American Association for Higher Education records, 1944-2006

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Summary

Creators:
American Association for Higher Education
Abstract:
The collection relates to higher education in the United States. It consists of minutes, conference and meeting materials, correspondence, memoranda, reports, studies, publications, membership records, and video recordings.
Extent:
166 manuscript boxes (69.2 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], American Association for Higher Education records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection relates to higher education in the United States. It consists of minutes, conference and meeting materials, correspondence, memoranda, reports, studies, publications, membership records, and video recordings.

The archives of the Association for Higher Education (AAHE) were created and maintained at the association's former headquarters in Washington D.C. The Presidential correspondence series includes mainly routine correspondence; some with the association's major grant funders, including the Pew Charitable Trust and Carnegie Corporation, regarding project developments. Records of the association's ongoing projects are in the Project file.

Some major projects represented in the records include the Forum on Faculty Roles and Rewards, New Pathways II-Academic Careers for a New Century: From Inquiry to Practice, and the Urban Universities Portfolio Project (a joint project with the Pew Charitable Trust). Published papers, journals, and other serials related to these projects appear in the Publications series.

Consisting mainly of reports, agendas, minutes, and correspondence from Board of Directors meetings, the Meeting materials series provides information on the association's annual budget, ongoing projects, elections process, and conference planning. Although the National Conference of Higher Education, the association's most successful and widely attended event, was often a topic of interest at board meetings, the published programs and pamphlets from the NCHE and other annual conferences appear in the Conference materials series.

Limited arrangement was performed by archives staff and original folder titles were used when provided. Boxes containing related materials were grouped together. Materials may not always be in chronological or alphabetical order.

Incremental materials received in 2013 include additional correspondence of AAHE's last president, Clara Lovett, as well as documentation on the organization's dissolution in 2005.

Biographical / historical:

The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) originated as the department of higher education of the National Education Association (NEA) in 1870. After almost a century of working under NEA leadership (with a hiatus from 1924 to 1942 when the AAHE briefly disbanded), the association became an independent, non-profit agency in 1969. Members of the AAHE included faculty members, administrators, graduate students, and trustees regardless of their affiliation or discipline. According to its own publication, the association was "dedicated to the professional development of college and university educators, to the achievement of their education objectives, and to the improvement of conditions of service" (Smith, 1970). The association ended in 2005 following a vote by the Board of Directors.

Sources:

Miller, Margaret A. (September/October 2005). "AAHE's Legacy." Change, 37(5), pp. 8-20. Retrieved August 26, 2011 from WilsonWeb Education Full Text database.

Smith, G. K., & American Association for Higher Education. (1970). Twenty-five years, 1945-1970. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2006.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], American Association for Higher Education records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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