Woodshop term reports
Collection
Identifier: UA353
This collection consists of alphabetical rosters of woodshop students at Georgia Tech, recording examination and term grades, the number of hours due, and other student records.
(one half-size document case)
None.
Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Head of Archives and Special Collections.
0.2 Linear Feet
This collection consists of alphabetical rosters of woodshop students at Georgia Tech, recording examination and term grades, the number of hours due, and other student records. Each of the rosters is signed by J. H. Henika, who is listed as Professor of Woodshop.
John Henry Henika (1855-1951), known to Georgia Tech students as "Uncle Heinie," came to the Georgia School of Technology in 1901 as an instructor in the woodshop. Later an instructor in mechanical engineering, he continued to work and teach at Tech until well into his 80s, and pursued research after his retirement. He died at the age of 95 in February 1951.
Henika was born on November 11, 1855, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where his father was a cabinet maker. The young Henika developed skills early on as a machinist and cabinet maker. He attended Michigan College, but he left school a year before he graduated in order to become a pattern maker. According to some accounts, Henika first came to Tech in about 1892 but left soon afterwards to go to Florida for his health. However, the catalogs do not include his name until the publication for the 1902-1903 school year.
Henika's first position at Tech was instructor in the woodshop. He had become a foreman in the woodshop by the 1903-1904 school year. Sometime during the 1920s, the woodshop started to be administered through the Mechanical Engineering school. In the Blue Print yearbooks, Henika continues to be listed as foreman of the woodshop during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1938, he is listed as an instructor in the Mechanical Engineering department.
According to some accounts, Uncle Heinie
continued to teach woodwork at Tech until at least 1944, when he was 89 years old. Other sources indicate that he actually retired at the age of 85, but he continued to pursue research after his retirement. Henika suffered a fall in November 1950, shortly after his 95th birthday, and he died two months later, on about February 19, 1951.
One source indicates that the nickname Uncle Heinie
is derived from the Dutch form of his middle name, Henry. His surname, Henika, is also Dutch.
Folders are arranged chronologically.
A print copy of this finding aid is available in the Georgia Tech Archives reading room.
This collection apparently passed at some time after its creation into the possession of George C. Griffin, Dean of Students at Georgia Tech from 1946 to 1964.
Accession number 1990.1101. George C. Griffin's name is listed as the immediate source of acquisition of these papers.
(one half-size document case)
This collection was originally partially processed as MS77.
Christine de Catanzaro processed these papers in November 2009. Mallory Velten completed the folder list.
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Library, Georgia Institute of Technology Repository