Paul D. Bagwell papers, 1938-1960

This collection contains correspondence, speeches, records, newspaper clippings, photographs and printed material of the public and private career of Paul D. Bagwell. The collection also includes two scrapbooks.

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: "Item title, Collection title, Collection Identifier, Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan."

Finding aid available in 101 Conrad Hall.

Paul Bagwell was a high school speech teacher and later a professor of Speech at Michigan State College (now Michigan State University). He became head of the Department of Written and Spoken English and was also involved with the Department of Communication Skills and the Department of Speech and Dramatics at MSC. He was a member of the MSU Board of Trustees in 1964. His communications skills were also utilized by businesses and the military in promotion and training programs. As an educator and a speaker, Bagwell was a member of a number of education and communication organizations. Among these was the Victory Speakers' Bureau for which he was the chairman. A civic minded individual, Bagwell was a member of a number of state, local and national organizations. He was a member and an officer of both the Michigan and the U.S. Jaycees (now the Junior Chamber of Commerce). A handicapped person himself, he was involved with Eisenhower's Commission on Employment of the Physically Handicapped, the March of Dimes and the United Community Chest of Ingham County. He was also a member of the U.S. national commission on UNESCO. Bagwell was also politically active. He was the Republican candidate for the post of State Auditor in 1956 but was defeated. He was also a primary election candidate for the position of Secretary of State in that same year. In 1958 and again in 1960 he was a candidate for the governorship but was defeated both times. Bagwell was also state chairman for the Citizens for Eisenhower Committee. Bagwell resigned from his position of director of scholarships at MSU in 1961 to become the president of K-S Funds, Inc., a subsidiary of the King-Stevenson Gas and Oil Company of Denver.