Collection is open for research.
The materials comprising series two through six were donated by Thomas Edwards' children Stephanie Plowman and Randall Edwards on December 5, 2018. The accession number is 2018-20. The materials comprising series one were previously contained in filing cabinets in the archives storage room, and information about the transfer is unknown.
Born in Portland, Oregon, on June 14, 1931, G. Thomas Edwards grew up in Taft, Oregon and was raised by his mother and stepfather, Marie and Nahum "Mac" McMullen. He earned his bachelor's degree from Willamette University in 1953, and his master's and doctorate from the University of Oregon in 1963. He also served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956. In 1957, he married Nannette W. McAndie, and they had two children, Stephanie and Randall. While in graduate school, he taught public school in Eugene, Oregon, before accepting a position at San Jose State College. In 1964, Edwards accepted a position in the Whitman College history department, where he primarily taught classes on American history, particularly in Western American history, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.
Edwards held numerous leadership positions on the faculty, including elected chair of the faculty. He was named the William Kirkman Professor of History in 1985, and earned both the Burlington Northern Teaching Achievement Award and the Robert Y. Fluno Teaching Award during his career. Upon his retirement in 1998, his former students joined together to fund the G. Thomas Edwards Award for Excellence in the Integration of Teaching and Scholarship. In 1982, Edwards agreed to write a scholarly history of Whitman College, which was published in two volumes: The Triumph of Tradition: The Emergence of Whitman College, 1859-1924, and Tradition in a Turbulent Age: Whitman College, 1925-1975. Edwards was a regular presenter at reunions and alumni events across the country, and he led many trips for the Whitman College Alumni Association. He gave presentations on the emergence of Whitman College, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, and student activism in the 1960s. The Alumni Association presented him with its award for faculty service in 1996.
Edwards continued his research and writing throughout his retirement. In 2003, he received the Robert Gray Medal from the Washington State Historical Society for lifetime achievement in teaching regional history. During his career, he published four books and dozens of articles in scholarly journals. Edwards died on January 10, 2018 in Portland, Oregon. In his eulogy for Edwards, former Whitman College President Robert Allen Skotheim wrote, "Tom was the complete liberal arts professor, as he aspired to be: teacher, scholar, advisor, campus citizen. He was also our good friend."
At the time of accessioning in 2019, materials were moved into archival boxes. Preliminary series divisions were created based on the arrangement and box-level inventory provided by the donor. Some materials remain loose within boxes, and no system of arrangement has been imposed below the series level.
Additionally, seven boxes that were previously part of the G. Thomas Edwards Papers (WCA123) were incorporated into this collection.
The G. Thomas Edwards papers consist of materials created through his work as a professor and scholar from the 1960s through 2017. The majority of this collection contains Edwards' research files for his published articles and monographs. This includes extensive subject files for his two volume scholarly history of Whitman College, and research materials about Marcus Whitman, the Civil War, Pacific Northwest history, and American history more generally. The collection also contains his office files, documenting his teaching and service as a faculty member at Whitman College, including extensive correspondence spanning more than 40 years.
This series consists of Tom Edwards' research materials for his two volume scholarly history of Whitman College, The Triumph of Tradition: The Emergence of Whitman College, 1859-1924 and Tradition in a Turbulent Age: Whitman College, 1925-1975. Edwards' arranged his sources and notes into subject files. Much of the material in these files was photocopied from collections in the Whitman College and Northwest Archives and regional newspapers. Included are Edwards' research files on student activism, a chapter in the second volume of his book, which he expanded on and published into a pamphlet titled "Student Activism at Pomona, Willamette, and Whitman, 1965-1971."
This series consists of Tom Edwards' research materials about Marcus Whitman. Included are photocopies of letters, newspaper articles, reports and other primary sources. Notably, this series contains unpublished drafts of a book that Edwards was writing about Marcus Whitman. Also included are lectures and speeches that Edwards gave about the Whitmans between approximately 1980 to the early 2000s.
This series consists of Tom Edwards' research materials about Pacific Northwest History. Included are class lectures, photocopies of primary sources, and notes about his scholarship about Pacific Northwest history. Topics that are covered include overland migration, mining, agriculture, railroad, and military history in the region.
This series consists of Tom Edwards' research materials about the Civil War. Included are class lectures, photocopies of primary sources, and notes for his scholarship about the Civil War. Although much of the contents are about the Civil War broadly, there are files about the war and its impact in the Pacific Northwest.
This series consists of Tom Edwards' research materials about American history. The majority of this series contains research and notes for the seminars and lectures he taught on American history, including on Jacksonian America, World War One, World War Two, and Vietnam. Also included are research files on Abigail Scott Duniway, an American women's rights advocate.
This series consists of materials related to Tom Edwards' career as a Whitman College faculty member and scholar. It includes teaching files, awards, invitations, lectures, day planners, and committee work. There is also a substantial amount of professional and personal correspondence arranged by year from the 1960s through the early 2000s.