The papers of T.H. Hildebrandt consist of seven linear feet of materials spanning the years 1887 to 1978. The bulk of the collection falls between the years 1930 and 1960. The papers have been arranged in ten series: Biographical Material, Bethlehem Church, Compositions, Correspondence, Lectures, Notes, Organizations, Universities, Writings, and Visual Materials.
As Hildebrandt was fairly well known in his field, he corresponded with other eminent mathematicians of his time, including Eliakim Hostings Moore (with whom he had studied) and Maurice Frechet. The Hildebrandt papers are also valuable for other topics: the development of mathematical ideas and the various pressures placed on academics during the Cold War to name both two examples.
Theophil Henry Hildebrandt was born July 24,1888 in Canal Dover, Ohio. His parents, German nationals (although his mother had been born in West Africa), were Basel missionaries in Africa. Following their marriage, they left the mission field and immigrated to the United States.
After the birth of Theophil, the Hildebrandt family moved from Ohio to Bellewood, Illinois. Young "T.H." Hildebrandt was something of a prodigy. After completing high school in three years, he entered the University of Illinois at the age of fourteen, earning his B.A. degree in mathematics in 1905. He received both an M.S. (1906) and a PhD (1910) from the University of Chicago before he turned twenty-one.
In 1909 Hildebrandt came to Ann Arbor as an instructor in mathematics. His rise in the department was steady. He was an assistant professor by 1914, an associate in 1920, and became a full professor in 1923. Hildebrandt was appointed chairman of the department of mathematics in 1934, and he retained this position until he retired in 1957. He was also the supervisor for research projects in pure mathematics sponsored by the Office of Naval Research.
Hildebrandt's interests in mathematics included the theories of integration, integral equations and linear spaces. He published one textbook Introduction to the Theory of Integration (New York and London; Academic Press, 1963), and wrote numerous articles and reviews.
Hildebrandt won the Chauvenet Prize for an outstanding article in 1929. In addition, he was an elected member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi (President of the Michigan Chapter), and Phi Kappa Phi. In 1963, the University of Michigan created the "T.H. Hildebrandt Research Instructorships" for young mathematicians. These were later changed to assistant professorships in 1974.
Other affiliations of his included the American Association for the Advancement of Science (vice-president, 1935), the American Mathematical Society (vice-president, 1924-1926), the Mathematics Association of America (vice-president, 1937), the National Research Council, the National Council of Mathematics Teachers, and the Societe' Mathematique de France. From 1938 to 1942, Hildebrandt was an editor for the American Journal of Mathematics. He was also a president of the University of Michigan Research Club, and before his marriage to Dora Ware in 1921, he was a member of the Apostles, a University club consisting of no more than twelve unmarried faculty men. He was also a member of the Pleasant Lakes Club.
In addition to mathematics Hildebrandt had a life-long passion for music. Shortly after becoming an instructor in 1909, he enrolled in the University of Michigan School of Music. In 1913 he received a B.A. in organ performance. From 1913 to 1917 he was the organist and choir director of the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor. As a result of anti- German sentiment expressed toward him by this church during the First World War, Hildebrandt left and became the organist for the Bethlehem United Church of Christ, also in Ann Arbor.
Even after Hildebrandt retired from the University of Michigan in 1957, he continued to teach one year stints at other universities, and maintained an active interest in mathematics until he was quite old. He died October 9, 1980 at the age of ninety-two. Dora E. Ware received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. Dora Ware's uncle was Dr. Karl E. Guthe, the first Dean of the Graduate College and professor of Physics. Dora Ware and Theophil Hildebrandt met in 1917, during her post-graduate year of study in the Department of Botany. The couple was introduced by Minne Allen, the wife of Switzer Allen, an Instructor in the Mathematics Department of the Engineering College. Ms. Ware held several teaching positions outside the state of Michigan between 1917 and 1921. For two years, 1917-1919, she taught Biology at Delaware College for Women in Newark, Delaware. She also taught high school classes in Lawrence, Kan., Springfield, Ill., and Kansas City, Mo. Dora Hildebrandt was active in the Ann Arbor chapter of the American Association of University Women. She organized the first book sale (continues to this day). She was an alumna of Collegiate Sorosis. Dora Hildebrandt also participated in after-school programs in Botany. She died in 1967.
Theophil H. Hildebrandt had a sister, Martha, who was a single woman and a school teacher.
