George T. Matthews papers

The Papers of George T. Matthews contain documents created or received by Matthews through his career at Oakland University. The Personal Files contain correspondence, clippings and university documents related to his hiring in 1959, and his faculty and administrative positions at the university. The History Department files consist of a small selection of syllabi and course materials. The Memos and Correspondence, Strategic Planning and other Administrative Files span Matthews’ entire career and therefore the positions he held, including his years as vice-provost when he led a university-wide study initiated by President O’Dowd in 1973-1974. The President’s study commission produced a set of recommendations concerning the organizational development of OU at the undergraduate level. The recommendations were adopted by the president’s executive group at a meeting at the St Clair Inn (hence the name “St Clair Inn recommendations” often used to refer to the results of the study) . This was an echo to the first “St Clair Inn meeting” which had been called 9 years earlier by then Chancellor Varner to plan the development of the University. The Events Files gather materials documenting conferences and other programs Matthews attended. The Research and Reading Files contain a few scholarly articles and other materials assembled by Matthews for his research and administrative work. The Oakland University History Project contains Matthews’ notes and background material he gathered for a book-length history of Oakland University, which he set out to write after his retirement. Although the book was never completed, his files contain interesting university documents from the 1958-1959 founding period. His unfinished manuscript can be found in another collection, the Early History Collection.