Eugene Shedden Farley Papers, 1930-2000
Collection
Identifier: 02-01-001
Scope and Content Note:
The Eugene Shedden Farley Papers, 1930-2000, contains a variety of documents, photographs, correspondences, and publications related to Wilkes College’s (now University) first president, Dr. Eugene S. Farley. These materials span from the creation of Wilkes College in Fall 1947 as it changed from Bucknell University Junior College (1933-1947), through Dr. Farley’s presidency at Wilkes College (1947-1970), his retirement and time as Chancellor of Wilkes College (1970-1973 ), and materials after his death (1973) that mention him. These include the college's enrollment statistics and student data, Wilkes College charter applications, reports, syllabi, grants, financial records, speeches, meeting minutes, surveys, inventories, various documents for the Wyoming Valley Community Forum and Eugene S. Farley Testimonial Dinner, written histories of Wilkes College and Bucknell University Junior College, programs and invitations for various balls and banquets held on campus, Wilkes College promotional pamphlets and publications, student handbooks, orientation programs, alumni publications, publications regarding Wilkes College, photographs from Wilkes College events, photographs of faculty, photographs on campus, correspondences with alumni, correspondences with prospective students, correspondences with faculty at Wilkes College and Bucknell University Junior College, correspondences with the Board of Trustees and various institutions, personal correspondences from Farley, drawings and prints, bank and estate reports, Farley memorials, newspaper clippings, diplomas, and awards.
Dates
- 1930s-2000
Access:
Open for research, unless specified as restricted. These restricted items include 6.31
Holder, Walter correspondences with Farley, 1940-1945; 6.32 Hunt, Mary H. correspondences with
Farley, 1938-1945; 7.15 Ranck, Dayton L. correspondences with Farley, 1940-1945; 7.15
Ranck, Dayton L. correspondences with Farley, 1940-1945; 9.10 Farley correspondences on
personal business, 1963-1970; 9.11 Farley correspondence on personal business, 1969-1970; 10.13 Real Estate Coates/Farley, 1963 January 25 - October 21; 10.14 Ethel Coates Bank Report,
1963 May 24 - 1964 January 1; 11.1 Ethel Coates Estate Bank Report, 1963 October 28 -1964 June
; 11.2 Farley/Coates Estate statement, 1963 December 2 - 1964 February 26; 11.3 Papers of
the Estate of Ethel Gates Coates, 1965 August 2 - November 1; and 11.4 Real Estate Coates/Farley,
1968 January 5 - December 31. These have been deemed restricted due to the financial information of
Dr. Eugene S. Farley and Wilkes College and personal information included.
Biographical Sketch of Eugene Shedden Farley, 1889-1973:
Dr. Eugene S. Farley was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania on September 29, 1889 to Dr. Robert and Sarah Farley. Dr. Farley received a Bachelor of Science in 1921 from Pennsylvania State University. During his undergraduate studies he worked as a history teacher in Philadelphia. Also in 1921, Dr. Farley married Eleanor (Coats) Farley, who was very involved with Wilkes as well, including writing the university’s Alma Mater. Dr. Farley went on to teach education at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1927. Dr. Farley received a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania a few years later in 1932. Prior to and after receiving his PhD, he held the position of Director of Research for the Board of Education in Newark for several years. Then he became director of Bucknell University Junior College in 1936, which he had spent significant time helping establish in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. After the junior college was turned into Wilkes College in 1947, he was officially inaugurated as the first president of the college on November 12, 1947. He held this position until 1970, when he retired as president and became the chancellor of Wilkes College.
Dr. Farley’s dedication to education is deeply apparent in his personal reflections, tremendous involvement in the condition of education in Wilkes-Barre, and the numerous honorary degrees he had been granted during his life. Dr. Farley served as a president of the American Association of Junior Colleges, the Middle States Association of Junior Colleges, the Foundation for Independent Colleges, and the Commission for Independent Colleges. In 1961, he was granted an honorary doctorate from Lafayette College then, in 1968, Wilkes College also granted him an honorary doctorate. After this, he received two more honorary doctorates from Seton Hill College in 1970 and Bucknell University in 1971.
Dr. Farley stated himself in his essay “Recollections of Persons-Events-Aspirations-Ideas” in 1972 that his decision to take on the directorship at Bucknell University Junior College was due to his passion for research in education rather than politics, which he had seen take over the Board of Education in Newark. The introduction of BUJC into the Wyoming Valley was greatly important to its residents as it had offered a more affordable education during the Great Depression. Dr. Farley worked during his early days as director alongside Bucknell University’s president Arnaud Marts and the Board of Trustees to gain donors and financial gifts in order to keep the junior college afloat during this period of depression as well as developing scholarships for students. Many of the buildings given to junior college at this time are still used today by Wilkes University including Weiss Hall, Chase Hall, Conygnham Hall, and Kirby Hall.
Dr. Farley had aided tremendously in developing BUJC into an independent four-year college and getting accredited through campaigns to raise the required endowment. He spent his time as president campaigning in order to build classrooms, laboratories and acquire donated buildings to expand the college into the university it is today. Dr. Farley focused on faculty as well, dedicating significant funds to salaries and endowments. His dedication to developing and growing the college can be recognized by his willingness to frequently move his family into different spaces as the college needed. This included living on the third floor of Kirby Hall for a period of time until that space was needed as a library. Dr. Farley headed the campaign to raise the funds needed to build a new library for Wilkes College in 1967 in order to expand resources for students. In 1968, the library was constructed and named the Eugene S. Farley Library in his honor.
In 1970, Dr. Farley retired as president of Wilkes and was offered the position as chancellor by Dr. Francis Michelini, Dr. Farley’s successor as president. Dr. Farley stated that he was reluctant to accept the position because he feared he would stay beyond his “period of usefulness.” He ultimately accepted the position in order to continue building alumni relations. He remained dedicated to Wilkes College and education overall until his passing in September of 1973.
Dr. Farley’s dedication to education is deeply apparent in his personal reflections, tremendous involvement in the condition of education in Wilkes-Barre, and the numerous honorary degrees he had been granted during his life. Dr. Farley served as a president of the American Association of Junior Colleges, the Middle States Association of Junior Colleges, the Foundation for Independent Colleges, and the Commission for Independent Colleges. In 1961, he was granted an honorary doctorate from Lafayette College then, in 1968, Wilkes College also granted him an honorary doctorate. After this, he received two more honorary doctorates from Seton Hill College in 1970 and Bucknell University in 1971.
Dr. Farley stated himself in his essay “Recollections of Persons-Events-Aspirations-Ideas” in 1972 that his decision to take on the directorship at Bucknell University Junior College was due to his passion for research in education rather than politics, which he had seen take over the Board of Education in Newark. The introduction of BUJC into the Wyoming Valley was greatly important to its residents as it had offered a more affordable education during the Great Depression. Dr. Farley worked during his early days as director alongside Bucknell University’s president Arnaud Marts and the Board of Trustees to gain donors and financial gifts in order to keep the junior college afloat during this period of depression as well as developing scholarships for students. Many of the buildings given to junior college at this time are still used today by Wilkes University including Weiss Hall, Chase Hall, Conygnham Hall, and Kirby Hall.
Dr. Farley had aided tremendously in developing BUJC into an independent four-year college and getting accredited through campaigns to raise the required endowment. He spent his time as president campaigning in order to build classrooms, laboratories and acquire donated buildings to expand the college into the university it is today. Dr. Farley focused on faculty as well, dedicating significant funds to salaries and endowments. His dedication to developing and growing the college can be recognized by his willingness to frequently move his family into different spaces as the college needed. This included living on the third floor of Kirby Hall for a period of time until that space was needed as a library. Dr. Farley headed the campaign to raise the funds needed to build a new library for Wilkes College in 1967 in order to expand resources for students. In 1968, the library was constructed and named the Eugene S. Farley Library in his honor.
In 1970, Dr. Farley retired as president of Wilkes and was offered the position as chancellor by Dr. Francis Michelini, Dr. Farley’s successor as president. Dr. Farley stated that he was reluctant to accept the position because he feared he would stay beyond his “period of usefulness.” He ultimately accepted the position in order to continue building alumni relations. He remained dedicated to Wilkes College and education overall until his passing in September of 1973.
Extent
14 boxes (11 letter size boxes, 1 legal size box, and 2 oversized boxes.)
Language of Materials
English
Provenance:
It is believed that the original Farley papers collection processed by Elizabeth Sullivan were from the Office of the President and transferred over at a specific point during Ms. Sullivan’s tenure in the archives. The other materials discovered were found in various collections that were inventoried by Ms. Sullivan in 2012 and added to the Farley papers collection in Fall 2025 through Spring 2026. It is unclear when these materials were transferred and from what departments but the content pertains to Farley’s tenure in his roles at BUJC and Wilkes College.
Acquisition:
An initial Farley papers collection was processed by Elizabeth Sullivan in the 2010s that comprised of 4 document boxes, however, more materials were located from other holdings within the archive that belong in the Farley papers, so Archivist Suzanna Calev instructed archives work-study student Emma Broda to accession those additional materials into the Farley papers. Materials were removed from a separate Bucknell University Junior College collection, also processed by Elizabeth Sullivan, and added to this collection when it pertained to Eugene Shedden Farley’s role within the institutions. Materials that were solely regarding BUJC were removed from the initial collection and added to a new BUJC collection when it did not pertain to Farley and his roles within the institutions. These materials were added in Fall 2025 through Spring 2026.
Copyright:
Wilkes University retains copyright unless published by a newspaper or magazine.
Series Descriptions:
The Farley Papers, 1930-2000, is divided into seven series and twelve additional subseries. The series are Series I: Administrative Records, 1930-2000, Series II: Events, 1953-1988, Series III: Publications, 1947-2008, Series IV: Photographs, 1947-1997, Series V: Correspondences, 1940-1973, Series VI: Personal, 1924-1973, and Series VII: Farley Library, 1968-1990. Within these distinct series, there are additional subseries to further break down the organization of this collection. Series I: Administrative Records, 1930-2000, Series II: Events, 1953-1988, Series III: Publications, 1947-2008, Series IV: Photographs, 1947-1997, Series VI: Personal, 1924-1973, and Series VII: Farley Library, 1968-1990 are all arranged chronologically by year. Series V: Correspondences, 1940-1973 is arranged within each subseries alphabetically by last name or organization name.
Processed By:
Emma Broda, Archives Work-Study, Fall 2025-Spring 2026, supervised and edited by Suzanna Calev, Archivist, Fall 2025-Spring 2026.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu