St. Clair, Lawrence L. (1885-1965), Papers, 1930-1954 (C3847)
15 folders
INTRODUCTION
Papers of Lawrence L. St. Clair, an educator who spent over forty years working in various primary, secondary, and higher education positions in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. The collection consists largely of personal correspondence. There are occasional fliers and bulletins within the holdings.
DONOR INFORMATION
The Lawrence L. St. Clair Papers were donated to the University of Missouri-Columbia by his daughter Jean R. St. Clair on 10 June 1986 (Accession Number 4715).
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Lawrence L. St. Clair was born in Clark County, Missouri on 26 September 1885. He received his bachelor of science degree in education in 1919 and a master of arts degree in education in 1924 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. St Clair earned both degrees while teaching full-time.
In 1912, St. Clair married Avis Woodward. They had one child, Jean. The family was based in Maryville, Missouri during the time of the correspondence in this collection, when St. Clair was a college recruiter for Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas.
During his career, St. Clair was a teacher, principal, school district superintendent, and a college recruiter. In 1957 St. Clair retired from Cooter High School, Pemiscot County, as principal after over forty years in the field of education. He died on 10 November 1965 at the age of 80.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Lawrence L. St. Clair Papers are most representative of his tenure as enlistment secretary (college recruiter) at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas from 1932 to 1935. The collection consists mostly of correspondence, arranged chronologically. The correspondence gives a sense of the concerns of the Depression of the 1930s: worries about mortgage foreclosures, high rates of unemployment, and constant price increases for consumer goods.
St. Clair writes about travelling the Midwest recruiting for Ottawa University. His trips take him through Missouri, Colorado, and Nebraska. St. Clair also mentions such tribulations as being offered a job by gangsters, not receiving his pay for weeks of work, and being behind in utility payments in his letters to his family.
Nearly all the letters are addressed to St. Clair's wife Avis, and their daughter Jean. The miscellaneous folder contains St. Clair's application for a position in the Oregon, Missouri school system and newsclippings pertaining to St. Clair family members. There are occasional bulletins and fliers scattered throughout the collection.
FOLDER LIST
| f. 1 | Correspondence, 4 October 1930 |
| f. 2 | Correspondence, 13 October 1931 - 5 May 1932 |
| f. 3 | Correspondence, 6 May 1932 - 6 July 1932 |
| f. 4 | Correspondence, 24 July 1932 - 17 October 1932 |
| f. 5 | Correspondence, 23 October 1932 - 7 December 1932 |
| f. 6 | Correspondence, 5 January 1933 - 22 January 1933 |
| f. 7 | Correspondence, 26 January 1933 - 22 April 1933 |
| f. 8 | Correspondence, 26 April 1933 - 18 June 1933 |
| f. 9 | Correspondence, 19 June 1933 - 8 August 1933 |
| f. 10 | Correspondence, 8 August 1933 - 16 December 1933 |
| f. 11 | Correspondence, 6 January 1934 - 24 March 1934 |
| f. 12 | Correspondence, 25 March 1934 - 11 April 1935 |
| f. 13 | Correspondence, n.d. |
| f. 14 | Correspondence, n.d. |
| f. 15 | Miscellaneous |
INDEX TERMS
These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.
- College costs
- Colleges and universities
- Colleges and universities--Administration
- Colleges and universities--Kansas
- Depressions, Economic, 1930s
- Economic conditions
- Education, Higher
- Family life
- Finance, Personal
- Kansas, 1930s
- Kansas, Ottawa
- Ottawa University, Ottawa, KS
- St. Clair, Aris
- St. Clair, Jean
- St. Clair, Lawrence L. (1885-1965)