Omer Clyde Aderhold papers, 1923-1973, bulk 1950-1967

Summary

Creator:

Aderhold, O. C., 1899-1969

Date:

1923-1973, bulk 1950-1967

Extent:

97 Linear Feet (97 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Omer Clyde Aderhold papes, UA10-110, University of Georgia Archives, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection documents the administrative business of the University of Georgia during O.C. Aderhold's tenure as president, 1950-1967. Materials of particular interest are those documenting the desegregation of the University in January 1961 when Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes became the first two African American students to attend UGA. These files include administrative correspondence as well as letters from the public expressing support or opposition to desegregation.

Biographical / historical:

Omer Clyde "O.C" Aderhold (1899-1969) was president of the University of Georgia from 1950 to 1967.

The son of a Lavonia, Georgia farmer, he graduated from the University of Georgia with an agriculture degree in 1923. Following graduation, he became a high school principal at the age of twenty-four in Jefferson County, Georgia. Three years later, he was chosen as the county's superintendent of public schools, a position he held until 1929, when he resigned to become associate professor of rural education at the University of Georgia. Here he devoted "a major portion of his time to the training of agricultural and rural teachers," according to one newspaper report.

In 1936-37, Aderhold took a leave of absence to work on his PhD degree in education at the Ohio State University, which he received in 1938. In 1946, he was named dean of the College of Education at the University of Georgia, and became president four years later. During seventeen years as president, the university's enrollment tripled, the research budget grew from $2 million a year to more than $13 million, and the value of the physical plant increased from $12 million to $100 million. He successfully led the university through court-ordered integration in January 1961 after admission of its first black students, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, came with first days of rallies and protests.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into six series: 1. Subject Files, 2. Athletics, 3. Budget, 4. Clippings, 5. Personal, and 6. Integration.

Related

Related material:

Related collections in this repositiory include the Harmon W. Caldwell papers, UA97-098; the Jonathan Clark Rogers papers, UA97-099; the Frederick C. Davison papers, UA97-101; the William Tate papers, UA97-085; the William Tate UGA integration files, UA00-016; and the University of Georgia integration scrapbook, ms3021;

Indexed terms

Subjects:

School integration -- Georgia.
College integration -- Georgia
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
Budgets.
Administrative records

Names:

University of Georgia. Office of the President
University of Georgia. Office of the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration
University of Georgia. History
Holmes, Hamilton, 1941-
Hunter-Gault, Charlayne

Preferred citation:

Omer Clyde Aderhold papes, UA10-110, University of Georgia Archives, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.