Collection is open for research.
Donated to the Whitman College and Northwest Archives by Marcella Kerins Fluno in October, 1992. The accession numbers are retro-0021 and 2012-009.
By series.
Robert Younger Fluno was born on November 27, 1916 in Appleton, Wisconsin. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Rollins College in 1938. Fluno went on to study at the American University in Washington, D.C. from 1938-1940; University of Minnesota from 1946-48; and the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1950-51; finally earning his doctorate of philosophy in 1952 from the University of Minnesota. During his study he taught political science at the University of Minnesota (1947-48) and Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio (1948-52). He accepted a position at Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA in 1952, where he served a 30-year tenure until his retirement in 1982. He was married to artist and poet, Ruth Fluno in 1944, until her death in 1974; and was remarried to Marcella Kerins in 1979.
During Fluno's tenure at Whitman College, he was an active professor and advisor for the student body, serving as a pre-law advisor and Chairman of the Political Science Department, organizing a number of symposiums and seminars and, perhaps most notably, serving as the advisor to Whitman Political Union. The Whitman Political Union was formed in 1954-55, following the success of the Workshop in Practical Politics in April, 1954 and the Intercollegiate Mock Political Convention in March, 1956. The Political Union remained active for approximately twenty-five years as a bipartisan group fostering political awareness and student involvement. The group sponsored annual Mock Conventions, Student Legislatures, as well as a number of political speakers, and an annual seminar—Roots of Contemporary Democracy which ran annually from 1961-1969. In April, 1990, The Whitman Political Union held a reunion of its former participants who had been identified through listings in articles from the Whitman Pioneer (1952-1958). The reunion was organized by Sally Rodgers, Robb Ball, and Robert Fluno. Fluno was the keynote speaker.
Shortly after the Political Union Reunion, Robert Younger Fluno died on October 6, 1990, at the age of 73 in his home in Berkeley, CA.
The Robert Fluno Papers, which dates from 1952 to 1990, contains Robert Fluno's writings and curriculum proposals and records the leadership of the Political Union at Whitman College. Student work and unpublished writings record a wide-range of educational processes. The collection provides a record of the political and social dimensions of political science education.
This series contains materials regarding the Political Union. The Union sponsored several mock conventions and hosted a semiannual political-awareness series entitled "Roots of Contemporary Democracy." Fluno and the Political Union were also instrumental in the organization of the Cordiner Symposium, which featured panels of guest scholars who spoke on a series of social issues. Programs for events and speakers are included along with correspondence and letters nationally recognized political leaders. The series holds a scrapbook of Political Union activities that includes a lengthy explanation of goals and aims of the Political Union. This series also includes the plans and correspondence surrounding the Political Union Reunion in 1990.
Fluno was highly involved in the Political Science Department at Whitman College. This series contains his writings and proposals regarding both college and department issues. Correspondence between faculty and president and several publications regarding educational reform are included. Fluno was active in creating a progressive, "hands-on" course for political science majors which he entitled "Government In-Action Seminar." Included are student projects from these classes as well as syllabi and Fluno's final reports on the case studies.
This series contains several unpublished manuscripts of Fluno's writings and several reprints of published articles and book reviews.
This series includes personal correspondence, articles regarding Fluno's travel and personal life, and obituary and funeral information. Also included are several published and unpublished photographs of Fluno, WWII medals, a commemorative letter book, and travel photograph albums.