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Schwendemann (Glen) Manuscripts and Research Collection
SPC.2008.002
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Title: Schwendemann Manuscripts and Research Collection
Creator:
Schwendemann, Glen
Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2008.002
Physical Description:
6 boxes
(four document cases; two record storage boxes)
Physical Description:
3.6 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1839-1908
Date (inclusive): 1944-2009; undated
Date (bulk): 1960-1975; 2007; undated
Abstract: This collection contains research material generated by Glen Schwendemann, a former Torrance Unified School District teacher
and historian, on mob violence (lynchings and murder) in the United States from the 1840s to early 1900s; as well as his research
and publications on Nicodemus and the Exodusters movement in Kansas. Also included in this collection are unpublished manuscripts
written by Schwendemann on ancient and medieval times, and personal papers related to Schwendemann's education, family history,
and collection of books.
Language of Material:
English
.
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
For information about citing archival material, see the
Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.
The materials were donated to the California State University Archives at California State University, Dominquez Hills, by
Glen Schwendemann in 2008.
Materials processed by Patricia Mannix, 2010. Accurals processed by Karen Clemons, 2024.
Intended as the basis of a manuscript on U.S. mob violence from the 1840s to 1890s but unpublished, the material was researched,
collected, and edited by Glen Schwendemann over four decades (ca. 1960-2000). The data was collected from newspapers, dating
from the mid to late nineteenth century, in the form of microfilm and then transcribed by Schwendemann. The intended title
of the manuscript was:
Mob Violence in America, 1839 – 1892. Schwendemann's interest in and committed research on the subject was inspired by his Master's thesis (University of Oklahoma,
1957) on nineteenth century African-American migration from the South, particularly on Nicodemus and the Exodusters movement
in Kansas. Located in Graham County Kansas, Nicodemus, the first Black community west of the Mississippi River, is a small
town that was founded by newly freed slaves in 1877.
Glen Dale Schwendemann (1928-2009) was born in Homestead Oklahoma to John Michael Schwendemann (1908-1977), a grain buyer;
and Caroline E. Schwendemann (1886-1978) (nee Denny). Glen had four sisters: Kathryn Shinn, Dorothy Southern, Helen LeGate,
and Ruth Yoshpa, and two brothers: John M., and Warren. Schwendemann was a history teacher for Torrance Unified School District,
as well as a historian, collector of rare books, and book binder. His collection of books dating from 1556 are also part of
the archives at California State University, Dominguez Hills. After Schwendemann passed in 2009, he donated his home located
at 1515 Acacia Ave in Torrance to the Boy Scouts.
The Schwendemann Manuscripts and Research Collection (1944-2009; undated) contains material related to research conducted
by Glen Schwendemann, a historian and former Torrance Unified School District teacher. A majority of the collection is located
in Series I and consists of primary source accounts of mob violence in the United States from 1840 to 1906. "Lynching" is
understood as an event in which a person alleged to have committed a crime or offense is arrested and murdered (typically,
hanged) by a mob; when the person is not arrested, but hanged or executed in some other manner by a mob, it is considered
"murder." Mob violence of the latter sort is often associated with the western part of the United States in the post-Civil
War period. The events of mob violence documented largely took place in the mid-West and the South, and to less degree, in
the West and Southwest. The material is divided into two main categories of persons (primarily men) lynched or murdered: "Blacks"
and "Whites." Latino, Native American, and Asian men are included in the sections on Whites lynched or murdered. There are
also several accounts of the lynching of women in the two main categories. Notes indicate that two sections on mob violence
– titled "Lynching of Black People" and "Murder of Black People" - were meant to be part of the material; these are not included
in the collection, although an index of names titled "Blacks not Arrested but Killed by Mobs" is. The bulk of the material
therefore is centered on "lynching" and "murder" of "Whites."
This collection also contains material related to Schwendemann's research on Nicodemus, an all Black colony that was founded
in Kansas in 1877; and Black migration and Exodusters- African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River
to Kansas. This includes reproductions of archival material such as letters, photographs, petitions, and photographs collected
from the Kansas State Historical Society; as well as published copies of Schwendemann's articles on Nicodemus and Exodusters,
and his thesis entitled "Negro Exodus to Kansas: First Phase, March-July 1879". Other material in this collection includes
copies of unpublished manuscripts by Schwendemann on ancient and medieval times; and personal papers such as diplomas, transcripts,
resumes, documents related to Schwendemann family history, photographs, lists of books belonging to Schwendemann that were
a part of his personal collection, material related to Schwenemann's bookbinding hobby, and a copy of an Olympiad yearbook
from Torrance High School.
Arranged in three series:
- Series I: Mob Violence in America 1839-1892 [manuscript], undated
- Sub-Series A: Introduction, Sources, and Persons Lynched/Killed by Mobs by Race and Number, undated
- Sub-Series B: Lynchings of Whites, and Whites not Arrested but Killed by Mobs, undated
- Sub-Series C: Indices, 2000; undated
- Series II: Research Materials,1953-2009; undated
- Sub-Series A: Kansas: Nicodemus and Exodusters Research,1953-2009; undated
- Sub-Series B: Other Research, 1965-1967, 1970; circa 1960s
- Series III: Personal Materials,1944-1970; 1990; undated
Dates that fall into the range of 1840s-early 1900s are taken from the reproductions of original research material. Other
dates listed are dates when Schwendemann compiled his research and published material. These dates fall into the range of
1950s-1970s; circa 2007; or are undated.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hangings -- Arizona -- 1880-1890
Lynching -- California -- History
Lynching -- Georgia
Lynching -- Kentucky -- History
Lynching -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
Lynching -- Mississippi
Lynching -- Missouri -- History
Lynching -- Montana -- History -- 19th century
Lynching -- North Carolina
Lynching -- Oklahoma
Lynching -- South Carolina -- History -- 19th century
Lynching -- Southern States
Lynching -- Southern States -- History
Lynching -- Tennessee
Lynching -- Texas -- History -- 19th century
Lynching -- United States
Lynching -- Virginia -- History
Lynchings -- 1850-1860
Hangings -- 1860-1870
Alabama -- History -- 1819-1950
Arkansas -- History
Colorado -- History -- 19th century
Delaware -- History
Florida--History--19th century. -- History -- 19th century
Idaho -- History
Indiana -- History -- 19th century
Illinois -- History -- 19th century
Kansas -- History -- 19th century
Maine -- History -- 19th century
Maryland -- History
Michigan -- History -- 19th century
Minnesota -- History -- 19th century
Nebraska -- History -- 19th century
Nevada -- History
New Mexico -- History -- 19th century
Ohio -- History -- 19th century
Oklahoma -- History -- 19th century
Oregon -- History -- 19th century
Pennsylvania -- History
Utah -- History -- 19th century
West Virginia -- History
Wisconsin -- History -- 19th century
Wyoming -- History -- 19th century