Theodore Lee Agnew, Jr. Papers
Collection
Identifier: 2007-070
Scope and Contents
Collection contains material from Dr. Agnew's childhood school and art projects, his teaching career at Oklahoma State University, and his retirement. Personal correspondence among the Agnew family, relatives, and friends is extensive. Agnew’s papers document his involvement in his Naval career, research, teaching, professional organizations, student organizations, and community. The papers received only minimal processing so only major subjects for each box is listed.
Dates
- 1930 - 2007
Creator
- Agnew, Theodore L., 1916-2007. (Person)
Conditions Governing Acess
The collection is open for research use. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the Oklahoma Open Records Act (http://www.odl.state.ok.us/lawinfo/docs/2006-LibraryLaws-PartE.pdf), and other relevant regulations. Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Oklahoma State University Libraries assumes no responsibility.
Conditions Governing Use
The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, Oklahoma State University Archives will provide information about copyright owners and related information. Securing permission to publish or use material is the responsibility of the researcher. Note that unless specifically transferred to Oklahoma State University Libraries, any applicable copyrights may be held by another individual or entity. Copyright for material published by Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College/Oklahoma State University is held by the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges. All rights reserved.
Further information about copyright policy can be obtained by contacting Oklahoma State University Archives by email at libscua@okstate.edu or by phone at 405-744-6311.
Finding aid © 2020 Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges. All rights reserved.
Biographical Sketch
Theodore Lee Agnew, Jr. was born December 21, 1916 in Ogden, Illinois to Dr. T. Lee Agnew and Agnes Faris Agnew; he was the eldest of six children. He attended Ogden’s public schools and later studied history at the University of Illinois, receiving his B.A. in 1937 and M.A. in 1938. Further study at Harvard University was interrupted by service in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1946; eventually, he completed his Ph.D. in 1954.
Ted was married December 25, 1942, to fellow graduate student Jeanne LeCaine of Port Arthur, Ontario. Together they had five children. In 1947, he accepted an assistant professorship at Oklahoma A&M College (later Oklahoma State University) and was promoted in 1960 to the rank of professor. Jeanne had meanwhile received equivalent faculty appointments in mathematics. They retired in 1984, credited with sixty-two years of faculty service at OSU.
Dr. Agnew was active in professional organizations and was a fifty-year member of the American Association of University Professors, American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, and Southern Historical Association. He also held committee posts with several of these organizations. Twice he was a member of OSU’s Faculty Council, serving as faculty chair in 1963-1964. Ted remained active in the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of commander in 1973. He held a Ford Foundation grant in 1952-1953 and was twice a visiting professor at Emory University.
He wrote several small historical studies, including a chapter on Stillwater’s churches in OSU Centennial History volume, biographical sketches of Peter Cartwright and others, and a brief history of the Methodist Church’s Central Jurisdiction (1939-1968). He left a nearly complete history of Episcopal elections in the United Methodist South Central Jurisdiction (1968-2004).
Dr. Agnew was fortunate in being able to combine lay work in United Methodism with his academic interests. Twice he taught Methodist history at Phillips Graduate Seminary. Active in First United Methodist Church, he served also on agencies of the Oklahoma Annual Conference and of the general United Methodist Church. In addition to being elected six times as a lay delegate to the United Methodist Church General Conference, he served at seven jurisdictional conferences, and, as he stated, “helped elect 26 of 35 bishops chosen between 1968 and 2004.”
His interest in the ecumenical movement made him an accredited visitor to the World Council of Churches Assembly at Vancouver in 1983, a member of the United Methodist Church General Commission on Christian Unity, and a board member of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches. With Jeanne, he attended World Methodist Conferences 1976-1996, including meetings on every continent. In his later years, Ted continued as a member of several groups, including Roundtable Sunday School class, American Legion, AARP, Payne County Retired Educators, League of Women Voters, and OSU Emeriti. Dr. Agnew died on April 15, 2007 in Tucson, Arizona at the age of ninety. --written by the Agnew Family for the Organization of American Historians Newsletter (August 2007)
Ted was married December 25, 1942, to fellow graduate student Jeanne LeCaine of Port Arthur, Ontario. Together they had five children. In 1947, he accepted an assistant professorship at Oklahoma A&M College (later Oklahoma State University) and was promoted in 1960 to the rank of professor. Jeanne had meanwhile received equivalent faculty appointments in mathematics. They retired in 1984, credited with sixty-two years of faculty service at OSU.
Dr. Agnew was active in professional organizations and was a fifty-year member of the American Association of University Professors, American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, and Southern Historical Association. He also held committee posts with several of these organizations. Twice he was a member of OSU’s Faculty Council, serving as faculty chair in 1963-1964. Ted remained active in the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of commander in 1973. He held a Ford Foundation grant in 1952-1953 and was twice a visiting professor at Emory University.
He wrote several small historical studies, including a chapter on Stillwater’s churches in OSU Centennial History volume, biographical sketches of Peter Cartwright and others, and a brief history of the Methodist Church’s Central Jurisdiction (1939-1968). He left a nearly complete history of Episcopal elections in the United Methodist South Central Jurisdiction (1968-2004).
Dr. Agnew was fortunate in being able to combine lay work in United Methodism with his academic interests. Twice he taught Methodist history at Phillips Graduate Seminary. Active in First United Methodist Church, he served also on agencies of the Oklahoma Annual Conference and of the general United Methodist Church. In addition to being elected six times as a lay delegate to the United Methodist Church General Conference, he served at seven jurisdictional conferences, and, as he stated, “helped elect 26 of 35 bishops chosen between 1968 and 2004.”
His interest in the ecumenical movement made him an accredited visitor to the World Council of Churches Assembly at Vancouver in 1983, a member of the United Methodist Church General Commission on Christian Unity, and a board member of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches. With Jeanne, he attended World Methodist Conferences 1976-1996, including meetings on every continent. In his later years, Ted continued as a member of several groups, including Roundtable Sunday School class, American Legion, AARP, Payne County Retired Educators, League of Women Voters, and OSU Emeriti. Dr. Agnew died on April 15, 2007 in Tucson, Arizona at the age of ninety. --written by the Agnew Family for the Organization of American Historians Newsletter (August 2007)
Extent
96 Linear feet (67 record storage boxes, 6 flat boxes, 7 shoe/card boxes 5 document boxes, 1 oversize photograph, book boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Arranged into five series.
Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog or contact the Oklahoma State University Archives Reference staff.
Provenance
Gift of the Theodore Lee Agnew, Jr. family.
Processing Infomation
Processed by Ashlie Hight, May 2010 – August 2010; Kay Bost 2010-May 2012.
Creator
- Agnew, Theodore L., 1916-2007. (Person)
- Title
- Theodore Lee Agnew, Jr. Papers Collection Number 2007-070
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Ashlie Hight, May 2010 – August 2010, and Kay Bost, 2010-May 2012
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Oklahoma State University Archives Repository
Contact:
204 Edmon Low Library
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater 74078-1071 USA
libscua@okstate.edu
204 Edmon Low Library
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater 74078-1071 USA
libscua@okstate.edu