The Compton Collection

Arthur, Wilson, Karl, Elias, Otelia and Mary Compton. (No date.)

The Compton Collection includes clippings, correspondence, photographs, memorabilia and manuscripts of the family of Dr. Elias and Ms. Otelia Compton. Every member of the immediate family held earned and honorary degrees for a combined total of 75 degrees (Blackwood xi).

Dr. Elias Compton was appointed Alumni Professorship of Philosophy in 1908 and in 1937 the endowed chair was renamed The Compton Professorship of Philosophy in honor of Elias who had served the college from 1883-1928. Elias came to the college as an instructor of Latin and English and later went on to become the college's first dean. In 1895-1896 he taught the college's first course in the history and science of education. After the campus' main building caught fire in 1901, Elias was a guiding force behind the rebuilding of the campus.

Otelia Compton was a guiding force in her own right. She was on the board of managers of the children's missionary homes on campus. In 1933 she was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1933 from Western College for Women (Oxford, Ohio) "for achievement as wife and mother of the Comptons." In 1939 she earned the title "American Mother" given by the Golden Rule Foundation.

All three Compton sons were accomplished men. Arthur H. Compton (Class of 1913) received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1927 for his work with X-rays and what later became known as "The Compton Effect." Arthur was the director of the University of Chicago laboratory when he received an order from the President on December 6, 1941, to prepare a scientific team to develop an atomic weapon for use against the Japanese. On December 2, 1942, he was among a team of men who first witnessed a controlled nuclear reaction. He also served as chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis. His manuscripts, publications, and correspondence are part of the collection owned by the college.

Karl T. Compton (Class of 1908 ) was president of M.I.T., as well as a well-known scientist in his own right. Wilson M. Compton (Class of 1911) was the president of Washington State University and a renowned economist and business executive for the lumber industry. While in Washington, D.C. in the 1930s, Wilson became known as quite a diplomat and had associations with every President from Woodrow Wilson to Lyndon B. Johnson, with the exception of Warren G. Harding. Among his papers are many inscribed photographs and letters from noted dignitaries. Their sister, Mary Compton Rice (Class of 1911), also is included in this collection, although the bulk of materials relating to her life are included in The Rice Collection.

The college has had close ties with several generations of the Compton family. Members of the family have served on various campus-related committees, including the Board of Trustees. This collection is still growing as family members continue to donate materials for research use.

One of the last photographs taken of the Elias Compton family at their summer home, Otsego Lake, Mich. (ca. 1937).