Victoria Schuck Papers: Scope & Contents of the Collection

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Victoria Schuck Papers primarily document her professional activities as a political scientist and professor of political science at Mount Holyoke College. Materials are arranged into these series: Correspondence, Writings, Course Records; Amherst-Mount Holyoke Political Studies Records, Internship Records, Subject Files, Mount Holyoke College Political Science Department Materials, Records of Mount Holyoke College Committee Work, Women in Politics Symposium Records, Memorabilia, Biographical Materials, Audiocassettes, and Photographs. There is also a series for Oversize (Folio) Material described as part of other series.

Correspondence (1945-1989, n.d.) contains letters by and to Schuck, primarily concerning her professional activities. Correspondents include Mount Holyoke College students, alumnae, faculty, and administrators as well as colleagues elsewhere and political figures in the United States and other countries. These letters discuss her courses at Mount Holyoke, her speaking engagements, her research, and her work as a member of numerous local, state, and national boards, commissions, and organizations.

Writings (1941-1982) consist of published as well as unpublished works written by Schuck. Two reports were written by her as part of her work for the United States Office of Price Administration and Office of Temporary Controls during and soon after World War II. Most of the other works reflect her service as a member of several organizations and commissions, including the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation, the Massachusetts State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and the Planning Board of South Hadley, Massachusetts. There are also copies of her books, articles, reports, and notes about women in politics, party politics, and constitutional government and her analysis of "Political Science and Instruction in Political Science at Mount Holyoke Colleg"e.

Course Records (1930-1976, n.d.) contain syllabi, readings lists, lecture notes, papers and projects written by students, class lists, and other materials from Schuck's political science classes at Mount Holyoke College. Most of these records are for courses in urban planning, American government, public policy, presidential leadership, and political philosophy and behavior.

Records of the Amherst-Mount Holyoke Political Studies Center (1952-1970) primarily document the work of Mount Holyoke College and Amherst College students who conducted a variety of studies and surveys of political issues and events in local communities. Topics studied by the students include the results of local, state, and national elections in Holyoke, Massachusetts and town planning in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Several studies concern Springfield, Massachusetts, including "Negro Leadership" in that city (1964) and the results of local, states, and national elections in November, 1964. There are also surveys of the political activities of Mount Holyoke students in 1959-1960 and students' responses in the spring of 1964 to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November, 1963.

Internship Records (1950-1976, circa 1986) contain correspondence, applications, reports, schedules, and financial records concerning students who participated in summer internships available through the Amherst-Mount Holyoke Political Studies Center or the Washington Internship Program. Most of these documents concern Mount Holyoke students, who provided detailed reports describing their experiences as interns. There is also a summary of the "Most Memorable Experiences of Mount Holyoke Interns", probably compiled for a celebration of the history of the Washington Internship Program in 1986.

Schuck's Subject Files (1945-1974) consist of correspondence, memoranda, bibliographies, publications, and memorabilia. Most of these materials document her work as a member of the Massachusetts Commission on Interstate Cooperation, the Massachusetts State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights (1961-1974) and President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation (1963-1965); her membership in the American Association of University Women, the American Political Science Association, and the New England Political Science Association; her service on the Berkshire Community College New Campus Committee (1964-1973) and the Board of Trustees and Building Authority of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1958-1971). Other files concern her studies of the constitution revision process in the United States, the constitution of South Vietnam, the early years of the United Nations, and women in politics. There are also documents, buttons, lapel pins, a bar of "Goldwater soap", and other materials from her attendance at the Republican National Convention of 1964.

Mount Holyoke College Political Science Department Materials (1942-1976) consist of minutes, correspondence, reports, memoranda, course descriptions, schedules, examinations, financial records, publications, and lists. These records, which were primarily created or sent to Schuck (often as Department Chair) concern course offerings and the activities of faculty and students. Some materials also relate to the Amherst-Mount Holyoke Political Studies Center.

Schuck's Records of Mount Holyoke College Committee Work (1948-1963) consist of correspondence, reports, programs, announcements, schedules, articles, financial records, and lists. Most materials document her service on the College's Lecture Committee (1948-1950) and Special Events Committee (1961-1963). Both committees were involved in selecting individuals to participate in programs at Mount Holyoke. These materials include twenty-one letters exchanged by Schuck and Bertrand Russell, who spoke at the College in the fall of 1950, as well as her correspondence with other notable political figures, scientists, authors, and artists. There are also reports, correspondence, and notes from Schuck's years as a member of the College's Honors Committee (1960-1962). These materials consist of reports, correspondence, and lists of students concerning students eligible for honors work.

Records for the Women in Politics Symposium held at Mount Holyoke College in 1974 consist of correspondence, memoranda, programs, schedules, press releases, biographical information, and lists. This event (organized by Schuck) featured many women politicians who discussed their experiences in local, state, and national politics.

Memorabilia (1953-1986) consists of letters, programs, invitations, certificates, announcements, publications, political cartoons, lists, cards, and a scrapbook. These documents primarily concern events during Schuck's life such as her appointment by John F. Kennedy as a member of the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation in 1963, her tour of the Cape Kennedy Air Force station in 1966, and her inauguration as President of Mount Vernon College in 1978. The scrapbook, compiled on the occasion of Schuck's retirement from full-time teaching at Mount Holyoke in 1974, contains letters and tributes by colleagues and alumnae. There are also original drawings of five political cartoons (1957-1958) by Daniel R. Fitzpatrick, editorial cartoonist for the St. Louis Dispatch.

Biographical Material (1940-1999, n.d.) primarily consists of newspaper articles and press releases about Schuck's professional activities from 1940-1980. These documents concern her work as a member of numerous boards, organizations, and committees, her lectures, and her frequent trips to Washington, D.C. with students in her political science classes. The series also includes an article (circa 1986) about the house that Frank Lloyd Weight designed for her (which was never built), tributes to her work by members of the United States Congress (1978, 1980, 1986), and a copy of Schuck's obituary (1999).

Audiocassettes (1988) consist of two copies of a recording of a panel discussion in which Schuck participated at the Women and the Constitution: a Bicentennial History conference held in Atlanta, Georgia in February 1988. The topic of the panel was "Abigail Adams and Her Times".

Photographs (circa 1940s-1992, n.d.) primarily show Shuck alone or with others. The formal portraits and informal photographs of Schuck date from the 1940s to about the 1970s. Images of Schuck and others include photographs of Mount Holyoke students and interns at the White House (1965, 1968) and elsewhere in Washington, D.C. There are also photographs of Schuck and students with Dwight D. Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater, Hubert H. Humphrey, Edward M. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and other political figures.