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Frank McVey Papers
Collection Overview
ID: OGLMC141
Primary Creator: McVey, Frank
Extent: 1.0 Linear Feet
Subjects: University of North Dakota - Presidents
Languages: English
Abstract
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Collection Historical Note
On June 18, 1909, Frank LeRond McVey became the fourth president of the University of North Dakota. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1893 and received his Ph.D. in economics from Yale in 1895. After a year teaching history at Horace Mann School in New York, McVey joined the University of Minnesota economics faculty, attaining the rank of professor. In 1907, he was appointed Chair of the Minnesota Tax Commission. During these years, he published three books, The Populist Movement, The History and Government of Minnesota, and Modern Industrialism.
McVey followed the accomplishments of a popular president at a time when the University was experiencing relative prosperity, as well as increasing enrollments. He believed in academic freedom and promoted his own vision.
“A University is a place; it is a spirit. It is men of learning; it is a collection of books; it is laboratories where work in science goes forward; it is the source of teaching and beauties of literature and the arts; it is the center where ambitious youth gathers to learn; it protects the traditions, honors the new and tests its value; it believes in truth, protects it against error and leads men by reason rather than by force."
McVey possessed a strong work ethic, beginning his days at 4:00 am, and was a skilled administrator. During his eight-year presidency, he raised faculty morale while encouraging faculty research and publication. Both The Quarterly and the School of Education Record were established. He restructured the University upon a relational basis, thus the School of Mines, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, and a course in Civil Engineering formed the Division of Engineering. He instituted a variety of standards for students, including a "C" average for graduation. He acted upon his conviction that a University must serve the state and adopted the motto, "To Be the Servant of the People." UND established an Extension Division, offered correspondence courses and faculty lectures, and benefitted North Dakota through its research and investigative activities, particularly those of the weather station, Geological Survey, College of Mining Engineering, and the Public Health Laboratory.
Towards the end of his tenure, McVey also dealt with a number of financial and political issues surrounding both World War I and the rise of the Non-Partisan League in North Dakota. UND prepared to do its part in the Great War, and the state's political landscape changed. The NPL and its attempts to control the State Board of Regents became a central issue at the University.
In 1917, President McVey resigned his position to accept the presidency of the University of Kentucky. McVey’s presidency infused UND with a greater respect than previously enjoyed. His administration established scholarship standards for both faculty and students, a sound and coherent administrative structure, and an enhanced intellectual campus life, all while advocating an ideal of service to the state. The University "must be a beacon light to hold up the highest things for the city and the state."
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections
Accruals: Additional materials have been added to the collection (79-574; 83-1250; 85-1352)
Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.
Acquisition Method: Donation; the original acquisition records are unavailable.
Separated Materials: Five rolls of microfilm were separated and placed in the Microfilm Cabinets in the Family History Room.
Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). Frank McVey Papers. OGLMC 141, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in October 2014.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[Box 1],
[All]
- Box 1
- Folder 1: General Correspondence, 1901-1911
- Folder 2: General Correspondence, 1912-1913
- Folder 3: General Correspondence, 1914
- Folder 4: General Correspondence, 1915-1916
- Folder 5: General Correspondence, 1917-1919
- Folder 6: Acknowledgments regarding McVey’s inauguration from colleges and universities in the United States (A-M), 1910
- Folder 7: Acknowledgments regarding McVey’s inauguration from colleges and universities in the United States (N-X), 1910
- Folder 8: Acknowledgments regarding McVey’s inauguration from learned societies, national institutions, associations, and libraries, 1910
- Folder 9: Acknowledgments regarding McVey’s inauguration from foreign colleges and universities, 1910
- Folder 10: Acceptances, regrets, and miscellaneous regarding McVey’s inauguration, 1910
- Folder 11: Inauguration preparation and planning, 1910
- Folder 12: Installation invitation, order of procession, and program, 1910
- Folder 13: Scrapbook of newspaper clippings regarding McVey’s inauguration from the Bismarck Tribune, Fargo Forum, Grand Forks Herald, and Grand Forks Evening Times, September 1910
- Folder 14: Faculty Memos, 1911-1915
- Folder 15: Faculty Memos, 1916-1919
- Folder 16: Rental Property, July 1935-June 1937
- Folder 17: Rental Property, June 1943-March 1946
- Folder 18: Photograph of McVey, ca. 1918