Theodore Sanders Stern Scrapbooks, 1927-1977

Mailing Address:
Special Collections
College of Charleston Library
66 George Street
Charleston, SC 29424

Phone:
(843) 953-8016

Title: Theodore Sanders Stern Scrapbooks

Collection #: 0082

Dates: 1927-1977

Size: 8 vols.

Biographical Note: President of the College of Charleston, 1968-1978; retired Navy Captain and former commanding officer of the Naval Supply Center, Charleston (S.C.); alumnus of Johns Hopkins University; civic leader.

Scope and Content Note: Collection contains 8 scrapbooks from different time periods in Stern's life:

(1) 1927-1934: While at Columbia Grammar School in New York City.

(2) 1950-1953: Officer in Charge of the Norfolk Fuel Supply Depot (1950-1952) and while serving at Pearl Harbor (1953).

(3) 1959-1962: Presentation album entitled "Captain Theodore S. Stern, ESO, 1959-1962" documenting his work as Operations Officer of the Electronics Supply Office, Great Lakes.

(4) 1965-1967: Commander of the Naval Supply Center, Charleston.

(5) 1968: Presentation album entitled, "NSC, Charleston Highlights" prepared when Stern ended his last tour of duty and retired from the Navy.

(6) 1968-1969: First two years as President of the College of Charleston.

(7) 1970-1977: College of Charleston as a State institution and Stern's part in creating Spoleto Festival, USA.

(8) 1975: Presentation album entitled "Dedication of the Theodore Sanders Stern Student Center, March 22, 1975."

Subject Headings:

Stern, Theodore Sanders.
College of Charleston -- Presidents.
College of Charleston. Theodore Sanders Stern Student Center.
Columbia Grammar School (New York, N.Y.)
Johns Hopkins University -- Miscellanea.
United States. Navy -- Miscellanea.

Inventory:

Vol. 1: 1927-1934--While at Columbia Grammar School in New York City, Stern was the "Star Performer" of its swimming team; a Feb. 1928 clipping is entitled "Stern Continues to Smash Records." In 1930 he won the Research Prize in the National Oratorical Contest sponsored by the New York Times for his study of the US Constitution. In 1932, he was a member of the US Olympic Swimming Team , and from 1932-1934, he was South Atlantic AAU breaststroke champion. At Johns Hopkins from 1933-1934 he was President of the Student Activities Council, editor of the 1932 Hullabaloo (annual), and recipient of the Alexander K. Barton Cup, "the highest honor the university confers upon an undergraduate."

Vol. 2: 1950-1953--Officer in Charge of the Norfolk Fuel Supply Depot from 1950-1952 ("the largest government fuel facility in the world" with over 400 employees); beginning in 1952, he served at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Vol. 3: 1959-1962--Presentation album entitled "Captain Theodore S. Stern, ESO, 1959-1962" documenting his work as Operations Officer of the Electronics Supply Office, Great Lakes. The album contains clippings and testimonial letters including a teletype message from Paul F. Foster, Vice Admiral USN Ret., praising Stern particularly for his work as Officer in Charge of the creation of a Naval Advanced Base at Salinas, Ecuador, to serve the Pacific Fleet during World War II (work which Foster investigated when Stern was charged with having exceeded his authority by diverting efforts to aid victims of a major earthquake, and Stern was promoted rather than court marshaled).

Vol. 4: 1965-1967--Commander of the Naval Supply Center, Charleston, the "largest base of the world's most powerful fleet," supplying American and British Polaris submarines and other Naval vessels.

Vol. 5--1968--Presentation album entitled "NSC, Charleston Highlights" prepared when Stern ended his last tour of duty and retired from the Navy. The collection also includes a scroll signed by most, if not all, of the Supply Center's more than 800 employees.

Vol. 6--1968-1969--This scrapbook begins with Stern's retirement from the Navy on 30 Aug. 1968, and on the same day the Board of the College of Charleston elected him President. The College at the time was a private institution with 485 students, and Stern spent much of the first two years seeking city, county, state, and federal funding. He succeeded in securing funds from the Federal Government for student loans, grants, and work study and for the construction of a new library and science building.

Vol. 7--1970-1977--The College became a State supported institution on 1 Jul. 1970, and by 1977 state funding enabled it to expand its enrollment to ten times what it had been in 1968. Other major buildings were added, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation presented a special award for the way in which historic buildings were made part of the campus. In 1976 Stern became Chairman of the Coordinating Committee to create the Spoleto Festival USA, and he helped to make the festival possible by providing accommodations and other college services. He was also active as a district leader in the Boy Scouts of America and as the head of numerous civic organizations. (His role in these organizations is more fully documented in his collection of personal papers in the College Archives).

Vol. 8--1975-- Presentation album entitled "Dedication of the Theodore Sanders Stern Student Center, March 22, 1975" with photographs of the ceremony, the printed program, a resolution by the Alumni Association, and clippings).