Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Weekly Reports of Class Grades of Midshipmen Aboard the Schoolships: Constitution and Santee, 1864-1866: 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 weekly reports of class grades of midshipmen aboard the schoolships Constitution and Santee. The reports include weekly grades, examination scores, and monthly averages for fourth-class midshipmen attending classes in mathematics, grammar, history, geography, French, ethics, seamanship, and gunnery and steam held aboard the schoolships from October to May.

The top of each register page records the midshipman name, place and date of appointment, and age at time of appointment.

Volumes 646, 648, and 649 record the weekly number of demerits received by each midshipman. Pages in volumes 647 and 648 provide space for recording at the end of the month the numerical class standing of the midshipmen in each subject studied.

Weekly reports for midshipmen on the Constitution, 1864-1865 and 1865-1866, are in volumes 649 and 648, respectively, and those for midshipmen on the Santee for the same periods are in volumes 646 and 647. No entries were made in volume 647 for October 1865 and January 1866, and no entries were made in volume 648 after January 1866

Arrangement

Arranged by ship name, thereunder chronologically by academic year, and thereunder alphabetically by initial letter of surname. There are name indices in volumes 646, 647, and 649.

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/3033397.

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 for some of the midshipmen mentioned in this entry are found in entry 85: “Register of Delinquencies, 1846-1850, 1854-1882” (NAID: 3033255). Other conduct and academic records related to this entry are found in 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 academic deficiencies are found in entry 1: “Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1845-1865” (NAID: 2953622), and entry 4: “Letters Sent by Superintendent George S. Blake, 1857-1865” (NAID: 2983376).

Orders, notices, and other directives pertaining to academic deficiencies documented in this entry are found in entry 46: “Orders of the Superintendent, 1851-1865” (NAID: 2990283); and entry 47: “Orders for the Suspension of Acting Midshipmen, 1856-1862” (NAID: 2990285).

Reports of relative academic standing, deficiency lists and merit rolls pertaining to midshipman grades are found in entry 204: “Journals of the Academic Board, 1854-1942” (NAID: 3179980). Other reports and correspondence of the superintendent, the secretary of the navy, and midshipmen and their parents pertaining to academic deficiencies 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).

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: Weekly Reports of Class Grades of Midshipmen Aboard the Schoolships: Constitution and Santee, 1864-1866, RG 405.2.3 Entry 92

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 May 2022. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in May 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 -- United States
• Naval education -- United States
• United States Naval Academy - Students
• • United States Naval Academy -- History – 19th century

Genre Terms

• Registers (lists)