Finding Aid for Robert E. Fulton, Jr. Papers, 1903-1919, 1954, 1962 | University of Illinois Archives

Title: Robert E. Fulton, Jr. Papers, 1903-1919, 1954, 1962

ID: 41/20/318

Primary Creator: Robert E. Fulton, Jr. (1897-1976)

Extent: 0.6 cubic feet

Date Acquired: 04/15/2020

Subjects: Chi Phi, Dances, Football, Fraternities, Homecoming, May Day Festivals, Military Day, Observatory, Orpheum Theatre, Reserve Officers Training Corps, Star Course, Student Army Training Corps, Student Life, Vaudeville

Papers of Robert E. Fulton, Jr., (1897-1976) (College of Commerce, 1919), include commencement materials, Fulton’s school report cards, military documents, photographs, and a "semi-centennial" issue of the Daily Illini.  Also included are the pages of a scrapbook assembled by Fulton during or shortly after his time as a University of Illinois student.

Photograph subjects include: the 1917 University of Illinois baseball team, the Chi Phi fraternity, military units, and University students.  Fulton is identified by name in some photos, and the candid photos of University students may be of him and friends.

The scrapbook includes Chi Phi fraternity items (dance cards and seldom-seen neophyte/pledge instructions), dance cards from other organizations, material from the Students’ Army Training Corps at Ft. Sheridan, IL, newspaper clippings, postcards, programs (football, gymnastics, Homecoming, the May Fete, the New Orpheum Theatre, Military Day, Star Course, and vaudeville shows) , sports schedules, and ticket stubs.  One page is a remarkable collection of “Senior Smoker” memorabilia, which was an event that Fulton helped organize.

Robert Elliott Fulton, Jr. was born in Dixon, Illinois, on January 14^th, 1897, and grew up there.  He attended the University of Illinois from approximately 1915 to 1919, when he graduated from the College of Commerce.  He embraced the many opportunities the University had to offer, joining the Chi Phi fraternity and Commercial Club, serving as a captain with the Signal Company, 3^rd Battalion, 2^nd Regiment, University Reserve Officer Training Corps (R.O.T.C.), and sitting on the Senor Smoker Committee and Student Council.  In the summer of 1918, he was also part of the Students’ Army Training Corps (S.A.T.C.) at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.

He later married Vera Bassett, and she followed him in death in 1987.  He died in 1976 and is buried with his wife in Mount Hope Cemetery, just south of the University of Illinois campus.

Chi Phi
Dances
Football
Fraternities
Homecoming
May Day Festivals
Military Day
Observatory
Orpheum Theatre
Reserve Officers Training Corps
Star Course
Student Army Training Corps
Student Life
Vaudeville

Repository: University of Illinois Archives

Acquisition Source: Nancy Bassett

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/4120318.pdf

PDF finding aid for Robert E. Fulton, Jr. Papers (41/20/318)