Curtis Tarr Papers

Collection

Identifier: LU-MS-098

Staff Only

This collection consists of the personal papers of Curtis Tarr, the twelfth president of Lawrence University. The papers are comprehensive, including a daily journal that Tarr maintained from 1964 to 1989 and correspondence sent and received from 1941 to 1997. Drawings in pen by Tarr as well as other writings are also included.

Dates

1941-2001

Creator

Tarr, Curtis W. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Lawrence University does not hold the copyright for all materials in this collection. Uses beyond those allowed for fair use under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) require the researcher to secure permission from the copyright holder.

Extent

27.00 Linear Feet (119 volumes, 2 boxes, and 7.)

8 Megabytes

Additional Description

Biographical or Historical Information

Curtis Tarr was born Sept. 18, 1924 in Stockton, Calif. He saw combat in World War II as a member of General George Patton’s Third Army in Europe, earning three battle stars. After the war, he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard University. He returned to Stanford to earn a Ph.D. in American history in 1962. He served as assistant dean of the humanities and director of the summer school at Stanford before his selection as Lawrence's 12th president in 1963. Tarr led the college during one of the most significant events in Lawrence’s history —the consolidation with Milwaukee Downer College in 1964— as well as one of the most turbulent times in the nation’s history as student protests over the Vietnam War erupted on campuses across the country. After leaving Lawrence, Tarr held three presidential appointments in the Nixon administration during the Vietnam War: Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, director of the Selective Service System, and Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance. Following his service in Washington, D.C., Tarr became vice president of Deere & Co. in Moline, Ill. Retiring after a decade at Deere, he became Dean of the Samuel Curtis Johnson School of Management at Cornell University. He left Cornell in 1990 to become vice president of Intermet Corporation, in Atlanta, Ga., an international automobile parts manufacturer, where he oversaw foundries in Germany and Sweden. Tarr passed away on June 21, 2013. [Excerpted from Lawrence University news article by Rick Peterson, June 25th, 2013.]

Arrangement Note

Materials are arranged alphabetically.

Method of Acquisition

Materials donated by Curtis Tarr over time, through 1998. The date at which this began is unknown.

Related Materials

Curtis Tarr Presidential Papers. LU-RG03-009. Lawrence University Archives, Seeley G. Mudd Library, Appleton, Wisconsin.

http://archives.lawrence.edu/?p=collections/controlcard&id=323