Box 2
Scope and Contents
SCOPE AND CONTENT The records in the Charles A. McMurry Collection consist of two major series: (1) Personal and Professional Papers, (2) Publications. A microfilm edition is also available. Types of materials in the first series are family and general correspondence (1978-1929), diaries (1883-1918), legal agreements (1894-1930), lecture notes and presentations, essays, drafts, and composition books. Included in the second series are publications and revisions written by Charles A. McMurry from 1891 to 1928. His published works include forty volumes, eleven monographs on education, and six articles published in scholarly journals. The collection was filmed in the fall of 1993 to make the core of the collection more widely available to scholars. Everything in the collection was filmed except for "Memorandum Books" and published materials. The Memorandum Books were McMurry's grade books and contained no materials important to researchers interested in his work as an educational pioneer. The collection was filmed in the same order as it had been arranged for archival storage and access. The collection is held on three rolls of 16 mm. microfilm and may be purchased from the University Archives. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Charles A. McMurry was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana on February 18, 1857 and attended the Illinois Normal University laboratory school for his elementary and high school education. In 1876, McMurry graduated from the University of Michigan. McMurry then continued his education at Halles University in Germany where he studied the educational doctrine of German philosopher Johann Fredrick Herbart. After completing his doctoral degree in 1887, McMurry returned to the United States and began his career as an administrator at various training schools, teacher's colleges, and universities. In 1888, McMurry arrived at State Normal University of Illinois first as an assistant in the Training School, and later succeeding Professor Thomas Metcalf as Director. For seven years McMurry taught, wrote, and published a series of special method books based on the fundamental principles of Herbart's educational theory. Recognized as an outstanding scholar on teaching methods in elementary schools, McMurry came to the Northern Illinois State Normal School in DeKalb, in 1899. In 1900 McMurry was appointed Director of the Normal Training School, a post he held until 1915 when he became Dean of Elementary Education in the George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee. Aside from his administrative activities, McMurry continued to write, publishing a series of pedagogical books, pioneer history stories, and twenty-six type studies in pamphlet form. Charles A. McMurry married Emily H. Le Crone of Faribault, Minnesota in 1888, and they had five children. McMurry died in Nashville, Tennessee on March 23, 1929.
Dates
- created: 1856-2008
- Other: Majority of material found in 1930-1980
- Other: Date acquired: 00/00/1964
Extent
From the Collection: 128.50 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Repository Details
Part of the Northern Illinois University Repository
Founders Memorial Library
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb IL 60115 US
815-753-9392
rhcua@niu.edu