Richard Glenn Gettell Records, 1954-1969

Use of this collection is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

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Biographical Note

Richard Glenn Gettell, economist and college and university teacher and administrator, was born on March 3, 1912 in Hartford, Connecticut to Raymond Garfield Gettell, a political scientist and teacher, and Nelene Groff Knapp Gettell. The Gettells moved to Amherst, Massachusetts in 1914 and to Berkeley, California in 1923. He attended elementary and secondary schools in Amherst and Garfield Junior High School in Berkeley then went to University High School in Oakland, California from 1924-1927. He joined the Merchant Marine and served on three voyages to the South Seas, Australia, and Hawaii in 1927-1928. He attended Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1928-1929 and Amherst College from 1929-1933. At Amherst he sang in choirs, served as president of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and manager of the freshman football team, participated in the debating society and graduated with high honors in economics. He also took classes at the University of California in Berkeley during the summer of 1932. After working as Executive Secretary of the Amherst Club of New York, N.Y. from July-December 1933, he went to Washington D.C. as the personal assistant to one of his former Amherst professors, Willard L. Thorp, who was Special Economic Adviser to the United States Department of Commerce. From 1933-1935 Gettell was a junior economist or special assistant in the Bureau for Foreign and Domestic Commerce and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He attended the University of California at Berkeley from 1935-1937 and received a Ph.D. in economics in 1940. In 1938, Gettell became an instructor and tutor of economics and a research assistant at Harvard University. Concurrently he was an instructor of economics at Wellesley College. He married his first wife Eunice Burdick on September 10, 1938. He was an instructor and assistant professor of economics at Yale University from 1938-1941, when Yale granted him a leave of absence to work as an economist for the Textile Price Branch of the Office of Price Administration in Washington D.C. He was in charge of rationing shoes and industrial rubber footwear during World War II. In 1943 Gettell became an operations analyst for the United States Army Air Force. He served with combat commands in England, Washington D.C., and Guam and was a special consultant to the operations analysis division of the United States Air Force headquarters from 1945-1960. During the Korean War (1951-1953) he served for six months with the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Weapons Evaluation Group.

Gettell began working for Time, Inc. in December, 1945. He was chief staff economist and assistant to the publisher of Fortune magazine from 1945-1950 and chief staff economist from 1950-1953. He also was a lecturer in economics at the Columbia University School of Business Administration in 1947-1948. He divorced his first wife in 1946 and married Landonia Brock Richards on June 9, 1948. Gettell became chief foreign economist for The Texas Company in December, 1953. He also served as a consultant to the White House staff and was a member of the Task Force of the Cabinet Committee on Energy Resources and Supplies in the Office of Defense Management. In 1954 he played a major role in preparing President Eisenhower's policy statement to Congress concerning foreign economic development. In addition Gettell was Rapporteur for and a member of the United States Council of the International Chamber of Commerce from 1954-1957.

Gettell became the thirteenth President of Mount Holyoke College in 1957. He launched an ambitious fund-raising effort that culminated in the Fund for the Future capital campaign during the College's celebration of its one hundred twenty-fifth anniversary in 1962. Most of these funds went to increasing faculty salaries, doubling the endowment, and constructing the Prospect, 1837, Ham, and MacGregor Hall dormitories, the Pattie J. Groves Health Center, the Psychology and Education Building, Alice Withington Rooke Laboratory Theatre, Eliot House (the center for religious life on campus), and an outdoor amphitheater. He also oversaw the renovation of several existing buildings including Williston Memorial Library. Increasing numbers of African-American and Latina students were admitted to Mount Holyoke during Gettells administration and he supported the ABC (A Better Chance) Program which encouraged minority girls to go to college. He also helped develop a student exchange program with Bennett College and approved Mount Holyoke's participation in the United States-India Women's College Exchange Program for faculty and staff. He was one of the founding trustees of Hampshire College and served as an active member of the boards of numerous other organizations including the College of the Virgin Islands. He received honorary degrees from Amherst College in 1957 and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1962. Mount Holyoke awarded him an honorary degree in 1970 and named the amphitheater in his honor. Gettell was uncomfortable with the desire of many students to abolish Mount Holyoke's long-standing chapel attendance requirement and liberalize social regulations such as those concerning alcohol use and parietals (the policy for allowing men in dormitory rooms). He announced his decision to resign as President in September of 1967 and left office on November 11, 1968. He served as a consultant to the Haas Community Funds in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1969-1970, then retired and returned to live in California where he died in Menlo Park on August 14, 1988 at the age of seventy-six.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Richard Glenn Gettell Records date from 1954-1969. Most materials document activities events and issues during his administration as President of Mount Holyoke College. There are also some documents concerning Four College cooperation that date from the administration of Gettell's predecessor, Roswell Gray Ham (President, 1937-1957). The records are arranged in these series: Correspondence, Writings, Ad Hoc Committee to Consider Rules and Standards Records, United States-India Women's College Exchange Program Records, Subject Files, Inauguration Records, Gettell's Appointment Book, Biographical Information, Film, and Photographs.

Correspondence (1957-1969) consists of letters by and to Gettell, primarily reflecting his contacts with individuals whom he invited to present Commencement or Convocation addresses and receive honorary degrees. Other correspondence is with Mount Holyoke trustees, alumnae, faculty, staff, students, and parents of students as well as with friends and colleagues, including letters responding to the announcement of his resignation as President in September, 1967.

Writings (1957-1968) consist of speeches and articles by Gettell. These documents include his inaugural address, A Plea for the Uncommon Woman (1957), copies of his Seventeen magazine article about The Age of Discretion (1966), and a speech entitled What Price Coeducation? (1967).

Ad Hoc Committee to Consider Rules and Standards Records (1961-1963) consist of minutes and agenda, correspondence, questionnaires, student opinions and questions, statements by committee members, articles, and reports. These materials document the work of members of the Mount Holyoke community who were asked by Gettell to develop a statement of sensible principles concerning social regulations for Mount Holyoke students.

United States-India Women's College Exchange Program Records (1963-1968) consist of proposals, statements of policies and procedures, minutes and agenda, correspondence, memoranda, reports, financial records, schedules, brochures, articles, applications, letters of recommendation, and a contract for the work of a Mount Holyoke faculty member, Lorraine Benner, at the Women's Christian College in Madras, India. These materials concern the activities of and participants in a program established in 1963 to promote the exchange of faculty and staff members at women's colleges in each country.

Subject Files (1954-1969) contain minutes, correspondence, reports, the text of speeches by Gettell and others, financial records, statistics, programs, charts, lists, schedules, memoranda, press releases, and articles. Most of these documents concern Mount Holyoke's finances and facilities, conferences and other programs in which Gettell or the College participated, and cooperative work by the Four Colleges: Mount Holyoke, Amherst, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Inauguration Records (1957-1958) consist of minutes and agenda, correspondence, reports, announcements, guest lists, congratulatory citations, speeches, programs, and newspaper clippings about the inauguration ceremony held for Gettell on November 9, 1957.

Gettell's Appointment Book (1967) records his appointments for meetings and events at Mount Holyoke and includes references to his recreational activities and vacations.

Biographical Information (1957-1968) consists of press releases and newspaper clippings documenting Gettell's activities as President of Mount Holyoke and events during his tenure.

The Film (1967) is of an interview of Gettell for a Seattle, Washington television program in 1962. His remarks are on the topic of What's New in the Schoolhouse? Young Women in Today's College World.

Photographs (1957-1968) consist of images of Gettell's inaugural ceremony in November, 1957; formal and informal photographs of Gettell alone or with Mount Holyoke trustees, students, faculty, staff, alumnae, and visitors; and photographs documenting his participation in the Colleges commencement activities and other events. Also included are photographs of Landonia Gettell.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into ten series:

• Correspondence (1957-1969)
• Writings (1957-1968)
• Ad Hoc Committee to Consider Rules and Standards Records (1961-1963)
• United States-India Women's College Exchange Program Records (1963-1968)
• Subject Files (1954-1969)
• Inauguration Records (1957-1958)
• Appointment Book (1967)
• Biographical Information (1957-1968)
• Film (1962)
• Photographs (1957-1968)

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Correspondence 1957-1969 3 boxes

Consists of letters by and to Gettell. Most of the correspondence is with individuals invited to present Commencement or Convocation addresses and receive honorary degrees. These documents include a letter from James Thurber (March 29, 1960) declining an honorary degree and referring to his wife Helen Wismer Class of 1924. Other correspondence is with Mount Holyoke trustees, alumnae, faculty, staff, students, and parents of students as well as with friends and colleagues. There is a letter from the College Physician, Dr. Carol Craig (March 17, 1967) describing her experiences on leave while working in a hospital in Da Nang Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Letters to students by Gettell including one concerning a change in required chapel regulations (July 30,1958) and another thanking those who awarded him an honorary degree of Hall Residency (April 30, 1964). Many letters written from September 1967-November 1968 respond to a ten-year report that Gettell wrote concerning the College or thank him for his service as President. A partial index to Gettell's correspondence is part of this series.

Arranged chronologically with an alphabetical index to the names of many correspondents.

Writings 1957-1968 1 box

Consists of speeches and articles by Gettell, including his inaugural address, A Plea for the Uncommon Woman (November 9, 1957). Many speeches from 1957-1958 were presented at gatherings of the Mount Holyoke College community at which he spoke about a topic of interest, then presented a faculty or administrator who continued the discussion. Other speeches from those years and later were presented at Convocation, chapel services, incoming freshmen, senior breakfasts, meetings of alumnae, faculty meetings, at conferences of educators and others, and to members of organizations such as the Rotary Club and the First Congregational Church of South Hadley, MA. Topics of these writings included an increase in student fees (November 19, 1957), violations of rules concerning the use of library materials (April 29, 1958), The Science Directed World as a Background for the Arts (February 14, 1959), changes in regulations for students' social behavior (May 14, 1963), The Academic, Social, and Spiritual Program at Mount Holyoke College (October 3, 1964), Modern Women and Community Leadership (May 6, 1965), and What Price Coeducation? (March 30, 1967). There are also several speeches about Mount Holyoke's history and needs that he gave in 1962 during the College's Fund for the Future campaign and copies of his Seventeen magazine article from February, 1966 entitled The Age of Discretion with related correspondence.

Arranged chronologically

Ad Hoc Committee to Consider Rules and Standards Records 1961-1963 1 box

Gettell established this committee in 1962 to develop a statement of sensible principles in regard to the social regulations for Mount Holyoke students. Members of the committee from the College community were trustees Robert E. Barrett Jr. and Eleanor Greene Rogers (Class of 1924); philosophy professor Roger W. Holmes; Margery S. Foster, the Secretary of the College; Leta Kirk Rymer, Assistant Academic Dean; Ruth W. Yerrall, a staff member in the Scholarship Office and Head Resident of Pearsons Hall; and students Anne O. Eastman (Class of 1963), Jeane Stewart (Class of 1964), and Ann E. Zelle (Class of 1965). Other Mount Holyoke administrators, an alumna named Ruth Vars (Class of 1961), a practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and guest speakers from Amherst, Barnard, Oberlin, Radcliffe, and Smith Colleges also participated in some meetings of the committee.

The records consist of minutes and agenda correspondence (including a letter from 1961 to Mount Holyoke's Dean of Residence about social regulations at Dartmouth College), questionnaires, student opinions and questions, statements by committee members, and reports. The reports also include copies of documents concerning social regulations at many other colleges and universities in the United States and numerous newspaper and magazine articles about the morals and sexual behavior of college students. Topics discussed by committee members include the Mount Holyoke Honor Code; the role of social regulations in a residential college for women and the amount of responsibility that the College should assume for the behavior of students; the relation between these regulations and the quality of academic work; premarital sexual relations and the use of birth control by students; and possible improvements to campus facilities used by students for social purposes.

Arranged by form of material, then chronologically

United States-India Women's College Exchange Program Records 1963-1968 1 box

This program was established in 1963 by eleven women's colleges in the United States with the financial support of the United States Department of State and the Danforth Foundation. The purposes of the program, which focused on the exchange of faculty and staff members at women's colleges in each country, were to increase mutual understanding of the people and cultures of each country and develop bonds of friendship and continuing institutional relationships among these schools. Mount Holyoke joined the program in October of 1963 and ended its participation in February, 1968. Lorraine Benner, Director of the Gorse Child Study Center and Associate Professor of Psychology and Education, participated in the program by spending her sabbatical year, 1964-1965, at Women's Christian College in Madras, India. Principals and presidents of several women's colleges in India visited Mount Holyoke between 1965-1967. Fatima Sheja'at, a sociologist from Osmania University College for women, was a Visiting Lecturer in the Economics and Sociology Department during the second semester of the 1965-1966 academic year.

These records consist of a proposal to the Danforth Foundation and a Statement of Policy and Procedures that describe the goals and administration of this program, minutes and agenda, correspondence, memoranda, reports, financial records, schedules, brochures, articles, applications, letters of recommendation, and the contract for Benner's work. The materials document the activities of the program and the experiences of participants.

Arranged Chronologically

Subject Files 1954-1969 3 boxes

These files contain minutes, correspondence, reports, the text of remarks by Gettell and others, financial records, statistics, programs, charts, lists, schedules, memoranda, press releases, and articles. Many files relate to campus facilities and finances such as minutes, reports, and a survey documenting the work of the College's Committee on Space (1956-1960); correspondence, reports, and financial records for the Fund for the Future, the fund-raising campaign held in conjunction with the celebration of the College's one hundred twenty-fifth anniversary (1961-1965); minutes, proposals, correspondence, reports, lists, charts, and financial records for the $2.5 million challenge grant the College received in June, 1962 to support improvements to faculty salaries and financial aid for students, the purchase of library books and scientific equipment, a revision of the College's curriculum, and the rehabilitation of buildings and grounds; and analyses of salaries for Mount Holyoke faculty. Administrators, laboratory instructors, graduate assistants, and teaching assistants, 1959/1960-1968/1969, prepared for the Board of Trustees, with information about fringe benefits for employees, copies of the College's budget and a report entitled On the Financial Prospects for Higher Education, published in the AAUP Bulletin (Summer 1968).

Other files contain minutes, correspondence, summaries of seminars, reports, the text of speeches and other remarks, and press releases about conferences and other events at Mount Holyoke and elsewhere, such as meetings of the Seven College Conference (1954-1968); the Academic Programs Abroad conference (January, 1960), a National Conference on Undergraduate Study Abroad (October, 1960), and the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the Women Marines who trained at Mount Holyoke during World War II (May, 1968).

There is also correspondence, minutes, proposals, financial records, memoranda, articles, and lists documenting cooperative efforts among the Four Colleges (Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst), 1955-1968. These materials include information about the Four College academic programs and courses and the creation of the New College (Hampshire College) which was established in 1965 and opened in 1970.

Another file contains the manuscript of Gettell's remarks at the College's memorial service for President John F. Kennedy November, 1963, with the text of the scripture reading on that occasion, a petition from students asking Mount Holyoke's administration to formally recognize the assassination in some way, and a thank you note from those students.

Arranged alphabetically by subject

Inauguration Records 1957-1958 2 boxes

Consists of minutes and agenda, correspondence, reports, announcements, guest lists, congratulatory citations, speeches, programs, and newspaper clippings about the inauguration ceremony held for Gettell on November 9, 1957. Includes a speech by Massachusetts governor Foster Furcolo and addresses by Irving Dillard, Archibald MacLeish, Mark Van Doren, and Jessamyn West, participants in a symposium on Words are Responsibilities.

Arranged by form of material, then chronologically

Appointment Book 1967 1 folder

Records Gettell's appointments for meetings and events at Mount Holyoke. Also includes references to his recreational activities and vacations.

Arranged Chronologically

Biographical Information 1957-1968 1 box

Consists of press releases and newspaper clippings documenting Gettell's activities as President of Mount Holyoke and events during his tenure. Includes editorials from local newspapers discussing his qualifications for the position and performance and a copy of Choragos (the student newspaper) of November 14, 1968 containing students' reactions to his resignation.

Arranged chronologically

Film 1962 1 box

Consists of a 16mm, twenty-five minute color film of an interview of Gettell by Marty Camp of KOMO-TV in Seattle, Washington filmed in 1962 as part of a series of programs called What's New in the Schoolhouse? Young Women in Today's College World.

Photographs 1957-1968 1 box

Consists of images of Gettell's inaugural ceremony in November, 1957; formal and informal photographs of Gettell alone or with Mount Holyoke trustees, students, faculty, staff, alumnae, and visitors; and photographs documenting his participation in the College's commencement activities and other events including a conference on campus about the employment problems of women (March, 1962) and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Women Marines who trained at Mount Holyoke during World War II (May, 1968). Also includes a photograph of Gettell as the Queen of Hearts and Flowers in the 1968 Faculty Show and photographs of Landonia Gettell, members of the Colleges swimming team in 1968, and Mount Holyoke trustee Robert Wise with his wife Esther.

Arranged by content, then chronologically

Correspondence 1957-1969

Writings 1957-1968

Ad Hoc Committee to Consider Rules and Standards Records 1961-1963

United States-India Women's College Exchange Program Records 1963-1968

Subject Files 1954-1969

Inauguration Records 1957-1958

Appointment Book 1967

Biographical Information 1957-1968

Film 1962

Photographs 1957-1968, n.d.