Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Class Reports of Annual Examinations, 1901-1911: Finding Aid
Published in June 2022
Summary Information
- Publisher: United States Naval Academy. Special Collections & Archives.
- Publisher Address:
589 McNair Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5029, USA
Phone: 410-293-6922
https://www.usna.edu/Library/sca/index.php - Call number: RG 405.2.3 Entry 99
- National Archives Identifier: 3039660
- Location: Special Collections & Archives Department - Archives
- Title: Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Class Reports of Annual Examinations,
- Dates: 1901-1911
- Size: .42 linear feet
- Container Summary: 4 flat folders, 1 half-manuscript box
- Creator: United States Naval Academy. Superintendent
- Language(s) of material: English
- Abstract: This entry contains reports of annual and final examinations held at the academy for the classes of 1899 through 1909.
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 reports of annual and final examinations held at the academy for the classes of 1899 through 1909. The examination reports typically document the class number or year, and the date, department, branch and coefficient of examination, and midshipman examination marks and coefficient multiples. Some reports also contain summaries of midshipman monthly averages. The reports document examinations held in various subjects, including astronomy and navigation, seamanship, electrical engineering, mechanics, physics and chemistry, mathematics, drawing, marine engineering and naval construction, ordnance and gunnery, elastic strength and torpedoes, marine engines and boilers, physiology and hygiene, law, rhetoric, and English, Spanish and French. Reports containing grades for discipline and conduct record either monthly averages or demerits incurred.
Supplementary reports of final examinations held for midshipmen who failed to pass their regularly scheduled final examinations are also included. Occasionally, lists of midshipman summer cruise grades and medical examination board reports are interfiled throughout the annual examination reports. Correspondence pertaining to the final examination marks for the classes of 1908 and 1909 are interfiled with the reports.
Arrangement
Arranged by class and thereunder by academic department and branch, and thereunder alphabetically by midshipman 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/3039660.
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
Reports of relative academic standing, deficiency lists and merit rolls pertaining to midshipman grades, and more information pertaining to the content, form, administration, and results of these, earlier, and later examinations are found in entry 204: “Journals of the Academic Board, 1854-1985” (NAID: 3179980); and entry 205a: “Records of the Academic Board, 1868-1975.”
Volumes documenting the complete conduct and academic histories for some of the midshipmen mentioned in this entry are found in entry 86: “Academic and Conduct Records of Cadets, 1881-1908” (NAID: 3033293). Other conduct and academic records related to these midshipmen’s time at the academy are found in entry 93: “Monthly Class Reports, 1865-1904” (NAID: 3033523); entry 94: “Monthly Class Reports for the Subjects French and Spanish and for Great Gun Target Practice, 1904, 1911, 1917-1925” (NAID: 3039643); entry 96: “Monthly Reports of Relative Class Standing, Marks, and Demerits, 1855-1907” (NAID: 3039649); and entry 97: “Copies of Monthly and Term Reports of Relative Class Standing, Marks, and Demerits, 1907-1925” (NAID: 3039656).
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 3: “Press Copies of Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1865-1911” (NAID: 2980540). 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 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: Class Reports of Annual Examinations, 1901-1911, RG 405.2.3 Entry 99
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 June 2022. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in June 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 – 20th century
Genre Terms
- Reports