Title: Frank E. Baker Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1932-1948

Creator:

• Baker, Frank E., 1877-1961

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss R

Quantity: 1.2 c.f. (3 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Baker, a Milwaukee educator and president of the Milwaukee Normal School, consisting of published articles and unpublished manuscripts for articles, speeches, and book reviews. As a pacifist, many of Baker's speeches before and during World War II deal with the impact of the war on higher education and students. Other speeches on social issues and education reflect Baker's liberal viewpoints.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil0000r

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Frank E. Baker, born in Clymer, New York, in 1877, graduated from Clarion State Normal School in Pennsylvania in 1895, and from Allegheny College in 1905. He received his master's degree from Harvard in 1909. In 1929, Allegheny College also awarded him an honorary doctorate.

While in college he had paid his way by playing semi-professional baseball, farming, and teaching. His first teaching job was in a one-room school in Erie County, Pennsylvania, and from this he became principal of a grade school and then several high schools. Between 1909 and 1911 he served as head of the science department at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and then went into administrative work on the Normal School level.

Frank E. Baker came to Wisconsin in 1923 from a position as principal of the East Stroudsburg State Normal School in Pennsylvania, to become president of the Milwaukee Normal School. He remained as head of the Milwaukee institution during the years when it was known as Milwaukee State Teachers College, and later when it became the University of Wisconsin State College, Milwaukee. From this last position he retired in 1947.

President Baker was widely known as an educator with very liberal views, and was a militant pacifist. He published many articles on education and frequently spoke at institutes and convocations. He was married twice, the second time to his former secretary, Ruth M. Geiser of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. He had two sons, Robert F. and F. Richard. Mr. Baker died at his home at Mountain Home, North Carolina, in 1961.

Education

• Clarion Pennsylvania Normal School, graduated, 1895
• Allegheny College, B. A., 1905
• Harvard University, M. A., 1909
• Allegheny College, M.A. (Honorary), 1915
• Allegheny College, L.H.D. (Honorary), 1929

Professional Experience

• Teacher, One Room Rural School, Erie County, Pennsylvania, 1895-1896
• Principal, Grade School, Spring Creek, Pennsylvania, 1896-1898
• Principal, Union School, Clymer, N.Y., 1898-1900
• Principal, Union School, Randolph, N.Y., 1900-1902
• Vice President, Chamberlain Institute, Randolph, N.Y., 1903
• Principal, High School, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 1905-1908
• Science, Head, Preparatory. School, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, 1909-1911
• Principal, State Normal School, Edinboro, Pennsylvania, 1911-1920
• Principal, State Normal School, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 1920-1923
• President, State Teachers College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1923-1946
• Summer Lecturer, Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pennsylvania, 1923
• Summer Lecturer, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1934, 1937-1939
• Visiting Professor, University of Illinois, 1940

Community and War Service

• World War I: Chairman Liberty Loan Campaign Committee, Edinboro, Pennsylvania
• World War II: Milwaukee County Red Cross (awarded Presidential Citation), and Alien Enemy Hearing Board (awarded Attorney General Citation)
• Advisor Institute of Propaganda Analysis
• Public Land Commission, Milwaukee, 1927-1929
• National Panel of Arbitrators - American Arbitration Association
• Chairman Wisconsin Civil Liberties Committee
• Education Policies Committee Affiliated with Federation of Labor

Professional Memberships

• American Association Teachers Colleges, President, 1933-1934
• Progressive Education Association Executive Board, 1933-1934
• Mid West Progressive Education Association, Vice President, 1938-1940
• American Association Teacher Educating Institutions, 1941
• National Council of Education
• American Association for Advancement of Science
• Economic League
• Allegheny College Trustee, 1926-1929
• John Dewey Society, Charter Member
• National Education Association Policies Commission Advisory Committee
• National Safety Council Committee on Teacher Education
• American Federation of Teachers Education Policies Committee
• Wisconsin Children's Home and Aid Society Vice Chairman

UWM Archival Collection 109: Milwaukee State Teachers College. Office of the President. Records, 1925-1961.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. Frank E. Baker, Mountain Home, North Carolina, May 31, 1932, together with the listing of biographical data (above) that she prepared.

Box   1 Folder   1	Academic Freedom, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Addams, Jane, undated
Box   1 Folder   3	Adult Education, undated
Box   2 Folder   57	Age in Which We Live, The, undated
Box   1 Folder   4	America Should Act Now, 1933
Box   3 Folder   4	America's Greatest Social Adventure, 1945 (Commencement)
Box   1 Folder   5	Are We Spending Too Much for Education?, 1940
Box   1 Folder   6	Art and Democracy, 1937
Box   1 Folder   7	Art and Our Economic Problems, 1934
Box   1 Folder   8	Art Appreciation, 1932
Box   1 Folder   9	Art Education in a Democracy, 1938
Box   1 Folder   10	Atomic Energy Creates World Problems, undated
Box   1 Folder   11	Background of Youth, undated
Box   1 Folder   12	Basic Principles and Assumptions Underlying Programs for Preparation of Elementary Teachers, undated
Box   3 Folder   18	Brief on Request for Carnegie Corporation Grant, 1926-1931 (Legislative)
Box   1 Folder   13	Can There Be Too Much Education in a Democracy?, undated
Box   1 Folder   14	Changing Socials Aims in the Education of Teachers, 1941
Box   1 Folder   15	Checks on Academic Freedom, undated
Box   1 Folder   16	Children and Their World, undated
Box   1 Folder   17	Civilization's Greatest Waste, undated
Box   3 Folder   24	Communism, undated (written after retirement)
Box   1 Folder   18	Consolidation of Teacher Education Administration and Facilities in Wisconsin, 1934
Box   1 Folder   19	County Normal and High School Training Classes, 1933
Box   1 Folder   20	Democracy and School Administration, 1937
Box   1 Folder   21	Democracy of the Future, 1938
Box   1 Folder   22	Dewey, John, undated
Box   1 Folder   23	Discipline? What Kind?, undated
Box   1 Folder   24	Domestic Problems Facing America, undated
Box   1 Folder   25	Dreams Realized or On the Way, undated
Box   3 Folder   5	Education and National Defense, 1941 (Commencement)
Box   2 Folder   58	Education and National Defense, undated
Box   1 Folder   26	Education and Social Reconstruction, 1937
Box   1 Folder   27	Education and Some American Ideals, undated
Box   1 Folder   28	Education and the Breakdown of Democracy, 1934
Box   2 Folder   59	Education During and After the War, undated
Box   3 Folder   25	Education for Differences, undated (written after retirement)
Box   1 Folder   29	Education for Intelligence, undated
Box   1 Folder   30	Education for Peace, 1935
Box   1 Folder   31	Education in the Arts at Work in the Modern Teachers College, 1940
Box   3 Folder   6	Educational Leadership, 1931 (Commencement)
Box   3 Folder   30	Educational Leadership, undated
Box   1 Folder   32	Educational Opportunity in the Milwaukee Schools, undated
Box   3 Folder   29	Elegy of Modern Business, An, undated
Box   1 Folder   33	Epitaph on Modern Business, 1938
Box   1 Folder   34	Evaluation of Pre-Service Teaching, undated
Box   1 Folder   35	Experiment in Teacher Training, undated
Box   1 Folder   36	Experimental Attitude in Teacher Training Institution, 1932
Box   1 Folder   37	Fads and Frills in Education, 1934
Box   1 Folder   38	Farewell Message, 1946
Box   1 Folder   57	Five Economic Guesses, undated
Box   1 Folder   39	Free Libraries and Free People, undated
Box   1 Folder   56	Functional Program of Teacher Education, A, 1941
Box   3 Folder   17	Functional Program of Teacher Education at Syracuse, 1941 (Discussion)
Box   1 Folder   40	Functions of Education in American Democracy, undated
Box   1 Folder   41	Goals of Education in American Democracy, 1936
Box   1 Folder   42	Goals of Public Education in a Democracy, undated
Box   1 Folder   55	Grown-Up Looks Back at His Musical Education, A, undated
Box   1 Folder   44	Has Public Education Failed American Democracy?, undated
Box   1 Folder   45	Has Public Education Failed in America?, undated
Box   1 Folder   43	Has Public Education Fulfilled Its Function?, undated
Box   1 Folder   46	High School Graduate and His World, 1937
Box   1 Folder   47	Higher Education of American Youth at Social Expense, undated
Box   1 Folder   48	How Can Teachers Be Trained for Proper Functions in a Democratic School?, undated
Box   1 Folder   49	Human Nature Does Change, undated
Box   3 Folder   14	If Abraham Lincoln Were Alive Today, 1943 (Convocation)
Box   1 Folder   50	Imperishables, undated
Box   1 Folder   51	Integrated Professional Experiences, undated
Box   1 Folder   52	Inter-Group Education in Teacher Education Institutions, 1944
Box   1 Folder   53	Interpretation of the New Social and Economic Philosophy Through Education, 1934
Box   1 Folder   54	Introduction to Civilization, undated
Box   3 Folder   31	Inventory, undated
Box   3 Folder   26	Is Teaching a Profession, undated (written after retirement)
Box   2 Folder   1	Kilpatrick, Dr. William H., undated
Box   2 Folder   2	Kind of World We Seek, 1942
Box   2 Folder   55	Labor Movement and Creative Democracy, 1937
Box   3 Folder   27	Lasting Cure for Unemployment, undated (written after retirement)
Box   2 Folder   54	Liberal Arts College of the Future, The, undated
Box   2 Folder   3	Major Issues in the Education of Teachers, undated
Box   2 Folder   4	Meaning of American Democracy, undated
Box   3 Folder   2	Meaning of Democracy by Russell and Briggs, undated (Book review)
Box   2 Folder   5	Meaning of Democratic Administration, undated
Box   2 Folder   6	Milestones in Pre-Historic Civilization, undated
Box   3 Folder   20	Miscellaneous, 1933
Box   3 Folder   19	Miscellaneous Articles, 1926-1933
Box   2 Folder   7	Money Value of Public School Education, undated
Box   2 Folder   8	Moral Confusion and its Causes, undated
Box   2 Folder   9	Moral Education in a New World, undated
Box   2 Folder   10	Music Education, undated
Box   2 Folder   11	Must We Lose Our Ideals?, undated
Box   2 Folder   12	Nature of Thinking, undated
Box   2 Folder   13	Negro Youth and the World Today, undated
Box   3 Folder   1	Neroism of Service, The, undated (Baccalaureate)
Box   2 Folder   14	New Schools For the New Age in Which We Live, undated
Box   2 Folder   15	New World and the New Education, undated
Box   2 Folder   16	Non-Materials and Unemployment, 1933
Box   3 Folder   18	Notes on Address on Degree Bill, 1926-1931 (Legislative)
Box   2 Folder   17	Old Adages, undated
Box   2 Folder   18	One Thing the Graduate Must Do, undated
Box   2 Folder   19	Origin of the Sense of Morality, undated
Box   3 Folder   21	Peace Meeting, 1935
Box   2 Folder   20	Place of Education in Our Economic System, undated
Box   2 Folder   22	Precept and Experience Methods of Teaching, undated
Box   3 Folder   28	Printed Articles and Reviews, 1932-1946
Box   2 Folder   23	Problem of the Administrator on the College Level, undated
Box   2 Folder   56	Programs and Flyers, 1931-1961
Box   2 Folder   24	Public Education and the Promotion of Human Welfare, undated
Box   2 Folder   25	Quality Production in Teacher Training Schools, undated
Box   2 Folder   26	Racial Discrimination, undated
Box   2 Folder   27	Reading Books for Leisure, undated
Box   2 Folder   28	Recruitment and Placement of Graduates of Teacher Educating Institutions, undated
Box   2 Folder   29	Recruitment and Selection of Candidates for Teaching, 1946
Box   2 Folder   30	Recruitment of Teachers Competition We Must Face, 1944
Box   2 Folder   31	Reflection on the Pearl Harbor Report, undated
Box   3 Folder   18	Reply to 1927 Legislature Ad-Interim Committee, 1926-1931 (Legislative)
Box   3 Folder   22	Reply to: “Passing of the Progressive Education Society” by Truman Kelley, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, undated
Box   3 Folder   18	Request for Gymnasium and Heating, 1926-1931 (Legislative)
Box   2 Folder   32	Responsibilities of Education to Contemporary Society, 1940
Box   2 Folder   33	Romance of Teaching, 1932
Box   2 Folder   34	Schools and the American Ideal of Equal Opportunity, 1934
Box   2 Folder   35	Snores, undated
Box   3 Folder   9	The Social World in Which We Live, 1940 (Commencement)
Box   3 Folder   7	Some Contemporary Problems of Teachers, 1944 (Commencement)
Box   3 Folder   33	Some Contemporary Problems of Teachers, undated
Box   2 Folder   36	Some Economic and Cultural Values, undated
Box   2 Folder   37	Some Economic Guesses, undated
Box   3 Folder   23	Some Enrollment Figures, 1946
Box   3 Folder   8	Some Intangibles of Teaching, 1946 (Commencement)
Box   2 Folder   38	Sources of an Educational Philosophy, undated
Box   2 Folder   39	Standards at State Teachers College, Milwaukee, undated
Box   2 Folder   40	Standards of Good Classroom Teaching, undated
Box   2 Folder   41	Status of Teacher Education in America, undated
Box   2 Folder   42	Student Government, Commonwealth, 1924-1925
Box   2 Folder   43	Task of Education in the Days Ahead, 1944
Box   2 Folder   44	Teacher Education for International Cooperation, 1944
Box   3 Folder   3	Teacher in America by Jacques Barzun, undated (Book review)
Box   2 Folder   45	Trends in Education, undated
Box   3 Folder   16	Universal Military Conscription, 1945 (Convocation)
Box   2 Folder   46	War and Education, 1942
Box   3 Folder   15	The War and You, 1941 (Convocation)
Box   3 Folder   12	What Shall I Say to the Graduates, 1933 (Commencement)
Box   2 Folder   47	What Shall We Do With the Five Millions?, undated
Box   2 Folder   48	Who Owns an Idea?, undated
Box   2 Folder   49	Why I Am a Liberal, undated
Box   2 Folder   50	Workshop Technique Applied to English Composition, undated
Box   3 Folder   10	World Will Be Different, The, 1942 (Commencement)
	World Will Be Different
Box   2 Folder   51	Certainty of Change, undated
Box   2 Folder   52	Citizenry More Heterogeneous Racially, 1942
Box   2 Folder   52	Contracting Economy, 1942
Box   2 Folder   53	Democratic Education Must Be Different, 1942
Box   2 Folder   52	Greater Government Control, 1942
Box   2 Folder   52	It Will Plan Its Economy, 1942
Box   2 Folder   52	Nationalistic Spirit Weaker, 1942
Box   2 Folder   52	Problems of Democracy Different, 1942
Box   2 Folder   52	Technological Processes Extended, 1942
Box   3 Folder   32	Yes, Human Nature Does Change, undated
Box   3 Folder   13	Youth Before, During, and After the War, 1943 (Commencement)
Box   3 Folder   11	The Zest of Life, 1934 (Commencement)