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Papers of Kenneth W. Rock

 Collection
Identifier: UKWR

Scope and Contents

The Papers of Kenneth W. Rock consists of documents dated 1870 to 2015 and undated with the bulk falling from 1974 to 2005. The collection documents his focus on research and work related to the history of the migration of Germans from Russia to Colorado, course work related to Vienna, and references countries that he traveled and taught study abroad programs. The geographic focus is primarily Colorado and Vienna but also includes the rest of Austria, the Volga River region, the Rhineland, Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. The collection includes correspondence, reports, drafts, research, notes, articles, newsletters, journals, books, newspapers and clippings, brochures, magazines, photography (prints, slides, and negatives), audiovisual materials (cassettes, audio and visual reels, DVD's), and flags.

Dates

  • Creation: 1870-2015
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1974-2005

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Most of the collection does not have access restrictions. However, three files related to students are restricted due to FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). Review must occur before access is given to folder 32 in box 1 as well as folders 14 and 15 in box 4. (See below for folders marked "RESTRICTED".) Access to this information is open only to the student in question and to Colorado State University employees. However, access to others will be granted upon having written consent from the given student or providing written proof that the individual is deceased. The collection is stored off-site so advance notice is required.

Restrictions on Use

Not all of the material in the collection is in the public domain. Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues.

Biography

Kenneth W. Rock is Professor of History Emeritus, Colorado State University. He graduated from Kansas' Abilene High School in 1956. While growing up in central Kansas, he became aware of German-Russian people and culture. When he traveled to Colorado on vacations he noticed the rural Volga German villages with Roman Catholic churches in Ellis County, near Hays, Kansas. This whetted his interest in peoples who migrated from elsewhere to settle the wide plains of America's Midwest. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Kansas in 1960, and his M.A. (1962) and Ph.D. (1969) degrees from Stanford University where he studied history, which deepened his interest in the lands, peoples, and cultures of Central and Eastern Europe, especially of the German, Russian, and Habsburg (or Austrian) empires.

In 1965 he joined the Colorado State University as a professor of Modern European history, where from 1965 to 2005 he taught undergraduate and graduate courses about the Habsburg Monarchy, Slavic Civilization, East Central Europe since 1918, as well as about 19th Century Europe, European biography, diplomacy, immigration history, and Western Civilization. He regularly taught in the University Honors Program. His research interests were of the Habsburg Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries and the Germans from Russia immigration experience from their former Russian Volga Heimat (homeland) to their new lives in America, and especially Colorado.

Professor Rock has studied and conducted research in Hamburg, Germany; Vienna, Austria; London, England; and Charlottesville, Virginia under the auspices of the Fulbright and National Endowment for the Humanities programs. He was a co-founder of the Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project in 1975 and with other CSU colleagues served as a Senior Researcher through the 1980s. At that time he encountered and became a member of the AHSGR (American Historical Society of Germans from Russia). Among the results of this GRC Study Project were numerous oral history interviews with Colorado Germans from Russia, the publication of articles, papers, and books.

He and his family spent a sabbatical (1972-73) in Vienna, Austria and a subsequent sabbatical (1993) in Austria, Hungary, and Germany. Since 1973 he has been a member of CSU's Russian, Eastern and Central European Studies (RECES) interdisciplinary studies program. He accompanied CSU students on summer study abroad programs (1980, 1981, 1985) to Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Italy. In the spring of 1993 he was a Visiting Lecturer at the Technical University of Budapest, Hungary. In September 1993 he served as historical and cultural affairs lecturer on a Danube River cruise from Istanbul, Turkey, to Vienna, Austria, for the Colorado State University, University of Kansas, and University of Montana Alumni Associations. During fall 1999 he was a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Economics in Prague, Czech Republic, where he accompanied CSU students on a semester Study Abroad program.

His articles and essays have been published in the Austrian History Yearbook, the Colorado Magazine, the Proceedings and Selected Papers of the Consortium on Revolutionary Europe, and in Germans from Russia in Colorado. He has contributed chapters to Nation and Ideology: Essays in Honor of Wayne S. Vucinich. He has also authored numerous book reviews. In the spring of 2000 he lectured at the Fort Collins Museum Exhibit on "Unser Lait: Our People" on Colorado's Germans from Russia.

From 1968 to 1980 he served as CSU's Fulbright, Marshall, and Rhodes Scholarships Adviser and in 1984-85 as Acting Director of CSU's Office of International Education. At Colorado State University he received the "Honors Prof" award in 1978 from the students of the University Honors program, an "Outstanding History Professor" designation in 1986 from the history majors of Phi Alpha Theta, and the "Eddy Teacher" award in 1996 from the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences. From 1988 to 1990 he was President of Colorado Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and since 1994 he has served as chapter Screening Officer. In 2002 he was honored for his commitment to furthering International Education at Colorado State University and was a nominee for the CSU Alumni Association's Best Teacher Awards. He received the Oliver P. Pennock Distinguished Service award (2003), and International Education Distinguished Service awards (2003, 2005).

After forty years of teaching, research, and service, Ken Rock retired from Colorado State University in the summer of 2005. He continued to teach senior seminars on European History for the University Honors Program from 2007 to 2009. Starting in 2006 he was a co-founder and volunteer associate with the Colorado State University International Center for German-Russian Studies where he has served as chair of the Center's Academic Advisory Committee until formal activities of the center ceased in 2016.

Extent

5.5 linear feet (5 record cartons)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Papers of Kenneth W. Rock focus on the history of the migration of Germans from Russia to Colorado, course work related to Vienna, and references countries that he traveled and taught study abroad programs. Kenneth W. Rock is Professor Emeritus of History at Colorado State University. His research and teaching focused on the Habsburg Empire, Central and Eastern Europe, European Biography, and the Germans from Russia Immigration experience. He taught undergraduate European history courses and graduate seminars at CSU from 1965 to 2005, as well as seminars and colloquia in the University Honors Program, and participated actively in the CSU chapters of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta national honors societies, in the Russian, Eastern, & Central European Studies (RECES) interdisciplinary program, and in International Education and Study Abroad programs. He was a visiting scholar at universities in Budapest, Hungary, and Prague, Czech Republic in the 1990s. He was a co-founder, researcher, and oral historian for the "Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project" in the 1970s. From 2006 to 2016, he was a volunteer associate with the CSU International Center for German-Russian Studies where he has served as chair of the Center's Academic Advisory Committee until the center ceased formal activities. The collection includes correspondence, reports, drafts, research, notes, articles, newsletters, journals, books, newspapers and clippings, brochures, magazines, photography (prints, slides, and negatives), audiovisual materials (cassettes, audio and visual reels, DVD's), and flags.

Arrangement

The collection consists of 9 series in 5 record cartons:

Series 1: Germans from Russia, 1974-2008 and undated

Series 2: Germans from Russia - Photography, 1980-2014 and undated

Series 3: Germans from Russia - Reference Material, 1870-2015 and undated

Series 4: AHSGR - American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1971-2010 and undated

Series 5: Other American heritage societies and events, 1982-1983 and undated

Series 6: CSU course: Vienna - HP 397 and 695, 1954-1981 and undated

Series 7: Country Files - Reference Material, 1950-1996 and undated

Series 8: Audiovisual, 1972-2011 and undated

Series 9: Flags, 1945-1992 and undated

Acquisition

The Papers of Kenneth W. Rock was acquired from Kenneth W. Rock over time. There are three accessions (2016014, 2016011, and 2014049) for a total of 4.7 linear feet. The last has a deed of gift. There is a second deed of gift signed and dated for July 21, 2005, indicating a box of Germans from Russia journals. This does not have an accession report and may have had some or all material added to one of the following collections: Germans from Russia; The International Center for German-Russian Studies Collection; Sidney Heitman Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project Collection; Northern Colorado Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia; or published materials regarding Germans from Russia that are cataloged and part of Special Collections to include materials by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia.

Appraisal

As part of processing the collection in December 2018, maps of Colorado and empty envelopes were recycled. A nominal number of extra copies of documents, documents with personally identifiable information, and financial records were shredded. It is unknown if any material was disposed of previous to 2014.

Related Collections

Germans from Russia, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

The International Center for German-Russian Studies Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Collection of Genealogical Research on Germans from Russia in Northern Colorado, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Sidney Heitman Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Northern Colorado Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Ron Bauer Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Papers of Elise Claassen, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Dutch Hop Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Papers of Ida Hettinger, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Saratov Ephemera Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University.

Records of the Great Western Sugar Company, Colorado Agricultural Archive, Colorado State University.

Published materials regarding Germans from Russia are also cataloged and part of Special Collections to include materials by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR).

Separated Collections

Kenneth W. Rock submitted a signed Deed of Gift to Archives and Special Collections on June 17, 2014 with a detailed Appendix A which indicates Phi Beta Kappa material. This wasn't part of Accession Report 2014049 for the Papers of Kenneth W. Rock and is believed to have been accessioned into the Records of Phi Beta Kappa, Delta of Colorado Chapter. Previous to 2014, it is not clear what material may have been separated from the Papers of Kenneth W. Rock to be added to the following: Germans from Russia; The International Center for German-Russian Studies Collection; Northern Colorado Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia; Sidney Heitman Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project Collection; or published materials regarding Germans from Russia that have been cataloged and are part of Special Collections to include materials by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia.

Processing

As of 2018, the collection was found housed in a mix of acidic boxes and folders. It did not appear that the collection had any prior processing. Generally, the finding aid was created with the collection as found and only minimally processed for description and arrangement, not for preservation, per current directives. One box did not have a lid and was not the standard size, therefore was replaced. If material did not have a folder and access would benefit from having a folder, it was given a folder. If it was stacked in a box, it was up-righted for access. Most of the collection was left in the order found. However, effort was taken to more tightly bring together audiovisual, photography, the CSU course on Vienna, and the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR).

Inventory Note

Note: Title information supplied by the archivist is bracketed.

Title
Guide to the Papers of Kenneth W. Rock
Status
Edited Full Draft
Date
Copyright 2018
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the CSU Libraries Archives & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Fort Collins Colorado 80523-1019 USA
970-491-1844