Omer Clyde Aderhold papers
Collection DescriptionHistorical NoteOmer 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. Scope and ContentThe 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. Organization and ArrangementThe collection is arranged into six series: 1. Subject Files, 2. Athletics, 3. Budget, 4. Clippings, 5. Personal, and 6. Integration. Administrative InformationPreferred CitationOmer Clyde Aderhold papes, UA10-110, University of Georgia Archives, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries. Finding Aid PublicationFinding aid prepared on: 2017. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this RepositoryRelated 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; |
Special Collections Libraries
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-1641