Central Washington University Faculty Papers, Samuel R. Mohler, circa 1950s-1960s

Samuel R. Mohler (1900-1988), professor of history, spent his teaching career at Central Washington University. Professor Mohler, the son of Alice Roop Mohler and Jesse D. Mohler, was born in Missouri. He received his B.A. degree from Manchester College, Indiana, in 1928. He attended Divinity School at Yale University and obtained his B. D. in 1931. After graduating, he came west and served as Director of Congregational Student Activities at the University of Washington. While working at the University of Washington, he obtained his M.A. degree in history and married Mary Bollinger in 1934. In 1937, they went to the University of Chicago and Sam received his Ph.D. in History in 1940. In 1941, Sam and Mary returned to the Northwest and Sam took a position as acting associate professor of Sociology and History at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. In 1943, Mohler began teaching at Central as one of the college's two history professors. During his twenty-seven years at Central, he organized and offered twenty-four different courses, with particular attention to Latin American, Early American, and Pacific Northwest History. Mohler wrote The First Seventy-Five Years: A History of Central Washington State College. He also wrote several articles and book reviews relating to Pacific Northwest history. He was active with the local historical society, the local chapter of the Association of University Professors and the Ellensburg City Library. He was the first recipient of ASCWU's (Associated Students of Central Washington University) Prominent Figure Award in 1985. He died at his home in Ellensburg in 1988.