Collection inventory

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Don Mitchell Papers

An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives

Finding aid created by: Nicole Morello
Date: 2018

Revision history:

Biography

Donald M. Mitchell is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography who taught at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs from 1997 to 2017. He completed his bachelor’s degree at San Diego State University in 1987, his master’s degree at Pennsylvania State University in 1987, and his PhD at Rutgers University in 1992.

Before his appointment at Syracuse University, Mitchell was an instructor at the University of Colorado, Boulder from 1992 to 1994 and an assistant professor from 1994 to 1997. He began his time at Syracuse University in 1997 as an associate professor, became a professor in 2002 and department chair in 2003. In 2006 he became a Distinguished Professor and in 2007 he was a visiting professor for the Scholars Program in Culture and Communication, Annenberg School for Communication at Pennsylvania State University for the year. He retired from Syracuse University in 2017.

Mitchell served as the faculty representative to the Board of Trustees during his time at Syracuse University. Additionally, he was part of the Chancellor's Citation Selection Committee and the Academic Freedoms, Tenure, and Professional Ethics Committee.

Mitchell was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship in 1998 and is the first professor at Syracuse University to receive the award. He used the funds to create the People’s Geography Project, a project intended to make cultural geography more accessible, useful, and meaningful for lay people. The project later transformed into the Community Geography Project, focusing on social, economic, and environmental issues in Central New York. He received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008 which he used to write a portion of his manuscript on the “bracero” or “guest worker” program and the California agricultural landscape from 1942 to 1964, which was later published in 2012 as They Saved the Crops: Labor, Landscape, and the Struggle over Industrial Farming in Bracero-Era California. In 2012, he received the Anders Retzius Medal, from the Swedish Society of Anthropology and Geography.

Mitchell’s other book publications include: The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space (2003), Cultural Geography: A Critical Introduction (2000), and The Lie of the Land: Migrant Workers and the California Landscape (1996), a book based on his doctoral dissertation. Mitchell is currently a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden.

Scope and Content Note

The Don Mitchell Papers include materials predominantly related to his time at Syracuse University as a professor, researcher, and committee member. The papers span from 1965 to 2014 and are arranged into two series:

Committees includes materials related to his participation in several committees at Syracuse University from 2009 to 2013. The series contains notes, printed materials and correspondence about meetings. Committees included in the series are the Board of Trustees Executive Committee, Chancellors Citation Selection Committee, the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee, and the Academic Freedoms, Tenure, and Professional Ethics Committee.

Papers includes materials related to his research, awards, and work as a professor. The series includes print outs of e-mail correspondences, book contracts, copies of his printed publications, drafts of his publications, grant proposals for his research projects, reviews of his work, and other printed materials. Grant proposals and other related materials are organized by project including the People's Geography Project (PGP), the Syracuse Hunger Project, Community Geography, and Community Health.

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.

Board of Trustees records are restricted for 50 years from date of creation. Requests to use restricted materials must be obtained in writing from the office of origin.

Records from the University Senate are restricted for 50 years from date of creation. Requests to use restricted materials must be obtained in writing from the office of origin.

Faculty records are restricted for 80 years from date of separation. Requests to use restricted materials must be obtained in writing from the University Senate.

Access to recordings requires advance notice to produce a use copy.

Use Restrictions:

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

Related Material

Clippings pertaining to Mitchell's receipt of the MacArthur Fellowship were photocopied and moved to his clipping file in the University Archives.

The University Archives holds a clipping file on Don Mitchell.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Mitchell, Don, 1961-
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. -- Department of Geography.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University -- Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Syracuse University.

Subjects

Geography.
College teachers.
Higher education.

Types of Material

Clippings (information artifacts)
Compact discs.
Correspondence.
Drafts (documents)
Grant proposals.
Photographs.
Publications.
Reviews (documents)

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Don Mitchell Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Don Mitchell donated his papers to the University Archives in 2017.

Processing Information

Materials were rehoused in acid free folders and boxes. Photographs were placed in Mylar sleeves.

Arrangement

Folders are arranged alphabetically.

Table of Contents

Committees

Papers

Inventory