Finding aid for the William Sanders and Sarah Cordelia Bierce Scarborough Papers


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Scarborough, William Sanders and Sarah Cordelia Bierce
Title: William Sanders and Sarah Cordelia Bierce Scarborough Papers
Dates: 1797-1935
Extent: 0.90 linear feet (3 containers)
Abstract: William and Sarah Scarborough were educators and writers in Greene County, Ohio, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. William Scarborough migrated to Ohio from Georgia, graduating from Oberlin College in 1875. He spent a year at the Oberlin Theological Seminary before joining the classical department at Wilberforce University in Greene County. In 1878 he received a Master of Arts degree. Sarah Cordelia Bierce was an 1875 graduate of the State Normal School at Oswego, New York. She served as principal of the Normal Department of Wilberforce University from 1877-1887, and for the next twenty-seven years, as principal of the Combined Normal and Industrial Department at Wilberforce. William Scarborough moved up through the ranks of faculty and administration at Wilberforce, eventually becoming president of the University in 1908. During their career as educators, both wrote frequently, Sarah focusing on fiction for women's and Christian magazines, and William on scholarly topics. William joined a variety of professional and race-related organizations, including the Afro-American State League and the American Negro Academy, while his wife pursued her family's genealogy, collecting correspondence and documents for the Abbey and Bierce families. The collection consists of correspondence for the Abbey, Bierce and Scarborough families, genealogical materials, memorabilia, clippings, and articles written by Sarah Scarborough. This collection pertains primarily to the social life and conditions of a black family during the 19th and early 20th centuries. There is also a small amount of material pertaining to William Scarborough's attempts for governmental appointments in the 1890s and 1920s.
MS Number MS 4213
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

Biography of William Sanders and Sarah Cordelia Bierce Scarborough

William S. Scarborough (1852-1926) and Sarah C. Bierce Scarborough (1851-?) were educators and writers in Greene County, Ohio, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. W. S. Scarborough was born and raised in Macon, Georgia, and attended Atlanta University for two years before migrating to Ohio to enter Oberlin College. He graduated in 1875, then spent a year studying Semitic languages and Hellenistic Greek at the Oberlin Theological Seminary before joining the classical department at Wilberforce University in Greene County. In 1878 he received his Master of Arts, three years before his marriage to Sarah Cordelia Bierce. Bierce was an 1875 graduate of the State Normal School of Oswego, New York, who served as principal of the Normal Department of Wilberforce University from 1877-1887. At that time, the department was taken over by the state of Ohio and converted to the Combined Normal and Industrial Department which Bierce also headed as principal for the next twenty-seven years. From 1914-1921, Sarah Scarborough returned to teaching English, History of Education, and Principles of Teaching. During those years, William Scarborough moved up through the ranks of faculty and administration, transferring into the chair of Hellenistic Greek in the Payne Theological Seminary of Wilberforce University in 1891, then becoming vice-president in 1897 and president in 1908. Scarborough retired in 1920, just one year before his wife. During their careers as educators, both wrote frequently, Sarah focusing on fiction for women's and Christian magazines, and William on scholarly topics. William joined a variety of professional and race-related organizations, including the Afro-American State League and the American Negro Academy while his wife pursued her family genealogy, collecting correspondence and documents for the Abbey and Bierce families.


Scope and Content

The William Sanders and Sarah C. Bierce Scarborough Papers, 1797-1935 and undated, consist of correspondence for the Abbey, Bierce, and Scarborough families, genealogical materials, memorabilia, clippings, and articles written by Sarah Scarborough.

This collection pertains primarily to the social life and conditions of an African American family in Ohio during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. There is also a small amount of material pertaining to Scarborough's attempts for governmental appointments in the 1890s and 1920s.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged by document type and then by family name.

Restrictions on Access

While there are no access restrictions on this collection, researchers will be asked to use the microfilm of this collection.

Related Material

The researcher should also consult PG 396 William Sanders and Sarah Cordelia Bierce Scarborough Photographs.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Abbey family.
African American authors -- Ohio.
African American teachers -- Ohio -- Greene County.
African American women teachers -- Ohio -- Greene County.
African Americans -- Education (Higher) -- Ohio.
African Americans -- Genealogy.
African Americans -- Ohio.
Authors as teachers.
Bierce family.
Education, Higher -- Ohio.
Kistler family.
Ohio -- Social life and customs.
Scarborough family.
Scarborough, Sarah Cordelia Bierce, b. 1851.
Scarborough, W. S. (William Sanders), 1852-1926.
Wilberforce University.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4213 William Sanders and Sarah Cordelia Bierce Scarborough Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Sarah A. Grant, 1985.

Processing Information

Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1988.

Detailed Description of The Collection

William Sanders and Sarah Cordelia Bierce Scarborough Papers 1797-1935 undated

Box Folder
1 1 Correspondence, Abbey family, including letters between Phebe Cordelia Abbey and her relatives 1832-1844
1 2 Correspondence, Bierce family, including letters between Phebe Cordelia Abbey Bierce and her relatives 1845-1904
1 3 Correspondence, Sarah Scarborough, concerning her publishing efforts and genealogical research 1884-1935 undated
1 4 Correspondence, William Scarborough, including material relating to Scarborough's attempts for a position as minister to Haiti in the 1890s and a governmental post in the 1920s 1885-1925 undated
1 5 Genealogical materials, Abbey and Bierce families, documents 1797-1928
1 6 Genealogical materials, Abbey and Bierce families, notes and charts undated
1 6 Genealogical materials, Kistler family, notes and charts undated
1 6 Genealogical materials, miscellaneous, documents 1815-1909 undated
1 6 Genealogical materials, miscellaneous, notes and charts undated
1 7 Memorabilia, Sarah C. B. Scarborough, including an 1870s autograph book; 1881 marriage certificate; 1885 job reference; 1894 Zion's Herald pamphlet; 1921 resignation materials; notebooks, ca. 1920s; and 1933 resolution from Wilberforce University. ca. 1870-ca. 1929
Box Folder
2 8 Memorabilia, Sarah C. B. Scarborough, notebook undated
2 9 Memorabilia, William S. Scarborough, including programs of the 1933 Ohio International Institute and undated notes 1933 undated
2 10 Newspaper clippings 1898-1929 undated
2 11 Writing exercise notebook undated
2 12-13 Writings, Sarah C. B. Scarborough undated
Box Folder
3 14-17 Scrapbooks, primarily of published fictional pieces written by Sarah Bierce Scarborough 1885-1923