Collection inventory

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M. Lyle Spencer Papers

An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives

Finding aid created by: Steffi Chappell
Date: 2014

Revision history:
2020	Date corrections and information added to inventory (MAM)

Biography

M. Lyle Spencer (1881-1969) was an American journalist, professor, radio commentator, and the first Dean of the School of Journalism at Syracuse University.

Spencer was born in Batesville, Mississippi on July 7, 1881. He received his bachelor's degree in 1903 and his first master's degree in 1904, both from Kentucky Wesleyan College. While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Spencer paid for his schooling by working as a physical education teacher. He received his second master's degree from Northwestern University in 1905 and then moved to the University of Chicago, where he received a teaching fellowship in English which allowed him to earn his Doctor of Philosophy in 1910. It was at the University of Chicago that Spencer first became interested in journalism. While working on his doctorate, Spencer married Lois Hill and the couple had one son, named Lyle. The marriage ended less than a decade later.

In 1911, Lawrence College in Wisconsin hired Spencer as an English professor, a job he held until 1917. He spent his summer breaks working at the Milwaukee Journal, first as a cub reporter, and then in 1917 he was hired as chief editorial writer. Two short years later, in 1919, due in large part to Spencer's editorial leadership, the Journal won a gold medal Pulitzer Prize for public service for its handling of anti-German sentiments during the First World War. During his time at the Milwaukee Journal, Spencer spent a brief period as a captain for the United States Army, working in the Military Intelligence Division.

Spencer's career in academic administration began in 1919, when the University of Washington in Seattle hired him as the director of its School of Journalism. Shortly after, in 1920, Spencer married his second wife, Helen McNaughton, and the couple would eventually have three children: Orton, Judson, and Helen. In 1927 Spencer became the president of the University of Washington and held this position until his resignation in 1933. A year later, Spencer moved across the country to Syracuse and became the first Dean of the School of Journalism at Syracuse University. Prior to Spencer's arrival, the journalism program was simply a department, established in 1919, under the College of Business Administration. Spencer's tenure as dean was marked by a huge growth in enrollment and overall expansion of the program. Spencer believed that journalism students should have a well-rounded education. He was also a very forward thinker when it came to education: Spencer advocated for a full communications program at Syracuse University many years before anyone else had even considered such an idea.

Spencer's time as a dean at Syracuse University is marked by many accomplishments. One of the most noteworthy was his trip to American University in Cairo, Egypt, as a visiting professor in 1937. While in Cairo, Spencer began the first journalism program at a Middle Eastern university. He wrote the entire curriculum for the new journalism program, and it quickly became one of American University's most popular programs. Spencer returned to Cairo in 1945-1946 to review the program and make recommendations for improvements. While on this trip, he traveled throughout the Middle East, studying local newspapers and magazines.

As a teacher at Syracuse University, Spencer was known as a demanding professor with high standards but also as a professor who was very compassionate and invested in his students' success during and after their education. In a memorial address for Spencer in 1969 Dean Wesley C. Clark, his successor as dean of the School of Journalism, said of Spencer's impact on the journalism program, "Lyle Spencer in the space of a half-dozen years, working with funds so meager that their total would hardly support a picketing graduate student in these turbulent times, turned the direction of journalism education at Syracuse completely around."

While living and working in Syracuse Spencer also worked as a radio commentator. In a weekly radio news segment, he discussed and commented on popular news stories as well as answered questions submitted by listeners about current events. Spencer published a large number of articles throughout his career and two textbooks for university-level journalism education. He released News Writing in 1917 and Editorial Writing in 1924. These became famous as journalism textbooks and were used internationally.

Throughout his lifetime, Spencer was a member of Kappa Alpha, Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Kappa Alpha, the journalism fraternity Sigma Delta Chi, Alpha Delta Sigma, Sons of the Revolution, and a member of the New York Press Association. At their 89th annual convention, the NYPA recognized Spencer's contributions to weekly newspapers published in the United States, and presented him with a certificate signed by 233 members. He was also the recipient of four honorary degrees: a Doctor of Laws from Northwestern University in 1928, a Doctor of Letters from the College of Puget Sound in 1931, a Doctor of Letters from Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1942, and a Doctor of Letters from Syracuse University in 1951.

Spencer retired from Syracuse University in 1951. He died on February 10, 1969, in Clearwater, Florida

Scope and Content Note

The M. Lyle Spencer Papers contains a variety of materials relating to Spencer's career as a journalist, professor, and administrator. The collection includes Spencer's numerous diplomas, scrapbooks, awards he won as a journalist and professor (including a Pulitzer Prize awarded to the Milwaukee Journal when Spencer was editor), papers relating to his work at American University in Cairo, transcripts from a radio segment he hosted, course materials, and clippings of Spencer's published articles.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

In addition to these papers, the Syracuse University Archives holds a clippings file and a portrait file on M. Lyle Spencer.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Spencer, M. Lyle (Matthew Lyle), 1881-1969.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.

Subjects

Journalism.
Pulitzer Prizes.
Syracuse University -- Faculty.
College teachers.
Higher education.

Types of Material

Awards.
Correspondence.
Editorials.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.
Speeches (documents)

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

M. Lyle Spencer Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Materials in the M. Lyle Spencer Papers were transferred to the Archives from the Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1964 and 1973.

Processing Information

The materials have been rehoused in acid-free folders and box.

Arrangement

The items in the collection are arranged in alphabetical order, except for the diplomas, which are arranged chronologically.

Table of Contents

Certificates and Recognitions

Diplomas

Memorabilia

Scrapbooks

Subject Files

Inventory