Select files are closed to researchers. These are indicated in the finding aid.
Advance notice required for access.
Elvis J. Stahr, Jr., was born in Hickman, Kentucky on March 9, 1916 to Elvis Jacob and Mary Anne (McDaniel) Stahr. After graduating high school as valedictorian in 1932 at the age of sixteen, he attended the University of Kentucky where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, the ROTC program, and the varsity tennis and debate teams. He graduated in 1936 with a degree in English Literature and the highest grades on record at the University of Kentucky. He continued his education at the University of Oxford in England as a Rhodes Scholar, where he received a B.A. in jurisprudence and a B.A. in civil law in 1938 and 1939, respectively. Later, he received his M.A. from Oxford in 1943.
After his graduation from Oxford, Stahr practiced law as an associate in the New York firm Mudge, Stern, Baldwin, and Tucker from July 1939 to February 1941. However, his law practice was interrupted by World War II. Stahr joined the war effort in October 1941 as a second lieutenant and served for twenty-six months overseas, mainly in China, but also in India and North Africa. During his military tour, he received the Special Breast Order of Yun Hui, twice awarded by the Nationalist Republic of China, and the Bronze Star medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, among other honors. He ended his stint in the Army as a lieutenant colonel. During his tenure as an officer of the United States Army, he received a diploma in Chinese language in 1943 from Yale University.
Dr. Stahr left the Army in 1946 and again joined the law firm of Mudge, Stern, Williams, and Tucker, this time as a senior associate, but left in 1947 to return to what he called his first love, higher education. He joined the faculty of his alma mater, the University of Kentucky, as an associate professor of law in 1947, but was quickly promoted to full time faculty in 1948, and soon thereafter, to the position of Dean of the College of Law. He was the youngest, (at the age of 32) to serve in this post. In 1954, he was named Provost of the University of Kentucky. During his career at the University of Kentucky, he also served as special assistant to the Secretary of the Army during the Korean Conflict, and under United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower in1956 as the executive director of the Committee on Education beyond High School. He left the University of Kentucky in 1957 to become the Vice Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. Soon after, he left his position at the University of Pittsburgh to become the President of the University of West Virginia. He stayed in West Virginia for two years before accepting the nomination by President Kennedy to serve as the Secretary of the Army. While in this position, Stahr established the Army Intelligence and Security Branch as a separate, professional division of the Army, oversaw the reorganization of the combat division of the Army, and expanded the community relations of the Army.
Stahr gave up the position of Secretary of the Army to return to higher education as the President of Indiana University in 1962, where he succeeded his friend Herman B Wells as Indiana University's 12th President. In his inaugural address, he stressed the need for maintaining the leadership role IU had in fields where it was nationally renowned, for spending Indiana tax dollars to prepare the campus for the expected large influx of baby boom generation students, and for stressing the importance of higher education in creating jobs and security in the state of Indiana.
During Stahr's presidency, Indiana University saw its largest expansion. In the course of his term, the awarding of baccalaureate degrees at the regional campuses began, as well as the addition of majors, such as the Study of Religion; of Divisions, such as the Honors Division, and of Schools, such as the Library Science School, within the Bloomington campus. He guided plans for the building of Assembly Hall, the Student Health Center, the Optometry Building, the Graduate Residence Center, and several different residence halls, including Briscoe, Wilkie, and Forest. The University School was also built during his term. His presidency witnessed the creation of the Aerospace Research Center which acted as a clearinghouse for technology developed by the government to be adapted for civilian use. His tenure also saw a large growth in the number of students and faculty, not only in Bloomington, but also in the regional campuses. Finally, Stahr led a reorganization of the university administration into three separate and distinct areas, the Bloomington campus led by a chancellor, the Indianapolis campus, and the regional campuses as more autonomous units.
Dr. Stahr served as Indiana University President until 1968 when he stepped down due to "presidential fatigue." He wrote to the Board of Trustees stating that although he had enjoyed his term as president, he felt that he could no longer devote himself to such a large task as president. His intention, he told the Board of Trustees, was to return to Indiana University after a sabbatical as a professor of law. However, he accepted the position as President of the National Audubon Society in 1968, writing that the issue of conservation was something that could not be ignored. He retired as President of the National Audubon Society in 1978, after having seen the membership rate almost quadruple to 400,000, and being instrumental in liberalizing the tax laws in the United States to allow charitable organizations to lobby on public policy issues. Although retired, he was still active in a number of environmental and public service organizations until his death of cancer on November 11, 1998.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by subject. Within subject headings, items are arranged chronologically or alphabetically by title as required.
The general file folders mostly contain the correspondence of President Stahr and Joseph Ewers, Assistant to the President. Prominent topics within this correspondence include pay raises for faculty members, complaints registered to the president, and requests for scholastic information. Topical areas with significant amounts of material include the Assembly Hall controversy and construction, the Nigerian Project, the founding of WTIU (located under Radio and Television), Indiana state matters encompassing university relations with Congress and the State Legislature, the civil rights movement in education (found under the original 1960's heading 'negro'), the Indiana University self-study conducted over a period of three years, speakers Herbert Aptheker and Allen Ginsburg with the ensuing controversy, Vietnam War and related student protests, and the Young Socialist Alliance controversy. The collection also includes materials relating to members of the Indiana University community, including Dean Wilfred C. Bain, Ralph Collins, George H. List, Joseph Sutton, and Herman B Wells. Similar records may be found related to prominent politicians and researchers such as Governor Birch Bayh, United States vice president Hebert H. Humphrey, Francis Keppel, and Indiana Governor Matthew E. Walsh.
The records in this collection represent the bulk of the records from Elvis Stahr's tenure as president of IU. However, additions may be made to these records periodically as they are found in other accessions. Please ask Archives staff for more details.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
Three photographs were pulled: Archives, 1962-1968, photos of Robert W. Frey Bau general, 1966-1968, photo of Ted Allen Baumgartner California, University of, 1966-1968, photo of men cleaning a statute with graffiti.
Accession 0087
Copyrights for records originating with Indiana University administrative units, departments, and other offices are held by the Trustees of Indiana University. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.
The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.
Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.
[Item], Indiana University President's Office records, Collection C304, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Folders in box 185 beginning with International Center Administration board minutes were originally part of collection 48. Initially interspersed throughout the Elvis J. Stahr collection, these items were moved to the end of the collection and re-labeled with the appropriate collection number.
Processed by Kate B. Moore, Lisa Hooper, and Janna Carney.
Completed in
(Includes
(Includes Carnegie Corporation of New York quarterly, January 1965, Volume XIII No. 1)
(Includes: "
Note: Includes Articles of Incorporation and Proposed Bylaws
(Includes
Includes "
(Includes
This file includes material related to the National Student Association (NSA), Organization for University Reform (OUR), Progressive Reform Party (PRP), Students for an Orderly Society (SOS), Young Americans for Freedom, and other student groups.
Clippings and correspondence related to Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) have been removed and filed under "Student Organizations- Students for a Democratic Society".