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President Richard C. Foster Records

 Record Group
Identifier: RG-008

Scope and Contents

The record group contains records created by or used by University of Alabama President Richard C. Foster. These records include correspondence, president’s reports, and financial information. Records in boxes 15, 16, and 17 of accession group 19804117 have been damaged by water. These records have not been processed. The record group contains two accessions. Each accession arrived at The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections as a discrete group of materials. This arrangement has been retained.

Dates

  • 1923-1948

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. 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. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections. For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which The University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.

Biographical / Historical

Richard Clarke Foster was born July 12, 1895, in Demopolis, Alabama. He attended The University of Alabama, where he received a B.A degree in 1914. In 1917 he earned an LL.B. degree from Harvard University. After serving as an artillery officer during World War I, he worked as an attorney in Tuscaloosa.

Foster became president of The University of Alabama on January 1, 1937. He worked to improve academic standards and faculty salaries, and successfully lobbied for increased funds from Alabama legislature. He oversaw the construction of several campus buildings, including the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library and Foster Auditorium, which was named in his honor. Foster Auditorium was the site of Governor George C. Wallace’s “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” in 1963.

President Foster died unexpectedly on November 19, 1941. He was married to Lida Scarborough. The couple had one daughter, Lida Scarborough Foster.

Extent

18 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Overview

This record group contains the presidential records of Dr. Richard C. Foster, University of Alabama president from 1937 to 1941.

Provenance

Transferred to university archives from the Office of the President, The University of Alabama, 1980.

Processed by

Deborah Nygren, Tom Land, Katherine Lammers; 2013. Updated by Kevin Ray, April 2019.
Title
Guide to the President Richard C. Foster Records
Status
Completed
Date
January 2013; Updated by Kevin Ray, April 2019
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Box 870266
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0266
205.348.0513