Title: M.V. O'Shea Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1883-1932

Creator:

• O'Shea, M.V. (Michael Vincent), 1866-1932

Call Number: Wis Mss UJ; PH 6558; M86-467

Quantity: 23.6 c.f. (59 archives boxes) and 10 photographs (1 folder); plus additions of 2.1 c.f.

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Papers of M.V. O'Shea, an author, lecturer, and professor of education at the University of Wisconsin from 1897 until his death in 1932. The records document O'Shea's professional career and his research and writings, including his book Tobacco and Mental Efficiency (1926). Present are class plans, notebooks of observations on educational systems and children, papers and articles written by O'Shea, professional correspondence, personal correspondence, and biographical material.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000uj

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M.V. O'Shea, professor of education at the University of Wisconsin from 1897 to his death in 1932, was a native of Genesee County, New York, and graduated from Cornell in 1892. For three years following graduation he served as professor of psychology and pedagogy and director of the practice school at the State Normal School at Mankato, Minnesota. From 1895 until he went to the University of Wisconsin, he was professor of educational psychology and child study at the Teacher's College, Buffalo, New York.

During his long tenure at Wisconsin, Dr. O'Shea became a national figure in the field of education and an authority on the nature and needs of young people. He was author and editor of a large number of books, editorials, and articles on education, having at one time as many as six books in progress. He served as a veritable clearing house for people who wanted to get articles and books published, as he always had editorial connections. He lectured widely to teachers' institutes and associations, and to meetings at schools in the United States as well as in Canada, England, and Scotland.

In addition to teaching and writing, Dr. O'Shea directed several studies connected with education and health. In 1920, at the direction of the U.S. Commissioner of Education, he made an investigation of the value of certain courses of study in the education of women. His book, Tobacco and Mental Efficiency, published in 1926, was the result of several years of study concerning the effects of smoking. In 1925, he was co-director of a survey of the all-year schools of Newark, New Jersey, in 1925-1926 was in charge of a survey of the educational system of Mississippi, and in 1927 conducted a similar survey for Virginia.

It was to be expected that his wide educational interests and reputation would involve Dr. O'Shea in many organizations and projects. He was a member of numerous organizations for educators, and for many years was chairman of the education department of the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations. In 1905 and in 1910 he was a representative to the International Congress of Home Educators in Europe, and in 1914 served as the organization's president. In 1906 he spent some time in Europe studying school systems and lecturing.

On January 14, 1932, while still very active in teaching and writing, Dr. O'Shea collapsed and died while on the way to meet a class. Of his four children (Stanley, Vincent, Katherine, and Harriet), Harriet also entered the field of education and became a member of the faculty at Purdue.

Dr. O'Shea's fields of interest are indicated by a list of many of his magazine connections and his publications:

Editor:	Junior Home Magazine
	Nation's Schools
	World Book Encyclopedia
	Childhood and Youth Series
	Parents' Library
	Home and School Classics
Author:	Aspects of Mental Econony
	Newer Ways with Children
	Education as Adjustment
	Dynamic Factors in Education
	Linguistic Development and Education
	Social Development and Education
	Everyday Problems in Teaching
	Mental Development and Education
	The Trend of the Teens
	First Steps in Child Training
	Faults of Childhood and Youth
	Problems of Child Training
	Tobacco and Mental Efficiency
Joint Author:	The Child and His Spelling
	How Much English Grammar
	The Health Series of Physiology and Hygiene (4 volumes)
	The Everyday Spelling Series (4 volumes)
	The Child, His Nature, and His Needs
	The All-Year Schools of Newark (monograph)

This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 3 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.

• Part 1 (Wis Mss UJ, PH 6558): Original Collection, 1886-1932
• Part 2 (Wis Mss UJ): Additions, 1883-1924
• Part 3 (M86-467): Additions, 1889-1932

Acquisition Information

Presented by Harriet O'Shea, Lafayette, Indiana, circa 1945, and Turner Falls, Massachusetts, October 29, 1974. Accession Number: M74-467, M86-467

Wis Mss UJ	Part 1 (Wis Mss UJ, PH 6558): Original Collection, 1886-1932 Physical Description: 22.0 c.f. (55 archives boxes) and 10 photographs (1 folder)  Scope and Content Note The M.V. O'Shea Papers Original Collection is comprised mostly of correspondence relating to his editorial work, writing, and communications with publishers. Occasionally there are letters exchanged with other educators of note, but few of these reveal his educational philosophy; they refer more often to publications and organizations. For his ideas and opinions on education the researcher is referred to his correspondence with other writers, with parents who read and had questions concerning O'Shea's editorials, and with school superintendents. Note: Attention is called to O'Shea's habit of using the back of a letter he received, for the carbon of a reply he sent. Subjects treated in the correspondence include: Problems of children, their health, development, and training. (See especially correspondence for the years 1917-1921.) Education of children and youth. Educational surveys for Virginia, Mississippi and Norfolk, Virginia, 1925-1927. The Zona Gale scholarship program of the University of Wisconsin, 1921-1929. The National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teachers Associations, 1912-1921. Testimonials relating to tobacco studies, 1919-1920. O'Shea's own publications, particularly his relation to the World Book, 1915-1913, 1927-1932; Junior Home Magazine, 1925-1926; Mother's Magazine, 1917-1921; and The Nation's Schools, 1927-1929. Teacher-training requirements, 1914. Student and teacher recommendations for positions. (Representative correspondence was kept; most was not retained.) Private investments, correspondence on household matters, and disconnected family letters. (Not retained) Publishers letters relating to proof, transmittal of contracts, and book orders. (Not retained) Persons of some note with whom M.V. O'Shea corresponded include: Baruch, Bernard: December 17, 1919 (letter from) Birge, Dean Edward A.: 1914-1925 Burbank, Luther: December 20, 1919 (letter from) Dewey, John: January 7, 1904 Gala, Zona: 1920-1929 Hall, G. Stanley: January 8, April 18, 1904 Harding, Senator Warren G.: January 23, 1920 (letter from) Kellogg, J.H.: 1907 Parkhurst, Helen: 1922-1924 Stoner, Winifred Sackville: 1912-1929 Roosevelt, Eleanor: April 8, July 27, 1931 (letters from) and April 21, 1931 (letter to) Van Dyke, Henry: December 19, 1919 (letter from) Van Hise, Charles R.: January 26, November 16, 1907; January 11, 1911 (letters from) Young, Ella F.: January 2, 1904 There are also five boxes of articles, editorials, speeches, and class plans. Many of the editorials O'Shea wrote for Junior Instructor, 1920-1923, are filed here. The final two boxes of documents are designated Miscellaneous. They include biographical material; book manuscripts, reviews, and brochures; notes on schools in Europe, 1906; reports on O'Shea's smoking survey and on the Newark, New Jersey all-year schools; and other materials. The 10 photographs include images of Michael O'Shea, Harriet O'Shea, Mary McAdams, and a group of people in front of an unidentified residence.
	Series: Correspondence
Box   1	1892 - 1910
Box   2	1911 - 1913, May
Box   3	1913, June - December
Box   4	1914, January - May
Box   5	1914, June - November
Box   6	1914, December - 1915, April
Box   7	1915, May - August
Box   8	1915, September - 1916, January
Box   9	1916, February - July
Box   10	1916, August - December
Box   11	1917, January - June
Box   12	1917, June - December
Box   13	1918, January - April
Box   14	1918, May - October
Box   15	1918, November - 1919, April
Box   16	1919, April - September
Box   17	1919, September - 1920, February
Box   18	1920, February - May
Box   19	1920, May - July
Box   20	1920, August - 1921, January
Box   21	1921, February - June
Box   22	1921, July - December
Box   23	1921, December - 1922, May
Box   24	1922, May - September
Box   25	1922, October - 1923, February
Box   26	1923, March - July
Box   27	1923, August - December
Box   28	1924, January - April
Box   29	1924, May - November
Box   30	1924, November - 1925, May
Box   31	1925, May - November
Box   32	1925, November - 1926, April
Box   33	1926, April - November
Box   34	1926, November - 1927, May
Box   35	1927, May - November
Box   36	1927, November - 1928, February
Box   37	1928, March - June
Box   38	1928, July - December
Box   39	1928, December - 1929, April
Box   40	1929, April - August
Box   41	1929, September - December
Box   42	1930, January - April
Box   43	1930, May - November
Box   44	1930, November - 1931, March
Box   45	1931, April - July
Box   46	1931, August - December
Box   47	1931, December - 1932, August
	Series: Articles, Editorials, Speeches, Class Plans	⇧
Box   48 Folder   1	Bibliographical
Box   48 Folder   2-5	Miscellaneous editorials Note: See also Box 49-51.
Box   48 Folder   6	Articles
Box   49 Folder   1	Editorials for The Nation's Schools Note: See also Box 51.
Box   49 Folder   2	Editorials for Junior Home Note: See also Box 51.
Box   49 Folder   3-4	Miscellaneous editorials
Box   50	Miscellaneous editorials (continued)
Box   51 Folder   1	Miscellaneous editorials (continued)
Box   51 Folder   2-4	Editorials for The Nation's Schools Note: See also Box 49.
Box   51 Folder   5	Editorials for Junior Home Note: See also Box 49.
Box   52	Speeches; articles; plans for publication; class materials for “Social Development and Education”
Box   53	Miscellaneous class materials and plans for publication
	Series: Miscellaneous	⇧
Box   53	Biographical
Box   54	Book Manuscripts, reviews, and brochures
Box   54	Smoking survey report
Box   54	Report on the Newark, New Jersey all-year schools
Box   54	Notebooks with notes on the schools of Europe, circa 1906, March-April
Box   55	Guides and articles regarding books
Box   55	Examinations
Box   55	University of Wisconsin Nursery School
Box   55	University of the Air
Box   55	Miscellany
PH 6558	Series: Photographs	⇧
Wis Mss UJ	Part 2 (Wis Mss UJ): Additions, 1883-1924 Physical Description: 1.6 c.f. (4 archives boxes)  Scope and Content Note: The Additions include a chronological file of O'Shea's personal correspondence, his college classnotes, and Harriet Eastabrooks' high school class notes. The early correspondence includes letters from classmates and acquaintances before and during his college career at Cornell University. The letters, however, are predominantly to and from his family, especially his wife, Harriet. Much of this correspondence is from O'Shea while either on lecture tours or at summer schools. Scattered throughout are letters relating to his professional activities particularly during his tenure at the Mankato State Normal School, Mankato, Minnesota.	⇧
	Series: Correspondence
Box   56	Pre-1883 - 1893, July
Box   57	1893, August - 1896
Box   58	1897-1918
Box   59	1919-1924
	Series: Class Notes	⇧
Box   59	Subseries: Harriet Eastabrooks, 1885-1896
Box   59	Subseries: M.V. O'Shea, 1889-1891	⇧
M86-467	Part 3 (M86-467): Additions, 1889-1932 Physical Description: 2.1 c.f. (2 record center cartons and 2 small card file boxes)  Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1889-1932, documenting O'Shea's professional research and writings, including notes on observations of children and published articles and manuscripts of articles. Present is a daily record of O'Shea teaching his daughter Harriet arithmetic, a series of home study pamphlets published by Mother's Magazine, papers written by O'Shea's wife, Harriet Eastabrook, and personal correspondence and biographical material.	⇧
	Articles
Box   1 Folder   1	Early articles in education journals, circa 1893
Box   1 Folder   2	Popular Educator articles, 1908-1915
Box   1 Folder   3	Primary Education articles, 1908-1915
Box   1 Folder   4	Junior Home articles, 1929-1931
Box   1 Folder   5	Milwaukee Sentinel articles
Box   1 Folder   6	Mother's Magazine articles, 1915-1919
Box   1 Folder   7-9	Miscellaneous magazine articles, 1895-1916, 1922-1930, undated
Box   1 Folder   10-17	Manuscripts of articles
Box   1 Folder   18	Notes on observations of children and drafts of articles, 1899-1901
	Papers
Box   1 Folder   19-26	Written at college or shortly after
Box   2 Folder   1	Written at college or shortly after
Box   2 Folder   2	Harriet F. Eastabrook (O'Shea's wife), 1890, undated
Box   2 Folder   3	Daily record of teaching Harriet arithmetic, 1902-1904
Box   2 Folder   4	Journal - early notes on Harriet, 1899-1903
	Lectures, undated
Box   2 Folder   5-8	On mental development (Mankato College)
Box   2 Folder   9-11	On principles of education (Mankato College)
	Research topic files (articles), 1900-1903, undated
Box   2 Folder   12	Interest
	Instinct
Box   2 Folder   13	Inheritance, criminal
Box   2 Folder   14	Fear, supernatural, anger, animal instincts
Box   2 Folder   15	Periods in development, senses - order of development
Box   2 Folder   16	Suggestion - pictures
Box   2 Folder   17	Questions
Box   2 Folder   18	Art
Box   2 Folder   19	Recapitulation - games, fear, love, sympathy, anger, affection
Box   2 Folder   20	Youth
Box   2 Folder   21	Other
Box   2 Folder   22-25	Miscellaneous articles and correspondence, 1892-1932, undated
	Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   26	Professional, 1909-1932, undated
Box   2 Folder   27	Family, 1988, 1902, 1922, undated
Box   2 Folder   28	Newspaper clippings about O'Shea
Box   2 Folder   29	Obituaries
Box   2 Folder   30	Personal memorabilia
Box   3	Mother's Magazine home study pamphlets
Box   4	Note cards, listing articles for magazines O'Shea edited