The majority of the collection documents Professor Minor’s academic career at University High School, Chicago, 1907, 1912-1917, and 1921-1922; Kalamazoo Central High School, Kalamazoo, 1921-1924; and CMU, at least 1924 through 1946. The Kalamazoo and Chicago materials are mainly tests and some syllabi for the many classes he taught, and a few pieces of correspondence. Among the CMU academic materials in this collection are tests for many courses, meeting minutes and related materials of the Curriculum Committee, departmental correspondence and correspondence to Professor Larzelere, as well as other related materials. Also included are lists of members, constitutions, and related correspondence, 1927-1942, of the CMU. Cliophiles Club, a student history organization. Some History 201/English 416 student papers from an extension course Professor Minor taught in Bad Axe, Michigan, in 1945 are also included. One of the paper researched Ora Labora, a German communal settlement that existed in Huron County, Michigan, from 1862 to 1871.
One of the more interesting topics documented in Professor Minor’s CMU academic papers is the League of Nations Association assemblies. Related correspondence, notes, and other materials on the assemblies exist for 1929 through 1935 and 1939. Participating Michigan students and professors attended an annual meeting at the University of Michigan, where they represented various countries they had studied and about which the participants had accumulated data. For international peace advocates, like CMU President Anspach, this was an important event for both students and professors to attend.
Also of interest are Naturalization Educational Record Cards, 1916-1924. These mainly blank form cards document twelve immigrant men who took night courses from Professor Minor while he taught in Kalamazoo. Basically names and addresses are given, as well as some notation of their attendance in classes. One card notes that the man documented is a German mechanic. Additional biographical notes on six of the men as found on AncestryPlus are included.
Professor Minor is personally documented in the Biographical Materials, 1924, 1927, 1934 [2005] (copies); a few of his Publications; and some generic Correspondence with the Boys Brotherhood Republic in Chicago, an organization which helped juvenile delinquents find satisfying and honest employment, 1914, 1916. The only material of a somewhat personal nature is that Professor Minor’s family Budgets for 1921 and 1923.
Biography:
Van Lieu Minor was born in July 1880, the son of D. William (born in 1860), a farmer, and his wife, F. Marie Minor (born in 1859). Van Lieu was the eldest of five children. His siblings were: G. Eva, (born in 1883), L. Inez (born in 1885), E. Bert (born in 1888), and I. Vorrhies C. (born in 1895). The family lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1900, according to the census. They apparently favored the use of an initial followed by a first name. The origination or significance, if any, of the name “Van Lieu” is unknown. It is possible that Van Lieu was a related family surname.
By the age of thirty, Van Lieu had married Ettie M. [surname unknown] (February 5, 1879-April 15, 1972). Together, Van Lieu and Ettie had two daughters, Doris E., (born in 1907) and Frances (born in 1912).
In 1910, Van Lieu, Ettie, and Doris lived in Louisville, Kentucky, where he taught public school. Between 1910 and 1922 he taught at University High School in Chicago, Illinois, while he attended graduate level classes at the University of Chicago.
In 1920, Van Lieu also attended classes at the University of Michigan, where he earned both an A.B. and an A.M. His wife and children are not recorded in the 1920 census as living with him. Also during the early 1920s, Van Lieu taught a variety of history, civics, and government classes at Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Central State Teachers College, later Central Michigan University (CMU), hired Van Lieu as a professor in the History Department by 1924. There, he taught a wide variety of history, civics, government, economics, and “teaching history” courses for student teachers. He was a CMU professor from 1924 through 1939. When Professor Claude S. Larzelere retired as Head of the Departments of History and Social Sciences in 1939, Professor Minor was promoted to fill the position. He then served as Head of the departments until at least 1946.
The Minor family lived at 906 South Main Street in Mount Pleasant from the 1920s through the 1940s. In 1934, both Frances and Doris were listed in the local phone directories as teachers. They both graduated from CMU with a B.A., Doris in 1927 and Frances in 1934. The girls probably lived with their parents until they married. Professor and Mrs. Minor are listed in the Mount Pleasant directories for the last time in 1945/1946.
Mrs. Minor died on April 15, 1972 in Yavapai [Prescott], Arizona. Frances Minor, later Mrs. Donald Street, also lived in Prescott after she retired from teaching. Ettie probably lived with Frances there after Professor Minor died. [This information is from the 1993 CMU Alumni Director.] There is no obituary on Professor Minor, but it appears that he may have died during or shortly after 1946. (This information is from the collection, CMU yearbooks, Mount Pleasant city directories, and AncestryPlus.)
