Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Monthly Reports of Demerits, 1862-1873: 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 entry contains registers documenting the total number of demerits midshipmen received for the month, admonitions and punishments levied, and suspensions, resignations, and dismissals.

Academy regulations required the superintendent to submit a consolidated report of all demerits assigned on the conduct rolls to the Navy Department each month. The pages have been divided into columns that record the total number of demerits received during the academic month and year, the total number removed and remaining each month, and remarks relating to admonitions given by the superintendent, suspensions or other punishments levied, and midshipman resignations and dismissals.

In volumes 404-407 (1862-1866), fourth class midshipmen are identified by the letters “C” and “S” appearing after the name. “C” represents the schoolship USS Constitution, and “S” the USS Santee. The combination of one of these letters and the word “shore” indicates the academy quartered the midshipman both on the schoolship and on shore during the academic year. In volumes 408-414 (1866-1873) class rank is simply entered after the name of each midshipman.

Beginning during academic year 1871-1872, the registers include reports of cadet-engineers after those of cadet-midshipmen. Volume 414 contains entries only from October to January for the academic year 1872-1873. Volume 409 (1867-1868) contains several unbound and undated sheets of paper on which are copied the names and descriptions of offenses committed by several first-class midshipmen assigned large numbers of demerits. A partial index is in volume 407 (1865-1866) for names not entered alphabetically into the registers.

Arrangement

Arranged by academic year, and thereunder alphabetically by surname, and thereunder chronologically by each month.

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/3033302.

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

Registers documenting the complete conduct and academic histories of midshipmen mentioned in 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 88: “Registers of Serious Delinquencies, 1865-1882” (NAID: 3033315); entry 89: “Descriptions of General Conduct and Academic Standing of Midshipmen, 1865-1868” (NAID: 3033329); entry 90: “Register of Punishments, 1868-1879” (NAID: 3033336); and entry 96: “Monthly Reports of Relative Class Standing, Marks, and Demerits, 1855-1907” (NAID: 3039649). 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 4: “Letters Sent by Superintendent George S. Blake, 1857-1865” (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); and entry 75: “Letters and Reports Received by the Superintendent Relating to Individual Midshipmen, 1846-1888” (NAID: 3027224). Orders, notices, and other directives pertaining to serious offenses documented in this entry are found in entry 46: “Orders of the Superintendent, 1851-1865” (NAID: 2990283); entry 47: “Orders for the Suspension of Acting Midshipmen, 1856-1862” (NAID: 2990285); and entry 48: “Press Copies of Orders Issued by the Superintendent, 1865-1874, 1886-1888” (NAID: 2990289).

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’ Record Group 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: Monthly Reports of Demerits, 1862-1873, RG 405.2.3 Entry 87

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 -- History – 19th century
• United States Naval Academy -- History – 20th century
• United States Naval Academy -- Students – Discipline

Genre Terms

• Registers (lists)