Title: Robert W. Babcock papers, 1920-1961
Arrangement
Rough chronological order
Abstract
Lecture notes and publications written by Robert W. Babcock, documenting his tenure as an English professor with a Shakespearean specialty.
Administrative/Biographical History
Robert W. Babcock was born in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the Hill School, Williams College, and University of Michigan. In 1917 Babcock received the LLB degree from Northwestern University. He practiced law in Arizona and homesteaded as a rancher in Arizona. Babcock then joined the American Extension University for a few months. In 1920 he joined the Purdue faculty as an instructor in English.
In 1927 Professor Robert W. Babcock became the first university editor, on a part-time basis, and soon was engaged on a project close to President Elliott’s heart, the preparation of the University Code. The first edition of Part I of the Code, which dealt with legal matters, was issued in the fall of 1927, and Babcock then worked through years of faculty and board of trustee minutes preparing Part II, “Regulations for the Internal Administration of the University,” for publication in 1929.
On February 1, 1963 he went on terminal leave of absence, and would have retired as Professor Emeritus of English on June 30, 1963.
He was known as the Shakespearean scholar and ex-cowboy. He was the author of several books and many articles and reviews. For many years he taught very popular courses in Shakespeare.
Author: Mary Sego
Robert W. Babcock papers
