In 1920 a single business office was established for three of the independent Near East Colleges. The office supervised the procurement of the colleges. Under the direction of Albert Staub in New York City, the New York Office coordinated efforts to raise funds so as to liquidate debts incurred during World War I and to provide adequate operating funds for the postwar years. In 1927 the New York Office was formally constituted as the Near East College Association.
The records of this office date from 1923 and serve to document the close link between Robert College administrators in Istanbul and their supporters and benefactors in the United States. It has since functioned as the Office of the Trustees.
The presidents and deans of the college wrote regularly to Albert Staub, reporting on developments at the college, enrollments, the need for new faculty, budgetary matters, and requirements for supplies necessary for the functioning of the college.
The profound changes that took place in Turkey during the 1920s had their effect on the college. On the one hand, the government under Ataturk took an ever increasing responsibility for educating the nation's youth. On the other hand, Turkish leaders became increasingly wary of foreign influences on Turkish society.
Fortunately, RC was a well-established institution that had a long history of cooperation with Turkish authorities. In particular, the RC School of Engineering became an increasingly important place for training Turkish young men who would play a large role in the process of modernization. In 1928 the government granted graduates of Robert College the right to practice as engineers, and the following year the engineering school received official recognition from Turkish authorities.
Most of the correspondence is concerned with the day-to-day operation of the college and the always present problems of fund-raising; there is also, however, a sprinkling of commentary on political developments in Turkey as well as current issues in the United States. In particular, the U.S. Senate's consideration of the Lausanne Treaty was followed with great interest. Another subject of importance is President Gates's emphasis on the relationship between religious instruction and character building.
With the onset of the great depression in the 1930s, the college was forced into financial retrenchment and the presidency of Paul Monroe, who served from 1932-1935, was preoccupied with economic problems. His successor Walter Wright was concerned as well, about the increase in taxes enacted by the Turkish government. Wright also sees a more positive trend in the quality of new students and the fact that families of "political prominence" were beginning to enroll their children in the college.
By the late 1930s, with war clouds gathering, the Turkish government demonstrated a desire to improve relations with the democratic nations, particularly the United States. One expression was the action taken by the government in exempting from the Buildings Tax (March 23, 1939). World War Two compelled a number of faculty members to leave for military service and the College had to operate with a much reduced staff. The problems of operating an American educational institution in the Near East during wartime are well detailed in the letters of Walter Wright, Harold Scott (acting president), and Wright's successor Floyd Black. Scott, for example, enthuses about the arrival of "much needed reinforcements" in the form of five new instructors.
Box 33 Folder 1-8
Correspondence Huntington/Staub, 1923-1933
Box 33 Folder 9
Correspondence Scott/W.A. Robinson, assistant treasurer, 1938-1942
Box 33 Folder 10-11
Correspondence to Staub from Gates, 1924
Box 33 Folder 12
Correspondence to Black from Staub, 1924
Box 33 Folder 13-14
Correspondence to Gates from Staub, 1924
Box 33 Folder 15-16
Correspondence to Staub from Gates, 1925
Box 33 Folder 17
Correspondence to Gates from Staub, 1925
Box 34 Folder 18
Correspondence to Staub from Gates, 1926
Box 34 Folder 19
Correspondence to Gates from Staub, 1926
Box 34 Folder 20
Correspondence Staub/Henry Schauffler, acting president, 1927
Box 34 Folder 21-22
Correspondence to Staub from Gates, 1927
Box 34 Folder 23-25
Correspondence to Gates from Staub, 1927-1928
Box 34 Folder 26-29
Correspondence to Staub from Gates, 1928-1929
Box 35 Folder 30-32
Correspondence to Gates from Staub, 1929-1930
Box 35 Folder 33-35
Correspondence to Staub from Gates, Moore, 1930-1931
Box 35 Folder 36-37
Correspondence to Gates from Staub, 1931
Box 35 Folder 38
Correspondence Monroe/Staub, 1932
Box 35 Folder 39-40
Correspondence to Staub from Monroe, Gates, Lynn Scipio, and Huntington,, 1932-1933
Box 35 Folder 41-42
Correspondence to Monroe from Staub, 1933
Box 35 Folder 43
Correspondence Staub/Monroe, 1933
Box 35 Folder 44
Correspondence to Staub from Monroe, 1934
Box 36 Folder 45
Correspondence to Monroe from Staub, 1934
Box 36 Folder 46
Correspondence to Staub from Monroe, 1935
Box 36 Folder 47
Correspondence to Monroe from Staub, 1935
Box 36 Folder 48-52
Correspondence Staub/Wright, 1935-1936
Box 36 Folder 53-54
Correspondence to Staub from Wright, 1937
Box 36 Folder 55
Correspondence to Wright from Staub, 1937
Box 36 Folder 56-57
Correspondence Staub/Wright, 1937-1938
Box 37 Folder 58-59
Correspondence to Wright from Staub, 1938
Box 37 Folder 60-61
Correspondence to Staub from Wright, 1938-1939
Box 37 Folder 62
Correspondence to Staub from Wright and Scott, acting president, 1939
Box 37 Folder 63-64
Correspondence to Wright from Staub, 1939
Box 37 Folder 65-66
Correspondence to Staub from Wright, 1940
Box 37 Folder 67-68
Correspondence to Wright from Staub, 1940-1941
Box 37 Folder 69
Correspondence to Staub from Wright, 1941
Box 37 Folder 70
Correspondence to Staub from Wright and Scott, 1941
Box 38 Folder 71-71
Correspondence to Staub from Wright and Scott, 1942
Box 38 Folder 73
Correspondence to Wright and Scott from Staub, 1942
Box 38 Folder 74
Correspondence to Staub from Wright in Washington, D.C., as Coordinator of Information,, 1941-1942
Box 38 Folder 74-76
Correspondence to Staub from Wright, 1943
Box 38 Folder 77
Correspondence to Wright and Scott from Staub, 1943
Box 38 Folder 78-79
Correspondence to Staub from Scott, acting president, 1943-1944
Box 38 Folder 80
Correspondence to Scott from Staub, 1944
Box 38 Folder 81-82
Correspondence to Staub from Wright, 1944
Box 38 Folder 83
Correspondence to Wright from Staub, 1944
Box 39 Folder 84
Correspondence to Staub from Black, 1944
Box 39 Folder 85
Correspondence to Black from Staub, 1944
Box 39 Folder 86
Correspondence Black/Staub, 1945
Box 39 Folder 87-88
Correspondence to Staub from Black, 1945
Box 39 Folder 89
Report of Dr. James L. Barton's visit to the State Department, 1923
Box 39 Folder 90-94
Correspondence Staub/Coffin, 1929-1954
Box 39 Folder 95
Correspondence Staub/Huntington, 1930
Box 39 Folder 96-97
Correspondence Staub/Huntington, 1935;1938
Box 39 Folder 98
Correspondence to Black from Staub, 1945
Box 39 Folder 99
Correspondence to Staub and Harry R. Snyder from Black, 1946
Box 39 Folder 100-101
Correspondence to Staub and Snyder from Black, 1946
Box 39 Folder 102-103
Correspondence to Black from Staub and staff, 1947
Box 39 Folder 104-107
Correspondence to Staub from Black, 1947-1948
Box 39 Folder 108-109
Fisher and William Patton (director of NECA) to Black, 1948
Box 39 Folder 110
Proposed Point IV Request for ACG submitted by Robert Hardy, 1951
Box 40 Folder 1
Duncan Ballantine, biography and terms of appointment, 1954-1961
Box 40 Folder 2
Ballantine file, terms of appointment, benefits and resignation, 1955-, 1961
Box 40 Folder 3
"Assessment of Operational Needs," memo prepared by Ballantine, 1957
Box 40 Folder 4
Ballantine, 10-year plan, 1958-1961
Box 40 Folder 5
Ballantine, speeches and articles, 1959
Box 40 Folder 6
Correspondence Ballantine/Fred Grinnell, assistant to chairman of the Board of Trustees,, 1958
Box 40 Folder 7-10
General correspondence, Ballantine, 1958-1960
Box 40 Folder 11
Ballantine, report re student demonstrations, 1960
Box 40 Folder 12
Correspondence re appointment of Cornelius Bull, 1959-1960
Box 40 Folder 13
Correspondence re candidates for assistant to the president, 1960
Box 40 Folder 14
Press release re appointment of Harold Hazen, 1961
Box 40 Folder 15
Hazen, correspondence, news release, 1961
Box 40 Folder 16
General correspondence Hazen, 1961-1962
Box 40 Folder 17-18
Patrick Malin, biography and terms of appointment, 1961-1962
Box 40 Folder 19
Correspondence re appointment of Malin, 1961
Box 40 Folder 20
Malin, financial memo to the trustees, 1962-1964
Box 40 Folder 21-23
Malin, general correspondence to NY Office, 1962-1964
Box 40 Folder 24
Correspondence and memos re appointment of Orhan Mersinli as Turkish vice president of RC,, 1962-1953
Box 41 Folder 25-26
Correspondence with Margaret Bloomer, secretary to President Malin,, 1962-1965
Box 41 Folder 27-28
Correspondence with Mrs. Caroline Malin, 1961-1965
Box 41 Folder 29-33
Correspondence with Howard Hall, vice president, 1961-1964
Box 41 Folder 34
Ford Foundation: Hazen, report on RC Engineering School, 1955
Box 41 Folder 35
Ford Foundation: Ballantine, "Summary of Development Program for ACG and RC",, 1956
Box 41 Folder 36
Ford Foundation: Carter Davison, report on RC and ACG, 1957
Box 41 Folder 37
Ford Foundation: Ballantine memo re RC Development Program, 1957
Box 42 Folder 1
"Secondary Education in Turkey, Observation, Problems, and Recommendations," by John J. Rufi,, 1952
Box 42 Folder 2
Report on ACG by Rosemary Park, 1955
Box 42 Folder 3
Proposals to the Ford Foundation, 1956
Box 42 Folder 4
A Fund Raising Report and Recommendations by Kersting, Brown & Company Inc.,, 1957
Box 42 Folder 5
A Report to the Ford Foundation by Carter Davidson and Paul A. Dodd,, 1957
Box 42 Folder 6
A Proposal to the Olin Foundation re A Graduate Engineering Building at RC,, 1959
Box 42 Folder 7
Teaching English at RC and ACG by Jane Carey, 1959
Box 42 Folder 8
Proposed development of the RC School of Business, Administration and Economics; other reports,, 1959
Box 42 Folder 9
Report on the American Hospital of Istanbul by Dr. Rolf Lium, 1959
Box 42 Folder 10
Interim Report on Second Century Fund Activities by Goldthwaite Dorr and Jane Page,, 1959
Box 42 Folder 11
Re consolidation of RC and ACG by Alfred Odgen, 1959
Box 42 Folder 12
"The Role of RC in Turkey's Economic Life" by Peter G. Franck, 1960
Box 42 Folder 13
Report of the Turkish National Commission on Education, 1961
Box 42 Folder 14
RC Research Center, Proposed Constitution, 1961
Box 42 Folder 15
Management Survey by Cresap, McCormick and Paget, 1962
Box 42 Folder 16
Report to U.S. Department of State on RC and ACG by Carl M. Franklin,, 1963
Box 43 Folder 17
Peace Corps Contracting Manual, 1961
Box 43 Folder 18-19
Peace Corps Training Program, 1963
Box 43 Folder 20-21
Correspondence, statements, memoranda re U.S. government funds, 1956-1958
Box 43 Folder 22
Correspondence, statements, memoranda re U.S. government funds, 1959
Box 43 Folder 23
U.S. Government, Atomic Energy Commission, guide to grants, 1958-, 1959
Box 43 Folder 24
Correspondence Air Force-Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Department re surplus laboratory equipment,, 1961
Box 43 Folder 25
Correspondence with U.S government agencies (A.I.D.) re grants, 1960
Box 43 Folder 26
General correspondence, A.I.D., 1962-1963
Box 43 Folder 27
U.S. Government reports, Washington, D.C., visits, 1960-1963
Box 43 Folder 28
Correspondence with government agencies re grants, 1961-1964
Box 43 Folder 29
U.S. Government surplus properties, 1963-1964
Box 43 Folder 30
Summary, U.S. Government grants to RC and ACG, 1964
Box 43 Folder 31
A.I.D., personnel biographical data, 1962
Box 43 Folder 32
U.S. Government, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, statement on,, 1960
Box 43 Folder 33
Correspondence with the Subcommittee for the Department of State and Justice and the Judiciary,, 1960
Box 44 Folder 34
U.S. Government, Mutual Security Act, 1960
Box 44 Folder 35
U.S. Government, reports on Ankara visit, 1961-1962
Box 44 Folder 36
U.S. Government, President's Directive on U.S. Balance of Payments,, 1962
Box 44 Folder 37
U.S. Government grants, Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research
Box 44 Folder 38
Bond re Washington aid, 1961
Box 44 Folder 39
U.S. Government, "Profiles," correspondence, 1962
Box 44 Folder 40
U.S. Government, "Profiles," worksheets, 1962
Box 44 Folder 41
A.I.D.: summary presentation, 1962
Box 44 Folder 42
Summary, U.S. Government grants to RC and ACG, 1962-1963
Box 44 Folder 43
Summary, U.S. Government grants to RC and ACG, 1963
Box 44 Folder 44
U.S. Government grants, Reallocation of funds, 1963
Box 44 Folder 45
Congressional Hearing Information, 1963