Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the Chair of the Corporation, records of Karl T. Compton

The Office of the Chair of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), records of Karl Compton came to the MIT Institute Archives with the Compton-Killian presidential papers (AC 4).

This corporation collection is arranged in three series: 1949-1950, 1951-1952, and 1953-1954. Within this chronological order, material was arranged alphabetically by either the subject or the surname of the correspondent.

Although Karl Compton assumed the chairship of the federal Research and Development Board (Armed Forces) as well as the MIT Corporation chairship when he resigned the MIT presidency in 1948, there is very little material in this collection pertaining directly to the R & D Board, which was based in Washington, D.C. The files contain, for the most part, the correspondence carried on by a past president of MIT, a scientist, and a public personality. This record of everyday routine is supplemented by material related to Compton's personal interests. Approximately half of the collection consists of correspondence with conservationists, alumni, people seeking speakers or recommendations or desiring the opinion of a physicist.

The collection includes considerable correspondence connected with his fund raising activities for MIT, including the 1949-1950 Leadership Campaign. There is correspondence with companies including International Nickel, Dupont, General Electric, and Johnson and Johnson, and with individuals including John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Alfred P. Sloan. Compton was also involved in the negotiations and administration of the gifts of the Kresge Foundation, which gave funds for the Chapel and Kresge Auditorium, and the Dorrance family, who funded the Dorrance Building. Throughout the collection are materials related to his travels as a representative of the Institute and the reception of Institute guests.

In 1949, a search was undertaken for a new dean of architecture as a replacement for William W. Wurster. Compton, as chair of the Corporation, was chair of the Executive Committee, which had the final approval of Wurster's successor. There is a small amount of material related to this search containing information on many of the most well-known architects in the country.

As a scientist and educator, Compton received many invitations to speak from such institutions as Radcliffe College, the General Motors Institute, the Instrument Society of America, and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Although this aspect of his public life is extremely well documented, few of the speeches themselves are found in this collection. There are notes and rough drafts, but a more complete collection of his lectures and addresses are in Compton's personal papers (MC 416) and the MIT Museum's Compton speech file.

Perhaps ten percent of the material in this collection applies directly to the period of the 1950s, and there is a significant amount of background material that is characteristic of those post-war years. Compton was frequently consulted on the subject of atomic energy. He was asked to defend his stand on the necessity of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to comment on different peace-keeping schemes. The small amount of correspondence relating to physics is, unfortunately, routine; there is some correspondence from such leading physicists as Robert Millikan and J. Robert Oppenheimer but most of it does not concern physics. There are a few letters related to Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Un-American Activities hearings, mainly from scientific figures or World War II acquaintances, requesting recommendations or character references. There is little material about the various foundations for which he served as a trustee. There are many inquiries from all kinds of associations requesting sponsorship, money, and help. The "Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectualists, Inc." was typical of the sort of organization that contacted Compton and received his help. This collection has some value for Compton scholars, for while it contains few family letters, he did not use obvious form letters in his acceptances, rejections, and simple replies to his everyday correspondence. The only other real research strengths of this collection lie in the wealth of administrative detail and the 1950s-related background material.