Guide to the Barnaby Conrad Keeney papers, 1936-1980

(bulk 1940-1966)

John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2019

Collection Overview

Title:	Barnaby Conrad Keeney papers
Date range:	1936-1980, (1940-1966)
Creator:	Keeney, Barnaby C. (Barnaby Conrad)
Extent:	52.5 Linear Feet 125 document boxes
Abstract:	The Barnaby Conrad Keeney papers contain correspondence, speeches, biographical records, lecture notes, scrapbooks, appointment books and annual reports, most of which are associated with Keeney's tenure as a professor, administrator and President of Brown University. Some personal correspondence and materials associated with the Commission on the Revision of the Rhode Island Constitution and the Commission on the Humanities are also included in the papers, which are dated from 1936 to 1980.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	OF.1C.12

Scope & content

The Barnaby Conrad Keeney papers include a variety of materials, chiefly correspondence, associated with Keeney's tenure as a professor, administrator and President of Brown University. The papers are dated from 1936 to 1980, with most of the materials dated from 1940 to 1966. The papers have been organized into the following series:

Series I. Brown files contains materials regarding the academic administration of Brown University. It includes, but is not limited to, materials regarding various academic departments, admissions, alumni, athletics, buildings and grounds, The Corporation Committee, gifts to Brown, and Air Froce ROTC. This material is dated from 1947 to 1966, with most dated from 1955 to 1966.

Series II. Miscellaneous correspondence is arranged alphabetically. The correspondence is dated from 1955 to 1966.

Series III. Speeches is arranged alphabetically by the title of the speech. This material is dated from 1952 to 1966.

Series IV. Letters of congratulations on election to the Presidency is arranged alphabetically. These letters are all dated in 1955.

Series V. Personal correspondence is arranged by date. The letters are dated from 1947 to 1969.

Series VI. Correspondence about speeches is arranged by date. The letters are dated from 1955 to 1966.

Series VII. Commission on the Rhode Island Constitution contains materials related to the proposed revision of the Rhode Island constitution. This material is dated from 1961 to 1963.

Series VIII. Miscellaneous papers contains materials dated from circa 1939 to 1971. It includes, but is not limited to, articles by and about Keeney, materials regarding the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rhode Island Scholarship program and Phi Beta Kappa.

Series IX. Biographical records contains materials dated from 1936 to 1965. It includes materials regarding Keeney's appointments, fellowships and salary; his retirement from Brown, materials from the University of North Carolina and Harvard University, and Keeney's army records.

Series X. Lecture notes is undated. It contains lectures notes from History 101, 102, 109 and notes on feudalism.

Series XI. General correspondence is arranged by date. The letters are dated from 1964 to 1980.

Series XII. Scrapbook material and miscellaneous personal correspondence is dated from 1955 to 1972. The scrapbook material is arranged by date. The personal correspondence is arranged alphabetically.

Series XIII. Commission on the Humanities - correspondence is dated from 1963 to 1965. It is arranged by date.

Series XIV. Commission on the Humanities is arranged alphabetically by topic. In addition to materials concerning the Commission on the Humanities, this series includes materials regarding the Bridenbaugh report on humanities and the arts, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Humanities Foundation. The materials are dated from 1958 to 1968.

Series XV. Research files consists of three boxes. No date was given for the materials.

Seriex XVI. Appointment books contains one box of Keeney's appointment books, dated from 1956 to 1965.

Series XVII. Council on Library Resources Newsletters and Annual Reports contains three boxes of annual reports and newsletters created by the Council on Library Resources and its Executive Board.

Series XVIII. Installation of President Barnaby Keeney contains one box of planning documentation, invitations, and other related material for the installation ceremony of President Keeney. It also contains a folder with about a dozen black and white photographs of the event.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Keeney, Barnaby C. (Barnaby Conrad)

Subject Organizations

• Brown University--Faculty
• Brown University--Presidents

Subject Topics

• Universities and colleges -- Administration

Document Types

• Speeches
• Annual reports
• Scrapbooks
• Lecture notes
• appointment books
• Letters (Correspondence)

Arrangement

The Barnaby Conrad Keeney papers are organized in seventeen series:

• I. Brown files
• II. Miscellaneous correspondence
• III. Speech file
• IV. Letters of congratulation on election to the presidency
• V. Personal correspondence
• VI. Correspondence about speeches
• VII. Commission of the Rhode Island constitution
• VIII. Miscellaneous papers
• IX. Biographical records
• X. Lecture notes
• XI. General correspondence
• XII. Scrapbook material and miscellaneous personal correspondence
• XIII. Commission on the Humanities-correspondence
• XIV. Commission on the Humanities
• XV. Research files
• XVI. Appointment books
• XVII. Annual reports

Biographical note

Barnaby Conrad Keeney (1914-1980), twelfth president of Brown University, was born in Halfway, Oregon, on October 17, 1914. His father was a metallurgical engineer, and the family moved to Denver and then to Hartford. After graduation from Hartford High School, Keeney went to the University of North Carolina where he participated in track, majored in history, and graduated at the top of his class in 1936. He went on to Harvard, where he earned his master's degree in 1937 and his Ph.D. in 1939 and taught until 1941. Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army and served with the 35th Infantry as an officer in charge of an intelligence interpreters team. He was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the Silver Star, and was discharged as a captain. After the war he studied for a year in Europe with a John Simon Guggenheim Post Service Fellowship, then came to Brown in 1946 as assistant professor of history. He became Dean of the Graduate School in 1949, when he was only 34, and in 1951 he was promoted to full professor. He took a leave of absence in 1951 to work for the Central Intelligence Agency. He returned to the deanship of the Graduate School and in 1952 added the position of Acting Dean of the College to his duties. In 1953 he became Dean of the College, and two years later was chosen to succeed Henry Wriston as president of Brown. The next ten years were times of building and expansion. Two large properties were acquired. The Mount Hope property in Bristol with its Haffenreffer Museum of the American Indian brought anthropology into the curriculum. The purchase of the Dexter Asylum provided thirty-nine acres for construction of athletic facilities. New buildings were added: the West Quadrangle in 1957, Hunter Laboratory for psychology in 1958, the Computing Laboratory in 1961, Prince Engineering Laboratory in 1962, the J. Walter Wilson Biology Laboratory in 1962; Meehan Auditorium in 1961; the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library in 1963, the Barus and Holley Building in 1963, and on the Pembroke Campus, two dormitory complexes, Champlin and Morriss Halls and Emery and Woolley Halls. Manning Hall was renovated to provide a new chapel and Hope College was renovated and reopened as a dormitory for seventy-eight students.

During Keeney's administration enrollment increased from about 3,600 to over 4,600. The biggest growth was in the Graduate School, which had about 400 students when Keeney became president and over 1,100 during his final year. The size of the faculty grew from 496 to 911, and more than $82 million was raised, including two challenge grants from the Ford Foundation which totaled $12.5 million. When Keeney announced his plans for resignation, James K. Sunshine wrote in the Providence Evening Bulletin:

"The years that Barnaby C. Keeney ran Brown University – and he ran everything about it from top to bottom – were an explosion in higher education. In a dozen different ways the University hurled itself upwards and outwards: more students and better students, more faculty and better faculty, more buildings and better buildings, new programs, new ideas, new money, and more money.

"Certainly nothing like it had happened before, not even under the master planner, Henry M. Wriston. While no one knows the future, it is hard to visualize anything quite like it happening again very soon. Not even the fact that the years were boom times for all of higher education, not merely Brown, can explain away the magnitude of the change. After all, Brown had failed to change before."

President Wriston offered this tribute on Keeney's resignation:

"His scholarship was profound in a field of study not popular because it lays such heavy burdens upon its devotees. His war service was not only distinguished but courageous to a degree few attain. It has left its impress upon his character, outlook, and physique. His teaching was fresh, original, and stimulating. In successive administration positions before becoming President, he was cast in no mold, followed his own methods, and achieved remarkable results."

One of Keeney's concerns was the amount of money and equipment available for the sciences and the lack of federal support for the humanities. After leaving Brown, he was named by President Lyndon Johnson as the first head of the National Endowment and Council on the Humanities. In 1970 he became chief executive officer of the Consortium of Universities of Washington, D.C., and in June 1971 he became the first president of Claremont Graduate School. He retired in 1976 and came back to live in Little Compton. He died on June 18, 1980 in Providence.

In 1978 it was revealed that Keeney had worked for the Central Intelligence Agency while he was president of Brown. He admitted that he had advised the CIA in matters such as "setting up covert funding operations," adding in explanation, "I suppose nowadays it is improper to attempt to serve your country ... but then I felt I was doing what I should."

The above entry appears in Encyclopedia Brunoniana by Martha Mitchell, copyright ©1993 by the Brown University Library. It is used here by permission of the author and the University and may not be copied or further distributed without permission.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Some series are restricted; consult the University Archivist.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Barnaby Conrad Keeney papers, OF-1C-12, Brown University Archives.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Brown University Library staff
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2019-11-01 .
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Sponsor:	Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Inventory

---