A Guide to the Papers of Paul Neff Garber 1899-1972 Garber, Paul Neff Papers Special Collections 4B, 5, 1-5

A Guide to the Papers of Paul Neff Garber 1899-1972

A Collection in the
Archives and Special Collections Department of
the McGraw-Page Library


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Archives and Special Collections, McGraw-Page Library, Randolph-Macon College

McGraw-Page Library
Box 5005
Randolph-Macon College
Ashland, Virginia 23005-5505
USA
Phone: (804) 752-3203
Fax: (804) 752-7345
Email: archives@rmc.edu
URL: http://www.rmc.edu/directory/offices/library/specialcollections/special.asp

© 2005 By Randolph-Macon College. All rights reserved.

Processed by: John Robertson IV

Repository
Archives and Special Collections, McGraw-Page Library, Randolph-Macon College
A Collection of the Professional and Personal Papers of Paul Neff Garber
The Garber Collection 1899-1972
Physical Characteristics
57 archival boxes along with 15 scrapbooks
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

The Paul Neff Garber Papers, McGraw-Page Library, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va.

Acquisition Information

The majority of the collection was a gift from Bishop Garber to the college in August of 1964, when he left Virginia, having been appointed Bishop of the North Carolina Conference. The remainder of the collection was donated by Mrs. May.

Biographical/Historical Information

Bishop Paul Neff Garber 1899-1972 Paul Neff Garber was born in New Market, VA, the son of Samuel and Ida Garber. He was raised there and began his religious life attending The Church of the Brethren. He was an undergraduate at Bridgewater College and later received his Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He went on to teach history at the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, and Duke University. In 1926, he became the first professor of church history at the newly opened Duke School of Religion. His career at Duke continued for 18 years, becoming the school's registrar in 1928 and dean in 1941. He was elected Bishop in 1944. At this point, he was assigned to the Geneva Area Episcopacy, which consisted of nine European countries and part of North Africa. Bishop Garber returned to the U.S. when he was assigned to the Richmond Area Conference in 1951, which consisted of Virginia and North Carolina. When the Raleigh Area Conference was created in 1964, Garber became its first bishop. He served there until his retirement in 1968, at which time he went back to Switzerland, having been commissioned by the Methodist World Council to write a history of the Methodist Church. His retirement here was pleasant, doing research among old friends and colleagues. He was nearly finished with this work when he suddenly passed away on December 18, 1972. History of Methodism in Europe was completed by Roy Short, a noted Methodist Historian, and was published in 1980. Garber wrote several other books, mainly on the history of the United Methodist Church.

Scope and Content

The Garber Papers include a plethora of materials ranging from Garber's birth to his death. These materials include personal items such as diaries and correspondences, professional items from his work as bishop in both Europe and the United States, lecture notes, research notes and typed scripts of sermons and lectures.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into nine topical divisions and each topical division is divided either topically or chronologically.

Contents List

Physical Location: Boxes 1-7

His personal life from birth to his election as bishop. This will also include some data on personal items throughout his lifetime; also addenda concerning his death.

Topical

Physical Location: Boxes 8-15

Garber's Episcopacy in Europe. These documents shed light upon the overall situation in Europe and the work that the Methodist Church was doing there. Included are Garber's correspondences, reports, and articles on his travels and work in the Geneva Episcopacy.

Topical by nation or region

  • Physical Location: Box 8

    The Austria Conference: includes correspondences with European officials, European churches, and colleagues. Along with the correspondences are essays written by Garber and others about Christianity's movements in Austria.

    Chronological

  • Physical Location: Box 8

    The Belgium Conference: includes information on Belgium Methodism from Garber and others, correspondences concerning relief projects for Belgium, personal correspondence, and correspondence with European preachers.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 8

    The Bulgaria Conference: Correspondences concerning the struggle of the Bulgarian Church, correspondences, and reports concerning the persecution of the Methodists in Bulgaria. The files document the arrests and trials of Protestant Ministers.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 9

    The Czechoslovakian Conference: Includes articles and reports by Garber and others concerning the post-war state of Czechoslovakia along with correspondences between Garber and Czechoslovakian churchmen. Much of the material deals with Czechoslovakian reconstruction and other post-war aid.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 9

    The German Conference: Includes German Methodist Church records, correspondences, and articles concerning the state of the German Methodist Church.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 9

    The Hungarian Conference: Includes Documentation of Garber's travels through Hungary, accounts of the work done in Hungary through the Church, appeals for aid, and correspondences.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 10

    The Italian and Spanish Conferences: The vast majority of these documents deals with the Methodist Church in Italy. These documents include correspondences concerning financial aid for churches, reports on the Methodist Church in Italy and Spain, and documents in Italian and Spanish.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 10

    The Yugoslavian Conference: Correspondence from Yugoslavian leaders, reports and letters from the Yugoslavian Methodist Church and its leaders.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 10-11

    The North African Conference: Includes correspondences indicating an effort by Garber and others to bring more focus to North Africa. Other documents highlight the Methodist mission efforts in North Africa and the state of Methodism there.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 11-12

    The Polish Conference: Correspondences with leaders of the Polish Methodist Church along with reports on the church and the leaders.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 12

    Includes correspondences and reports from Methodist leaders in Scandinavia; A few letters concerning the church in Latvia.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 12

    The Swiss Conference: Some correspondences from Garber's acquaintances, along with newspaper articles and his own reports concerning the Methodist Church in Switzerland.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 35

    Addresses given by Garber placing Methodism in the cultural contexts of various nations, including: North Africa, Belgium, Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain, and Eastern Orthodox countries. The addresses highlight the historical and modern challenges that Methodism faces.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 12

    Newspaper articles and manuscripts. Garber's account of travel to Geneva by ship and his initial experiences in Europe. Other articles on North Africa, Poland, and Germany.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 12

    Correspondences, Official Documents, and Passports which show the physical conditions and purposes of his travels in North Africa and Europe.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 13

    A wide array of Garber's correspondences with colleagues throughout Europe and in America.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 13

    Documents show the creation of the Crusade for Christ Scholarship and give examples of those who benefited from it.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 13

    A Telegram asking about Garber's arrest and indictment, letters to Garber expressing fear that the church may have to go under ground. These spark advance specials to Garber's episcopacy. Included is a outline of aid given to Poland, North Africa, and Belgium from the Charlotte District.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 13

    Documents concerning aid to Europe from the World Council of Churches. Several essays on the church in Europe, newspaper clippings about Garber's work, and correspondences.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 13-14

    Includes various correspondences noting the giving and receipt of aid for Europe along with newspaper clippings concerning European aid. Includes many documents on the Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 14

    This includes correspondences, articles, and reports relevant to Garber's time in Geneva.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 14 and 15

    Mostly correspondence between Garber and his co-workers, includes a list of prominent Methodist workers in Europe and North Africa.

    Topical

Physical Location: Boxes 15-16

Correspondences, reports, and newspaper articles showing the direction Garber took the Virginia and North Carolina Methodist conferences during his time as Bishop.

Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 15

    Correspondences, reports, and articles concerning the work done during Garber's time as bishop of the Virginia conference. Much of the material documents Garber's campaign for Methodist educational institutions, from which Virginia Wesleyan College sprung.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 16

    Correspondences and several newspaper articles featuring Garber and his work in the North Carolina Conference. Several reports document the state and future of the Church in North Carolina.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 16

    Garber's correspondences with individuals and institutions concerning his role as a bishop and friend. Includes correspondences with Randolph-Macon College, other bishops, and churches both inside and outside of his conference.

    Topical

Physical Location: 16-18

Miscellaneous Documents From Garber's time as Bishop.

Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 16

    Correspondences and reports concerning church issues at the time (race, education, organization) and their roles at General Conference.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 17-18

    Material on the Jurisdictional system and the struggle to integrate the system through the elimination of the Central Jurisdiction. Also contains more general administrative material.

    Topical

Physical Location: Boxes 19-21

The Methodist Churches role in the social context of the time, along with Administrative concerns.

Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 19

    Correspondences, reports, and newspaper articles showing the bitter conflict over integration in the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Church.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 20

    Material concerning interdenominational cooperation in the church. National Council, World Council, Methodist World Council, American Council of Churhes, and Catholicism are all part of the file.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 20

    Various documents on Methodist Pastors and their relationships with their churches.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 21

    The Church's role in securing health care facilities for the residents of Tangier Island.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 21

    A few documents on the Methodist Church's opposition to the escalation of the conflict in Vietnam along with other cold-war issues.

  • Physical Location: Box 21

    Material that show the Methodist Church's specific role in Social issues of the time.

    Topical

    • Physical Location: Box 21

      Materials demonstrating the fear the Methodist Church held of communism as a "subversive influence in Methodism."

      Topical

    • Physical Location: Box 21

      Correspondences demonstrating the fear that communist ideas might be printed throughout the Methodist press.

      Topical

    • Physical Location: Box 21

      Wide ranging materials including The Vatican, Red China, and Prayer in Public schools. Most material is correspondence pressuring Garber to act on the various issues.

      Topical

Physical Location: Boxes 22 and 35

Personal items.

Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 22

    Wide ranging personal correspondences.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 22

    Professional and Personal Correspondences along with official papers and reports.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 22 and 35

    Various Personal correspondences expressing Garber's views on the actions of his colleagues as well as outside correspondences and reports.

    Topical

Physical Location: Box 22

Appraisals, evaluations, and letters of appreciation from those in Garber's episcopacy, as well as his colleagues.

Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 22

    Letters expressing gratitude for all that the Garbers have done. Contains letters of kindness from all of the places Garber's work reached.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 22

    Evaluations, both good and bad, of Garber's work as a Bishop.

    Topical

Physical Location: Boxes 22-26; 34-44

A wide range of personal and professional items: diaries, bank papers, reports, scrapbooks, etc.

Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 36-39

    Twenty One Volumes of Diaries dating from the years between 1945 and 1950. Also contains many very small date books Garber accumulated over the years.

    Chronological

  • Physical Location: Boxes 40-43

    The typed pages of the volumes of diaries from 1945-1950 with some editing.

    Chronological

  • Physical Location: Box 24

    Bulk Correspondence with Episcopal Colleagues: Flint, Leete, etc.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 22, 23, 24

    Materials on the Wesleyan Tradition.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 25

    Materials dealing with the prospect of a union of Methodists and Episcopalians, and more broadly a greater movement toward Church unity.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 25

    Correspondences, proposals, and pamphlets chronicle the steps toward the Unification of the E.U.B and Methodist churches.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 26, 34

    Receipts, Bank Statements, and Ledger all showing how money was spent to rebuild the Methodist Church in Post-War Europe.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 22, 23

    Various Cards, Gift Lists, and acknowledgements.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 22, 23

    Many personal letters and cards; including wedding congratulations, appointments, holidays, and elections.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 22, 23

    Various bank papers from America and Europe; a few of Garber's old checkbooks.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 25

    Information from many colleges in the South during Garber's time. Including Duke, Drew, Emory and Henry, and Randolph-Macon.

  • Physical Location: Archival Boxes

    Garber's Scrapbooks containing photos correspondences, and personal cards.

    Topical

Physical Location: Boxes 27, 29-33, 47-56

Historical and Cultural Studies by Garber, Classroom Notes, and Speeches and Sermons used throughout his professional life.

Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 45, 46

    Notes Garber used for preparing Sermons. Mostly verse explications and outlines.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 27

    Hand-written notes on the church, religions, and cultures.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Box 29

    Papers in Criminology, Religion, Race, and Sociology.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 47-56

    Notes used by Garber teaching Church History at Duke Divinity School.

    Topical

  • Physical Location: Boxes 29-33

    Seventy-Five Typed Speeches by Garber: including sermons and addresses for many occasions.

    Topical