Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Reports of Candidates for Admission Found Physically Disqualified, 1899-1910: 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.

Description of Contents

This series contains reports and lists of candidates for admission found physically disqualified. The reports typically contain permits issued to prospective candidates indicating date and time of scheduled medical examinations; medical examiner board proceedings; correspondence from nominating officials; candidate attestations to physical fitness qualification; official declarations from Naval Academy medical boards rejecting candidates; and Bureau of Navigation memoranda indicating reasons for disqualification. Occasionally, letters from other correspondents, including candidate parents or guardians, are enclosed in the reports.

At the end of the series are September 1899 admission period candidate examination reports for candidates that both passed and failed, that list the applicant's name, age, state and congressional district of appointment, first and second examination grades in reading, writing, spelling, punctuation and capitals, grammar, geography, United States history, world history, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, deficient or "referred" branches, and final results. Also included are: examination permits for candidates that failed the September 1899 examination; April 1903 physical reports for candidates from the USS Princeton and the USS Marietta; a list of passed midshipmen of the Class of 1903, and the proceedings of a board administering their final examination at naval station Cavite, Philippine Islands on March 1, 1905; and a list of passed midshipmen attached to the USS Florida taking their final examination at Guantanamo Bay on March 7, 1905. Copies of final examinations are interfiled throughout the reports. Also included are lists, proceedings, and correspondence pertaining to physical examination of candidates for admission nominated from Hawaii in 1905. Lists, reports, and proceedings of boards convened to examine midshipmen already enrolled at the academy for advancement to higher classes between 1906 and 1910 are also included.

Arrangement

Arranged in two sequences: the first, from 1903 to 1909, in general alphabetical order by initial letter of surname; and the second from 1899 to 1910, chronologically by admission and examination year.

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.

Other Finding Aid(s)

National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3027221.

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

Related Archival Material

Register books maintained by the Department of Ethics and English Studies examination committee containing written, oral, and full board admission candidate examination grades are found in entry 67: "Record of Examination of Candidates for Cadet Midshipmen, 1867-1873" (NAID: 3021181); entry 68: "Marks for the First Oral Examination of Candidates for Cadet Midshipmen, 1867-1870" (NAID: 3021185); and entry 69: "Record of Examination of Candidates for Cadet Engineers, 1871-1873" (NAID: 3021191). Other record books containing grades received on oral, written and full board examinations in subjects enumerated in these volumes as "arithmetic," by candidates for admission are found in Subseries 1d: Mathematics Entrance Examination Grade Books, 1867-1903 in entry 201f: "Records of the Division of Mathematics and Science, 1862-1995." Other candidate examination grades and remarks are found in entry 70: "Register of Grades Received on Examinations for Admission by Applicants for Cadet Appointments, 1873-1886" (NAID: 3021194); entry 71: "Register of Grades Received by Candidates for Appointment at Entrance Examinations, 1874-1890" (NAID: 3023070); entry 72: "Register of Candidates Who Failed to Pass the Required Examination for Admission to the Academy, 1875-1881" (NAID: 3025145); and entry 73: "List of Applicants for Appointment as Naval Cadets at Large, 1898" (NAID: 3026129). Registers containing more information on candidates listed in this entry, as well as earlier and later engineer candidates are found in entry 62: "Registers of Candidates for Admission to the Academy, 1849-1871; 1876-1930" (NAID: 3000050); entry 63: "Register of Candidates for Admission to the Academy as Midshipmen, Acting Third Assistant Engineers, and Cadet Engineers, 1861-1867; 1871; 1875" (NAID: 3020758); and entry 64: "Register of Candidates for Admission to the Academy as Acting Third Assistant and Cadet Engineers, 1867-1875" (NAID: 3020766).

Materials Cataloged Separately

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

Processing and Other Information

Preferred Citation

Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Reports of Candidates for Admission Found Physically Disqualified, RG 405.2.3 Entry 74

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Processing Information

Collection inventory prepared by Alice Gilliland in 2013. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in January 2022. 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

• Naval education -- United States
• United States Naval Academy -- Admission
• United States Naval Academy -- Students

Genre Terms

• Correspondence
• Permits
• Proceedings (reports)
• Registers (lists)
• Reports