Students in the Princeton Summer Studies Program, 1966

Access is granted in accordance with the Protocols for the University Archives and Records Center.

 

PROVENANCE

Donated to the University Archives by Robert Francis Engs in two parts, one in 1993 (accession number 1993:24) and the two in 1995 (accession numbers 1995:46 and 1995:47).

 

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in seven series: Professional, 1973 - 1993; Afro-American Studies, 1973 - 1993; Black Presence, 1974 - 1991; Department of History, 1972 - 1994; Student Files, 1972, 1983 - 1993; Writings; Princeton Summer Studies Program, 1964 - 1992. The Professional, Department of History, and Black Presence series are arranged first by the chronological files and then alphabetically by the subject files. The Afro-American Studies and Student Files series are arranged alphabetically. The Princeton Summer Studies Program series is broken into seven subseries: Subject File, Photographs, Reports and Proposals, Student Files, Brandon H. Hirsch Research, Audio Tapes, and Slides. These subseries are all arranged alphabetically, except for the Reports and Proposals subseries which is arranged first chronologically and then alphabetically.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Robert Frances Engs was born in 1943. After earning a B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University in 1965, Engs received his Ph.D. in History from Yale University in 1972. While at Princeton University he participated in founding of the Princeton Summer Studies Program, an intensive college preparatory program for minority and disadvantaged New Jersey public high school students, which became the model for the Upward Bound programs of the late 1960s.

Dr. Engs began his career at the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 when he was appointed Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. A year after joining the faculty, Provost Stellar appointed him as the director for Minority Faculty Recruitment. He has since played a distinct role in enhancing the presence of minorities in both faculty and student body at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1979 Engs was promoted to Associate Professor. In addition to his teaching assignments, Engs was and continues to be actively involved the Department of History administration. Dr. Engs served as chair of the undergraduate program from 1987 to 1992 and again in 2000 as well as director of the American History Honors Seminar. His areas of concentration in teaching are African American History, Civil War and Reconstruction, and History of the United States South.

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SCOPE AND CONTENT

The Robert Francis Engs Papers reflect his academic career at the University of Pennsylvania and interests in education.

A large portion of the collection contains material relating administrative work for the University and Department of History. It includes correspondence, newsletters, program reports, committee minutes and handbooks. This material generally dates from 1985 to 1992. Dr. Engs' participation in the Afro-American Studies program is also documented with program material, course lists, and correspondence from 1973 to 1993.

Dr. Engs' interests in education are found in two large sections of the collection. The Student Files series contains both undergraduate and graduate student papers, correspondence and recommendations, dating primarily from the late 1980s. The Princeton Summer Studies Program series reflects the early work of Robert Engs to create better opportunity and access to higher education for minorities in the United States. The series contents detailed weekly reports of the program from 1964 to 1965, as well as student files, photographs, and audio recordings. It provides a complete picture of the program's intent, activities and results. Addition material compiled during the early 1980s and in 1992 when Brandon H. Hirsch, University of Pennsylvania student, wrote his senior honors thesis on the topic, can be found in the collection which documents the later careers of some of the participating students.

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