Office of the Superintendent/Correspondence: Correspondence of the Chief Clerk’s Office, 1917-1920: Finding Aid
Published in May 2022
Summary Information
- Publisher: United States Naval Academy. Special Collections & Archives.
- Publisher Address:
589 McNair Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5029, USA
Phone: 410-293-6922
https://www.usna.edu/Library/sca/index.php - Call number: RG 405.2.1 Entry 43
- National Archives Identifier: 2990179
- Location: Special Collections & Archives Department - Archives
- Title: Office of the Superintendent/Correspondence: Correspondence of the Chief Clerk’s Office
- Dates: 1917-1920
- Size: 1.88 linear feet
- Container Summary: 4 manuscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box
- Creator: United States Naval Academy. Superintendent
- Language(s) of material: English
- Abstract: This entry contains letters received and copies of letters sent by the chief clerk to Superintendent Edward W. Eberle that generally pertain to admissions, personnel, and other ancillary administrative subjects.
History of the Office of the Superintendent
The plan of the Naval School at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Maryland, approved by the Navy Department August 28, 1846, provided that a Superintendent of the school be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy from a list of officers of a rank not higher than commander. The Superintendent was to have responsibility for the general management of the institution, including overseeing the course of study, professors, and other personnel connected with the Academy. He could appoint and remove all persons employed at the Academy except those for whose appointment or discharge special provision was made by the laws or regulations of the Navy or the Academy. He had general charge of the buildings, grounds, and ships belonging to the Academy. The Superintendent also formulated the code of rules and regulations for the internal government of the school to be submitted to the Secretary of the Navy for approval. After 1867, officers were assigned by the Navy Department to the Academy to serve as assistants or aides to the Superintendent. The Office of the Superintendent as described in the 1846 plan remained relatively unchanged throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Officers of ranks higher than commander, however, have served in the position.
Description of Contents
This entry contains letters received and copies of letters sent by the chief clerk to Superintendent Edward W. Eberle that generally pertain to admissions, personnel, and other ancillary administrative subjects.
Arrangement
The Correspondence of the Chief Clerk's Office is organized into two distinct series. Series 1 is arranged in three time periods: April 4 to June 28, 1917; July 1917; and August 1, 1917 to February 11, 1918; and thereunder alphabetically by the initial letter of the surname of the correspondent. Series 2 is arranged in two time periods: March to April 1918; and March to October, 1920.
Access and Use
Access
Access is unrestricted.
Copyright and Permission
Use of materials is unrestricted.
Other Finding Aid(s)
National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2990179.
Acquisition and Appraisal
Custodial History
RG 405 Records of the United States Naval Academy is the property of the National Archives and Records Administration. The materials are housed at the United States Naval Academy, William W. Jeffries Memorial Archives, an affiliated archive, as per a Memorandum of Agreement between the National Archives and Records Administration and the United States Naval Academy.
Related Materials
Related Archival Material
Official correspondence from Superintendent Eberle’s administration, much of it pertaining to subjects mentioned in this entry, may be found in entry 36: “General Correspondence, 1913-1922” (NAID: 2990114); Official orders published by Superintendent Eberle are found in entry 51: “Circulars, Memoranda, and other Issuances of the Superintendent, 1870-1928” (NAID: 2990338); entry 54: “Orders Issued by the Superintendent” (NAID: 2990356); and entry 57: “Brigade and Regimental Orders, 1909-1920” (NAID: 3000019). Other records pertaining to the reserve officer training classes at the academy during World War I are found in entry 118 “Correspondence of the Director of Training, 1917-1919” (NAID: 3054012); entry 120: “Correspondence of the Assistant for Training for Quarters ‘A’, 1917-1919” (NAID: 3054043); entry 121: “Correspondence of the Assistant for Training for Quarters ‘B’, 1917-1919” (NAID: 3060108); entry 124: “Enrollment Cards for the Five Regularly Organized and the Special Reserve Officers’ Classes, 1917-1918” (NAID: 3060134); entry 125: “Enrollment and Mark Slips for the Engineering Divisions of the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Reserve Officers’ Classes Taking the Marine Engineering Course, 1917-1919” (NAID: 3060138); entry 126: “Mark and Conduct Cards for the Second, Fourth, and fifth Reserve Officers’ Classes, 1917-1919” (NAID: 3060143); entry 127: “Mark Cards for the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Regularly Organized and Special Reserve Officers’ Classes, 1918” (NAID: 3060147); entry 128: “Deck Logbooks for Quarters ‘A’ and Bancroft Hall, 1917-1918” (NAID: 3060157); entry 129: “Record of Reserve Officers’ Classes, 1917-1919” (NAID: 3060161); and entry 130: “Miscellaneous Lists of the Five Reserve Officers’ Classes, 1917-1919” (NAID: 3060574).
Materials Cataloged Separately
No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.
Processing and Other Information
Preferred Citation
Office of the Superintendent/Correspondence: Correspondence of the Chief Clerk’s Office, 1917-1918, RG 405.2.1 Entry 43
Special Collections & Archives Department
Nimitz Library
United States Naval Academy
Selected Bibliography
The following sources were consulted during preparation of the historical note:
Sweetman, Jack. The U.S. Naval Academy: An Illustrated History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Samuel Limneos in February 2022. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in February 2022. Historical Sketch and Scope and Content Note adapted in part from Inventory of Records Group 405 by Geraldine N. Phillips and Aloha South, 1975.
Subject Headings
Name and Subject Terms
- Eberle, Edward Walter, 1864-1929
- United States Naval Academy
- United States Naval Academy -- 20th century
- United States Naval Academy -- Administration
- United States Naval Academy. Superintendent
Genre Terms
- Advertisements
- Application forms
- Bulletins
- Circulars (fliers)
- Correspondence
- Orders (military records)
- Proceedings (reports)
- Transcripts
Contents List
Series 1: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1917-1918
Series DescriptionSeries 1 contains general correspondence of the chief clerk to Superintendent Edward W. Eberle. It includes letters received and copies of letters sent in reply. As the entry begins when the United States Senate voted to declare War on Germany on April 4, 1917, a majority of the correspondence pertains to requests for medical examinations, entrance examination grades and other admissions information, particularly for enlisted personnel candidates, and some congressional correspondence regarding candidates; draft exemptions; offers from civilians, organizations, and higher learning institutions and others to assist recruiting enlisted men; and reserve officers’ training classes and relations between the reserve program and the academy.
The correspondence addresses ancillary topics such as: verification of past enrollment for nongraduates, and duties assigned to officers previously at the academy; requests for copies of academy publications, particularly regulations governing admissions, and letters of recommendation from the superintendent; preparatory schools; midshipman, officer, and faculty leave requests; regulations for sending gifts to midshipmen; tours of the academy; faculty vacancies and appointments; invitations to academy staff to attend external events; the Greenbury Point Radio Station; and seamanship department tactical wargaming.
Interfiled throughout the correspondence are letters from concerned parents pertaining to their sons’ mailing addresses, and academic performance and conduct; copies of candidate high school transcripts and report cards, and academy admissions permits; War Department general orders, applications and bulletins, and telegrams from various Navy bureaus; summer cruise instructions; orders to personnel for duty at the academy; and circulars printed by the Secretary of the Navy. The correspondence also includes various ephemera such as business cards, advertisements, and leaflets.
Series ArrangementArranged in three time periods: April 4 to June 28, 1917; July 1917; and August 1, 1917 to February 11, 1918; and thereunder alphabetically by the initial letter of the surname of the correspondent.
Series 2: CORRESPONDENCE PERTAINING TO THE EXAMINATION OF ENLISTED MEN FOR ADMISSION, 1918, 1920
Series DescriptionSeries 2 contains correspondence pertaining exclusively to the examination of enlisted men for admission to the academy. Included in the correspondence are medical and academic examination board proceedings and reports, prior fitness reports and service records, letters of recommendation, copies of vital records, and lists of candidates authorized to report.
Series ArrangementArranged in two time periods: March to April 1918; and March to October, 1920.