Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

RS 11/10/15
Warren H. Meeker (1868-1947)
Papers, 1890-1965, n.d.


Descriptive summary

creator:

Meeker, Warren H. (1868-1947)
title:

Papers
dates:

1890-1965, n.d.
extent:

2.52 linear ft. (6 document boxes)
collection number:

RS 11/10/15
repository:

University Archives, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access:

Open for research
publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:

Warren H. Meeker Papers, RS 11/10/15, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Biographical note

Warren H. Meeker was born in Pennsylvania on May 5, 1868, and moved to Binghamton, New York with his family in 1882. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. (1891) in mechanical engineering. In July of that same year, he was appointed by President Beardshear of the Iowa Agricultural College (Iowa State University) to the position of Assistant in mechanical engineering. He was soon promoted to Assistant Professor (1892-1900), Associate Professor (1900-1905), and Professor (1905-1934). He was named Head (1907-1933) of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He taught full time as Professor Emeritus (1934-1938), and he continued as a part-time instructor (1939-1947).

In 1912, Meeker was elected to the Ames School Board and served as a board member until 1945. He served periodically as President of the Board for a total of sixteen years. During World War I, Meeker served as director of war training at Iowa State University, and President Wilson appointed him to a committee to investigate conditions at Camp Dodge. From 1923 to 1925, he served as a member of the Iowa Elevator Safety Code Board. Meeker was also active on several committees at Iowa State University, serving for twenty-five years on the College Scholarship Committee, founding the Safety Committee and becoming its first president, serving on the College Government Committee for several years, and also serving as director of the Iowa State University Y.M.C.A. Meeker was a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, Tau Beta Phi Engineering Honorary Society, and Phi Kappa Phi Science Honorary Society.

Warren Meeker and his wife, Carol, were married in 1892. They had two children, Charles W. and Margaret. They later divorced. Some years later, Professor Meeker married his second wife, Ethel. He died on May 30, 1947, and was buried in the Iowa State University cemetery.

 

Collection description

This collection (1890-1965, n.d.) includes newspaper clippings, biographical sketches, talks, and manuscripts. In addition, the collection includes correspondence between Iowa businesses and towns regarding Meeker's consultation work, letters between Meeker and former students, government officials, and his predecessor George W. Bissell. The files also contain administrative and professional correspondence with Iowa State administrators such as President Albert Storms, President Raymond Pearson, President Raymond Hughes, Secretary Edgar Stanton, Business Manager Herman Knapp, Engineering Dean Anson Marston, Professor George Bissell, the Board of Trustees, and several university committees of which Meeker was a member. There are also letters between Meeker and the Ames-College Water Rate Committee, the Ames School Board, the Ames-College Street Car Rate Committee, and the Iowa Elevator Safety Code Board.

A list of correspondents can be found in the appendix.

 

Organization

This collection is listed alphabetically.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

Biographical sketches and newspaper clippings

1907-1965, n.d.

1

8

Business correspondence

1904-1934

2

4

Class notes, Cornell University: "Method for Determining the Cylinder Dimensions for Multi-Cylinder Steam Engines" by A. W. Smith

n.d.

2

1

Class notes, Cornell University: "Notes on Design of a Drill Press" by A. W. Smith

n.d.

2

5

Class notes, Cornell University: Notes on magnetism and the magnetic circuit

1890

2

2

Class notes, Cornell University: "Notes on the Design of a 50 H.P. Steam Engine" by A. W. Smith

n.d.

2

3

Class notes, Cornell University: "Some Notes on Machine Design" by Albert W. Smith

1890

2

6

Classwork, Cornell University: Mechanical laboratory reports (notebook)

1891

2

7

Classwork, Cornell University: "Report of Test of Triple Expansion Ball Engine"

1991

2

8

Classwork, Cornell University: Thesis – "Steam Seperators"

1891

6

9

Correspondence – Alumni Association

1924-1935

6

7

Correspondence – American Society of Mechanical Engineers

1919

6

15

Correspondence – Ames Chamber of Commerce

1921-1922

6

16

Correspondence – Ames School Board

1921-1929

6

18

Correspondence – Ames-College Streetcar Rate Committee

1920-1922

6

17

Correspondence – Ames-College Water Rate Committee

1915-1923

6

12

Correspondence – Armistice Day Arrangements Committee

1924

5

7

Correspondence – Board of Audit

1905-1919

5

1

Correspondence – Board of Trustees

1900-1908

5

2

Correspondence – Board of Trustees

1909-1925

5

3

Correspondence – Board of Trustees – Building Committee

1907-1915

5

4

Correspondence – Board of Trustees – Faculty Committee

1909-1915

5

5

Correspondence – Board of Trustees – Finance Committee

1909-1914

5

6

Correspondence – Board of Trustees – Finance Committee

1915-1929

5

9

Correspondence – Building and Grounds Committee

1916-1922

6

10

Correspondence – Campus consulting work

1913-1930

5

10

Correspondence – Catalog Committee

1915-1917

5

8

Correspondence – Coal contract

1905-1907

6

4

Correspondence – Committee to Study the Problem of Engineering and Agricultural Shops

1919

5

11

Correspondence – Course of Study Committee

1908-1919

6

3

Correspondence – Engineering faculties resolution supporting President Pearson

1922

5

12

Correspondence – Faculty Fraternities Committee

1925

6

5

Correspondence – Federal Board for Vocational Engineering

1920

5

13

Correspondence – Honors Committee

1927-1929

6

11

Correspondence – Library book lifts

1924

6

6

Correspondence – Phi Kappa Phi

1919

5

14

Correspondence – Public Grounds Committee

1914-1924

5

15

Correspondence – Public Safety Committee

1913-1920

5

16

Correspondence – Purchasing Committee

1907

5

17

Correspondence – Scholarship Committee

1913-1926

6

14

Correspondence – Semi-Centennial Celebration General Committee

1920

6

8

Correspondence – Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education

1915-1920

6

13

Correspondence – Special Committee of Ten to Reorganize the Athletic Council

1923

6

1

Correspondence – Student Army Training Corp

1918-1919

6

2

Correspondence – Teaching schedule

1920

3

8

Correspondence with business manager Herman Knapp (December 17, 1927, regards proposals for new agronomy building)

1905-1930

3

1

Correspondence with Dean Anson Marston

1905-1910

3

2

Correspondence with Dean Anson Marston

1911-1920

3

3

Correspondence with Dean Anson Marston

1921-1930

2

10

Correspondence with Professor George Bissell

1907-1929

4

1

Correspondence with President Albert Storms

1905-1907

4

2

Correspondence with President Albert Storms

1908

4

3

Correspondence with President Albert Storms

1909-1910

4

9

Correspondence with President Raymond Hughes

1928

4

4

Correspondence with President Raymond Pearson

1912-1915

4

5

Correspondence with President Raymond Pearson

1916-1919

4

6

Correspondence with President Raymond Pearson

1920-1921

4

7

Correspondence with President Raymond Pearson

1922-1923

4

8

Correspondence with President Raymond Pearson

1924-1926

3

9

Correspondence with President William Beardshear

1892-1901

3

4

Correspondence with Secretary Edgar Stanton

1897-1907

3

5

Correspondence with Secretary Edgar Stanton

1908-1910

3

6

Correspondence with Secretary Edgar Stanton

1911-1915

3

7

Correspondence with Secretary Edgar Stanton (Stanton was acting as President from 1917 to 1918 while President Pearson was Undersecretary of Agriculture)

1916-1920

2

9

Course notes, Iowa State: Notes on machine design

1894

6

19

Iowa Elevator Safety Code Board – Correspondence

1923

6

20

Iowa Elevator Safety Code Board – Correspondence

1924-1925

6

21

Iowa Elevator Safety Code Board – State and City Elevator Safety Codes

1917-1924

1

2

Lecture – "How to Study"

1925

1

3

Professional correspondence, A-C

1905-1933

1

4

Professional correspondence, D-G

1905-1934

1

5

Professional correspondence, H-L

1905-1936, n.d.

1

6

Professional correspondence, M-R

1903-1935

1

7

Professional correspondence, S-Z

1905-1936

 

Appendix - Alphabetical List of Correspondents

Name

Dates

Box

Folder

Alcox, Olive

1925

1

3

Alderson, Victor C.

1921

1

3

Alstrawd, Harry P.

1919

1

3

American Institute of Electrical Engineers

1904

1

8

Ames, J. H.

1928

1

3

Anonymous

1925, n.d.

1

3

Ardell, Edward F.

1926, 1931

1

3

Arnold, William R.

1922

1

3

Badley, Percy A.

1919

1

3

Baird, John

1917

1

3

Baker, E. C.

1930

1

3

Bartels, Capt. C. B.

1931

1

3

Bartlett, F. W.

1910

1

3

Bauer

1930

1

3

Beardshear, President William M.

1892-1901

3

9

Beckman, Professor F. W. (vocational training for war work)

1919

1

3

Benedict, A. A.

1932

1

8

Bissell, George W.

1907-1919

2

10

Bodwell, E. J.

1928

1

3

Borsheim

1925

1

3

Boutelle, E. C.

1908

1

3

Brett, Major M. L.

1917

1

3

Brindley, J. E.

1929

1

3

Burke, R. J.

1917

1

3

Burns, Warren

1917

1

3

Byl, F. M.

1905-1907, n.d.

1

3

Cambell, A. B.

1929

1

3

Carr, Miss

1933

1

3

Cartwright, W. W.

1929

1

3

Carver, G. W.

1931

1

3

Cessna, Orange

1927

1

3

Chapman, H. A.

1925

1

3

Chawey, Gerald W.

1923

1

3

Chicago Herald and Examiner

1919

1

8

Citizens Gas & Electric Co.

1909

1

3

Cleghorn, Mark P.

1910-1927

1

3

Collier, P. F. & Son

1931

1

8

Colorado Reclamation Bureau

1929

1

3

Cooper Manufacturing Co.

1915-1925

1

3

Cornell Alumni Association

1916-1931

1

3

Cornell Society of Engineers

1925

1

3

Cornell University Club

1921

1

8

Cornwall & Cornwall

1927

1

3

Coville, Perkins

1928

1

3

Cownie, Charles T.

1929

1

3

Crilley, William

1917

1

3

Crosby, Miss Hestor

1922

1

3

Dana, Professor F. C.

1926

1

4

Daniels, F. H.

1923

1

4

Davidson, J. B.

1929

1

4

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Ry

1929

1

8

Deshler, W. E.

1910, 1918

1

4

Deyoe, A. W., Supt. Public Instruction

1914

1

4

Digranes, Oswald L.

1931

1

4

Doerr, Laurence O.

1921

1

4

Dowell, C. C.

1920

1

4

Dunn, J. Howard

1934

1

4

Edgerton, F. M.

1926

1

4

Edwards & Low

1909

1

4

Elliott, Loren

1925

1

4

Elwood, P. N.

1925

1

4

Fackenthal, Frank D.

1930

1

4

Fairbanks, Morse & Company

1924

1

4

Farnsworth, Tom D.

1919

1

4

Fidler, W. Z.

1917

1

4

Fish, Professor F. A.

1916, 1931

1

4

Fitch, Dr. E. L.

1929

1

4

Fitzjarrell, Roy V.

1919

1

4

Fowler, Mrs. Emma

1922

1

4

Frazer, Elizabeth

1929

1

4

Fuller, Professor A. H.

1929

1

4

Galva, Iowa, city of

1928

1

4

Gasser, E. C.

1905

1

4

Gehl, Miss Martha

1910

1

4

Ghuesen, H. G.

1934

1

4

Greene, Arthur M.

1930

1

4

Grefe, Dick

1934

1

4

Griffith, J. H.

1920

1

4

Grotenhuis, James T.

1918

1

4

Guernsey, S. C.

1918

1

4

H., A. A. (incomplete)

n.d.

1

5

Haefner, Earl W.

1930

1

5

Halderman, I. W.

1926

1

5

Halseth, Norman A.

1917

1

5

Hansen, Freom

1917

1

5

Hanson, C. E.

1921

1

5

Harbach, L. E.

1920

1

5

Hartley, L. A.

1916

1

5

Heath, M. A.

1918

1

5

Higgins, E. C.

1927

1

5

Hill, Clarke and Co.

1911

1

8

Hirsch, George D.

1925

1

5

Hitchcock, E. A.

1917

1

5

Hoffman, C. A.

1917

1

5

Holf, Arthur D.

1929

1

5

Holtgrewe, Elwyn A.

1936

1

5

Hoyt, Prof. Elizabeth E.

1928

1

5

Hudson, W. F. (Engr. Dept. Hoover Co.)

1935

1

5

Hughes, President Raymond

1928

4

9

Hull, Ernest W.

1924

1

5

Humphries, Miss Laura

1905

1

5

Hunter, Raymond E.

1917

1

5

Hurst, Wilbur

1925

1

5

Ingersoll Rand Company

1931, 1934

1

8

Iowa Executive Council. Attn: Mr. Willis

1929

1

5

James, M. C.

1928

1

5

Johnson, Walter

1917

1

5

Jones, E.

1920

1

5

Kastburg, K. C.

191-1920

1

5

Kaynor, Miss Mary M.

1921

1

5

Keller, Geo. J.

1920

1

5

Kelsey, Leland W.

1926

1

5

Kimball Brothers Company (see also the Meeker Elevator Code Commission files)

1922, 1927

1

5

Kimball, Earl H.

1920

1

5

Kjerland, R. N.

1926

1

5

Knapp, Herman

1905-1930

3

8

Knaver, W.

1905

1

5

Kocher, Mrs. Leon

1930

1

5

La Baird, Glenn

1930

1

5

Landis, Sylvanus W.

1919

1

5

Langsdorf, A. S.

1930

1

5

Layton, R. T.

1919

1

5

Leake, H. W.

1927

1

5

Lewellen, M. T.

1936

1

5

Lichty, L. W.

1917

1

5

Lincoln Electric Company

1927

1

8

Lindaman, H. W.

1912

1

5

Lockwood, B. A. Grain Co.

1905

1

8

Loweth, C. F. (Chief Engineer, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad)

1925

1

5

MacDonald, Thomas H.

1929

1

6

Madison, W. G. Plumbing

1924

1

8

Madsen, Haws

1921

1

6

Marcraft, E.

1907

1

6

Margeson, Charles

1920

1

6

Marshalltown Dept. of Public Affairs

1918

1

6

Marston, Dean Anson

1905-1930

3

1-3

Matthews, Claud

1903, 1905

1

6

Mawns, Ralph

1926

1

6

McCarty, W. H.

1917

1

6

McElroy, Hon. W. O.

1907

1

6

McFarland, M. S., Marshalltown City Commission

1916

1

6

McGowan, Clement L.

1927

1

6

McKee, Professor E. R.

1927

1

6

Meeker, Professor Royal

1926

1

6

Mellen, G. F.

1919

1

6

Miller, A. S.

1919

1

6

Mills, Dwight S.

1935

1

6

Mingus, R. V.

1917

1

6

Mitland Mortgage Co.

1927

1

8

Montillon, G. H.

1912-1919

1

6

Morrison, G. W., President Compressed Air Magazine

1935

1

6

Morrissey, J. Bernard

1925

1

6

Mr. Effler

1919

1

8

Mull, Carleton M.

1918

1

6

National Association of Power Engineers

1929

1

6

Nickel Plate Road

1925

1

8

Norris, Byron

1917

1

6

O'Malley, Francis

1917

1

6

Orr, Everett L.

1918

1

6

Osam, L.

1927

1

6

Osborn, Dale

1923

1

6

Paxton, Ralph E.

1925

1

6

Pearson, President Raymond

1912-1926

4

4-8

Peterson, O. W.

1917

1

6

Phi Kappa Phi Fraternity

1918, 1928

1

6

Porter, C. C.

1918

1

6

Porter, Roy H.

1907-1918

1

6

Potter, E. C.

1927

1

6

Pratt Chuck Co.

1919

1

8

Quale, R.

1916

1

6

Reams, C. A.

1918

1

6

Reaver, J. O.

1925

1

6

Reinholz

1919

1

6

Roberts, Vice-Dean Maria M.

1917-1934

1

6

Roddewig, Ed

1917

1

6

Rorer, Mrs. C. D.

1926

1

6

Rudgers Engineering Co.

1912, 1914

1

6

Ruth, Dr. V. A.

1929

1

6

Sawyer & Watrovs

1925

1

7

Sayre, H. A.

1912-1925

1

7

Schmidt, A. O.

1916

1

7

Schmidt, Professor L. B.

1918

1

7

Scott, Geo E.

1934

1

7

Selim, John D.

1935

1

7

Sias, Carleton P. – John Deere Tractor Co.

1936

1

7

Sibley, Ia. Public Uitlities (J. J. Shoemaker)

1920-1921

1

7

Sibley, Journal of Engineering

1916

1

8

Sloss, Thomas

1916-1930

1

7

Smith, H. L. (Fed. Board for Vocational Education)

1919

1

7

Snedecor, G. W.

1920

1

7

St. Louis Post Dispatch

1919

1

8

Stanton, Edgar

1897-1920

3

4-7

Steele, Philip

1905

1

7

Stern, G. H.

1917

1

7

Storms, President Albert B.

1905-1910

4

1-3

Switzer, Ralph

1929

1

7

Thorpe, Merle (Nations Business)

1931

1

7

Tims, Fred

1929

1

7

Titler, F. J.

1917

1

7

Tomlinson, I. H.

1917

1

7

Travelers Insurance Company

1929

1

8

Turner, Charles

1918

1

7

Umland, W. W.

1917

1

7

United States Geological Survey

1906

1

7

Vallier, A. E.

1934

1

7

Vawter, Raymond G.

1926

1

7

Vry, Lawrence K.

1926, 1933

1

7

Walker, C. S. (Military Training Camps Assoc.)

1918

1

7

Warner, Cas. A.

1920

1

7

Watkins, R. A.

1921

1

7

Webster City School District Board

1928

1

7

Wellemeyer, Arthur

1927

1

7

Whited, Miss

1915

1

7

Whitlack, Wallace S.

1918

1

7

Wilson, J. J. (Marshallton City Clerk)

1916

1

7

Wilson, Ray S.

1918

1

7

Winfrey, Robley

n.d.

1

7

Wise, Wm. H. & Co.

1928

1

8

Witzel, Stanley A.

1927

1

7

Wood, Miss Jessie

1908

1

7

Woodman, F. E.

1907

1

7

Woods, Col. Arthur, Asst. Secretary of War

1919

1

7

Yale University Press

1923

1

8

Zimmerman, Burnett

1927

1

7

Zwisler, C. F.

1911-1912

1

7