Eugene Van Cleef Papers, American Philosophical Society

A geographer from Ohio State University, Eugene Van Cleef was a specialist on Finns and Finnish immigrants to the United States, on the applications of geography to foreign trade and international commerce, and a pioneer in urban geography.

The Van Cleef Papers contain 5 linear feet of personal and professional correspondence and other materials reflecting Van Cleef's varied interests in applied geography, foreign trade, and Finns. Of particular note is an autobiographical manuscript, discussing the intellectual origins of his interests in geography and giving a concise perspective on his views of the discipline.

Background note

An applied geographer from Ohio State University, Eugene Van Cleef came to his field by way of an earlier interest in meteorology. Born in Chicago in 1887, Van Cleef received his bachelor's degree in climatology at the University of Chicago in 1908 and spent much of his early career moving between positions in the corporate world and academia. After three years at Rand McNally surveying academic institutions for their interests in wall maps, he taught geography at the State Teachers College in Duluth, Minnesota from 1911-1918. In Duluth, he began to develop the first of his career constants, an interest in Finnish immigrants in the United States, and he began to develop valuable professional contacts in geography. Among the most important colleagues he cultivated at this time was the great geographer Joseph Partsch, with whom Van Cleef studied in Leipzig in 1913-1914.

During a return to the corporate world after the First World War working for his family's chemical product firm, Van Cleef acquired the second of his career constants: an interest in applying geographical knowledge to commerce and foreign trade. A talk he gave on the topic at the American Meteorological Society in December 1920 earned him an invitation to take a position as assistant professor of geography at Ohio State, where his interest in linking geography and business were well received.

Throughout his career, Van Cleef promoted the study of geography as an applied physical science, not a social science, and he assiduously sought to orient his research toward practical matters that he believed would benefit the public weal. Focusing initially on the interaction of weather, climate, and society, by the 1920s, Van Cleef's research on the Finns took on an increased momentum. He became active in a variety of humanitarian organizations focused on Finns during the 1930s, and for his efforts, he was awarded the Order of the White Rose, Commander Class II by the Finnish government.

Convinced of the need for American corporations to improve their knowledge of the world, his department asked Van Cleef to develop a geographical curriculum in international trade. His two books on the subject, Getting into Foreign Trade (1946) and Geography for the Business Man (1943), were relatively little read, but were generally useful at increasing interest within the business community in geographical issues. His high school textbook This Business World (1937; later renamed Global Geography) was more widely used.

Perhaps the most important area of interest for Van Cleef, however, was urban geography where once again he applied his interests in commerce. Based upon a course he developed in urban geography (the first in the nation), Van Cleef's book Trade Centers and Trade Routes (1937) found a ready audience in business schools, and the book is credited with introducing the terms Umland and Hinterland into American geography.

Van Cleef was honored by the National Council for Geographic Education as recipient of an award for outstanding geographic writing in non-professional journals, and received the annual award from the International Trade Committee for work in foreign trade and was made the first honorary life member of the Ohio Academy of Science. The American Geographical Society's Van Cleef Medal was established in honor of Dr. Van Cleef and his wife, Frieda Miller Van Cleef for outstanding work in urban geography. He died in Columbus on November 7, 1983.

Scope and content

The Van Cleef Papers contain 5 linear feet of personal and professional correspondence and other materials reflecting the research interests of Eugene Van Cleef in applied geography, foreign trade, and Finns in America. Of particular note is an autobiographical manuscript, discussing the intellectual origins of his interests in geography and giving a concise perspective on his views of the discipline.

The Van Cleef Papers are arranged in six series:


Series I.	Correspondence	1909-1973	3.5 linear feet
Series II.	Manuscripts		0.5 linear feet
Series III.	Travel Notes and Diaries	1906-1962	0.5 linear feet
Series IV.	Subject files		0.1 linear feet
Series V.	Autobiographical and biographical material	ca.1913-1985	0.2 linear feet
Series VI.	Publication reviews	1929-1963	0.2 linear feet

Administrative information

Restrictions

None.

Provenance

Gift of S. Earl Brown, Professor Emeritus of Geography, Ohio State, 1989 (accn. no. 1989-596ms).

Preferred citation

Cite as: Eugene Van Cleef Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued by rsc, 2003.

Additional information

References

The Printed Materials department has a copy of one article by Van Cleef, "The Finns in Ohio," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly 43 (1934), 452-460. Call no. 977.1 Oh3.