Machmer, William L.

William L. Machmer Papers

1899-1953
18 boxes 9 linear feet
Call no.: RG 006/1 M33
Depiction of William L. Machmer
William L. Machmer

Enjoying one of the longest tenures of any administrator in the history of the University of Massachusetts, William Lawson Machmer served under five presidents across 42 years, helping to guide the university through an economic depression, two world wars, and three name changes. During his years as Dean, Machmer witnessed the growth of the university from fewer than 500 students to almost 3,800, and helped guide its transformation from a small agricultural college into Massachusetts State College (1931) and finally into the University of Massachusetts (1947).
Machmer’s papers chronicle the fitful development of the University of Massachusetts from the days of Kenyon Butterfield’s innovations of the 1920s through the time of the GI Bill. The collection is particularly strong in documenting the academic experience of students and the changes affecting the various departments and programs at the University, with particular depth for the period during and after the Second World War.

Connect to another siteView selected records on women's affairs at UMass, 1924-1951

Subjects

Agricultural educationFort Devens (Mass.)Massachusetts Agricultural CollegeMassachusetts State CollegeUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. DeanUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of MathematicsWorld War, 1939-1945

Contributors

Baker, Hugh Potter, 1878-Butterfield, Kenyon L. (Kenyon Leech), 1868-1935Lewis, Edward MMachmer, William LVan Meter, Ralph Albert, 1893-

Types of material

Letters (Correspondence)Student records