Contents


Collection Overview

Administrative Information

Historical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Series 1: FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1918-1942

Series 2: CORRESPONDENCE, ca. 1919-1939

Series 3: STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES, 1917-1974 (bulk 1917-1932)

Series 4: HONOR SYSTEM COMMITTEE, 1917-1928

Series 5: MINUTES, 1927-1969

Series 6: OTHER STUDENT GOVERNING BODIES, 1916-1975

Amherst College. Student Council. Records, 1917-1975

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Peter A. Nelson, Archivist.

2010

Collection Overview

Creator: Amherst College. Student Council.
Title: Student Council Records
Dates: 1917-1975
Abstract: Minutes, financial records, correspondence, reports, and various printed matter documenting the activities of student government at Amherst College, 1917-1975 (with gaps), including budget allocations to student clubs and organizations, election of officers, and administration of the honor system.
Extent: 2 records storage boxes, 1 archives box(2.5 linear ft.)
Language: English

Administrative Information

Association of Amherst Students. Records, 1987-2008Clubs and Societies CollectionGeneral Files

Processed in June 2010 by Peter A. Nelson and Colleen O'Connor 2011.

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

[Identification of item], in Amherst College Student Council Records [Box #, Folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library.

Access to Series 4, Sub-Series B is restricted. Permission to examine the restricted materials should be requested from the Head of Archives and Special Collections. Excepting this, there is no restriction on access to the collection for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Requests for permission to publish material from the collection should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

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Historical Note

Student government at Amherst College was first instituted under President Julius H. Seelye in the fall of 1880. Seelye wished to put into practice theories he had long held that undergraduates should be presumed mature enough to be responsible for their own behavior and that of their classmates. The "Amherst System," as it was called, placed a large measure of control in the hands of the College Senate, consisting of ten elected representatives from each class. Its primary responsibility was for settling matters of "college order and decorum." This included considering cases of objectionable behavior such as hazing and academic dishonesty. A case in the early 1880s involving a student who had been expelled from Amherst for hazing resulted in a student protest which was eventually referred to the Senate, which voted to reinstate the student. According to Cornelius Patton (AC 1883), this was believed to be "the first case of student self-government in any American college." However, the Amherst System -- always more impressive in theory than in practice -- was suspended in the 1890s; throughout the 20th century student government seems to have gone through waves of enthusiasm and derision.

Other functions of the Student Council included overseeing student organizations and sponsoring events.

[Source: Fuess, Amherst: The Story of a New England College (Boston: Little, Brown, 1935), 220-222.]

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Minutes, financial records, correspondence, reports, and various printed matter documenting the activities of student government at Amherst College, 1917-1975 (with gaps), including budget allocations to student clubs and organizations, election of officers, and administration of the honor system.

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into six series:

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Series 1: FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1918-1942


Box
Folder
1 1
Estimates 1918-1935

2
Final reports 1919-1927

3
Final reports 1927-1933

4
Miscellaneous 1918-1942

5
Time reports 1921-1925

6
Student employment 1919-1920

Series 2: CORRESPONDENCE, ca. 1919-1939


Box
Folder
1 7
Correspondence: Incoming 1920s-30s

8
Correspondence: Outgoing 1920s-30s

9
Thank you note from Woodrow Wilson's widow 1924

10
Doshisha University 1919-1925

11
Relations 1919-1921

12
Petitions 1928-1929

Series 3: STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES, 1917-1974 (bulk 1917-1932)


Box
Folder
1 13
Schedules 1928-1933

14
Faculty Committee 1928-1929

15
Results of competitions 1928-1930

16
Athletic awards 1928-1929

17
Music awards 1927-1929

18
Trophies 1917-1926

19
Rules Committee ca. 1921-1926

20
The Amherst Student 1919-1974

21
Baseball 1921-1925

22
Basketball ca. 1918-1925

23
Cheer Leading 1921-1922

24
Conferences 1921-1925

25
Cross Country 1923-1924

26
Dances 1921-1929

27
Dances 1929-1934

28
Debate 1919-1925

29
Debate 1925-1942

30
Debate 1940s

31
Football 1917-1932

32
Freshman Games 1923-1926

33
Golf 1918-1926

34
Hockey 1917-1926

35
Library 1922

36
National Student Federation of the US 1926

37
Press Club ca. 1921-1923

38
Publicity (see also: Press Club) 1920-1925

39
Rifle Team 1919-1929

40
Soccer 1918-1925

41
Swimming 1921-1932

42
Tennis 1920-1925

43
Track 1917-1932

44
"The Fraternity System at Massachusetts State College" n. d.

Series 4: HONOR SYSTEM COMMITTEE, 1917-1928

Sub-Series A: General


Box
Folder
2 1
General ca. 1921-1924

2
Elections 1920

3
Revised constitution and interpretation 1925

4
Constitution comments n.d.

5
General correspondence 1917-1918

6
General correspondence 1921-1922

7
General correspondence 1922-1923

8
General correspondence 1923-1924

9
General correspondence 1924-1925

10
General correspondence 1925-1926

11
General correspondence 1926-1927

12
Correspondence - Committee of Seven 1921-1927

13
General business 1921-1923

14
Meeting of the student body - Discussion of proposed honor system 1922 Jan-Feb

Sub-Series B: Student Trials, 1921-1928


Box
Folder
3 1-54
Student trials [RESTRICTED] 1921-1928

Series 5: MINUTES, 1927-1969


Box
Folder
2 15
Student Council minutes 1927-1949

16
Student Council minutes and reports 1949-1953

17
Student Council minutes 1953-1957

18
Student Council minutes 1967-1969

19
Collected Papers of the Student Council 1968-1969

Series 6: OTHER STUDENT GOVERNING BODIES, 1916-1975


Box
Folder
2 20
Student Association 1922, 1938

21
Student Association - rules and regulation books 1916-1932

22
Student Assembly 1972-1975