Classified in the Education Group ..... 375 Manuscripts Classified in the Occasional Group......... 3Ô2 Manuscripts Classified in the Travel Group............. 384 vii THE SPEECHES OF ADOLPH LINSCHEID: A STUDY OF IDEAS IN OKLAHOMA CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Subject and Purpose of This Study I The Subject of This Study I The subject of this study is Adolph Linscheid, an important | figure in the history of Oklahoma. He lived in Oklahoma from 1901 untill I 'his death in 1949. During these forty-eight years, he was active in the| I development of the new state and its institutions. His contribution to the state and to these institutions falls into two categories: his pro-| fessional career, and the ideas and the philosophy which he stated in speeches. The professional career. Building an educational systaa was j one of Oklahoma's chief problems at the beginning of statehood, j I I 'Linscheid's effort in building an educational system was probably his most concrete contribution to the state. As early as 1929, Thoburn and | Wright gave credit to those who had been responsible for developing the I educational system and stated, "Among the intelligent and gifted educa- Ltors—credited.withthis most important work. Professor Adolph Linscheid 1 • . , is entitled to special mention, he having been associated with thej I 1 I state school system for many years." During that time he had served in| the various capacities of rural teacher, summer institute student and | I instructor, teacher and superintendent in small school systems, student I in the University, and English professor in one of the state normal I schools, where he later became head of the education department. He | then became president of one of the state colleges, a position held until I jhis resignation in 1949, These positions deeply involved him in the I ! I development of education in Oklahoma. I The institution of religion also received much attention from Linscheid. His most tangible contribution to religion was through i teaching the Loyal Bible Class in Ada from 1921 until 1946. This was one of the largest Bible classes in America. In addition to the actual i i audience, which varied between 150 and 425 members, a large radio audi-I ence was added in 1939. Linscheid was also active as a member of various 2 churches and held positions on church policy-determining boards, Linscheid's contributions to the institution of government during this period are less tangible. Although he did not hold a public office (other than college president), he probably influenced the general growth of Oklahoma state government and of democratic ideas of government ^J. B. Thoburn and Muriel H. Wright, Oklahoma. A History of the State and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc., 1929), IV, 522. ; 2 I Linscheid's parents were Mennonites, but the children attended a Methodist church in Minnesota. When the family moved to Oklahoma, ! Linscheid attended the Presbyterian church. When he moved to Ada in 1920 he and Mrs. Linscheid joined the First Christian Church. In an interview May 5, 1955, Mrs. Linscheid said they actually "joined the minister" be4 cause-they had known him earlier and wished to join the church of which i he was minister. 3 in general. He took an active part in civic organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, men’s clubs, and Masons, and was also active in projects such as Red Cross drives,