Siegfried B. Rolland was born in New York City February 12, 1918. He attended Ferrar Modern School, an experimental grade school in Stelton, New Jersey and Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Although he never received a high school diploma he earned a baccalaureate and master's degree from Wayne University at Detroit, Michigan, in 1941 and 1947, and a doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin which was awarded in 1952.
He served in the United States Army from February 1941 to June 1946. He taught at Wayne University for three years before coming to the University of Idaho in 1952. He was offered the job in the social science department at Idaho without even applying for it, after university officials heard a recommendation from the history department chairman at Wisconsin. Rolland stayed at the University of Idaho for 32 years before retiring as head of the history department in April 1984. During his career he taught U.S. history, diplomatic history, Latin American history, Idaho history, Pacific Northwest history, and his specialty, U.S. colonial history.
He was frequently asked to consult on historical projects and speak on historical topics. He published scholarly articles in both professional and popular magazines.
He spearheaded the drive for better wages and benefits for UI faculty, and served as a member of at least 20 professional and scholarly organizations, boards, and faculty committees. He was also active in improving student-faculty relations at the university.
He married Julia Edgar at Pontiac, Michigan, on June 15, 1948. They had two daughters and one son. Rolland died of a heart attack on January 19, 1989.
The papers of Siegfried B. Rolland span the years 1945 to 1988, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1948 to 1984.
The papers include records relating to his work with university committees and non-university organizations; lecture notes and other material concerning his teaching at the University of Idaho; material representing his historical research, especially on Cadwallader Colden, a prominent figure in New York colonial history; lecture notes and class notes from his days as a graduate student and his pre U of I teaching career; and finally a collection of correspondence, both professional and personal, the latter being from his father and step-mother.
The material in this Manuscript Group was in no apparent order when received, therefore a series order was imposed during processing.
The first series, Committees and Organizations, 1952-1985, contains minutes, memos, and other material documenting Rolland's service on university committees, including a large collection of material relating to the Faculty Affairs Committee. Non-university committees represented include the Idaho State Historical Records Advisory Board and the Idaho Historic Sites Review Board.
Series two, Teaching and Related Material, 1953-1984, contains material related to the Black Studies program, plus lecture notes, tests, and class handouts for his history courses. It also includes information used in advising students in the history program.
Research Material, 1948-1987, comprises the third series. The first group of material related to Rolland's research on Cadwallader Colden, a prominent figure in New York politics from 1718-1760, who served as surveyor general and acted as advisor to many governors. It includes work done for his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Wisconsin in 1946, and research done in the late 1960s and early 1970s on a biography of Colden which was never completed. Included are a draft of the dissertation, note cards, and transcripts and microfilms of Colden and related papers in various repositories. The second subseries contains book reviews, material related to consulting on several historical topics including Harry Orchard, and bibliography cards for books on American history.
Student and Pre-Idaho Teaching Material, 1945-1951, is in series IV. It is divided into two subseries, Wayne University and University of Wisconsin. Both contain lecture and class notes, plus papers students wrote for classes which he taught. Also included is a 1946 draft of his thesis at Wayne University, "The Detroit English language labor press, 1838- 1889."
The final series, Personal and Other Material, 1954-1988, contains an accident report, book acquisitions, a promissory note, vita, and a poster with the words of Chief Seattle to President Franklin Pierce in 1955, entitled "Where is the eagle--gone." This series also contains correspondence. Although some is related to his teaching and historical research the majority consists of letters from his father and step-mother who lived in Italy for several years.
Duplicates of mimeographed material such as class syllabi and tests were discarded. University publications were removed from the papers and will be checked against the holdings of the Special Collections Department as will the brochures and pamphlets on Idaho dams which comprised most of Series I in the original inventory. In all the papers were reduced by 4 cubic feet.
In 1952 Professor Siegfried B. Rolland donated 2 cubic feet of material to the University of Idaho; these were processed as Manuscript Group 117 by Judith Nielsen in 1983. Additional material received from Rolland's widow between January 1993 and September 1994 was combined with the original group the whole was reprocessed by Ms. Nielsen in October and November of 1994.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.