Thomas Wesley Graham Papers, 1896-1967
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Thomas Wesley Graham was born on October 12, 1882 in Carlsbad Springs, Ontario, Canada to John and Margaret Graham. He received the A.B. degree with honors in Philosophy from the University of Toronto in 1903 and graduated in 1907 from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. From 1907 to 1908, he studied at the United Free Church College in Glasgow, Scotland under a Bernadine Orme Fellowship from McCormick. In 1908, he was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry. He received the honorary D.D. from Macalester College in 1920 and in 1949 the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from Oberlin College.
Before coming to Oberlin, Graham held several pastorates in the Midwest. He was Associate Pastor of Buena Memorial Church in Chicago (1908-1909), Pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle of Mattoon, Illinois (1909-12), and Pastor of the Andrew Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis, Minnesota (1912-20).
Graham was called to Oberlin's Graduate School of Theology in 1920 by Dean Edward Increase Bosworth. He replaced Professor of Homiletics William J. Hutchins, who had been named President of Berea College in Kentucky. After three years, Graham was chosen to succeed the retiring Dean Bosworth. As leader of this main division of the College for twenty-five years, Graham immersed himself in the religious life of the seminary and college. He guided the funding, design, and construction of new seminary buildings, the Theological Quadrangle, Bosworth Hall, and Fairchild Chapel, which were dedicated in 1931. His classes in the College of Arts and Sciences attracted large numbers of non-religion majors. He was active as an advisor for the Oberlin Y's, as chairman of the Religious Interests Committee, and as a trustee of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association. In 1948, he succeeded William F. Bohn as Chairman of the O.S.M.A. Board of Trustees.
In the spring of 1948, Graham moved to Greenwich, Connecticut where he assumed part-time duties as Counselor on Religious Work with the Y.M.C.A. of New York City. Graham's long association with the Y.M.C.A. began in 1894, when he became a member of the Boys' Department of the Ottawa (Canada) Y.M.C.A. In Minneapolis, from 1909 to 1912, he was Secretary of the University of Minnesota Y.M.C.A. He served as Y.M.C.A. Secretary in Paris from 1918 to 1919, where he had charge of the Palais de Glace, the main recreational center for American soldiers. He also served as a member of the International Committee of the Y.M.C.A. and its executive committee. For ten years, he chaired the National Student Committee and for 45 years was a committee member.
Thomas W. Graham married Kate Fullerton (1884-1958) on June 16, 1910. In October 1959, following the death of his wife, he married Mrs. Beatrice Bayne Smith, a widow and member of his church. Beatrice Smith Graham had two children from her first marriage. Dean Graham died in Greenwich on June 3, 1971 following a stroke. He was 88 years old.
Subjects (links to similar collections) Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The papers of Thomas W. Graham consist largely of his sermon outlines, prepared between 1916 and ca. 1945. There is very little material in this small collection relating to Graham's personal life or to his varied professional career. Papers documenting Graham's tenure as Dean of the Graduate School of Theology (1923-48) are located in Record Group 10. In this collection, there is one folder of memoranda and miscellaneous papers pertaining to the Theological Seminary, which includes a report by Dean Graham to the Board of Trustees (n.d.) and responses to it.
Worship bulletins and newspaper clippings indirectly document Graham's pastorate in Minneapolis (1912-20) and his demand as a public speaker and preacher. Graham's correspondence (1919-54), both personal and professional in nature, dates from his residency in Oberlin and Greenwich, Connecticut. Included are letters of appointment and welcome (1920) from President Henry Churchill King (1858-1934), as well as letters from the Reed-Smith Company of Minneapolis regarding Graham's land investments in Saskatchewan (1919-23). Other correspondents include parents, former students, field workers and missionaries in China, Burma, and Japan, various Y.M.C.A. officials, and editors of religious periodicals. Graham's outgoing correspondence, consisting of file copies, mainly concerns his mortgage payments and the settlement of other financial accounts.
Items of a distinctly personal nature include a small group of family and travel photographs (1935-45, n.d.), appointment books (1928, 1929, 1934), a portrait album (1907) commemorating Graham's 1907 McCormick Seminary graduating, and blueprints for the Graham home in Oberlin.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Correspondence, 1919-54, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)
Organized into two subseries: 1. Incoming Correspondence; and 2. Outgoing Correspondence. Within subseries, correspondence is chronologically arranged.
Series II. Writings, 1916-67, n.d. (2.40 l.f.)
Organized by genre into three subseries: 1. Books; 2. Lectures and Talks; and 3. Sermon Outlines. Within subseries, materials are arranged chronologically. In Subseries 3, sermon outlines are housed individually in labeled envelopes and arranged in numerical order with some gaps evident in the numbering.
Series III. Miscellany, 1896, 1907, 1916-60, n.d. (0.6 l.f.)
Appointment books, portrait album, newspaper clippings (original and photocopy), and miscellaneous printed materials pertaining to Graham's preaching and teaching career. Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Series IV. Photographs, 1935-45, n.d. (0.2 l.f.)
Black and white photographs of family and travel scenes, arranged into three envelopes. Most are undated and unidentified.
Series V. Architectural Drawings, 1923
Blueprints by D.A. Reamer, Architect for the T.W. Graham home in Oberlin.
INVENTORY
Series I. Correspondence, 1919-54, n.d.
Subseries 1. Incoming Correspondence, 1919-54, n.d.
Box 1
Incoming correspondence, 1919-54, n.d. (7f)
Subseries 2. Outgoing Correspondence, 1920-48
Box 1 (cont.)
Outgoing correspondence, 1920-48 (2f)
Series II. Writings, 1916-67, n.d.
Subseries 1. Books, 1925
Box 2
The Story of Jesus, ed. by Thomas W. Graham
(New York: Association Press, 1925)
Subseries 2. Lectures and Talks, 1920-67
Box 2 (cont.)
Notes for talks, 1920-67, n.d. (5f)
Box 3
Manuscripts (published and unpublished),
1926-46 (2f)
Annotations of Acts and Paul's epistles, n.d. (2f)
Subseries 3. Sermon Outlines, 1916, n.d.
Box 4
Sermon outlines 1-85 (78f)
Box 5
Sermon outlines 86-155 (66f)
Box 6
Sermon outlines 158-232 (68f)
Series II. Writings, 1916-67, n.d. (cont.)
Subseries 3. Sermon Outlines, 1916, n.d. (cont.)
Box 7
Sermon outlines 233-348 (86f)
Series III. Miscellany, 1896, 1907, 1916-60, n.d.
Box 8
Appointment books, 1928, 1929, 1934 (3 vols.)
McCormick Theological Seminary portrait
album, 1907
Newspaper clippings (biographical), ca. 1916-24
Printed materials (brochures, service bulletins),
1896, 1920-60, n.d. (3f)
Box 9
Conference materials, 1945-46, n.d.
Memoranda and loose papers re: Graduate School
of Theology, ca. 1930-45
Series IV. Photographs, 1935-45, n.d.
Box 9 (cont.)
Family and miscellaneous photographs,
ca. 1935-45, n.d.
Series V. Architectural Drawings, 1923
Case II, Drawer 6
D.A. Reamer, Architect. Blueprints for the
T.W. Graham house, 1923