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Guide to the Papers of Robert A. McConnell, 1938-1975

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Papers of Robert A. McConnell
Creator
Robert A. McConnell, 1914-
Collection Number
MSS#35
Extent
.75 cubic feet (2 boxes)
Date
1938-1975
Abstract
Robert McConnell was a professor of biophysics at the University of Pittsburgh and a prominent member of the physics community who fought for the rights of the academic community across the country. His papers include correspondence, notes, memoranda, newsletters, and published material documenting post-World War II issues in the scientific and academic communities.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
This guide to the collection was originally prepared by Ruth Salisbury Reid c. 1979. The papers were rearranged and the inventory was rewritten by Corey Seeman on August 27, 1993. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in
Sponsor
This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project, a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

Biographical Sketch of Robert McConnell (1914-)

Robert McConnell was a professor of biophysics at the University of Pittsburgh and a prominent member of the physics community. McConnell was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 1914 and remained in the region for his education, which culminated with a B. S. degree in physics from Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1935 and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1937. McConnell joined the scientific staff at Gulf Oil Company where he served as assistant petroleum engineer with the Gulf Research and Development Laboratory from 1937 to 1939. For the next two years, McConnell was an assistant physicist for the United States Naval Aircraft Factory. In 1941, McConnell was appointed to the faculty of biophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He remained at MIT until 1947, when he joined the biophysics department at the University of Pittsburgh as research professor. McConnell was at the University of Pittsburgh until his retirement in 1984.

A self-described conservative, Robert McConnell continually fought for the rights of the academic community across the country. He was duly concerned with the attacks against the academic community by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, including those leveled against Dr. E. U. Condon, Director of the National Bureau of Standards, and scientists suspended on security charges from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey in 1953. These issues did not taint McConnell's opinion of the federal government or that of the military as he was quick to support the United States Army's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) in the late 1960s when universities sought to eliminate these programs to alleviate anti-war tensions on campus. His conservative views also presented themselves with his general opposition to the creation of a Black Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh in the late 1960s. He continually warned that the universities, by allowing these types of programs and eliminating politically-incorrect programs such as ROTC, would be seen as adhering to the whims and fancies of the radical students of the day and not work towards the fundamental goals of the institutions.

Scope and Content Notes

These papers include correspondence, notes, memoranda, newsletters, and published material. These items primarily document McConnell's interests and concerns, primarily in the scientific and academic communities, during the post-World War II period. Among these concerns are loyalty issues raised by Senator McCarthy, warfare and the role of science and academics, the civil rights and other social movements. The only items in these papers that date prior to World War II concern propaganda in the late 1930s. General correspondence includes three letters concerning KDKA-FM radio and various other concerns. The bulk of these papers are topical files. These contain correspondence, clippings, memoranda and other sundry material. Of note is extensive material on loyalty issues, primarily of scientists at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and McConnell's stern support for the continued operation of the Reserve Office Training Program (ROTC) at Harvard University and other major schools in the late 1960s. Material concerning the University of Pittsburgh includes memoranda and notes primarily relating to racial strife on campus and the creation of the Black Studies Program in the late 1960s. Also of note is material relating to the disturbances at Oliver Public School in Pittsburgh, which is arranged with general material on Education.

Arrangement

The Robert McConnell Papers are housed in two archival boxes and are arranged alphabetically by folder title. This arrangement closely mirrors the way these papers were originally retained.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These materials came in one accession, 1979.

Acc# 1979.156 -- Gift of Robert A. McConnell, (Papers. An extensive amount of newspaper clippings, primarily from the New York Times on contemporary issues, were not retained with these papers).

Preferred Citation

Papers of Robert A. McConnell, 1938-1975, MSS #35, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Ruth Salisbury Reid c. 1979. The papers were rearranged and the inventory was rewritten by Corey Seeman on August 27, 1993.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Jennifer Marshall on June 22, 1999.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • United States -- Army -- Reserve Officers' Training Corps
    • American Institute for Economic Research
    • Association of Scientists for Atomic Research.
    • Federation of American Scientists
    • Harvard University
    • University of Pittsburgh
    • Western Pennsylvania Academic Council on Problems of War and Peace

    Personal Names

    • Robert A. McConnell, 1914-

    Other Subjects

    • Education -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Security clearances -- United States
    • Physics -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Science and state
    • Race relations in school management -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • National security -- United States
    • Loyalty -- Security Program, 1947

Container List

Correspondence,, 1954-1975
Containers
Box 1, Folder 1