Snyder, Henry Nelson
Records, 1890-1949
[Bulk 1911-1942]
Record Group 204
12.3 cubic feet, in 13 boxes
Biographical note: Born near Macon, Georgia on January 14, 1865, Henry Nelson Snyder grew up in middle Tennessee, and did his undergraduate and graduate work at Vanderbilt University. He joined the Wofford faculty in September 1890, and remained at the college for the next fifty-nine years. He taught English and German in his earliest years on the faculty. He took a one-year leave in 1900-01 to complete his graduate coursework at the University of Gottingen in Germany. Following President James H. Carlisle’s resignation, the board of trustees elected the 37-year old Snyder as the college’s fourth president on June 7, 1902. He held the presidency for forty years, longer than anyone else in the college’s history. When he took office, the college presidency had few duties other than serving as chairman of the faculty, but with a growing student body and a growing faculty, Snyder assumed greater administrative duties. With few other administrators, Snyder soon found himself handling everything from relations with the board of trustees and supervising construction of buildings to handling room assignments and speaking to civic clubs, churches, and alumni groups. An active Methodist layman, Snyder was a member of the Joint Hymnal Commission that prepared the first hymnal used by the branches of the Methodist Church and of the unification commission that brought these three denominations together into the Methodist Church in 1939. He was a member of South Carolina’s State Board of Education, was an active leader in educational circles in the South and in the Methodist Church, and a much-sought after speaker for commencements and other ceremonies. He attended the inaugural meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and shepherded Wofford into membership in that group. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa by Vanderbilt University, he worked for years to bring a chapter of that society to Wofford. In 1941, he achieved this long-standing goal. He retired in 1942, but remained on campus until his death on September 18, 1949.
Organization note: Arranged into 3 series: Personal; Correspondence; and Official files. Each series is further arranged into sub-series as indicated in the box and folder list.
Access note: Access unrestricted
Summary note: The papers document virtually every aspect of life at Wofford from the 1910s to the 1940s. Because Snyder was virtually the only administrator in his early years as president, he was involved in most of the college’s affairs. Even when other administrators assumed certain responsibilities, the president’s papers continue to reflect various college activities, from student admissions, discipline, faculty recruitment, and athletics. Of particular interest are files that document the suspension and reinstitution of fraternities in 1914-15, the availability of federal financial assistance to students during the New Deal, and the creation of the first ROTC unit during World War I. The papers also reflect Snyder’s activities as a member of the State Board of Education in the late 1910s, his work with the Methodist Educational Campaign Commission in 1920, his work with Methodist higher education at the church-wide level in the years 1910-1940, and his popularity on the speaking circuit.
Citation: Cite as: Papers of Henry Nelson Snyder, Archives, Sandor Teszler Library, Wofford College
Location: Archives, Sandor Teszler Library, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC 29303
Related material: Papers of Walter Kirkland Greene
Administrative notes: Arrangement completed in June 2008, arranged by Phillip Stone and Phillip Mullinnix. Papers received by transfer from the president’s office and from Mrs. Henry N. Snyder.
Finding Aid: Box and folder listing
Box and Folder Listing
Series 1 – Personal
The personal materials series consists of biographical materials (articles and speeches about Dr. Snyder, obituaries, and correspondence about him after his death), articles and speeches (articles he wrote and published and speeches he delivered), the manuscript copy of one of his books, and some of his personal effects, such as his Phi Beta Kappa key.
Box 1
Subseries A – Biographical
Lula Snyder, MA Thesis
Biographical materials (2 folders)
Obituary
Post-mortem
Photographs
Group Photographs
Photograph-father
Photographs-House
Subseries B – Articles and Speeches
1889-1898
1900-1910
1911-1932
Articles for publication, 1924
Articles and Speeches, 1929-30
1933-34
1935-38
1939-41
1942-48
Articles written
Articles and Speeches (2)
Subseries C- Letters to Mrs. Snyder
August-December 1900
January –September 1901
Box 1-B
Subseries D – Book Manuscript
An Educational Odyssey
Subseries E- Personal Effects
Phi Beta Kappa Key
Oratorical Medal
Series 2—Correspondences
Subseries A – General and Subject
Box 2
Academic Regalia
Anti-Hoarding Committee, 1932 [1]
Anti-Hoarding Committee, 1932 [2]
Admissions, 1910-1912
Admissions, 1917-1919
Admissions, 1920-1922
Admissions, 1923-1925
Admissions, 1925-1927
Admissions, 1928-1942
Admissions Applications, 1933
Admissions-Recruitment, 1936
Admissions-Student Army Training Corps, 1918
Alumni, 1920
Alumni, 1923-1925
Alumni, 1925-1929
Alumni, 1931
Alumni, 1930-1940
Alumni Emergency Fund, 1933
Alumni-New York Meeting, 1935
Alumni Who Teach English
Athletics, 1920
Athletics, 1923-1925
Athletics, 1925-1929
Athletics, 1929-1932
Athletics, 1933-1934
Box 3
Athletics, 1935-1936
Athletics, 1938-1939
Athletics, 1940-1941
Athletics, 1941-1942
Athletics--Director Search
Athletics—Football Prospects, 1940
Board of Trustees, 1920-1924
Board of Trustees, 1925-1928
Board of Trustees, 1930-1932
Board of Trustees, 1935-1937
Board of Trustees, 1938-1939
Board of Trustees, 1940-1941
Capital Campaign, 1926
Chapel Attendance
Chapel Attendance—excuses, 1914
Civil Aeronautics Flight Training
Class of 1925
Commencement 1933
Commencement 1934
Commencement 1935
Commencement 1936
Commencement 1939
Commencement 1940
Commencement 1941
Commencement 1942
Committee of 500
Democratic Party
Development, 1940-1941
Emergency Relief Work, 1934-1935
Facilities
Facilities and Finance, 1910-1912
Facilities and Finance, 1915-1920
Faculty [1]
Faculty [2]
Faculty, 1913-1914
Faculty-Chiles Appointment, 1914
Box 4
Faculty, 1915-1919
Faculty, 1920
Faculty, 1922-1925
Faculty Searches, 1924
Faculty—Summer School, 1933
Federal Writers Project
Financial
Financial Aid Loan Requests, 1926-1927
Financial Aid—Student Work, 1926
Financial Aid—Student Work, 1927
Financial Aid—Student Work, 1928
Fraternities
Fraternities, 1915-1917
Fraternities, 1917-1920
Fraternities, 1923-1925
Fraternities—Chi Phi, 1916-1917
Fraternity Suspensions, 1913-1914
Glee Club
Gifts
Gifts, 1917
Gifts, 1920
Graduate Courses/M.A. work
Honorary Degrees
Honorary Degrees, 1928-1933
Inter-Racial Cooperation Commission
Inter-Racial Conference Committee Minutes
Kings Mountain Celebration Committee
Kirkland Deed
Library
Lyceum
Lyceum, 1929
Memberships
Military, 1917
Military, 1923-1924
Box 5
Military, 1925-1928
Military, 1930-1938
Miscellaneous, 1910-1912
Miscellaneous, 1913-1917
National Youth Administration
National Youth Administration, 1935
Personal, 1912-1919
Personal, 1920-1925
Personal, 1925-1935
Personal, 1941-1942
Personal—Sympathy Notes, 1915
Peter Moody Poem, 1936
Phi Beta Kappa, 1925
Phi Beta Kappa, 1930-1933
Phi Beta Kappa, 1934-1938
Phi Beta Kappa, 1939
Phi Beta Kappa, 1940
Phi Beta Kappa, 1941
Property Tax Bill—Legislature
Publicity
Publicity, 1924
Publicity, 1929-1930
Publicity – Radio, 1938
Reports, 1926-1928
Request for Excused Absences, 1913
Request for Absence, 1920
Rhodes Scholarships
Box 6
R.O.T.C., 1929-1930
R.O.T.C., 1938-1940
Seventy-Fifth Anniversary
South Carolina Council, 1933
Southern Railway System—Wofford Rail Car
Spartanburg
Speakers at Wofford College
Speaking Engagements, 1917
Speaking Engagements, 1918-1920
Speaking Engagements and Invitations
Speaking Invitations
Speaking Invitations, elsewhere, 1925-1932
Speaking Invitations, elsewhere, 1933-1942
Speaking Invitations at Wofford College
Student Affairs, 1911-1919
Student Affairs, 1918-1920
Student Affairs, 1920
Student Affairs, 1923-1924
Student Affairs, 1925-1926
Box 7
Student Affairs, 1927-1929
Student Affairs, 1929-1930
Student Affairs, 1930-1931
Student Affairs, 1932-1934
Student Affairs, 1934-1935
Student Affairs, 1935
Student Affairs, 1936-1938
Student Affairs, 1938-1941
Student Affairs—Cartledge, 1923
Student Affairs—Felder, T., 1923
Student Loan—Work Applications, 1932
Student Health Fee, 1913
Student Organizations
Student Petitions
Student Petitions, 1920-24
Student Petitions, 1925
Student Petitions, 1935-36
Student Publications
Student Re-Admission Letters, 1932
Sympathy letters
Telegrams, 1924
Telegrams, 1925
Telegrams, 1926-1927
Thank You Notes—Retirement
Versailles Treaty
War Letters, 1918-1919
Wofford Family
Wofford History
World War II
Series 2 - Correspondence
Subseries B – Education
Box 8
Adelphi College, 1915
Alabama Polytechnic Institute
Association of American Colleges, 1925-1935
Association of American Colleges, 1938-1942
Carlisle Fitting School
Colleges and Universities, general
Colleges and Universities, 1917
Colleges and Universities, 1918-1920
Colleges and Universities, 1930-1935
Church Related Colleges, general
The Citadel
Clemson College
Coker College
Columbia College
Converse College
Davidson College
Duke Endowment
Duke University
Emory University
Erskine College
Furman University
General Education Board, 1914
General Education Board 1921-1925
General Education Board, 1926-1934
Japanese-American Student Relocation
Lander College
Limestone College
Medical University of South Carolina
National Beta Club
Newberry College
Paine College
Peabody College, 1914
Presbyterian College
Randolph-Macon College
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Box 9
SC Association of American Colleges
SC Development Board
SC Teacher’s Association
South Carolina Colleges and Universities
State Board of Education, 1913-18
State Board of Education, 1917-19
State Board of Education, 1920-33
Derrick, S. J.
Edmonds, S. H.
State Department of Education - Texts
State Department of Education
Textile Industrial Institute
UNC-Chapel Hill
University of South Carolina
Vanderbilt University
Winthrop University
Wofford Fitting School, 1920-1924
Series 2 - Correspondence
Subseries C -Church Correspondences
Bethel Methodist Church, Spartanburg
Methodist General Conference Board of Education, 1913-1920
Board of Education, 1920-1924
Board of Education, 1926-1927
Board of Education , 1928
Board of Education, 1929-1930
Board of Education, 1931-1932 [1]
Series 2 - Correspondence
Subseries C -Church Correspondences
Box 10
Board of Education, 1931-1932 [2]
Board of Education, 1933-1934
Board of Education, 1935-1936 [1]
Board of Education, 1935-1936 [2]
Board of Education, 1937-1938
Board of Education, 1939-1940
Board of Education, 1940-1941
Board of Education, 1941-1942
Central Methodist Church, Spartanburg
Epworth League
Federal Council of Churches, 1924
Interchurch World Movement
Inter-Denominational Church Work
Methodist Church, 1917
Methodist Church, 1920
Methodist Church—SC Conference, Upper SC Conference
Methodist Educational Association, 1924-1925
Methodist Educational Campaign Commission
Methodist Hymnal Commission [1]
Methodist Hymnal Commission [2]
Methodist Unification Commission
SC Conference Board of Education
SC Conference Board of Education, 1939-1941
SC Conference Board of Education, 1941-1942
Sunday School League
YMCA
YMCA, 1923-1925
Series 2 - Correspondence
Subseries D—Correspondences—Individuals
Box 11
Ader, Olin B.
Andrews, Issac
Asbill, Mac
Ball, W. W.
Baruch, Bernard M.
Benet, Christie
Belser, Irvine F.
Best, R.H.
Bethea, Power W.
Bethea, William S.
Blackwood, I. C.
Blease, Cole L.
Blease, Eugene S.
Bourne, W.R.
Burnett, W.D.
Brown, Edgar A.
Buie, T. S.
Byrnes, James F.
Candler, W.A.
Cantey, Rev. S.O.
Carlisle, Howard B.
Carlisle, James H.
Carter, Wilma
Carver, George Washington
Cash, J. W. (father of W. J. Cash)
Chiles, J. A.
Cleveland, Jesse
Clinkscales, John G.
Coates, K. D.
Coker, David R.
Cox, Leroy H.
Davis, Jackson
Dannelly, Sheldon
Dibble, Rev. W.V.
Dozier, Gen. James C.
DuPre, Arthur Mason
DuPre, Wallace
Early, Bernard A.
Evins, J. Choice
Ezell, W.O.
Farnham, R.A.
Folger, Riley Carlisle
Frazer, Keener C.
Gaines, Francis P.
Gee, N. Gist
George, Walter F.
Gibson, Jim
Glenn, J. Lyles
Goode, William L.
Graham, Frank P.
Gray, Miss Wil Lou
Gramling, A. C.
Greene, Walter K.
Hamer, P.M.
Hammett, James D.
Harley, J. Emile
Harris, John W.
Helms, Inez
Helms, M. B.
Herbert, Walter I.
Hoole, William Stanley
Hucks, Herbert
Hughston, J. W.
Jefferies, Richard M.
Johnston, Olin D.
Jones, J. Roy
Jones, Lewis P.
Kern, Paul B.
Kilgo, James P.
Kilgo, John C.
Kilgo, J.W.
King, Russell
Lane, John P.
Law, John A.
Law, Margaret A.
Law, Mary
Law, R. A.
Law, William A.
Lawton, R. O.
Ledbetter, S. E.
Leonard, George C.
Series 2—Correspondences
Subseries D - Individuals
Box 12
Littlejohn, C. Bruce
Logan, S. F.
Lovin, Charles W.
Lumpkin, Alva M.
Manning, Richard I.
MacMillan, John L.
Major, Coach J. P.
Maybank, Burnet R.
Mayson, Preston B.
McCullough, J.A.
McLeod, Governor Thomas G.
McSwain, Congressman John J.
Merchant, D.H
Mims, Edwin
Mims, Thomas B.
Montgomery, W. S.
Moss, B. Hart
Moore, Dr. Austin T.
Mouzon, Bishop Edwin D.
Nesbitt, Charles F.
Norman, R.H.
Norton, Clarence C.
Odum, Howard
Outler, Albert C.
Owens, J. K.
Owings, Rembert
Patterson, Dwight
Patterson, Giles
Peele, D. D.
Ponder, W. F.
Prince, Samuel L.
Pugh, W. C.
Rast, J. M.
Reid, Rebecca
Richards, John G.
Roosevelt, Kermit
Sanders, Gerald D.
Salmon, J. L.
Scoggins, Bates L.
Scott, Howard
Smith, Charles Forster
Smith, E.B.
Smith, Ellison D.
Sondley, F.A.
Springs, Leroy
Stackhouse, Walter F. [1925-26]
Stackhouse, Walter F. [1927-1939]
Stacpoole, Albert C.
Stanbury, W. Albert,
Stevenson, William
Tennis, LeGrand
Thurmond, J. Strom
Tigert, J.J.
Tillman, Benjamin Ryan
Thornborough, Helen Coake Miller
Vermillion, H. E.
Vivion, King
Wannamaker, Olin D.
Wannamaker, W. H.
Wardlaw, Patterson
Whitelaw, Robert N. S.
Wideman, Louise B.
Wolfe, Julian
Wonner, Carl
Woods, Charles A.
Wood, Harlan
Woodward, Dorothy
Wright, Louis B.
Series 3 – Official Files
Alumni Association
College Bulletin (Typescript), 1929
Carlisle Hall
Ethics Class
Petition to Reinstate Fraternities
Grade Changes, Drops, Discipline
Grave Removal
Infirmary
Library Specifications, 1908
New York Regents Registration Application
President’s Report to Trustees, 1919
Annual Report to Trustees 1910-1935
Annual Report to Trustees 1935-41
SACS Admissions Rules
Trustees, 1923