By Melissa Gottwald
Title: George Frederick Wright Papers, 1811-1998
Predominant Dates:1850-1921
ID: RG 30/021
Primary Creator: Wright, George Frederick (1838-1921)
Extent: 22.64 Linear Feet
Arrangement:
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Appointment Books, 1897, 1899 (0.05 l.f.)
Includes two appointment books from 1897 and two from 1899. One of the 1897 books belonged to G.F. Wright’s son, Frederick B. Wright.
Series II. Biographical File, 1868-1968, n.d. (0.1 l.f.)
This series includes biographical information and obituaries for Wright, passports, and the itinerary of Wright’s 1900-01 trip, diplomas and certificates, and an undated bibliography of some of Wright’s writings. The series also includes genealogical material concerning the Wright and Day families. The collection does not include a diploma for Wright’s 1877 honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree from Drury College in Springfield, Missouri.
Series III. Contracts and Agreements, 1879-1920 (0.05 l.f.)
The contracts and agreements are arranged in two subseries. The first, G.F. Wright Publications, contains contracts and agreements concerning works by Wright. The second, Bibliotheca Sacra Publications, includes contracts for works by other authors that were published by Bibliotheca Sacra. These contracts and agreements cover only a small number of G.F. Wright and Bibliotheca Sacra publications.
Series IV. Correspondence Files, 1811-1921, n.d. (10.55 l.f.)
The correspondence is divided into four subseries: 1. Calendared Correspondence, 2. Incoming Letters (not calendared), 3. Miscellaneous Family Letters, and 4. Select Letters in the R.B. Hayes Library. Subseries 1 consists of primarily incoming correspondence, 1850-1921, described in Victor V. Lytle’s seven-volume calendar and index (1953-54). Subseries 2 consists of G.F. Wright correspondence, 1876-1920, that was not included in Lytle’s calendar. Most of these letters are arranged alphabetically by correspondent; the remainder are chronological. Subseries 3 is miscellaneous Wright Family correspondence and is in two groupings. The first consists of family correspondence, 1811-1869. These letters were calendared, and a copy of the calendar is found in the first folder. The second is letters dated 1907-1915 relating to G.F. Wright’s children’s membership in Second Congregational Church in Oberlin. An additional letter to Second Congregational Church concerns Wright’s book on the history of Lorain County. Subseries 4 contains photocopies of selected letters held by the Rutherford B. Hayes Library of Wright and his daughter Helen; the subjects of these 1913-14 letters include Records of the Past and the possibility of Wright returning to the Middle East to study the Jordan River Valley and the Dead Sea. Also included are photocopies of relevant pages from the indexes to the correspondence of Birchard Austin Hayes, Webb Cook Hayes, and Mary Miller Hayes. Additional correspondence is located with the genealogical material in Series II.
Series V. Diaries, 1875, 1877, 1879 (0.05 l.f.)
The diaries consist of three volumes that document Wright’s work as a minister in Andover, Massachusetts, and also include notes on geological observations and readings.
Series VI. Geological Files, 1877-1903, n.d. (0.8 l.f. + 4 vol.)
These include notebooks of Wright’s geological observations taken during his travels as well as loose notes on his travels and readings. His notebooks cover his work for the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Geological Survey as well as his trips to study glacial formations in Alaska, Greenland, Europe, and Asia. Also included in these files are lectures and 1907 exam questions for his glacial geology course at Oberlin College. Additional material relating to Wright’s geological studies is in his writings in Series XV.
Series VII. Ministerial Files, 1863-1881, n.d. (0.05 l.f. + 1 vol.)
Consists of material relating to his posts as a Congregational minister in Bakersfield, Vermont, and Andover, Massachusetts, including a copy of an address by Rev. Eldridge Mix given at Wright’s 1866 installation in Bakersfield. Also included is a register for the Free Church in Andover, covering 1872-1881. Wright’s sermons are in Series XI. Sermons and Addresses.
Series VIII. Miscellaneous Materials, 1817-1912, n.d. (0.2 l.f. + 1 vol.)
This series contains a variety of materials, including an index compiled by Wright on his readings, c. 1868; foreign language material from Wright’s 1900-01 trip; a New Testament given to Wright at the time of his enlistment in 1861; a list of students taught by Wright in an unidentified school; a grade book (c. 1856) from the Select School in Fairhaven, Vermont; a summary of church membership by county in New Connecticut (Ohio); a report about the Ohio Centennial Forestry Exhibit; miscellaneous notes covering topics such as Fort George and the population of Palestine; bills and receipts, 1886-1912, n.d.; a blueprint of a mill from the Noye Manufacturing Company; and an 1894 map of the Johnson Company’s property in Lorain County. The New Testament has a tintype of an unidentified woman pasted inside the cover. Included with the Oriental language material is a list in English of the participants in a welcome meeting for Wright, which took place at Maebash, Japan, March 20, 1900.
Series IX. Newspaper Clippings, 1879-1919, n.d. (3.75 l.f.)
Clippings of articles about Wright, including reviews of his books and accounts of lectures. In addition, there are some clippings of articles that Wright wrote. Other clippings concern subjects of interest to Wright and have been labeled by subject.
Series X. Printed Matter, 1860, 1886-1917, 1919, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)
Consists primarily of lecture advertisements and programs for events (1886-1917) in which Wright participated. Additional material includes temperance related material, 1905-1916, and information on excursions that Wright and Charles Dutton (1870-1959, A.B. 1893), a Cleveland teacher, led for geology classes from Oberlin College and Cleveland high schools. Also included is material from meetings of the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Congregational Club of Cleveland.
Series XI. Sermons and Addresses, 1860-1918, n.d. (2.0 l.f.)
These include sermons Wright gave during his time as an active minister and later as a visiting preacher at various churches, primarily in Ohio. The sermons include Wright’s reflections on particular texts and cover subjects such as the immortality of God and divine revelation. Wright numbered his sermons and recorded the dates and places where he gave them and his addresses. A bound volume contains skeletons of the sermons Wright preached at the Gustavus revival of 1860-61; this volume also includes records for the students Wright taught in Gustavus, in 1860. The addresses document Wright’s career as a well-known lecturer and include addresses about geological subjects and about Wright’s travels, particularly in Asia. The sermons and addresses are arranged chronologically; sermons that Wright gave in more than one church are filed under the earliest date noted. Undated material is arranged alphabetically at the end.
Series XII. Student Essays, 1854-1862, n.d. (0.1 l.f.)
Wright wrote the majority of these essays while he was a student at Oberlin College and Oberlin Theological Seminary; a few of the essays date from his time at the Castleton Seminary in Vermont. They cover such topics as China, intellectual faculties, and providence. They are arranged chronologically, with undated material arranged by title at the end.
Series XIII. Theological Files, 1893, n.d. (0.3 l.f. + 17 vol.)
Includes lectures, lecture notes, and research notes relating to Wright’s teaching and writings. Additional material from Wright’s theological work is found in Series XI. Sermons and Addresses and in Series XV. Writings.
Series XIV. Topical Files, 1866-67, 1875-77, 1881, 1885, 1888-97, 1919-20, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)
Includes files on specific topics including evolution, the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, and the history of Sunday Schools in Ohio. The file on Judge Charles C. Baldwin contains writings by Baldwin and biographical information that was used by Wright for a memorial article on Baldwin; this file also includes his address concerning the Cleveland Professorship presented at the 1892 annual dinner of Cleveland alumni of Oberlin College and a review of Wright’s Man and the Glacial Period with notes by Baldwin. Another file includes research notes and newspaper clippings about Z. Swift Holbrook who was a special instructor on Christian Sociology at Oberlin College from 1894-96. There was an attack on Holbrook’s character made in connection to an 1895 property dispute in Chicago, and the file includes clippings about the dispute as well as Wright’s letters to the Cleveland Plain Dealer in Holbrook’s defense. The material about Oberlin College includes Wright’s notes on the College’s history, an undated “General Scheme for the Reorganization of Oberlin University,” and a 1919 statement from New York alumni concerning the organization of an alumni association. Wright’s articles and lectures about the College may be found in Series XI. Sermons and Addresses and in Series XV. Writings.
Series XV. Writings, 1871-1998, n.d. (1.6 l.f.)
Arranged in two subseries: 1. Writings by George Frederick Wright, and 2. Writings by other authors. The subjects of Wright’s writings include geology and theological issues, as well as accounts of his travels. Subseries 1 is arranged alphabetically by title and includes primarily manuscript or typescript copies as well as notes for a few works. Many of Wright’s works are not represented; see the appended list for the titles included here. Subseries 2 is arranged alphabetically by author.
Series XVI. Photographs, 1849, 1899, n.d. (0.99 l.f.)
Photographs of geological sites near New Comerstown, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, and Scottsbluff, Nebraska. An additional photograph of an unidentified site was originally with a manuscript of “Geologic Time” by C.B. Shedd (1846-1935, A.B. 1868). Three photographs of fossils were given to Wright by Sam Huston of Stubenville, Ohio. Also included is a photograph of botanist and Christian Darwinist Asa Gray, his wife Jane Loring Gray, and third person identified simply as Professor Hooker. An 1899 photograph shows Wright on an excursion with unidentified students. Series VIII. Miscellaneous Materials includes a tintype of an unidentified woman that is pasted inside the front cover of a New Testament. Five cased images dating from about 1849 were received in 2015. These are three hand-tinted ambrotypes and two daguerreotypes, including a portrait of William W. Wright. All but one of these portraits are of unidentified individuals.
Date Acquired: 09/17/1968. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Congregational churches--Clergy--Sources, Evolution--Religious aspects--Christianity--Sources, Geology--United States--Sources, Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, 1858--Sources, Oberlin College--Graduate School of Theology--History--Sources, Theology--Sources, United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Sources, Wright, G. Frederick (George Frederick), 1838-1921--Sources
Forms of Material: appointment books, diaries, field notes, lecture notes, manuscripts, photographs--ambrotypes, photographs--daguerreotypes, photographs - photographic prints, photographs - tintypes, publications, records (documents), sermons, speeches
Languages: English
The papers of George Frederick Wright relate to his work as a minister, theology professor, geologist, and literary writer. The collection consists of correspondence, writings, sermons, and addresses, the bulk of which spans the period from Wright’s young adulthood through his death in 1921. Additional material includes notes, newspaper clippings, miscellaneous printed material, and photographs. The collection also includes correspondence and genealogical information of the Wright family.
The papers reflect Wright’s involvement in a number of areas. There is documentation of his early thinking about Darwin’s theory of evolution beginning in the late 1860s as well as of his changing views as he turned toward fundamentalist ideas at the end of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century. Wright’s papers also reflect his work investigating geological, particularly glacial, formations. But most significant is the documentation of Wright’s work bringing science and theology together by reconciling scientific theories, notably evolution, with biblical accounts. The collection also documents other aspects of Wright’s life, including his early career as a Congregational minister in Vermont and Massachusetts, 1862-1881.
Wright’s geological investigations are documented by his field notes as well as by his writings about his findings. Of particular interest in his geological notes are approximately 20 notebooks recording his work from 1881 to 1884 surveying the glacial drift border for the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Geological Survey. Other notebooks document his study of the Muir Glacier in Alaska in 1886, his 1894 study of the glaciers of Greenland, and the glacial formations he studied on a voyage across Asia and Europe in 1900-1901. Additional field notes contain observations about the geology of parts of the United States, particularly New England.
Wright’s life-long involvement in religious matters is well represented. The sermons he wrote from 1862 to 1881 provide most of the documentation of Wright’s early career as a Congregational minister. Additional material from this time, located in Series VII. Ministerial Files, includes a register from the Free Church in Andover, Massachusetts, and letters and notes about church membership in Andover and in Bakersfield, Vermont. Although he gave up active ministry in 1881 to take a post at the Oberlin Theological Seminary, he frequently served as a visiting minister at area churches; these later sermons are also in Series XI. Sermons and Addresses.
Wright’s work as a professor at the Oberlin Theological Seminary included the teaching of courses on a number of subjects. As Professor of New Testament Language and Literature from 1881 to1892 Wright taught courses on the gospels, the epistles, textual criticism, and the theology of the New Testament. From 1892 to 1907, as Professor of the Harmony of Science and Revelation, Wright’s courses included apologetics, the origin and antiquity of the human race, and inductive reasoning. Lectures and notes for his theology courses are in Series XIII. Theological Files. Many of Wright’s lectures and notes were written in notebooks, and a few of these include lists (c. 1883-85) of student names. His students included Edward Increase Bosworth (1861-1927, B.D. 1886) who succeeded Wright as Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and later served as dean of the Theological Seminary.
As Professor of the Harmony of Science and Revelation, Wright taught a course on glacial geology in the College in addition to his theology courses. Notes and lectures for this course are in Series VI. Geological Files. This series also includes exam questions from his 1907 geology course. There is no other material related to a specific year or term for any of his courses, which leaves a considerable gap in the record of his teaching.
As a professor and alumnus, Wright’s interest in Oberlin continued after his time as a student. He wrote a number of articles about the College and his experiences as a student from 1855 to 1862. The most thorough of these articles was “Oberlin College” written for New England Magazine in 1900; copies of this article are in the printed writings in Series XV. An article titled “Significant Events of the Seventy-Five Years” and an address titled “Oberlin–the Past, the Present, and the Future” from 1898 reflect on Oberlin’s first seventy-five years. The file on Oberlin College in Series XIV. includes Wright’s research notes about Oberlin, an undated “General Scheme for the Reorganization of Oberlin University,” and a 1919 statement concerning the organization of an alumni association.
There is little documentation of Wright’s personal life in these papers. The collection does not provide any detail about his marriages or his relationship with his children. Series IV. Correspondence Files includes personal letters, as well as correspondence related to his theological and geological work. Wright’s interest in the temperance movement is illustrated by printed material, 1907-1916, in Series X. Wright’s student days are documented in the correspondence in Series IV. and by the essays in Series XII. which he wrote while a student at Castleton Seminary (1854), Oberlin College (1855-1859), and Oberlin Theological Seminary (1859-1862). Of special interest in his student essays are a critique of the Phi Delta Society’s exercises of September 22, 1858, and “The Doxology in Long Metre” which Wright read as part of the exercises for the fifteenth anniversary of the Theological Society at Oberlin College, August 15, 1860.
Material relating to the Wright family and to the family of Wright’s first wife, Hulda Maria Day, may be found in the genealogical material in Series II. Biographical Files. Other than one letter to Wright from his cousin Sarah A. Whipple, this material appears to have been collected by Wright’s daughters Helen and Etta Maria. The collection also contains letters (1811-1915) written and received by Wright’s parents, Walter and Mary Wright, and other relatives including his uncles Ira Wright and William Wright. This correspondence, found in Series IV. Subseries 3, is mostly concerned with family news such as marriages and deaths but also includes some references to church matters. In addition, an 1897 appointment book in Series I. belonged to Wright’s son Frederick, and Series XV. Subseries 2 includes essays written by Wright’s cousin Grove Wright.
The collection also contains information about Wright’s travels to Asia, Europe, Greenland, and Alaska. While the chief purpose behind these trips was to study glacial formations, Wright also used his experiences abroad as the subject of addresses and writings aimed at non-scientific audiences. The addresses in Series XI. and writings in Series XV. include these popular addresses and articles, as well as lectures and writings describing his scientific findings. Wright’s correspondence, particularly his letters to his children in Subseries 1 of Series IV., also provides accounts of his activities abroad. The itinerary for his 1900-01 trip through Asia and Europe and his passports are in Series II. Biographical Files. Series VIII. Miscellaneous Files contains foreign language material, primarily Oriental languages, also dating from the 1900-01 trip. Series IX. includes numerous newspaper clippings about the shipwreck of the Miranda, which ended his 1894 trip to Greenland.
Wright’s brief military service during the Civil War is documented in writings and addresses. Noteworthy is a memorial oration given May 30, 1902, in Wellington, Ohio. In addition to considering the lasting effects of the Civil War on the United States, the address briefly recounts his experience as a witness to the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue in September 1858 and as a volunteer in the Union Army in 1861. The correspondence Wright received while he was in the army in 1861 as well as later correspondence from former classmates serving in the army provide additional accounts of Civil War experiences. The collection also includes a typescript copy of the diary of William W. Parmenter (A.B. 1861) who died in a Confederate prison camp in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 3, 1861; this copy of Parmenter’s diary is in Series XV. Writings.
The collection does not include much material related to Wright’s editorial work for Bibliotheca Sacra (1883-1921) and Records of the Past (1902-1914). Information about this area of Wright’s life may be gleaned from correspondence in Series IV. Some additional material relating to Bibliotheca Sacra may be found in Series III. Contracts and Agreements and in an outline of Rev. Albert H. Plumb’s The New Gospel for Humanity which is in Series XIII. Theological Files. Another weakness in these papers is the lack of documentation of Wright’s role as a local historian and compiler of the 1916 two-volume work, A Standard History of Lorain County.
The collection is arranged in sixteen series:
I. Appointment Books, 1897, 1899
II. Biographical Files, 1868-1968, n.d.
III. Contracts and Agreements, 1879-1920
Subseries 1. G.F.W. publications, 1879-1916
Subseries 2. Bibliotheca Sacra, 1912-1920
IV. Correspondence Files, 1811-1921, n.d.
Subseries 1. Calendared 1850-1921, n.d.
Subseries 2. Incoming Letters (not calendared), 1876-1915, n.d.
Subseries 3. Miscellaneous Family Letters, 1811-1915
Subseries 4. Select Letters in the R. B. Hayes Library, 1913-1914
V. Diaries, 1875, 1877, 1879
VI. Geological Files, 1877-1903, n.d.
VII. Ministerial Files, 1863-1881, n.d.
VIII. Miscellaneous Materials, 1817-1912, n.d.
IX. Newspaper Clippings
X. Printed Matter, 1860, 1886-1917, 1919, n.d.
XI. Sermons and Addresses, 1860-1918, n.d.
XII. Student Essays, 1854-1862, n.d.
XIII. Theological Files, 1893, n.d.
XIV. Topical Files, 1866-1867, 1875-1877, 1881, 1885, 1888-1897, 1919-1920, n.d.
XV. Writings, 1871-1998
Subseries 1. Writings by George Frederick Wright
Subseries 2. Writings by other authors
XVI. Photographs, 1849, 1899, n.d.
A clergyman, amateur geologist, and theology professor, George Frederick Wright was born in Whitehall, New York, on January 22, 1838. His parents, Walter and Mary Peabody Colburn Wright, were farmers. The Wrights lived on the edge of the “Burned-over District” of upstate New York, known for its evangelistic fever. Young Wright doubtless came to know about the vagaries of spiritualism, and he experienced a pious upbringing. His family’s interest in Oberlin College and Charles Grandison Finney made his eventual attendance at Oberlin inevitable. Oberlin’s founders and trustees of the Institute, John J. Shipherd (d. 1844) and Philo P. Stewart (d. 1868), were from towns in the vicinity of Whitehall. According to Wright’s autobiographical account, their influence led Wright’s father and uncle William Wright to join the early supporters of Oberlin College. Wright’s three brothers and two sisters, as well as several of his cousins, all attended Oberlin.
After attending country schools and the Castleton Seminary in Castleton, Vermont, Wright entered the senior class in Oberlin’s Preparatory Department in 1855. His classmates included Major John Wesley Powell, Emory Upton, and Elisha Gray. He, like many students at the time, supported his education by teaching school during the winter vacations. In his four years as an undergraduate student, he taught at several district schools around Ohio, in Franklin, Medina, Fayette, and Belmont Counties. Wright graduated from Oberlin College with an A.B. degree in 1859.
Wright subsequently enrolled in the Theological Seminary to study with Reverends Charles G. Finney, John Morgan, and Henry E. Peck. His studies were interrupted by the Civil War, however. In April 1861, Wright was among the first hundred Oberlin students to volunteer; these students formed Company C of the Seventh Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. Wright was invalided home that summer after contracting pneumonia, and he returned to Oberlin, ultimately receiving his theological degree in 1862.
Wright served as a Congregational pastor for nineteen years from 1862 to 1881. His first church was in Bakersfield, Vermont, where he served from 1862 to 1872. It was during his time in Vermont that Wright developed a strong interest in glacial deposits. He left Bakersfield for the Free Church in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1872 and was pastor there until 1881.
Wright returned to the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1881 as Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, replacing his former professor John Morgan who had retired one year earlier. In 1892 he was named Professor of the Harmony of Science and Revelation. This professorship, also known as the Cleveland Professorship, was specially endowed for Wright by alumni living in the Cleveland area. This position permitted Wright to teach a geology course in the College, in addition to his courses in the Theological Seminary, and also allowed him to devote part of each year to research. He became Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in 1907. During his retirement Wright gained a reputation as a local historian.
Wright’s first article “Ground of Confidence in Inductive Reasoning,” published in 1871, brought him to the attention of Harvard University botanist and Christian Darwinist Asa Gray (1810-1888). With Gray’s encouragement, Wright took on the task of reconciling the theory of evolution with Christian beliefs and thus joined the ranks of those known as Christian Darwinists.
Wright’s early writings advanced his reputation in scholarly circles as an evolutionist. In later years, however, he became a significant figure in fundamentalist circles. His shift toward fundamentalism came about in reaction to the growing trend of biblical criticism. Wright was a staunch defender of the infallibility of the Bible, and much of his later work was devoted to using scientific evidence to verify biblical accounts. Of his views Ronald L. Numbers writes:
<p style="margin-left:.5in;"> Although Wright never subscribed to a purely naturalistic form of Darwinism, and his final views on human evolution remain obscure, it is clear that he revised his opinions substantially. Most significantly, he gave up a relatively uniformitarian view of Darwinian evolution for a catastrophist theory of paroxysmal evolution, a switch he justified with frequent reference to Darwin’s mistakes and to the even more unforgivable errors of his followers. During his last years Wright unashamedly invoked miraculous acts of creation and felt ill at ease when people called him an “evolutionist.” (p. 644)
Wright’s long association with the respected theological journal Bibliotheca Sacra began in 1875 with the publication of a series of articles on evolution. While in Andover, Massachusetts, Wright worked as an assistant to editor Edwards A. Park, and, upon Park’s retirement in 1883, Wright took over as editor, a position he held until his death in 1921. With Wright as editor, the publication of Bibliotheca Sacra moved from Andover to Oberlin.
Although Wright’s formal scientific training was limited to his undergraduate courses at Oberlin, he continued to study geology throughout his life. During his years as an active minister, Wright’s geological interests became focused on the study of glacial deposits. His theory that gravel ridges in New England were the result of glacial deposits brought him to the attention of geologists. He soon became a respected member of scientific circles, and in 1881 Wright, with Henry Carvill Lewis (1853-1888), was asked to survey the glacial drift border in Pennsylvania as part of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. He continued this survey work independently, and later as part of the United States Geological Survey, to include Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.
Wright’s best-known geological work was The Ice Age in North America, and Its Bearings Upon the Antiquity of Man, published in 1889 by D. Appleton and Company. This well-received book, which was largely based upon his 1887 Lowell Institute lecture series, went through six editions. The positive reception led Wright to publish a new book in 1892. Man and the Glacial Period (also published by D. Appleton and Company) was essentially a condensed version of The Ice Age in North America with the addition of some new data. Unlike the earlier work, however, Man and the Glacial Period was met with attacks by a number of geologists who disagreed with Wright’s theory of a single Ice Age and questioned his scientific accuracy. Despite the fact that many geologists took his side in the debate, Wright lost much of his sense of belonging to the geological community and began to focus less of his time on geological matters and more on his theological studies.
While teaching at the Oberlin Theological Seminary, Wright devoted vacation periods to continuing his geological studies. In addition to examining geological formations across the United States, he traveled to Alaska in 1886 and Greenland in 1894 to study their glaciers. During his 1886 trip, Wright became the first person to study the Muir Glacier in Alaska. He also visited Europe several times between 1892 and 1908 to see archaeological sites and glacial phenomena. His most ambitious voyage was a 1900-01 trip across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe with his son, Frederick B. Wright, which came about from his desire for firsthand observation of geological conditions.
His geological interests expanded to include archaeology. He and his son, Frederick B. Wright, edited the archaeology journal Records of the Past, from its creation in 1901 until its 1914 merger with Art and Archaeology. During his retirement, he was president of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1907-19, and he was active in efforts to preserve prehistoric earthworks.
Wright was a prolific writer and a popular lecturer. He published sixteen books and nearly six hundred articles; during the last years of his life he averaged one article a month. Wright was invited three times to give lecture series at the Lowell Institute in Boston. These lecture series were “The Ice Age in North America” (1887), “The Antiquity and Origin of the Human Race” (1892), and “The Scientific Aspects of Christian Evidences” (1896). He also lectured in Japan at the beginning of his 1900-01 trip across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
He was honored in both theological and geological circles. Wright received two honorary degrees in 1887: the degree of Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) from Brown University and Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from Drury College in Springfield, Missouri. He was named a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 1890.
Throughout his many years living in Oberlin, he was an active community member. Wright was a longtime member of Second Congregational Church and was involved in its leadership for many years. He also had an interest in music and was a charter member of the Musical Union. With Professors Fenelon B. Rice and Edward Dickinson, Wright edited the hymnal New Manual of Praise: for Sabbath and Social Worship, published in 1901.
In addition to his theological and geological work, Wright was known as a local historian. He wrote a scholarly biography of Charles Grandison Finney that was published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company in 1891. Wright also compiled the two-volume work, A Standard History of Lorain County, published in 1916.
Wright married Hulda Maria Day (d. 1899) in August 1862. They had four children, all Oberlin graduates: Mary Augusta Wright Berle (1867-1940, A.B. 1889), Etta Maria Wright (1870-1943, A.B. 1893), Frederick Bennett Wright (1873-1922, S.B. 1897), and Helen Marcia Wright (1879-1983, A.B. 1902). In 1904, five years after his first wife’s death, he married Florence Eleanor Bedford (d. 1943). George Frederick Wright died in Oberlin of cardiac asthma on April 20, 1921, and he is buried in Westwood Cemetery in Oberlin.
Congregational churches--Clergy--Sources
Evolution--Religious aspects--Christianity--Sources
Geology--United States--Sources
Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, 1858--Sources
Oberlin College--Graduate School of Theology--History--Sources
Theology--Sources
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Sources
Wright, G. Frederick (George Frederick), 1838-1921--Sources
Repository: Oberlin College Archives
Accruals: Accessions: 61, 84, 130, 140, 1978/32, 1981/23, 2000/68, 2001/94, 2015/42
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted.
Acquisition Method: The George Frederick Wright Papers were received in eight accessions, 1968-2001, with the bulk of the material being transferred from the Oberlin College Library in 1968. The daguerreotypes and ambrotypes were received from a descendant of George Frederick Wright in 2015 (2015/042).
Related Materials:
The student and faculty files of G.F. Wright are found in RG 28 Alumni Records. Wright correspondence is found the Office of the Treasurer, RG 7/1/5, Box 31. Correspondence with Elisha Gray is in the records of the Physics Department, 9/5. Wright’s correspondence regarding the plagiarism controversy between E.H. House and James K. Newton is in the Library autograph file, RG 16/5, filed under “H.” Additional correspondence may be found in the papers of Henry Churchill King (RG 2/6), James Harris Fairchild (RG 2/3), and in the Jones Family Papers (RG 30/107). Oberlin College Annual Reports, 1892-1902, include reports from Wright summarizing his activities. Notes taken by students in classes taught by Wright are in RG 19/6. Researchers interested in the Graduate School of Theology should consult RG 11. The papers of G.F. Wight's son, Frederick Bennett Wright (RG 30/412) contain photographs taken during a research trip for the book Asiatic Russia, written by his father.
Oberlin College Special Collections holds additional printed material relating to George Frederick Wright.
Finding Aid Revision History: Processed by Melissa Gottwald, October 2000. Revised by Rebecca Deeb, September 2001; Melissa Gottwald, October 2001.
Other URL: http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/archon_pdfs/Wright_George_Inventory.pdf
