Shelton Beatty
Notes for his History of Grinnell College and its Curriculum to 1931

Biographical Note:
Between 1929 and 1943 Mr. Beatty served as Dean of Men, Dean of Personnel Administration, and as a member of the English Department. He was an officer in the Navy during part of World War II and later became a Dean at Pomona College, California. The history was his Ph.D. thesis (Stanford University).

Scope and Content Note:
The collection consists of typewritten notes Mr. Beatty made for his “History of Grinnell College and its Curriculum to 1931” (August 1955), the original typescript of which is in the Archives 06.1/B38h. The notes are on 5 1⁄2 by 8 1⁄2 sheets filed in four archives boxes (20 linear inches); bibliography cards are filed in Box 2.

The information on the notes would be most valuable for a person interested in pre-1931 curricular and academic aspects and in a brief general history of the college. References from which the notes were derived could direct a researcher to more detailed sources. In a 1980 letter Mr. Beatty indicated part of his research was “based on the trunk full of presidential and departmental reports tied each separately in ribbon by Mrs. Minora Rusk, former secretary to several of the earliest presidents (the trunk having been “lost: and covered over under the floor of the treasurer’s office in Magoun or Chicago Hall).”

Quantity: 4 archives boxes; 2 linear feet.

Provenance: Some of the sheets were deposited in the Archives in 1970, the rest in 1980.

Suggested citation: Shelton Beatty papers, Grinnell College Libraries, Department of Special Collections, Grinnell, Iowa. Ms.01.09.

Copyright: Mr. Beatty's heirs hold literary property rights to both the notes and book.