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Kenneth Eble photograph collection

 Collection
Identifier: P0528

Scope and Contents

Kenneth Eble was a professor of English at the University of Utah. He was also an author and speaker on methods of improving undergraduate teaching. This collection contains images of several classrooms full of students, the Santa Fe Conference, personal photos of a mountain lake and several houses. There are also photos of family friends included in the collection.

Dates

  • circa 1960-1985

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical Note

Kenneth Eugene Eble was born on December 6, 1923, in Shelby , Iowa, to George and Blanche Eble. There were six sisters and three brothers (including Kenneth Eugene) in the family. On June 12, 1949, Kenneth married Peggy Ann Leach in Avoca, Iowa. They were the parents of a daughter, Melissa, and two sons, Geoffrey and James.

Eble earned his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D from Columbia University. A veteran of World War II, Eble served with the 103rd Infantry Division in France and Germany following the Allied invasion at Normandy on D-Day.

After teaching at Upper Iowa, Columbia, and Drake Universities, he joined the English Department at the University if Utah in 1955 where he taught American Literature, English, and the Humanities. He loved the mountains and the outdoors. He was an active tennis player, hiker, and skier. He taught a course in literature of the mountains.

Eble was widely respected in education circles for his scholarship and publications, his teaching excellence, and his general service to the University, the community, and his profession. He was active in programs to bring English teachers in high schools together with their counterparts in college and universities. He served as chairman of the Department of English from 1964 to 1969. He spent most of the next two years on unpaid sabbatical helping develop stronger undergraduate programs for the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges. Eble was the University's first appointee as University Professor, a position created to nourish undergraduate teaching (1976-1977).

Recognized world-wide for his efforts to improve college teaching, he consulted and spoke on faculty development nationally and internationally, and served on several national advisory panels. William Mulder, a friend and colleague, said that the service for Eble, "Passages from his writing on the craft of teaching are widely quoted and have provided themes and slogans for conferences, workshops, panels, and symposia...which frequently featured him as keynote speaker."

He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree in 1973 by St. Francis College in Maine. He was appointed by the Danforth Foundation to the Danforth Associates Program, which was established in the 1970s to improve student-faculty relations and strengthen teaching-learning programs.

In the spring of 1986, Eble was Visiting Robinson Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

He was a tireless advocate of quality undergraduate education. "The teacher whose door is open, literally not figuratively, some hours of every day; who is even on campus every day; who willingly talks with students after class; who is not always hurriedly rushing to or from important concerns that crowd students out; who finds ways of affecting students' learning outside the classroom--such a teacher's acts will speak louder than an testimony." (Eble, "The Craft of Teaching", 2nd edition, 1988, p.63)

Eble served as field editor for the Twayne author series of books, held numerous other editorships, and was a frequent contributor to "Chronicle of Higher Education". He is the author of numerous books and articles. His books include "The Profane Comedy", "The Aims of College Teaching", "The Craft of Teaching", and "Old Clemens and W.D.H.", the story of Mark Twain's long-time friendship with writer and editor William Dean Howells.

Eble had finished a manuscript titled "How to Read Thoreau," which is expected to be published at a future date.

He died in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, October 19, 1988, of complications following heart surgery. He was 64.

Extent

28 images (28 photographs)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Kenneth Eble photograph collection contains images of several classrooms full of students, the Santa Fe Conference, personal photos of a mountain lake and several houses. There are also photos of family friends included in the collection. Kenneth Eble was a professor of English at the University of Utah.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Peggy Eble.

Separated Materials

Audio-visual materials were transferred to the Kenneth E. Eble audio-visual collection (A0338).

Manuscript materials were transferred to the Kenneth Eugene Eble papers (ACCN 1216).

Processing Information

Processed by Dale Larsen and Mary Ann Curtis in 2000.
Title
Guide to the Kenneth Eble photograph collection
Author
Finding aid prepared by Dale Larsen and Mary Ann Curtis.
Date
2000 (last modified: 2018)
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863