.
By Charles Hay and Joyce Libbey
Collection Overview
Scope and Contents of the Materials
A large majority of the 395 boxes comprising the papers of Robert R. Martin is devoted to official matters concerning his sixteen year tenure (1960-1976) as sixth president of Eastern Kentucky State College (until 1966) and Eastern Kentucky University. The official papers are divided into four series: Association, Board of Regents, Faculty and Staff, and Subject. The Association Series relates to various national and state organizations in which the University held membership, while the Board of Regents Series is concerned with official and working papers of the University's governing board. The Faculty and Staff Series, due to the provisions of both federal state laws relating to privacy, remains closed to researchers. The Subject Series divides into a general Subject sub-series and five additional sub-series--Academic, Administrative, Business, Public and Student Affairs--which correspond basically to the University's administrative structure. A Pre-Presidential Series covers the years between Martin's graduation from Eastern and his assumption of her presidency and includes personal, political and educational materials. Three other series, the General, Personal and Speeches Series, are a bridge between official and personal papers. Each contains some pre-presidential materials as well as personal and official correspondence. Four miscellaneous series conclude the Martin papers. These include a Memorabilia Series of awards and certificates received by Martin, a Film Series featuring his presidential inauguration, an Oral History Series comprised sixty interviews about Martin and five with the former president and a Photography Series primarily related to the presidential period.
Collection Historical Note
The first alumnus to serve as President of Eastern Kentucky University, Robert Richard Martin presided over a period of unprecedented growth for is Alma Mater. In Martin's sixteen year tenure, the University grew from an institution devoted mainly to teacher training to a multi-purpose educational complex serving over four times the number of students who had been enrolled when Martin was inaugurated. Born on December 26, 1910, near McKinney in Lincoln County, Martin was one of eight children in the family of Frank and Annie Peek Martin. He matriculated to Eastern in 1930, paying his way through the then-Teachers College by raising tobacco crops and working in a dormitory. A history and geography major, Martin received his first taste of an Eastern presidency when his fellow seniors chose him to head the Class of 1934. A teaching position in history took him to Sardis High School in Mason County following his graduation. In subsequent years he served as principal of Sardis Elementary School and the Mason County schools of Orangeburg High and Woodleigh Junior High. Martin used his summers to attend the University of Kentucky, where he earned the M.A. degree just prior to the outbreak of World War II. Forty-one months of service as a weather observer-forcaster for the U.S. Army preceded Martin's work as an auditor of the State Department of Education. In 1948 he became head of the Bureau of Administration and Finance. While associated with the Bureau, Martin took a year's leave of absence to earn a doctorate in education at Columbia University's Teachers College (1951), where he did extensive research in the area of school finance. Upon his return to Kentucky, Dr. Martin devoted much of his energy toward working with the committee which drafted the Foundation Program for Education law enacted by the 1954 General Assembly. Election as State Superintendent of Public Instruction followed in 1955 and then an appointment as Commissioner of Finance in December, 1959, by Governor Bert T. Combs, whose gubernatorial campaign he had directed. Following the mandatory retirement of Dr. William F. O'Donnell, Martin became Eastern's sixth President on July 1, 1960. Under Martin's leadership Eastern achieved university status on July 1, 1966. Dr. Martin did not limit his service to education at Eastern. In 1971 he assumed the presidency of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, an organization he also served as member of the board of directors and chairman of the committee on federal programs. Foreign travel also loomed large on the Martin agenda with visits to Yugoslavia, the People's Republic of China and England and Northern Europe for the purpose of analysis of educational systems in those areas. Nor has Martin limited his interests to education. The undergraduate history major has maintained that interest through membership in the Filson Club, the Lexington Civil War Roundtable, the Kentucky Historical Society and the Fort Boonesborough State Park Association. Civic organization membership includes Masons, Shriners and Rotary Clubs. The termination of Martin's tenure as President of the University in 1976 marked a short hiatus in public service. In 1977 the president emeritus won election to represent the Madison-Garrard-Mercer district in the state Senate. In addition, Dr. Martin and his wife, the former Anne Hoge of Frankfort, continue their civic involvement in the Richmond area, their leadership role in the First Presbyterian Church and their close connection with Eastern Kentucky University.
Subject/Index Terms
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Association],
[Series 2: Board of Regents],
[
Series 3: Faculty and Staff],
[
Series 4: General],
[
Series 5: Personal],
[
Series 6: Pre-Presidential Series],
[
Series 7: Speech],
[
Series 8: Subject],
[
All]
- Series 2: Board of Regents
- The Board of Regents Series is composed of nineteen boxes (boxes 74 1992) of working papers, presidential reports and official minutes relating to the actions of the governing board of the University in the years 1960 to 1976. The minutes of the board and the president's reports have been interfiled. All the material is arranged chronologically.
- Box 74: Box 74
- Barcode: 31234013799075
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jul 1960
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1960
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, 3 Sep 1960
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, 27 Sep 1960
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Nov 1960
- Box 75
- Barcode: 31234013799083
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1961
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1961
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1961
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1961
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1961
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1961
- Box 76
- Barcode: 31234013799117
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1961
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1961
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1961
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1962
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1962
- Box 77
- Barcode: 31234013799109
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1962
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1962
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1962
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1962
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Nov 1962
- Box 78
- Barcode: 31234013799091
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1963
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1963
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Feb 1963
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Feb 1963
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1963
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1963
- Box 79
- Barcode: 31234013799174
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1963
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1963
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1963
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1963
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Sep 1963
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Dec 1963
- Folder 7: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Dec 1963
- Box 80
- Barcode: 31234013799182
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1964
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1964
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1964
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1964
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1964
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1964
- Folder 7: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1964
- Box 81
- Barcode: 31234013799190
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1965
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1965
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1965
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1965
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1965
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1965
- Folder 7: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Dec 1965
- Box 82
- Barcode: 31234013799208
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1966
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1965
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1966
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1966
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1966
- Box 83
- Barcode: 31234013799224
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1966
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Dec 1966
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Dec 1966
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1967
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1967
- Box 84
- Barcode: 31234013799216
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1967
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1967
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1967
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1967
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Nov 1967
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1968
- Folder 7: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1968
- Folder 8: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1968
- Box 85
- Barcode: 31234013799257
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1968
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Sep 1968
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Nov 1968
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1969
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1969
- Box 86
- Barcode: 31234013799265
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1969
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1969
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jul 1969
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1969
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Nov 1969
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1970
- Box 87
- Barcode: 31234013799232
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Feb 1970
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1970
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1970
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1970
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Sep 1970
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1970
- Folder 7: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1971
- Folder 8: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1971
- Box 88
- Barcode: 31234013799240
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1971
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1971
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1971
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1972
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Feb 1972
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1972
- Box 89
- Barcode: 31234013799364
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1972
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1972
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1972
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1972
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1973
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Feb 1973
- Box 90
- Barcode: 31234013799349
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1973
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, May 1973
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1973
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1973
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1974
- Box 91
- Barcode: 31234013799307
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1974
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1974
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1974
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Oct 1974
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1975
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Mar 1975
- Box 92
- Barcode: 31234013799299
- Folder 1: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1975
- Folder 2: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1976
- Folder 3: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jan 1976
- Folder 4: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Apr 1976
- Folder 5: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Jun 1976
- Folder 6: Minutes, Presidential Reports, Aug 1976
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Association],
[Series 2: Board of Regents],
[
Series 3: Faculty and Staff],
[
Series 4: General],
[
Series 5: Personal],
[
Series 6: Pre-Presidential Series],
[
Series 7: Speech],
[
Series 8: Subject],
[
All]
