Barbara Mertz Papers

Biographical sketch: Barbara Mertz is a former historian of the Woman's Kansas Day Club as well as professor and dean at the University of Denver. She was born on August 31, 1912 in Topeka, Kansas. A 1930 graduate of Topeka High School, she earned a bachelor degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1934, as well as a masters in education from Syracuse University in New York in 1945. She became director of activities for city women at Syracuse and served between 1945-1947. Between 1947-1949, Mertz was the educational counselor for women. In 1949 she assumed the positions of assistant director of student personnel and assistant dean of women at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She then served as associate dean of students and dean of women, as well as associate professor of English between 1950-1961. By 1970, Mertz was the dean of women, dean of students, and associate professor of education at the University of Denver. Specifically, she directed the program in student personnel services. Mertz later became the historian for the Woman's Kansas Day Club, leading a 1977-1978 project on early Kansas homesteader history. She died in 1986.

Abstract: The Barbara Mertz Papers include correspondence, questionnaires, and other records documenting her tenure as dean of women at the University of Denver, as well as her time as historian of the Woman's Kansas Day Club. The records from her academic career are organized into subject files on topics of interest to a school dean. Topics include rules and regulations, student protests, student values, generational values gaps, intern programs, and general procedures. Also included are syllabi for courses she taught, resumes, materials on how to handle problematic students, and a student personnel survey. The records from her time as Woman's Kansas Day Club historian include correspondence concerning the 1977-1978 project Kansas Homesteaders and Early Day Kansans. The correspondence is between Mertz and descendants of Kansas' first settlers on the history of their families. Also included are brief biographical sketches of such settlers, organized by name.

Related materials: Woman's Kansas Day Club Records, Manuscripts Collection no. 659