Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Academic and Conduct Records of Cadets, 1881-1908: Finding Aid

History of Conduct and Discipline at the Naval Academy

Article 11 of the Rules and Regulations for the Government of the U.S. Naval School at Fort Severn, approved by the Secretary of the Navy August 28, 1846, required that the superintendent maintain a conduct roll available to the Board of Examiners. The conduct roll recorded all improprieties committed by midshipmen at the school, such as “neglect of duty, insubordination, disobedience of orders, inattention to studies, tardiness at recitations, breaking liberty, incorrect deportment at recitation, indecorous conduct at the mess-table or elsewhere, and irregularity at meal hours.” The superintendent reported all serious offenses to the Secretary of the Navy for his action. Academy regulations obligated both navy officers and civilians attached to the school to report all instances of violations of academy regulations. After the adoption of the reorganization plan of 1850 and the creation of the office of commandant of midshipmen, it became the responsibility of that officer to submit a daily conduct report to the superintendent, with assignment of demerits for individual delinquencies. Delinquencies and demerits appeared on the conduct roll only after the superintendent’s approval, and regulations restricted access to the conduct roll to the commandant of midshipmen and his assistants or other persons authorized by the superintendent. Academy regulations limited the number of demerits receivable by an individual midshipman during an academic year, and the academic board dropped those incurring more than allowed from the rolls as deficient in conduct. Assigned demerits served only as a record of misconduct, whereas the superintendent reviewed more serious delinquencies and imposed on the midshipman one of various classes of punishments prescribed in the regulations. Only the Secretary of the Navy could order dismissal. Starting in the academic year 1881-1882, Superintendent Francis M. Ramsay introduced a new conduct grade system that required recording both the academic and conduct records of midshipmen in the volumes. The new system classified midshipmen into conduct grades at the start of each academic month based on the number of demerits received and the course grades earned during the previous month, and attached certain privileges to each conduct grade. Beginning in 1909 the academy adopted a card system for maintaining the academic and conduct records of midshipmen.

Description of Contents

A cadet-midshipman or engineer, naval cadet, or midshipman’s record begins at the time of admission to the academy and continues until his completion of the course or withdrawal from the academy. The academy created new records for those that were dropped from the rolls and later returned to the academy, or remained at the academy but were turned back to a lower class. Much of the information relating to conduct provided in entry 85 is duplicated in these volumes, along with weekly and monthly course grades, examination grades, and annual and semi-annual examination results. Monthly conduct grades are also included in some of the earlier volumes.

At the beginning of each record the name of the appointing official, student’s name and date of birth, place from which appointed, type of previous education (public or private), religious denomination, and name, address, and occupation of parent or guardian is entered. Records between 1881 and 1889 include cadet signatures attesting to the accuracy of this information.

In most volumes, records of cadets admitted by May are entered before the records of those admitted in September or in the months following May. There are references in some of the volumes to volume numbers, however these numbers relate only to this series and do not correspond with the numbering system used elsewhere in this inventory.

The conduct records of second- and third-class cadets for the academic year 1881-1882 are duplicated in entry 85, as are conduct records of fourth-class cadets admitted in 1879 and 1880.

Name indices are in volumes for all cadet classes except the class admitted in 1882. Separate indices are included in early volumes for cadet-midshipmen and cadet-engineers, but the practice was discontinued after adoption of the title “naval cadets” for all undergraduates at the academy in August 1882.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically by date of admission to the academy and thereunder alphabetically by initial letter of surname.

Access and Use

Access

Access is unrestricted.

Copyright and Permission

Use of materials is unrestricted.

Other Finding Aid(s)

National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3033293.

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 registers in this entry are reproduced in NARA Microfilm Publication M991:U.S. Naval Academy Registers of Delinquencies, 1846-1850, 1853-1882, and Academic and Conduct Records of Cadets, 1881-1908, 1846-1908. This microfilm publication is available for reference use upon request in the department.

Related Archival Material

Conduct records immediately preceding this entry are found in entry 85: “Register of Delinquencies, 1846-1850, 1854-1882” (NAID: 3033255). Other conduct and disciplinary records related to this entry are found in entry 87: “Monthly Reports of Demerits, 1862-1873” (NAID: 3033302); and entry 88: “Registers of Serious Delinquencies, 1865-1882” (NAID: 3033315); entry 89: “Descriptions of General Conduct and Academic Standing of Midshipmen, 1865-1868” (NAID: 3033329); and entry 90: “Register of Punishments, 1868-1879” (NAID: 3033336). Copies of letters written by the superintendent and the secretary of the navy formally warning and reprimanding midshipmen for serious delinquencies annotated in these registers are found in entry 3: “Press Copies of Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1865-1911” (NAID: 2980540); and entry 6: “Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1881-1885” (NAID: 2983384). Copies of reports and proceedings of boards of investigation convened to investigate midshipman misconduct enumerated in these registers are found in folders entitled “midshipmen” in entry 25: “Letters Received by the Superintendent, 1843-1889” (NAID: 2990043); entry 75: “Letters and Reports Received by the Superintendent Relating to Individual Midshipmen, 1846-1888” (NAID: 3027224); and entry 210: “Press Copies of Letters Sent and Reports Relating to Boards of Inquiry, 1874-1882” (NAID: 3190035) Orders, notices, and other directives pertaining to serious offenses documented in this entry are found in entry 45: “Orders of Superintendent Cornelius K. Stribling, 1850-1852” (NAID: 2990281); entry 46: “Orders of the Superintendent, 1851-1865” (NAID: 2990283); entry 47: “Orders for the Suspension of Acting Midshipmen, 1856-1862” (NAID: 2990285); entry 48: “Press Copies of Orders Issued by the Superintendent, 1865-1874, 1886-1888” (NAID: 2990289); and entry 49: “Orders of the Superintendent, 1874-1886” (NAID: 2990325).

Other transcripts and proceedings of boards convened to investigate midshipmen conduct, along with reports and correspondence of the superintendent, the secretary of the navy, and midshipmen and their parents pertaining to misconduct and resultant dismissals and reappointments are located at the National Archives’ RG 45 series: “Letters Received from the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, 1847-1884” (NAID: 1801239); and the Record Group 24 series: “Records Concerning Naval Cadets, 1862-1910” (NAID: 2524308).

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: Academic and Conduct Records of Cadets, 1881-1908, RG 405.2.3 Entry 86

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Selected Bibliography

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

Sweetman, Jack. The U.S. Naval Academy: An Illustrated History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Samuel Limneos in March 2022. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in March 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

• Midshipmen -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States
• Midshipmen -- United States
• Naval education -- United States
• United States Naval Academy - Students
• United States Naval Academy -- Students – Discipline
• • United States Naval Academy -- History – 19th century
• • United States Naval Academy -- History – 20th century

Genre Terms

• Registers (lists)