Guide to the Papers of John D. Runkle MC.0007

Transcription

1 Guide to the Papers of John D. Runkle MC.0007 Finding aid prepared by Donna Webber This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit February, 20 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections Copyright 990 MIT Libraries Building 4N-8 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, Massachusetts,

2 Table of Contents Summary Information... 3 Biography... 5 Administrative Information...5 Related Materials... 6 Controlled Access Headings...6 Bibliography...7 Collection Inventory Page 2 -

3 Summary Information Repository Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections Creator Runkle, Catherine Robbins Bird Creator Runkle, John D. (John Daniel), Title John D. Runkle papers Date [inclusive] Extent.0 cubic feet (3 manuscript boxes) Language English Abstract The collection consists mainly of the professional correspondence of John D. Runkle, a professor of mathematics and the second president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The bulk of the incoming correspondence is from William Barton Rogers, MIT s founder, and his wife, Emma Savage Rogers, concerning MIT. Other prominent correspondents include Robert H. Richards, Charles W. Eliot, Benjamin Pierce, William R. Ware, Albert F. Hall, and T. Sterry Hunt. Letters from Edward Everett, Chauncey Wright, James Walker, James M. Craft, Edward C. Pickering, J. H. C. Coffin, John Muir, Alfred P. Rockwell, Samuel Kneeland, Gaetano Lanza, John M. Ordway, D. C. Fogg, Simon Newcomb, James Angell, and C. H. Dalton are also included. Most of the letters date from the years 869 to 873. In 87 Runkle accompanied MIT mining students on a trip to Colorado and Utah, and the collection includes several letters he wrote to his wife during the trip. On the topic of a proposed merger with Harvard, a letter from Harvard president Charles W. Eliot suggesting such a plan to Runkle is in the folder of June 870 correspondence. Other education issues are topics of correspondence - Page 3 -

4 and the collection includes an 876 report Runkle wrote for the MIT Corporation on the "Russian System of Shop-Work Construction for Engineers and Machinists." In 858 Runkle founded the short-lived journal, The Mathematical Monthly, and the three published volumes are included. There are some letters to Runkle from his son and brother, as well as a volume with copies of letters Catherine Runkle wrote to her sisters, Lucy and Emily Bird, while she was in Europe with her husband and children, July 20, 878, to September 5, 880. The bound volume includes a forward written by John Runkle in 883 to his two youngest children, who were born after the European trip. Citation John D. Runkle Papers, MC 7, box X. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute Archives and Special Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts. - Page 4 -

5 Biography John Daniel Runkle, , SB, MA, 85, Harvard College, was the second president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 870 to 878, having served as acting president from 868 to 870. He was professor of mathematics from 865 to 902. Earlier in 860 he was a member of the committee that prepared the " Objects and Plan of an Institute of Technology," which led to the establishment of MIT in 86, and he worked closely with the founder and first president of MIT, William Barton Rogers. Runkle's interest in the "Russian system of shop work training" led to the establishment of the School of Practical Mechanisms at MIT in 876. After his resignation as president in 878, Runkle was granted two years' leave of absence which he spent traveling in Europe with his family and during which he studied technical and industrial education abroad. He then returned to MIT and teaching. John Runkle was also associated with the Nautical Almanac computation project from 849 to 884. In 858 he founded the journal The Mathematical Monthly and edited it for three years, when publication ceased. He was married to Catherine Robbins Bird in 862 until her death in 897. Their children who lived to adulthood were Catherine Bird, born February 863; John Cornelius, born December 866; Eleanor Winslow, born March 88; and Gordon Taylor, born July 882. Two other children, William Bird (February-September 865) and Emma Rogers (May 870-May 87) did not survive childhood. Administrative Information Publication Information Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections Copyright 990 Revision Description 20 Access note The collection is open for research. Intellectual Property Rights - Page 5 -

6 Access to collections in the Institute Archives and Special Collections is not authorization to publish. Separate written application for permission to publish must be made to the Institute Archives. Related Materials Related Materials in the Institute Archives and Special Collections William Barton Rogers Papers (MC ). Controlled Access Headings Corporate Name(s) Harvard-M.I.T. Alliance (Proposed), 870 Personal Name(s) Eliot, Charles William, Runkle, Catherine Robbins Bird Runkle, John D. (John Daniel), Subject(s) College presidents--massachusetts--biography. Europe--Description and travel Massachusetts Institute of Technology--Faculty. Massachusetts Institute of Technology--Presidents. - Page 6 -

7 Bibliography John Daniel Runkle and His Share in the Development of Technology. Technique 90: Tyler, H. W. John Daniel Runkle, Technology Review 4 (July 902): Life and Letters of William Barton Rogers. Edited by Emma Savage Rogers with the assistance of William T. Sedgwick. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 896. MIT Libraries Full text online Runkle, John D. "The Russian system of shop-work instruction for engineers and machinists." Boston, Press of A.A. Kingman, Page 7 -

8 Collection Inventory Correspondence and proposal regarding union with Harvard 870 Biographical notes undated, 90, 902 Correspondence and papers undated Correspondence Correspondence Correspondence Correspondence 864 Correspondence Correspondence 867 Correspondence 868 Correspondence 869 January to May Correspondence 869 June Correspondence 869 July to September Correspondence 869 October Correspondence 869 November-December Correspondence 870 January Correspondence 870 February-March Correspondence 870 April to June Correspondence 870 July Box - Page 8 -

9 Correspondence 870 August-September Correspondence 870 October Correspondence 870 November Correspondence 870 December Correspondence 87 January-February Correspondence 87 March Correspondence 87 April Correspondence 87 May Correspondence 87 June Correspondence 87 July Correspondence 87 August Correspondence 87 September-October Correspondence 87 November-December Correspondence 872 January to March Correspondence 872 April to June Correspondence 872 July Correspondence 872 August Correspondence 872 September Correspondence 872 October Correspondence 872 November-December Correspondence 873 January to March Correspondence 873 June-July - Page 9 -

10 Correspondence 873 August-September Correspondence 873 October to December Correspondence 874 Correspondence 876 Correspondence Report on Descriptive Geometry, by Mr. Beal 877 January 8 "The Russian System of Shop-work Instruction for Engineers and Machinists" report by President John B. Runkle to the MIT Corporation. Boston, Press of A.A. Kingman. 876 The Mathematical Monthly, vol. I, II, III Volume of copies of letters from Europe written by Catherine Runkle to her sisters Lucy and Emily Bird Page 0 -