Oscar A. Ullrich

Collection

Identifier: MSS-0028

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, speeches, articles, programs, and news clippings. The papers were received in no particular order and were sorted into subject groups within document cases.

One item of interest is a book containing minutes for the Faculty Women’s Forum that was in the possession of Otha Horger Ullrich, a member of the group. There is one folder of material related to Dean Ullrich’s work toward Southwestern faculty paying into the Social Security system.

The largest group of files consists of correspondence with alumni, faculty, university presidents, trustees and others involved in Dean Ullrich’s many interests. One folder contains correspondence with Representative Lyndon B. Johnson regarding the proposed Georgetown Airport and other business before Congress. Another folder contains correspondence with John C. Granbery, some personal and some dealing with his firing from the university.

Dean Ullrich served during the Depression years when the university suffered financial hardship. At one point, the faculty members were asked to take on student loans to collect in lieu of salaries. There are some papers in this collection that deal with the loans the Dean was collecting. There is also material related to the Wiess gift that cleared university indebtedness and laid the foundation for the endowment fund.

The folder O.A. Ullrich-Personal has a letter from Lyndon Johnson discussing his desire to stay out of the war in Europe, a completed questionnaire regarding the SU Honor System, humorous poems about the Dean, a copy of a speech given the day President Kennedy was shot, the Dean’s answer to a faculty member’s letter of grievance, President Finch’s letter of resignation to the Dean, letters of recommendation, and news clippings.

There are programs and invitations from various Southwestern activities as well as some from dean Ullrich’s many other organizational activities.

A subsequent gift of the Dean’s files contained several Reports to the President and Reports to the Board of Trustees from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s that were unique to the Archives. This group of files also held an open letter to the Community Chest, which later became the United Fund, and a report on the Georgetown Girl Scout Council as it related to the Community Chest. One copy of People’s Lobby Bulletin from July, 1941 focused on Fascism and the American desire to stay out of the war in Europe. There is a proposal written by Robert Lancaster in the early 1970s pertaining to the Georgetown IMPACT I Plan (Improved Municipality through Planning Agency Council of Texas) to bring together arts, crafts and trades in an effort to foster learning within the community.

Dates

Majority of material found within 1917 - 2003

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Southwestern University Distinctive Collections and Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the collections and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from SU Distinctive Collections and Archives before any publication use. Distinctive Collections does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Biographical / Historical

Oscar A. Ullrich began his 45 year career with Southwestern University in 1920 as a professor in the Education department, later head of the Psychology Department. In 1926, after the resignation of Dean Charles Wunder, he was named Dean of the Faculty, a position he held for 38 years. Dr. Ullrich retired from the position of Dean in 1958, but continued to teach in the Education Department. He was asked to serve, again, as Dean from 1961-1962.

Dr. Ullrich was nationally known in the field of education and was an active member of groups such as the American Psychological Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Educators Association, Texas State Teachers Association, Scholia, Phi Delta Kappa, the Lions Club among many others. He was active in church and civic organizations, helping to form the Georgetown United Fund and Lone Star Girl Scout Council.