Office of the Superintendent/Correspondence: Press Copies of Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1865-1911: Finding Aid

History of the Office of the Superintendent

The plan of the Naval School at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Maryland, approved by the Navy Department August 28, 1846, provided that a Superintendent of the school be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy from a list of officers of a rank not higher than commander. The Superintendent was to have responsibility for the general management of the institution, including overseeing the course of study, professors, and other personnel connected with the Academy. He could appoint and remove all persons employed at the Academy except those for whose appointment or discharge special provision was made by the laws or regulations of the Navy or the Academy. He had general charge of the buildings, grounds, and ships belonging to the Academy. The Superintendent also formulated the code of rules and regulations for the internal government of the school to be submitted to the Secretary of the Navy for approval. After 1867, officers were assigned by the Navy Department to the Academy to serve as assistants or aides to the Superintendent.

The Office of the Superintendent as described in the 1846 plan remained relatively unchanged throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Officers of ranks higher than commander, however, have served in the position. This entry contains letters sent by Superintendents Rear Admiral David D. Porter (1865-1869), Commodore John L. Worden (1869-1874), Rear Admiral Christopher R. P. Rodgers (1874-1878), Commodore Foxhall A. Parker (1878-1879), Rear Admiral George B. Balch (1879-1881), Rear Admiral Christopher R. P. Rodgers (1881), Captain Francis M. Ramsay (1881-1886), Commander William T. Sampson (1886-1890), Captain Robert L. Phythian (1890-1894), Captain Phillip H. Cooper (1894-1898), Rear Admiral Frederick V. McNair (1898-1900), Commander Richard Wainwright (1900-1902), Captain Willard H. Brownson (1902-1905), Rear Admiral James H. Sands (1905-1907), Captain Charles J. Badger (1907-1909), John M. Bowyer (1909-1911), and John H. Gibbons (1911-1914).

The period covered by this series begins with Superintendent David D. Porter's administration, which set the Academy on its postwar course. Porter took an interest in everything, from curriculum design to the optimum temperature aboard ships. Subsequent superintendents did not always share Porter's concern for detail, although their correspondence reflects the continuing development of the institution. Between 1866 and 1902 the site grew from about 16 acres to over 125 acres. The expansion not only renewed and expanded the physical plant but more than tripled the size of the classes graduating after 1904.

In 1862 the Academy was placed under the Bureau of Navigation, but in 1867 the Secretary of the Navy assumed direct control of the school, leaving the Bureau of Navigation with a lesser role, as supervisor of its administrative and financial affairs. This role was eliminated in 1869 but was restored in 1889.

Description of Contents

This series contains press copies of letters sent by the Superintendent to various correspondents including the Secretary of the Navy; the Assistant Secretary of the Navy; the Bureau of Navigation and other bureaus of the Navy Department; Members of Congress; Academy personnel; naval officers not at the Academy; Federal, State, and local officials, private citizens, and a few foreigners. Press copies of reports, telegrams, orders, notices, and radio messages and hand-copied telegrams or notes appear with the letters. Most of the letters and other communications are signed by the Superintendent; some are signed by his assistant or aide, by the Secretary of the Academy, by the Commandant of Midshipmen, or by the "senior officer present."

Throughout the series are letters bearing on the disciplinary, medical, and material problems of the Academy, and occasionally there is correspondence dealing with the religious, racial, and ethnic composition of the body of midshipmen. There is a wealth of information on individuals, pay and working conditions, curriculum, summer practice cruises, arrangements with contractors supplying the institution, and relations with the city of Annapolis. There are many lists of midshipmen and of candidates for admission, and a list of student deaths at the Academy from 1845 to 1894 that was inserted in volume 40. Other letters of interest contain the Superintendent's comments on the past and future of the school, his replies to petitions from midshipmen, letters relating to publicity received by the school in the press or by word of mouth, and correspondence relating to prisoners of war held at the Academy during the Spanish-American war.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically. There is only slight overlapping of dates between most volumes of the series, and very little duplication of letters. Within volumes, the letters are generally in chronological order, but letters occasionally may be a few days or even a month or more out of order. Such letters are generally found at the end of a volume. Name indexes are in volumes 31-35, 38-44, 71-76, 78, 80, 82, and 95. Name and subject indexes are in volumes 31, 36, 37, 81, 102, 103, 105-122, 129, 133, 139, 178-191, 191A, and 199-224.

Access and Use

Access

Access is unrestricted.

Copyright and Permission

Generally, materials produced by Federal agencies are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Any non-government publications held herein may still be subject to copyright. For further information, consult the Head, Special Collections & Archives.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Volumes 192 - 224 (August 29, 1907 - December 30, 1911) contain many illegible copies.

Other Finding Aid(s)

National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2980540.

Volumes 102, 103, 105-122, 129, 133, 139, 179, and 180 are registered in entry 2: "Registers to Parts of Press Copies of Letters Sent and Letters Received by the Superintendent, 1888-1906" (NAID: 2965666).

Acquisition and Appraisal

Custodial History

RG 405 Records of the United States Naval Academy is the property of the National Archives and Records Administration. The materials are housed at the United States Naval Academy, William W. Jeffries Memorial Archives, an affiliated archive, as per a Memorandum of Agreement between the National Archives and Records Administration and the United States Naval Academy.

Related Materials

Location of Copies or Alternate Formats

The letters sent contained in Volumes 31-44, 71-76, 78, 80-82, 95, 102-103, 105-122, 129, 133, 139, and 178-191A (October 3, 1865 - August 28, 1907 have been reproduced as NARA Microfilm Publication M994 Letters Sent by the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy (Main Series) 1865-1907. Letters sent contained in volumes 192-224 (August 29, 1907 - December 30, 1911) have not been microfilmed.

Related Archival Material

Volumes 102, 103, 105-122, 129, 133, 139, 179, and 180 are registered in entry 2: "Registers to Parts of Press Copies of Letters Sent and Letters Received by the Superintendent, 1888-1906" (NAID: 2965666). For letters sent to the Secretary of the Navy for the period October 1865 to December 1888, see entry 9: "Press Copies of Letters Sent to the Secretary of the Navy 1865-1888" (NAID: 2989934); For letters sent to various bureaus of the Navy Department for other years see entry 12: "Press Copies of Letters Sent to Bureaus of the Navy Department 1865-1908" (NAID: 2989989), and entry 13: "Letters Sent to Bureaus of the Navy Department 1874-1885" (NAID: 2989993). For letters sent to Academy officers, instructors, and cadets see entry 22: "Press Copies of Letters and Memorandums Sent to Academy Officers, Instructors, and Cadets 1883-1908" (NAID: 2990014).

Materials Cataloged Separately

No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.

Processing and Other Information

Preferred Citation

Office of the Superintendent/Correspondence: Press Copies of Letters Sent, RG 405.2.1 Entry 3

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Selected Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during preparation of the historical note:

Perry, Allen. NARA Microfilm Publication M994:Letters Sent by the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy (Main Series) 1865-1907.

Processing Information

This collection was inventoried by Samuel Limneos in March 2019. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in March 2019. Historical Sketch and Scope and Content Note adapted in part from Inventory of Records Group 405 by Geraldine N. Phillips and Aloha South, 1975.

Subject Headings

Name and Subject Terms

• Badger, Charles Johnston, 1853-1932
• Balch, George Beall, 1821-1908
• Bowyer, John Marshall
• Brownson, Willard H. (Willard Herbert), 1845-1935
• Cooper, Philip Henry, 1844-1912
• Gibbons, John Henry
• McNair, Frederick Vallette, 1839-1900
• Naval education -- United States
• Parker, Foxhall A. (Foxhall Alexander), 1821-1879
• Phythian, Robert Lees, 1835-1917
• Porter, David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891
• Ramsay, Francis Munroe, 1835-1914
• Rodgers, C. R. P. (Christopher Raymond Perry), 1819-1892
• Sampson, William Thomas, 1840-1902
• Sands, James Hoban, 1845-1911
• Spanish-American War, 1898 -- Prisoners and prisons
• United States Naval Academy
• United States Naval Academy -- History -- 19th century
• United States Naval Academy -- History -- 20th century
• United States Naval Academy -- Students
• United States Naval Academy. Superintendent
• United States. Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy
• United States. Office of the Secretary of the Navy
• Wainwright, Richard, 1849-1926

Genre Terms

• Correspondence