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The University of Iowa Libraries

Special Collections and University Archives

Finding Aid

Papers of Eugene A. Gilmore
RG 05.01.10
Collection Dates: 1934-1940
55.5 linear ft.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

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Acquisition and Processing Information: These materials were transferred to the University Archives from the Office of the President; date undetermined. Collection processed by Xuefan Sun, July 1996. Finding aid created by Denise Anderson, March 2005. Guide posted to the Internet March 2005, updated December 2006.

Photographs: None

Eugene A. Gilmore
Eugene A. Gilmore, twelfth president
of the State University of Iowa


Biographical Note

Eugene Allen Gilmore served as the twelfth president of the University of Iowa, from 1934 to 1940.

He was born on the family farm near Brownsville, Nebraska, on July 4, 1871, and he attended high school at Aburn, Nebraska. In 1893, Gilmore earned his undergraduate degree at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, and then attended Harvard Graduate School, followed by Harvard Law School, earning his LL. B. degree in 1899.

He met Blanche Bayse of Rockport, Indiana, while attending DePauw University. Blanche graduated in 1896 - three years behind Eugene - and they married December 27, 1899 following his graduation at Harvard. The couple first lived in Boston, where he practiced law immediately after graduation. According to Mrs. Gilmore, her husband did not enjoy working in the civil courts, and decided he would like to teach. He pursued a position at the University of Wisconsin, and the couple moved to Madison in the summer of 1902. The Gilmore family grew to include Eugene A. Gilmore, Jr., born in 1902, Elizabeth in 1905, and John Andrew in 1910. In 1909, the family moved into their new home, designed and built for them by "a young architect named Frank Lloyd Wright", according to Mrs. Gilmore's 1970 memoir titled Recollections. Their home was called the Airplane house, and was the first home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Madison.

Mr. Gilmore was Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School 1902-1922, and acting dean of the law school 1912-1913. Gilmore was an advisor to the Wisconsin state legislature regarding the drafting of laws for workmen's compensation, public utility, and railroad rate. The University of Wisconsin granted him a leave of absence in January 1922 to serve as Vice Governor-General in the Philippine Islands, as appointed by U.S. President Warren G. Harding.

Gilmore remained in the Philippines until March 1930, serving as acting Governor-General during 15 months of those eight years. The Filipino people were surprised to learn in early March 1930, that Governor Gilmore would not return to the Philippines after a U.S. visit, because he had accepted a position at the University of Iowa College of Law. He was admired and respected in the Philippines for the changes he brought about in public health and education.

At the University of Iowa he first served as Professor of Law, and on July 1, 1930 was named Dean of the College of Law. Professor Gilmore taught constitutional law at the University of Iowa, and was considered an authority in that field. He served as President of the University of Iowa from October 4, 1934 until July 1, 1940. He was succeeded in his Presidency by acting President Chester A. Phillips during the summer of 1940, with Virgil M. Hancher assuming the presidency in the fall of that year.  During President Gilmore's nearly six years in office, four buildings were constructed on campus: the Law Center in 1935; the Art Building and University Theatre Building in 1936; and Hillcrest dormitory in 1938.

Following his retirement as UI President, Gilmore served as Law Dean at the University of Pittsburgh from 1940-1942, and then again taught at the UI College of Law until 1952. Eugene A. Gilmore died of a heart attack at his home in Iowa City on November 4, 1953 at the age of 82.

[D. Anderson; 03/2005]


Related Materials

Folder, "Gilmore, Eugene A.," Faculty and Staff Vertical Files collection (RG 01.15.03)

Links to a portrait gallery, and a table of University of Iowa presidents, may be found at the University presidents page.

Gilmore, Blanche Basye. Recollections. Iowa City, 1970. 53 pp., illus. Archives.

Carrington, Paul D., and Erika King. "Law and the Wisconsin Idea." Journal of Legal Education 47 (September 1997): 297-340, notes. Law Library .

Menocal, Narciso G. "Taliesin, the Gilmore House, and the Flower in the Crannied Wall." Wright Studies 1 (1992): 66-97, illus., plans, notes. Art Library.



Box Contents List

Since the Walter Jessup administration in 1916, the President's Office has maintained an index of Presidential Correspondence in the form of a Kardex file to which name and subject entries are posted. These cards files have been photocopied and a bound copy is available in the University Archives; these primary files are not yet available online. They are, clearly, essential to tracing correspondence on specific subjects. A new alphabetical sequence is begun approximately each fiscal year.

The Kardex entries consist of the name or subject and reference to a folder number (which may change from year to year for a particular subject although in a short span of years it often remains the same). To find the current physical location of the referenced folder, readers must consult the photocopied Kardex entries, note the number of any folder they wish to review, and then determine from the list which follows the number of the storage box in which the folder has been placed.

This finding aid lists correspondence in chronological order. The box number is listed first, followed by the range of folder numbers for that box.

Boxes 1-124 consist of the presidential correspondence of Walter Jessup. The 14 boxes following this series consist of personal papers which relate almost entirely to his service in the Philippines. Boxes 11 and 13 in the personal papers series contain photographs taken in the Philippins. Family photographs are in Box 11.

Box - Folders

1934-1935

1. 1-4

2. 5-11B

3. 11C-13A

4. 14-15

5. 15-19

6. 20-28

7. 28-34A

8. 35-43A

9. 44-49

10. 50, 52

11. 53-55, 57

12. 57A-57C, 73A

13. 59-65

14. 65-67

15. 67A-67B

16. 67C3-67C5

17. 68-73

18. 73C, 73E-79A

19. 80-85, 87-91

20. 91C3-91C4

21. 91-91 C

22. Inauguration

23. 93-100

24. 101-111

25. 112-125

1935-1936

26. 1-4, 6-10

27. 11-14

28. 14-15

29. 15-15A

30. 16-22

31. 23

32. 24-37

33. 38-39

34. 40-44

35. 45-52

36. 52-55

37. 56-59D

38. 59 (Inaugurations)

39. 60-69

40. 69A-71, 73

41. 73A-80B

42. 81-87

43. 87-94

44 95-101

45. 101-112, 114-115

46. 116-121, 123, 125, 127

1936-1937

47. 1-6

48. 7-12A

49. 13-15

50. 16-20

51. 21-23

52. 24-38

53. 39-42, 44

54. 45, 45A-49, 50-52

55. 52, 53, 55, 57

56. 57A-58A

57. 59

58. 59A-67B

59. 67

60. 67

61. 68-73

62. 73B-73H, 73L-80A. Also folders: Governor's Day and Review (luncheon worksheets); Governor's Day Guests, 1937

63. 8OA-80B

64. 81-91. Also folder: Pharmacy, College of (budget material)

65. 91-100A

66. 101-109

67. 110-125

1937-1938

68. 1-4, 6-7. Also folder: Alumni Service (1937-1938 material)

69. 7A-13

70. 14-15

71 15

72. 16-22, 24. Also folders: Child Welfare Research Station; Commerce (all 1937-1938 budget material)

73. 25, 27-29, 31-39. Also folders: Dean of Men and Housing Service; Dean of Women; Dentistry; Education (all 1937-1938 budget material)

74. 40-44. Also folder: Extension Division (1937-1938 budget material)

75. 45-52. Also folder: Graduate College (1937-1938 budget material)

76. 52-57. Also folders: Homecoming Letters (legislators); Homecoming Replies (President's Office); Homecoming Game, Minnesota (November 6, 1937)

77. 57B-57Z, 60-61A. Also folder: Marcella Hotz (treasurer)

78. 59

79. 63-67. Also folders: Report on Liberal Students Alliance; Law (1937-1938 budget material)

80. 68. Also folder: Liberal Arts Annual Report, 1936-1937

81. 69-71, 73C, 73F, 73H, 73I, 73L. Also folders: Libraries; Medicine; Psychopathic Hospital (all 1937-1938 budget material)

82. 73M-87A. Also folders: Iowa Memorial Union; Museum; Pharmacy; Physical Education (all 1937-1938 budget material); Legion Day (November 13, 1937); Football Dinner; National Iowa Night Broadcast (correspondence)

83. 88-93. Also folder: President's Office (1937-1938 budget material)

84. 94-100A. Also folders: Publications; Registrar's Office (all 1937-1938 budget material)

85. 101-106, 108, 109. Also folder: School of Religion (1937-1938 budget material)

86. 110-125. Also folder: State University Association meeting

1938-1939

87. 1, 2, 4-8

88. 9-14A

89. 15. Also folder: Business Office (1938-1939 budget)

90. 16-24. Also folder: Child Welfare budget, 1938-1939

91. 24A-29, 31-37. Also folders: Dean of Men's budget; Dean of Women's budget; Dentistry budget (all 1938-1939); Dormitories and Dining Services budget; Education budget (all 1937-1938)

92. 38-43. Also folders: Engineering budget; Extension Division budget, 1938-1939

93. 44-52. Also folder: Graduate College budget, 1938-1939

94. 52 (Grounds and Buildings)

95. 52A-57B. Also folders: Homecoming, 1938; Homecoming game October 8, 1938 (Section E, west side)

96. 59

97. 57B-57Z, 59A, 59B, 59D-60, 62-66. Also folder: Law budget, 1938-1939

98. 66A-67

99. 67-67A

100. 67A

101. 67A-69A. Also folders: Liberal Arts budget; Library (all 1938-1939); Libraries annual report, June 30, 1938

102. 70-71, 73B, 73D, 73F, 73G, 73I, 73J, 73M, 73O-73Z, 74-75. Also folder: Medicine budget, 1938-1939

103. 76-86A. Also folder: Pharmacy budget, 1938-1939

104. 87-93. Also folder: Administration

105. 94-100A. Also folders: Publications budget; Registrar's Office budget (all 1938-1939)

106. 101-112A

107. 113-119, 121-125. Also folder: Senator Clyde Herring

1939-1940

108. 1-4, 5A, 5C-9, 10A

109. 11-12

110. 13-15. Also folders: Treasure's Office budget; Business Office budget (all 1939-1940); Special and trust funds

111. 15A-17

112. 18, 20-27. Also folders: Child Welfare budget; Commerce budget (all 1939-1940)

113. 28, 29, 31, 33-39. Also folders: Dean of Men's budget; Dean of Women's budget; Dentistry budget; Dormitories and Dining Services budget; Education budget; Engineering budget (all 1939-1940)

114. 40-48, 50. Also folders: Extension Division budget; Graduate College budget (all 1939-1940)

115. 51. Also folder: Physical Plant budget, 1939-1940)

116. 52-55, 56B-57I. Also folder: H-Mrs. H.C. Houghton

117. 58-59B

118. 60-62, 64-69. Also folder: Law College budget, 1939-1940

119. 70-72A, 72C, 72D, 72F, 72G, 72I-72K, 72N-73Z, 75-78. Also folders: Medicine budget, 1939-1940; Psychopathic Hospital budget

120. 79-87A. Also folders: Pharmacy budget; Division of Physical Education and Intercollegiate Athletics budget (all 1939-1940)

121. 88-92, 94, 96, 97. Also folders: President's Office; University publications budget (all 1939-1940)

122. 99-101. Also folder: Registrar's budget, 1939-1940

123. 101, 102, 104-106, 108-110

124. 113-119, 121-123. Also folder: Untitled and unnumbered

Personal Papers series

Box 1

Vice-Governor of Philippines Clippings

Box 2

---.

Box 3

---.

Box 4

---.

Box 5

---.

Box 6

---.

Box 7

Addresses and Speeches

Box 8

Articles

Diaries

Speeches

Box 9

Gilmore

Box 10

Appointment as Governor-General of the Philippines

Box 11

Photographs

Box 12

Stimson Letters

Box 13

Scrapbook

Photographs

Box 14

Articles

Books