Guide to the Ralph D. Mershon Papers

Biography of Ralph D. Mershon

Ralph Mershon was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on July 14, 1868. He enrolled at Ohio State in 1886 and graduated in 1890 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He began experimenting and consulting in the fields of electrical engineering, which would eventually gain him worldwide recognition for his inventions and his work with hydroelectricity, particularly at Victoria Falls in South Africa. During World War I, Mershon served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but his greatest contribution to the military was his efforts to establish a civilian military training program for the nation's universities. Before World War I, military training on campuses consisted mostly of drills and physical education; he argued to broaden the curriculum so that students would be ready to serve as military officers once they graduated. This effort first led to the Ohio Plan for Reserve Officers. In 1916 the Ohio Plan was presented to Congress; that year, the National Defense Act was passed, and it included a provision for the establishment of the ROTC. Mershon died on Feb. 14, 1952. He left his $7.5 million estate to the University. An endowment fund was established, with half of the annual income to be used to promote military education. The funds are still used to support professorships, scholarships and seminars in the field of military education, and his bequest also led to the establishment of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State. The fund also paid for the construction of the Mershon Auditorium, which opened in 1957.

Scope and Content

The Ralph D. Mershon Papers pertain to the personal and professional activities of Ralph Davenport Mershon, an alumnus of The Ohio State University. The collection contains a variety of manuscript materials and some artifacts. Most document Mershon's professional career and include some documentation of his involvement in the organization of civilian training programs on University campuses.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

The collection is open to the public for research use in the reading room of the Ohio State University Archives.

For easy access, some material is kept in the Archives' reference room, which is Room 109. This material is listed at the end of the finding aid, where the Box number is listed as "R109."

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

The Ohio State University Archives, Ralph D. Mershon Papers (RG 42/vv), Box number, file folder title in quotes.

Acquisition Information

The collection was transferred to the University Archives on May 5, 2011, from the OSU Rare Books and Manuscripts Department.

Detailed Description of The Collection