Collection Title: John W. Carr Papers
Series Number: RG003-10-05
Department: Office of the President
Processed and Cataloged by: Processed by Sheree Wise and Christie Leith from August 2010 to March 2012.
Date Listed: March 19, 2012
Date Span: 1888-1987 (bulk, 1888-1916)
Size of Collection: 14.0 linear feet
Number of Boxes: 18 legal size document cases; 1 legal half size document case; 2 letter size document cases and 2 oversized boxes
Type of Material: Correspondence, diaries, journals, ledgers, newspaper clippings, photographs and ephemera
Condition of Material: Fair with some fading and foxing due to age of documents
Arrangement: Organized by type of material; chronological arrangement
Historical Information: John W. Carr was the first President of Murray State Normal School and later Murray State Teachers College. He was born on December 13, 1859 in Marshall Township, Lawrence County, Indiana. At age seventeen he taught at a one room school house in Greene County, Indiana. He attended Indiana University beginning in 1882 and received a Bachelor’s degree in education in 1885. He secured a Master's degree in Education at Indiana University in 1890. From 1885 to 1887, he served as the principal of Bloomington High School and later as the principal at Muncie High School from 1887 to 1890. In 1890 he was elected the superintendent of schools at Anderson, Indiana. Carr was the superintendent of schools in Dayton, Ohio from 1905 to 1909 and held the similar position at Bayonne, New Jersey from 1909 to 1916. He received his doctorate from New York University in 1913. During the First World War he managed the War Camp Community Service at the ports of Boston, Norfolk and Charleston. Following the war, Carr worked with the National Physical Education Association in Washington, D.C. and in 1920 became the director of physical education for the State of Kentucky. The next year he was appointed the director of high school education. He was named the first president of Murray State Normal School in 1922 at age 64. In 1926, he resigned as president and became dean of education. He again served as president from 1933 until 1936. For the next four years he acted as dean of education. From 1940 to 1953, he served as president emeritus and historian of Murray State. Carr retired and moved to Manhasset, New York where he died on February 18, 1960.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of professional and personal correspondence, diaries and photographs of former president of Murray State Normal School and Murray State Teachers College John W. Carr from 1988 to 1987. The vast majority of the correspondence relates to public education in Indiana, Ohio and New Jersey from 1888 to 1916. His professional correspondence includes letters from students, faculty, school administrators and local, state and national politicians. His personal correspondence contains letters from family members and friends, the papers of his son Frank C. Carr who died in New York while attending medical school, and biographical and genealogical information. The collection also includes diaries, personal journals, typescript speeches and notes, newspaper clippings and published materials, ephemera and photographs of John W. Carr.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Carr, John Wesley, 1859-1960
Carr, Frank C.
Carr family
Indiana – Education – Schools.
Ohio – Education – Schools.
New Jersey – Education – Schools.
Bloomington (Ind.) – Education – Schools.
Muncie (Ind.) – Education – Public schools.
Anderson (Ind.) – Public schools.
Dayton (Ohio) – Public schools.
Bayonne (N.J.) – Public schools.
Murray State University – History.
Murray State University – Presidents.
