{"id":5754,"date":"2026-05-12T08:36:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/?p=5754"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:38:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:38:01","slug":"baker-peace-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/2026\/05\/12\/baker-peace-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"John Calhoun Baker: Peace Studies Program and Other Papers, 1913-1997"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

By Molly Spehar, \u201926, History with Minors in Art History and French<\/em>, University Archives spring semester intern<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

History<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Throughout his tenure as president and beyond it, Ohio University\u2019s 14th President John Calhoun Baker<\/a> continuously advocated for peace and equality in education and world society. In 1982, in response to the Cold War and other contemporary world issues, President Baker and his wife Elizabeth, established the Baker Peace Studies Endowment at Ohio University to encourage the education of students and the community in how world peace might be established and maintained.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Letter from John Calhoun Baker\u2019s mother congratulating Baker for landing the job as Ohio University\u2019s 14th president, June 29, 1945.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1988, the Baker Peace Program began holding annual conferences at which international scholars, diplomats, and other people of international influence convened to discuss means of establishing and maintaining peace in a Cold War environment in which peace always appeared to be in peril. Still hosted annually (usually in the early spring) at Ohio University, in conjunction with the University\u2019s Contemporary History Program, Baker Peace Conference<\/a> panels focus on both international and domestic matters during which all events are free and open to the general public.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Poster advertising the 1982 Baker Peace Conference taking place in Ohio University\u2019s Irvine Hall Auditorium on the campus\u2019s West Green.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Contents<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The material processed this semester was added to the John Calhoun Baker personal papers<\/a> as series three, four, and five. Series 3: Baker Peace Studies Program, Series 4: Correspondence and Documents of Peers, and Series 5: Baker’s Personal and Professional Life are each housed in one Hollinger box.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Proposals, objectives and meeting minutes of program planners and participants comprise the major portion of the Baker Peace Studies Program series. Series 4: Correspondence and Documents of Peers consists of many of President Baker\u2019s personal and professional files from throughout his life and professional career. Correspondence and other documents related to Baker\u2019s peers, such as OU presidents Charles Ping and Vernon Alden are also included in this series. More personal family papers, including letters, Christmas cards, thank-you notes, poems, a song written for Baker on his 93rd birthday, drawings by Baker\u2019s daughters, and letters from the president\u2019s mother and father comprise Baker’s Personal and Professional Life series. Also in this series are newspaper clippings and so-called \u201cthink pieces\u201d related to various issues such as quality education and foreign policy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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