Calvert and Pallen family papers and photographs
Scope and Contents
This collection contains materials pertaining to the various activities of the Calvert-Pallen family. The collection is divided into seven series, the first four of which include papers of each individual family member. The Truman B. Culvert series contains papers and books which relate to his personal and professional education and to his responsibilities as Director of Research and Budget in the Muncie Community Schools.
The second series, Luna Culvert, contains yearbooks, program announcements and newspaper clippings dealing with various clubs in Muncie and a few other cities. The rest of this series consists mainly of copies of Mrs. Calvert's poems and newspaper articles. There is also a copy of her book, Tales of a Nomadic Wife.
Clippings and pamphlets of Miss Calvert's dramatic activities in school and of her professional lecture recitals make up a large part of the Lucile Calvert-Pallen series. Also included is a copy of Lucile's graduate thesis on university dramatics.
A small section of the family papers is the Owen Calvert series. Within this series are newspaper clippings related mostly to Owen's activities at Butler University and his marriage to Anna Marie Sander.
The fifth series, History, consists of materials within the family papers which relate more specifically to Indiana history rather than to the family itself.
Photographs of the Calverts and their house at 900-902 East Main Street are contained within the next two series, P.018 and POVC.013. There are also photographs of school groups and unidentified individuals and negatives.
Dates
- 1899-1982
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Archives and Special Collections.
Biographical Note
The Calvert family was well known for activities in education, writing, business and theatre. Truman B. Calvert was born in 1879 to John and Elizabeth Calvert, on a Greene County farm. T.B. Calvert began his profession as an educator at an early age. While teaching, he continued his personal education at Indiana State Teacher's College; Indiana University, where he obtained his A.B. degree in 1918; and the University of Wisconsin, from which he obtained a M. Ph. degree in 1925. T.B.'s professional activities included teaching at several township schools. He was the principal of the Columbus grade school and later, of Wilson Junior High School in Muncie. In 1919, Truman served as an assistant principal of Muncie Central High School. Toward the later part of his professional career, c. 1922-1937, T.B. Calvert was the Director of Research and Budget for the Muncie City Schools.
In 1903, Truman B. Calvert married Luna Owen, the daughter of Benjamin and Ella Owen of Worthington, Indiana. Luna Owen Calvert was a clubswoman and writer of articles for the newspaper. Most of her articles were travel stories about vacation trips the family had taken. In 1943, Luna's book, Tales of a Nomadic Wife, was published. This book was compiled from her newspaper articles and other miscellaneous items.
The Truman and Luna Calvert family was completed with the birth of their daughter and son. Leoma Lucile was born in 1906 and Owen Meredith was born in 1908. Lucile graduated from Muncie Central High School in 1923 and went to Ball State Teacher's College to complete a two-year Grammar Grade Teaching Course. She earned a bachelor's degree from Lake Forest College in 1927, and was invited to that college to fill the position as head of the speech department. In 1929, she graduated with a master's degree from Northwestern University. After her graduation from Northwestern, Miss Calvert became an associate professor of speech and director of the University Theatre at DePauw University. She established the Reading Theatre of C.W. Post College, Long Island University, in February 1962, bringing together students and professional actors to read literature for the stage. In addition to teaching speech and dramatics at Butler University, Northwestern University, Colorado State College, and Good Counsel College in New York, Lucile was a professional actress and interpreter of the theatre. In 1945, she married Vincent Pallen, a New York musician.
The Calvert's son, Owen, who was born in 1908, graduated from Butler University in 1931 with a B.S. degree in Business Administration. Following his baccalaureate he began work towards a master's degree. In about 1933, Owen was appointed as promotional agent for the Butler division of evening and extension courses. Three years later, Owen married Anna Marie Sander who also graduated from Butler University. Owen's professional Activities took him to the Curtiss-Wright plant in Indianapolis and then later in New Jersey.
The Calvert-Pallen family seemed to make significant contributions in several communities as its members taught, wrote, acted or managed businesses.
Extent
2 Cubic Feet (2 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1: Truman B. Calvert papers, 1899-1962
Series 2: Luna Calvert papers, 1770-1970
Series 3: Lucile Calvert-Pallen papers, 1923-1982
Series 4: Owen Calvert papers, 1914-1950s
Series 5: Historical documents, 1898-1937
Series 6: Calvert and Pallen family photographs, 1900-1981
Series 7: Calvert and Pallen oversize photographs, undated
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 1990/12/12 by K. Dean. EAD finding aid created 2012/09/28 by Julie Hausknecht. EAD finding aid revised 2012/10/08 by Bethany Fiechter.
- Biography Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Church history Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clubs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Delaware County (Ind.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Delaware County (Ind.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Delaware County (Ind.) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Documents Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Education Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- High schools Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Indiana Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Junior high schools Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Manuscripts Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Marriage Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Muncie (Ind.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Muncie (Ind.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Muncie (Ind.) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Newspapers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Postcards Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Stoeckel Archives of Local History Subject Source: Local sources
- Universities and colleges Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Calvert and Pallen family papers and photographs
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Stoeckel Archives of Local History Repository
Alexander M. Bracken Library
2000 W. University Avenue
Muncie Indiana 47306 USA
libarchives@bsu.edu