Bernard Sternsher papers

 Collection – Multiple Containers
Identifier: MS-0718

Collection Overview

Abstract

The Bernard Sternsher papers contain reports, articles, and research documenting Sternsher's research interests between 1933-1994. Sternsher was a professor of history at Bowling Green State University and focused much of his research on the New Deal and American political history. Also included are research papers prepared by Sternsher's students between 1958 and 1993.

Dates

  • Creation: 1933-1994

Extent

2.3 Cubic Feet (2 record center cartons)

Scope and Contents

The Bernard Sternsher papers contain reports, articles, research, correspondence, maps, and student papers pertaining to his career as historian and professor of history. The collection is organized into three main groupings. The first series contains articles, reports, and information related to his research on the Scioto March Onion Workers' Strike. The second series contains unidentified student research papers dating from the 1970s to the 1990s, summarizing local newspaper responses to the New Deal and the stock market crash, as well as Depression-era welfare case studies. The fromer are arranged by lscale, while the latter are organized into numbered folders, with no immediately discernable scheme. The final series consists of photocopied articles and chapters relating to the New Deal and published between 1933 and 1994.

Biographical / Historical

Bernard Sternsher was born on March 3, 1925 in Massachusetts. He attended the University of Alabama in 1942 and received his bachelor's degree in 1949, a degree interrupted by service in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1943-1946. Sternsher obtained his Ph.D. in history from Boston University in 1957. While completing his doctorate, from 1950 and 1952, Sternsher was employed in the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington D.C. He taught briefly at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Seton Hall University before moving to Bowling Green, where he taught from 1969-1992.

Sternsher was a member of several academic honorary societies, including Phi Beta Kappa and won the Phi Alpha Theta book prize in 1966. He was named a University Professor in 1989 and in 1996 received the Distinguished Service Award of the Ohio Academy of History for his career-long contributions to the field of history. Sternsher's research interests included early twentieth century history, specifically the New Deal, the Battle of Britain, and several ship wrecks that related to his wartime service. He was most interested in the fate of the U-518 which his ship (The Jackson) was chasing before they sunk and had to be rescued.

Sternsher died in July 2011, survived by his wife, Carol and sons Daniel and David.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.

Language of Materials

English

Separated Materials

Over one hundred books from the initial transfer were removed from the archival collection and catalogued by early 1998 as a part of the Rare Books Collection, the Pollock Collection, the Roosevelt Collection (Special Collection A), and the Main Library collection. And additional transfer of books related to FDR, the New Deal, and general American political topics occurred at some point subsequent to 1998; these works were discarded in 2021 as they proved to be widely held by libraries throughout the United States.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Bernard Sternsher papers were donated to the Center for Archival Collections by Dr. Sternsher around 1998.

Title
Guide to the Bernard Sternsher papers
Author
Haley Hoffman
Date
September 2021
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
  • Box: 1 (Mixed Materials)
  • Box: 2 (Mixed Materials)