Collection ID: C271
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Mehlinger, Howard D.
Abstract:
Howard Mehlinger served as a professor within the School of Education from 1965 until his retirement in 1997, at which time he was granted the title Professor Emeritus of Education. During his tenure at IU he served in two major administrative positions: Dean of the School of Education from 1981 to 1989 and as Director for the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) from 1993 to 1999. His major research foci included: issues involving Soviet-United States education and globalization, technology's role in the classroom, and high school social studies education. The content of this collection consists of papers documenting various IU and personal research initiatives, projects, and consulting positions; publications and speaking engagements; professional files; syllabi, reading lists, and documents for various courses, workshops, and seminars he taught at both IU and Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas; and personal, professional, and institutional correspondence.
Extent:
19.2 cubic feet (22 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English and Russian
Preferred citation:

[Item], Howard D. Mehlinger papers, Collection C271, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Most known for his time spent as Indiana University's Dean of the School of Education and as Director of the Center for Excellence in Education at the Wendell W. Wright Education Building, Howard Mehlinger dedicated four decades of his life to IU. His education includes a Bachelor of Arts and Master's in Education from McPherson College and a PhD in history from the University of Kansas. Prior to his tenure at IU, Mehlinger spent some time teaching high school education in Lawrence, Kansas and held a brief position at Northwestern University. In 1965 he joined the IU faculty where a large percentage of his time was spent researching topics in education rather than teaching his native subject of Russian and Soviet-era history.

Two of the most prominent areas of Mehlinger's research included Soviet-United States relations and technology use in education. The former was a major point of research for Mehlinger from around 1977 until 1989. It began with a comparison of U.S. and Soviet textbooks in an effort to construct a common interpretation of historical events that was far less influenced by political or nationalistic sentiment. Despite some initial success, the project came to a close in the late 1980s as a result of a growing divide between the two nations and stresses from the Afghan-Soviet War. With regards to the use of technology in education, this area of research largely dominated Mehlinger's professional life in the late 1980s and continued throughout his retirement in the 2000s, when he became a private consultant for various advisory groups and school districts. Major interests included long distance education, instruction, and communication using computers and two-way audio-visual devices. Mehlinger worked to make IU a forerunner in information age technology through the use of technology in the classroom.

In 1981, Mehlinger assumed the role as Dean of the School of Education. As a dean of education in the wake of the Reagan administration and witnessing the decline of student test scores, he stressed the need for more accountable and educated instructors in the classroom and for merit and incentive based salary increases. He advocated making it more difficult to become a teacher by requiring higher standards with regards to intellectual ability, academic competence, and a respect for children and the rights and values of others. He was also in favor of moving away from lifetime teaching licenses and instituting licenses that required renewal. While not taking an official stance, he stated that he was "neither in favor of, nor terribly upset by the thought of eliminating the Department of Education," and advocated giving more control to the states and allowing governors to be the primary voice for improvement and reform at the federal level.

After fulfilling many of the goals he had hoped to accomplish as Dean of the School of Education, Mehlinger stepped down and turned his attention to establishing a facility on IU's campus that promoted the creation of successful teachers but also of teachers that were literate in the changing environment of education in the Information Age. In the late-1980s and early-1990s, Mehlinger was fundamental force in the idea of creating a Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) at IU. He worked on the project from the ground up and secured funding for not only this project but also for the construction of the Wendell W. Wright Education Building, where the CEE would eventually be housed. The building and the CEE were both officially established in 1993. He served as the CEE's first director beginning in 1993 until 1999 when he stepped down. Though "retired," he still served a major capacity within the institution for several years.

Mehlinger was also involved in a variety of other activites throughout his tenure. In 1965 he was named Deputy Chairman of the Inter-University Committee on Travel Grants. At this same time, he worked to establish and eventually directed the Social Studies Development Center throughout the late-1960s and 1970s. In 1972, he co-authored his most acclaimed textbook American Political Behavior with fellow IU professor John J. Patrick. In addition, he was also the author/co-author of over a dozen books and numerous articles, book chapters, and pamphlets. In 1994 he assumed leadership of the IU partnership with Ryazan State Pedagogical University and was named Director of the Institute for the Study of Russian Education. The last major administrative position held by Mehlinger was as Interim Dean of IU's School of Continuing Studies in 1996. Following his official retirement from IU, he assumed the title of Professor Emeritus of Education and served on an advisory council with other retired faculty.

Scope and Content:

Prior to transferring his papers to the Indiana University Archives, Dr. Mehlinger spent time organizing his papers. He organized the collection into seven series: Research and projects, Publications, Speeches, Professional files, Teaching, and Tenure at Indiana University, and Correspondence. Naming schemes and order reflect Mehlinger's arrangement and organization.

The Research and projects series covers the years 1965-2009 and consists of eight boxes related to various IU and personal research initiatives pursued by Mehlinger; the series is further organized into nine subseries. Russian/Soviet files spans the period from 1981-2009 and contains files on the DEEP project and information on the IU Institute for the Study of Soviet (Russian) Education. It also contains files relating to delegation of four Russians who attended American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference and the Florida global education conference in spring, 1991. The IU/Ryazan Partnership Project & US/USSR Textbook Study subseries spans the period from 1968-2006 and has been arranged chronologically and thereunder alphabetically. The Russian educators, conference, and trip reports subseries spans the period from 1966-2005 and has been arranged chronologically. This subseries contains a variety of files that refer to key Russian educators with whom Mehlinger worked and to various conferences Mehlinger attended in Russia during the 1980s and 1990s. Items of interest include files related to the Russian Ministry of Education, with which IU had a special relationship. The subseries Africa, Japan, & England spans the period from 1969-2008, and the Hungary, India, Poland, Germany covers the year 1965-2005; both arranged of these subseries are arranged chronologically. The UNESCO subseries spans the period from 1976-1984. Of particular note in this subseries are the Handbook for Teaching Social Studies and the book on moral education. The Community Alliance to Promote Education (CAPE) subseries spans the period from 2001-2008 and is arranged alphabetically. Contents include memos and reports regarding the three main projects Mehlinger worked on following his retirement. The Consulting subseries spans the period from 1970-2005 and has been arranged alphabetically by institution or individual. Some groups included this subseries are Houghton-Mifflin Publishing Company, the U.S. Army Advisory Committee on Distance Learning and Training, Phi Delta Kappa, and Social Science Education Consortium. The Commissions & Boards subseries spans the period from 1967-2005 and has been arranged alphabetically by institution or individual. Some groups included in this subseries are National Commission for the Social Studies, CNN Newsroom Advisory Board, and Indiana University Distance Education Task Force.

The Publications series constitutes three boxes and is organized into two subseries. Major publications, arranged chronologically, consists of monographs and pamphlets Mehlinger authored or co-authored. Articles & chapters spans the period from 1962-2002 and has been arranged chronologically.

The next series, Speeches and Presentations, spans the period from 1953-2009. It includes speeches beginning with his tenure Lawrence High School up through his tenure at IU.

The Professional files series consists of records related to various research and projects, individuals, and institutions. It primarily consists of documents from his tenure at IU that are not related to his tenure as dean of the School of Education or as director of the CEE. This portion of the series spans the years 1960-1992 and has been arranged chronologically. Of note are files on the Social Studies Development Center and one folder documenting his brief service as Acting Dean of the School of Continuing Studies.

The series Teaching consists of two boxes and is further organized into two subseries. Courses span the period from 1966-2001 and have been arranged alphabetically by course name/number. Courses taught at Lawrence High School have been grouped last and are preceded by the IU courses. The Workshops subseries spans the years 1979-2002 and has been arranged chronologically.

The Tenure at Indiana University series, 1966-2007, consists of general administrative files, such as faculty annual reports, tenure and promotion information, etc. The series is divided into four key sections: supervisor correspondence, which has been arranged alphabetically; professional files, which have been arranged chronologically; reports, which have been arranged chronologically; and advisory, which has been arranged chronologically.

The Correspondence and memos series spans the period from 1962 through 2007 and has been further organized into two subseries. Individuals spans the years 1962-2007 and has been arranged alphabetically. The subseries Organizational Officers spans the period from 1968-2007 and has been arranged alphabetically. This subseries primarily contains files with individuals, foundations, and organizations that Mehlinger worked with directly to fund and support his research.

Acquisition information:
Accession 2010/071.
Appraisal information:

This collection was kept in the order created by Dr. Mehlinger. However, some records related to the Mid-America Center (MAC), to his tenure as Dean of the School of Education, and to term as the Director of the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) were removed and added to different record groups.

Custodial history:

Gift of Howard Mehlinger, 2010.

Processing information:

Processed by Paul McNeil.

Completed in 2013

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into seven series, based on the original arrangement as received from Dr. Mehlinger: Research and projects, Publications, Speeches, Professional files, Teaching, Tenure at Indiana University, and Correspondence. Naming schemes and order reflect Mehlinger's arrangement and organization.

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

The donor(s) of this collection have transferred their copyrights for the materials to the Trustees of Indiana University through a Deed of Gift. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.

The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.

Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Howard D. Mehlinger papers, Collection C271, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
Herman B Wells Library E460
1320 East Tenth Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-7000, United States
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
812-855-1127
archives@iu.edu