Series I: Presidential Papers
Subseries 1: Lars Herman Beck, 1st President, 1893-1910
Biographical note:
Beck was born in Alingsås, Sweden on November 20, 1859 to Johannes O. and Maja Stina Beck. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1868. In 1878, he started the St. Ansgars Academy (now Gustavus Adolphus College), where he stayed for three years. He received his B.A. from Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill. in 1885 and attended the Augustana Seminary between 1885 and 1887. Beck was ordained at the annual synodical meeting at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chicago on June 26, 1887. He received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1892. Beck turned down a teaching position in Philosophy at Yale to become the rector of the new läroverk. During his presidency at Upsala, Beck also served the Lutheran congregation in Arlington, N.J. (1893-1901) and the congregation in Kenilworth (1901-1910). In 1910, Beck resigned from the Presidency at Upsala and accepted a call from Kane, Pennsylvania. Fifteen years later he moved to St. James in Minnesota and in 1930, he moved back to Kane, Pennsylvania where he died on September 17, 1935. Lars Herman Beck married Thorborg Charlotta Söderberg on August 10, 1892. They had 8 children of which 4 died in infancy.
Contents (3 boxes):
President Beck's papers include correspondence, sermons, memoirs, college business and Beck's Ph.D. thesis entitled: A Comparison of the Doctrines of Reality in the Philosophies of Lotze and Bostrom.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 2: Peter Froeberg, 2nd President, 1910-1919
Biographical note:
Peter Froeberg was born on October 23, 1873 in Tingsås in Småland to Gustaf and Eva Magnusson. He immigrated to the United States in 1890 at the age of 17. Froeberg registered at Upsala läroverk in 1893 after having worked on a vegetable farm, label cutting factory, and Elias Johnson's book and stationary store in Brooklyn. He graduated from the läroverk in 1896 and enrolled at Augustana College in 1896 and received his B.A. in 1898 and B.D. from the Augustana Seminary in 1902. Froeberg was ordained in Ishpeming, Michigan in June 1902. He attended Yale between 1900 and 1905. After having served numerous churches in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut, he accepted a call for the presidency at Upsala College in 1910. Froeberg resigned from the presidency on October 5, 1918 and accepted a call from the Lutheran church in Brockton, Massachusetts where he remained until his retirement in 1946. Froeberg served on many boards and supported numerous fundraising campaigns for churches and church related institutions during his career.
Peter Froeberg married Annette Anderson of Princeton, Illinois on June 3, 1903. They had 10 children. He died on November 16, 1954.
Contents (4 boxes):
Froeberg's papers include many of his sermons, letters prior to his presidency 1902-1911, Upsala College business correspondence 1912-1920, Correspondence between Froeberg and Benjamin Lawson 1952-1954, personal writings, and other college matters.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 3: Carl Gustav Erickson, 3rd President, 1920-1936
Biographical note:
Carl Gustav Erickson was born in Kristiania on February 8, 1877. He immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1883. Erickson obtained his B.A. degree from Augustana College in 1904 and received his B.D. from the Augustana Seminary in 1908. Erickson served the Lutheran churches in Iron River, Michigan; White Rock, South Dakota; South Bend, Indiana; and Portland, Connecticut before he accepted the position as President of Upsala College. He died in 1936.
Contents (10 boxes):
Erickson's papers contains copies of letters written by Erickson during the period 1927-1936, other correspondence 1920-1926 (not organized chronologically), and various college matters.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 4: Evald Benjamin Lawson, 4th President, 1938-1965
Biographical note:
Evald B. Lawson was born on July 24, 1904 in Brockton, Massachusetts to Benjamin and Ellie P. Lawson. Lawson obtained his B.A. at Upsala College and B.D. from the Augustana Seminary in Rock Island, Ill. Later he studied at the Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University, and the Biblical Seminary in New York, where he in 1933 received a master’s degree and in 1937 the degree of Doctor in Sacred Theology. His doctor's thesis was entitled "Olof Gustaf Hedstrom and the Early Structure of Swedish Methodism." Lawson served the Trinity Lutheran Church in White Plains, New York and Emanuel Lutheran Church in in Pleasantville, New York, before accepting the position as President of Upsala College. He died in 1965.
Contents (64 boxes):
The Lawson papers are divided into the following sub-subseries:
1. Jonas Swensson research;
2. Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church and Synod;
3. General Correspondence arranged alphabetically by name of writer;
4. Inauguration material;
5. Chapel Fund;
6. Fund Raising;
7. Sermons;
8. Various writings, poetry, letters and Upsala College Business;
9. Fundraising letters, arranged alphabetically;
10. Addendum. These files were added to the collection after the initial processing. Included here are professional material organized in chronological order 1928-1965, correspondence arranged chronologically in alphabetical order (1956-1965) and other material relating to Lawson's presidency at Upsala.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 5: Carl Gustaf Fjellman, 5th President, 1966-1976
Biographical note:
Carl Gustaf Fjellman was born on May 7, 1919 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Anders Gustaf and Hulda Cornelia Fjellman. Fjellman attended Augustana College and received his B.A. in 1941 and B.D. of from the Augustana Seminary in 1945. Fjellman was ordained on June 10, 1945 and he served the Trinity Lutheran Church in Alemeda, CA between 1945 and 1947. He later attended University of California in Berkeley and finally Drew University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1955. Fjellman joined the faculty at Upsala in 1947, was a dean between 1951 and 1961, acting president between 1965 and 1966, and finally president in 1966. He held that position until 1975, when he assumed the role as a chancellor for one year. Fjellman oversaw the completion of the Puder Hall for the sciences in 1968 and the College Center and a new townhouse complex which were both built in 1970. He died in 2011.
Contents (20 boxes):
The Fjellman papers are divided into the following sub-subseries:
1. Subject file in alphabetical order;
2. Letters from Fjellman's period as a Dean, 1953-1966;
3. This series was found later and includes papers for the period 1966-1976, arranged in chronological order.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 6: Rodney O. Felder, 6th President, 1977-1984
Biographical note:
Rodney Otto Felder was born on May 27, 1927 in Redwood, New York to Otto and Pearl Maybelle. He received his B.A. from SUNY in 1949 and his M.A. from Columbia University in 1953 and Ed.D. from Columbia in 1957. After having had a career in the public school system as both a teacher and as an administrator and teacher at various colleges Felder became the President of Upsala College 1977. During Felder's presidency the school expanded and purchased second campus, the Wirths Campus in Sussex County. He died in 1997.
Contents (56 boxes):
The Felder papers are organized alphabetically in chronological order by subject matter. Letters are interfiled with all other school related business. There are no letters from the academic years 1977-1978 or 1979-1980.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 7: David E. Schramm, 7th President, 1986-1988
Biographical note:
David Eugene Schramm was born in on May 13, 1936 in Klickitat, Washington to Eugene and Esther Schramm. Schramm received his B.A. from Concordia College in 1958 and Masters of Divinity from Concordia Seminary in 1961. He received his Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1971. Schramm was the president of Upsala College between 1986 and 1988.
Contents (10 boxes):
President Schramm's papers are arranged in chronological order by subject, 1986-1988 and contains college business and correspondence including accreditation, memos to faculty and staff, budget matters and fundraising efforts.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 8: Robert E. Karsten, 8th President, 1988-1994
Biographical note:
Robert Edgar Karsten was born on September 20, 1930 in Kansas City, Missouri to Edgar John and Annette Karsten. Karsten graduated from Augustana College with a B.A. in 1952 and received a Masters of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago in 1956. He was ordained into the ministry in 1976. Karsten received his Ph.D. at the University of Denver in 1972. Karsten served as minister for a number of Lutheran churches before he assumed academic positions as an administrator and professor. Karsten became the president of Upsala College in 1988 when the school was suffering from serious economic problems. Karsten worked hard to bring back the academic standards and made sure that the campus buildings were repaired and enhanced. The economic situation did however, worsen and the college was forced to close on May of 1995.
Contents (36 boxes):
Karsten's papers include general office files 1989-1994 arranged alphabetically, and includes various college matters and correspondence. Included among his papers are also personal reference files which are arranged by subject.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 9: Paul V. DeLomba, 9th President, 1995
Paul Victor DeLomba was hired to close to the College. He was born in 1935.
Contents (1 box):
Information on 1995 commencement.
Folder inventory
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Subseries 10: Presidential Reports, 1937-1992
Contents (2 boxes):
Reports from the president's office, 1937-1992 (missing 1975, 1986-1990)