Guide to the Eileen L. Sears papers, 1912-1993
Overview of Collection
| Repository: | University of Dayton. University Archives and Special Collections |
| Creator: | Sears, Eileen L. |
| Title: | Eileen L. Sears papers |
| Dates: | 1912-1993 |
| Extent: | 0.7 linear feet (2 boxes) |
| Abstract: | Papers of music and physical education instructor, Eileen L. Sears, who also served as director of the student union in the 1950s. This small collection includes photographs, correspondence, performance programs, clippings, and research and draft manuscripts of Sears' published Civil War novel, Born a Rebel (1990). |
| Collection Code: | 3A Sears |
| Language: | English |
Biography of Eileen L. Sears
Eileen Lancaster Sears was a music and physical education instructor at the University of Dayton from 1944-1947, director of the student union in the 1950s, and a music educator in the Dayton Public Schools for 40 years. For many years she and Dr. Maurice Reichard, then chair of the Music Department, staged a Christmas pageant on campus. She also served as educational director and director of the children's and chapel choir at Christ Episcopal Church in Dayton. In 1990, Mrs. Sears published the Civil War novel, Born a Rebel.
Mrs. Sears received a B.S. in Education from the University of Missouri in 1922 and an M.A. in Music from The Ohio State University in 1931. She also completed studies at the Devinshawn School of Dancing in Los Angeles (Summer 1925) and the McPhail Conservatory of Music in Minneapolis (Summer 1928). Her husband, H. Troy Sears, was a 1940 graduate of the University of Dayton.
Troy and Eileen Sears donated $4.7 million to the University of Dayton to establish the H. Troy and Eileen L. Sears Scholarship Fund for students and $1.3 million in 1992 to construct the 183-seat H. Troy and Eileen L. Sears Recital Hall in the Jesse Philips Humanities Center on campus. Mr. Sears died in 1999 at the age of 91, and Mrs. Sears died on September 12, 2005 at the age of 103.
Scope and Content
The Eileen L. Sears papers include research materials and draft manuscripts of her 1990 Civil War novel, Born a Rebel, programs of plays and musicals that she directed, photographs, correspondence, newsclippings, and materials pertaining to her education and her marriage to H. Troy Sears.
Statement of Arrangement
The Eileen L. Sears papers are alphabetically arranged at the folder level.
Search Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the University of Dayton Libraries Catalog. Researchers may use these headings to search the catalog for resources on related topics, persons, or places.
Personal Names
Corporate Names
Administrative Information
Access to Materials
This collection is open and available to the public for research in the University Archives and Special Collections reading room. The materials are non-circulating.
Copyright
The materials in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). The materials are available for personal, educational, or scholarly use. It is the responsibility of the researcher to locate and obtain permission from the copyright owner or his or her heirs for any other use, such as reproduction and publication.
Acquisition Information
The Eileen L. Sears papers were acquired in two donations from the University of Dayton Development Office. The first (accession 93-16) was received on September 13, 1993, and the second (accession 00-04), on May 12, 2000.
Processing Information
This collection was processed on July 31, 1995 and December 22, 2010.
Preferred Citation
[Item title]. Eileen L. Sears papers, 1912-1993. University Archives and Special Collections, University of Dayton Libraries, Dayton, Ohio.
Box and Folder Listing
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Born a Rebel: A story based on the events in the life of Jimmy Belle Shanks. New York: Vantage Press, 1990 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Born a Rebel manuscript, undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Born a Rebel manuscript, 1989 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Civil War research materials, 1958-1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Clippings, 1961-1992 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence, 1936-1993 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Eileen Sears student and class reunion records, 1924-1991 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | "Meditations of Life and Love: Poems of Three Generations" by Eileen Lancaster (Sears), undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Oklahoma Land Grant to William H. Lamb, 1912 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Papers and articles written by or about Eileen Sears, undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Performance programs, 1924-1955 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Photographs, undated | |||||||||
| Map-case | Pleasant Hill High School diploma (Hazel Eileen Lancaster), May 16, 1918 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | Research material on Robert Wilmot, 1989 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Troy and Eileen Sears materials, undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | University of Dayton brochures and contract, 1943-1993 | |||||||||