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The University of Toledo Archives
Manuscript Collection

 

Finding Aid

Henry J. Doermann Papers, 1927-1932

UM-18

Size: 3/4 linear feet


Provenance: Mary Gillham

Access: Open

Related Collections:  

Processing Note:

Condition: Good

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns.  Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code.  The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

Completed by: Barbara Floyd, August 29th, 1986

Historical/Biographical Sketch

Dr. Henry J. Doermann was born in Hickory, North Carolina, October 20, 1890. He later moved with his parents to Blue Island, Illinois where his father was the minister of a Lutheran Church.

While in Blue Island, Dr. Doermann graduated from high school with high honors. In 1913, he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. degree. In 1917, Doermann obtained his M.A. degree from Harvard University. He completed his formal education when he received his Ph.D. in 1925.

In 1921, Dr. Doermann married Miss Alice Robbins Humphrey of New York City.
Between 1917 and 1932, Dr. Doermann held numerous educational positions. In 1917 and 1918, he held the position of superintendent of schools in Iowa. Dr. Doermann also held the position of psychological examiner for the United States Army during the years of 1918 and 1919. During the years 1919 and 1923, he became the Director of Academy and Normal School in Hampton, Virginia. Between 1923 and 1924, he was Assistant Headmaster at Huntington School in Boston, during this time, he was a graduate student (university scholar) at Harvard. In 1924-25, he took the position of assistant to Professor Brewer and teacher of vocation guidance. During the summer of 1925, he was the Dean of Administration and Vice- Chancellor and the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, the last position he held before becoming President of the University of Toledo.

Dr. Henry J. Doermann was the sixth President of UT. He followed Dr. Ernest Ashton and preceded Phillip C. Nash. He accepted the position in late 1927 and took office on January 1, 1928.

During his term as president, Dr. Doermann was involved in many organizations and fraternities such as the National Education Association, Delta Upsilon, Phi Delta Kappa and the Harvard Club. He was also involved in non-campus organizations and even held offices such as the Presidency of the Toledo Branch of the Foreign Policy Association, the Presidency of the Toledo Civic Music Association, and also the Presidency of the American Association of Urban Universities.

While Dr. Doermann was UT President, two main buildings were erected: the Field House and the University Hall. He was also very much involved with starting a community theater which would meet and preform at the University. Upon his death, the faculty decided to name the auditorium of University Hall The Henry J. Doermann Theatre, in memory of him and his love for the theatre. Dr. Doermann’s term as President of UT ended upon his death on November 20, 1932 from blood poisoning contracted from a sore throat.


Scope and Content Note

This collection contains speeches, correspondence, diaries, and miscellaneous items relating to Dr. Henry J. Doermann, President of the University of Toledo from 1928-1932. The

Correspondence consists largely of private letters, although some official business correspondence is included. Of particular note is a series of letters concerning an athletic scholarship controversy between Findlay and Defiance Colleges, which the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association was asked to settle (Box 1, Folder 5). Also of note is a letter from John Mulholland, President of the Property Owners, Tenants, and Taxpayers International Federation, opposing the 1928 bond issue; a letter from the Executive Secretary of the Frederick Douglass Community Association concerning alleged racial discrimination at UT; and several letters from persons in Toledo, Spain, concerning establishing cultural ties between that city and Toledo, Ohio.

Speeches include comment on the architecture of the Bancroft Street Campus, the bond issue of 1928 which allowed for building the campus, and the topic of higher education as it relates to the municipal university, two diaries record appointments kept by Doermann in 1932, and a diary from an unknown source records the daily progress in building University Hall and the Field House in 1931.

The misc. material includes a newspaper clipping from the New York Times (12-11-32) on UT’s Opportunity School.

 


 
Series List

  

Folder List

Box

Folder

Item Description

1

1

Correspondence, A, 1928-1929

1

2

Correspondence, B, 1928-1932

1

3

Correspondence, C, 1928-1932

1

4

Correspondence, D, 1928-1931

1

5

Correspondence, E-F, 1928-1930

1

6

Correspondence, G, 1927-1930

1

7

Correspondence, H, 1927-1931

1

8

Correspondence, I-L 1928-1931

1

9

Correspondence, M, 1928-1932

1

10

Correspondence, N-O, 1928-1932

1

11

Correspondence, P, 1928-1930

1

12-15

Correspondence, R, 1928-1931

1

16

Correspondence, S, 1928-1930

1

17

Correspondence, T, 1928-1930

1

18

Correspondence, U-Z, 1928-1930

2

1

Diaries, 1931-1932

2

2

Memorials, 1932

2

3

Miscellaneous 1928-1932

2

4

Resume, n.d.

2

5

Speeches, 1928-1932

2

6

Speeches, 1932 & n.d.

 

 

 

Last Updated: 6/27/22