Henry Churchill King Presidential Papers, 1873-1934, undated | Oberlin College Archives

By William E. Bigglestone, Anne Cuyler Salsich

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Collection Overview

Title: Henry Churchill King Presidential Papers, 1873-1934, undated

Predominant Dates:1902-1927

ID: RG 2/006

Primary Creator: King, Henry Churchill (1858-1934)

Other Creators: Crane, Charles Richard (1858-1939), Inter-allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey. American Section

Extent: 69.44 Linear Feet

Arrangement:

FONDS DESCRIPTIONS

The papers and other materials fall into these general categories, but have not been separated into series: I. Professional Correspondence; II. Topical Files; III. Talks and Writings; IV. Personal Correspondence; V. Appointment and Date Books; VI. King-Crane Commission Papers; VII. Personal Materials; VIII. Literary Files; IX. Materials Received in 1998; X. Materials Received in 2012; XI. Materials Received in 2014; XII. Diplomas and Maps. Categories I, II, VI, VII, and the index and calendar to the correspondence are available on microfilm (54 reels, 35mm.) in the Oberlin College Archives. The King-Crane Commission Papers are available in digital format online.

Date Acquired: 01/01/1967. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Inter-allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey--American Section, King, Henry Churchill, 1858-1934--Archives, Oberlin College--Faculty, Oberlin College--History--20th century--Sources, Oberlin College--Presidents, Palestine., World War, 1914-1918--Territorial questions--Turkey

Forms of Material: appointment books, clothing, daguerreotypes, diaries, letters (correspondence), manuscripts, maps, microfilm, petitions, photographic prints, photographs, photographs - daguerreotypes, photographs - photographic prints, postcards, publications, records (documents), speeches

Languages: English, French, Arabic, Turkish, German

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Henry Churchill King Presidential Papers abundantly document King’s service to Oberlin College as teacher, preacher, and president. His contributions to wartime Europe as a chaplain and diplomat are also well recorded. Two-thirds of the papers consist of professional correspondence (1897-1928), alphabetically arranged by correspondent; a name index and calendar (1976) to the bulk of this correspondence is available in the Archives. Correspondents include Cass Gilbert, Charles Martin Hall, Hastings H. Hart, Anson Phelps Stokes, and Wayne B. Wheeler. Half of the remaining third of the collection includes subject files pertaining to the organizations to which Mr. King belonged or with which he was associated, such as the Y.M.C.A., Near East Relief, National Council of Congregational Churches, and the Commission on Missions of the National Council of Congregational Churches. A significant collection of papers and photographs originating from the Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey in 1919 comprise roughly 0.8 linear feet plus additional oversize material. Also present in the collection are datebooks, diaries, clippings, and printed materials. The 1998/146 accession, from Ernestine Evans King, comprises two sets of Arab garments given to H.C. King by Emir Feisal in 1919.

Collection Historical Note

Henry Churchill King was born in Hillsdale, Michigan on September 18, 1858. He was the son of Henry James and Sarah (Lee) King, his father being at that time secretary and treasurer of Hillsdale College.

King received his A.B. degree from Oberlin in 1879, and his B.D. from the Theological Seminary in 1882. That year he married Julia Coates King. He took graduate work at Harvard and in Berlin, and held honorary doctorates from Oberlin, Western Reserve, Yale, the University of Chicago, Harvard, the University of Illinois, Miami University, Columbia and Colgate.

Dr. King began his long service for Oberlin as a tutor in the Preparatory Department in 1879. He became associate professor of mathematics in the College in 1884, took over the teaching of philosophy in 1890, and the same year became College Registrar. He served as Dean of the College for one year, and at the end of that time, in 1902, was elected President. He remained in that office until his retirement in June, 1927. His connection with Oberlin's teaching and administrative staff extended over forty-eight years.

Henry Churchill King was one of the charter members of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He was president of the Religious Education Association, 1907-08; of the Ohio College Association, 1907-09; of the American Missionary Association from 1913 to 1919; of the Association of American Colleges in 1916. He was for six years chairman of the Commission on Missions of the National Council of Congregational Churches, and was National Moderator of Congregational Churches from 1919 to 1921. From 1921 to 1927 he acted as chairman of the Congregational Foundation for Education.

During the War, Dr. King was for some months Director of the Religious Work Department of the Y.M.C.A. in France. Shortly after the Armistice he was appointed, with Charles R. Crane, American representative on the Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey. For his signal work on this Commission he was in 1920 made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France.

Dr. King was the author of nineteen books, most of them published during the years of his administration. Among the best-known are: Reconstruction in Theology; Theology and the Social Consciousness; Rational Living; and The Laws of Friendship, Human and Divine.

A great alumni reunion marked Dr. King's last Commencement in 1927; and at the Centennial Commencement in June he was honored as the first recipient of the Alumni Distinguished Service Medal. King died at his home in Oberlin in 1934. He was in his seventy-sixth year. He was survived by his wife Julia Coates King and by three sons--President Philip Coates King of Washburn University; Dr. Donald Storrs King of Boston, Mass.; and Edgar Weld King, Librarian of Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. A fourth son, Harold Lee King, professor in Oberlin's history department, died in 1926.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Biographical sketch adapted from a notice in the March, 1934 issue of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine.

Subject/Index Terms

Inter-allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey--American Section
King, Henry Churchill, 1858-1934--Archives
Oberlin College--Faculty
Oberlin College--History--20th century--Sources
Oberlin College--Presidents
Palestine.
World War, 1914-1918--Territorial questions--Turkey

Administrative Information

Repository: Oberlin College Archives

Accruals: Accession No: 1987/012, 1998/031, 1998/049, 1998/146, 2002/004, 2012/020, 2014/037, 2015/010

Access Restrictions: Certain papers accessible on microfilm. Entire set of King-Crane Commission materials is restricted to handling; use digital format available online. Garments are restricted.

Acquisition Method: The bulk of the King papers were transferred to the Oberlin College Archives in 1967 from an Oberlin College office, unspecified. In 1987 Ernestine Evans King donated a book by Herman Lotz, 1890, heavily annotated by H.C. King. Additional materials were received in 1998 from Peg Dalphin and Ernestine Evans King in advance of a special exhibit in the Library on the King-Crane Commission drawing on the Henry Churchill King Presidential Papers. A file of material by Pullem Hans in German was transferred from the Library’s Special Collections in 2002. In 2012 three additional files of material were received from Ernestine Evans King.

Related Materials:

See also these King family paper collections:

King, Donald Storrs (30/339)

King, Hazel Barker (30/211)

King, Leonard & Julia (30/183)

Related Publications: Donald M. Love, Henry Churchill King of Oberlin, Yale University Press, 1956.

Processing Information: Processed by William E. Bigglestone, 1976.

Finding Aid Revision History: Revised by Archives staff, April 1995; Anne Cuyler Salsich, July 2012, August 2014, April 2015, February 2017, March 2022; Louisa C. Hoffman, May 2024.

Other Note: Microfilm Note: Categories I, II, VI, VII, and the index and calendar to the correspondence are available on microfilm (54 reels, 35mm.)

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series I: Professional Correspondence, 1897-1928, undated],
[Series II: Topical Files, 1903-1934],
[Series III: Talks, Writings, Lectures, Notes, and Other Class Materials, 1883-1928, undated],
[Series IV: Personal Correspondence, 1909-1927],
[Series V: Datebooks, 1919-1927],
[Series VI: King-Crane Commission Papers, 1918-1963, undated],
[Series VII: Personal Materials, 1881-1932, undated],
[Series VIII: Literary Files, 1890, undated],
[Series IX: Materials Received in 1998, 1837-1998, undated],
[Series X: Materials Received in 2012, 1922-1934],
[Series XI: Materials Received in 2014 and 2015, 1927],
[Series XII: Diplomas and Maps, 1879-1901],
[All]

Series II: Topical Files, 1903-1934

Box 83

Folder 6: American Council on Education, 1918-1920, 1925-1927
Folder 7: American Council on Organic Union of the Churches of Christ, 1920-1921
Folder 8: American Institute of International Education, 1924-1926
Folder 4: American Institute of Social Service, 1915-1918

Box 84

Folder 1: American Missionary Association, 1916-1919
Folder 2: American Social Hygiene Association, 1924-1926
Folder 3: Annual Report–Miscelleneous, ca. 1916-1917, 1919
Folder 4: Annual Report–Miscelleneous, ca. 1916-1917, 1919
Folder 5: Association of American Colleges, 1924-1926
Folder 6: Association of Colleges of Congregational Affiliation, 1923-1924
Folder 7: Board of Missionary Preparation, 1914-1923
Folder 8: Board of Missionary Preparation, 1914-1923
Folder 9: Board of Missionary Preparation, 1914-1923
Folder 10: Board of Missionary Preparation, 1914-1923
Folder 11: Bohn–Financial, 1913-1924

Box 85

Folder 1: Carnegie Corporation of New York, 1924-1927
Folder 2: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1905-1922

Box 86

Folder 1: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1905-1927

Box 87

Folder 1: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1912-1924
Folder 2: Church Peace Union, 1921-1927
Folder 3: Citizens Committee of One Thousand for Law Enforcement, 1925-1927
Folder 4: College Presidents–Congregational Interchurch World Movement, 1920

Box 88

Folder 1: College Survey, 1920-1921
Folder 2: Commission on Comity, Federation & Unity (National Council of Congregational Churches), 1921-1923
Folder 3: Commission on the Church & Social Service (Federal Council of the churches of Christ in America: Committee on Direction), 1917-1921
Folder 4: Commission on Missions of the National Council of Congregational Churches, 1916-1919

Box 89

Folder 1: Commission on Missions of the National Council of Congregational Churches, 1916-1927

Box 90

Folder 1: Commission on Missions of the National Council of Congregational Churches, 1923-1925
Folder 2: Committee on Cooperation in Latin America: Latin American Conference, 1915-1919

Box 91

Folder 1: Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, 1920-1927
Folder 2: Committee on Work among Congregational Students–Ohio State University, 1920-1923
Folder 3: Community Church in Oberlin, 1916-1920

Box 92

Folder 1: Congregational Foundation for Education, 1921-1927

Box 93

Folder 1: Congregational Foundation for Education, 1921-1927
Folder 2: Departmental Needs, 1914-1927
Folder 3: Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America: Administrative Committee–Executive Council, etc., 1920-1924
Folder 4: American Mayflower Council, 1919-1920
Folder 5: Commission on Christian Education, 1916-1917
Folder 6: Commission on International Justice and Goodwill, 1920-1926
Folder 7: Committee on Relations with Eastern Churches, 1924-1927

Box 94

Folder 1: Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America: Committee on Relations with Japan, 1916-1917
Folder 2: Committee on the War and the Religious Outlook, 1917-1920

Box 95

Folder 1: Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America: Department of Research and Education, 1925-1926
Folder 2: Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America: General, 1918-1928
Folder 3: Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America: General War-time Commission of the Churches, 1917-1919
Folder 4: Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America: Study Council on the Churches & World Peace, 1925
Folder 5: Fellowship for a Christian Social Order, 1921-1927
Folder 6: Financial Campaign, 1922-1924

Box 96

Folder 1: Financial Campaign, 1922-1924
Folder 2: Fraternities, 1915-1917
Folder 3: Fund for the Relief of Men of Letters & Scientists in Russia, 1919

Box 97

Folder 1: Geiser, Professor Karl F. (re.), undated
Folder 2: General Education Board, 1920-1924
Folder 3: Gilbert, Cass (re.), ca. 1926
Folder 4: Greetings–Commencement, 1927
Folder 5: Hall Estate Matters–Correspondence, 1914-1926
Folder 6: Honorary Degree Suggestions, 1911-1922

Box 98

Folder 1: Honorary Degree Suggestions, 1923-1927
Folder 2: Interchurch World Movement, 1919-1920
Folder 3: International Council of Congregational Churches, 1920-1921
Folder 4: International Serbian Educational Committee, 1920-1921
Folder 5: King, H.C.–Death Notices, 1934
Folder 6: League of Nations Non-Partisan Association, 1924-1927

Box 99

Folder 1: League to Enforce Peace, 1916-1919
Folder 2: Library Endowment, 1906
Folder 3: Moro Education Foundation, 1924-1927
Folder 4: National Collegiate Athletic Associaton, 1924-1927
Folder 5: National Committee for Better Films, 1919

Box 100

Folder 1: National Committee for Constructive Immigration Legislation, 1918-1924
Folder 2: National Committee on American Japanese Relations, 1921-1927
Folder 3: National Committee on the Churches & the Moral Aims of the War, 1918-1919
Folder 4: National Conference on the Christian Way of Life, 1922-1926
Folder 5: National Council of Congregational Churches–Commission on Education, 1919
Folder 6: National Council of Congregational Churches–General, 1919-1925

Box 101

Folder 1: National Council of Congregational Churches–Printed Matter, 1919
Folder 2: National Council of Schools of Religion, 1922-1924
Folder 3: National Council on Religion in Higher Education, 1924-1926
Folder 4: National Education Association, 1924-1927
Folder 5: National Institution for Moral Instruction (Milton Fairchild), 1910-1926
Folder 6: National Research Council, 1925-1927
Folder 7: National Temperance Council, 1925-1927
Folder 8: Near East Relief, 1920-1921

Box 102

Folder 1: Near East Relief, 1922-1926
Folder 2: Near East Relief–College & School Committee, 1922-1925
Folder 3: Near East Relief & Colleges, 1924-1928
Folder 4: Near East Relief–Golden Rule Committee, 1924-1927
Folder 5: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1920

Box 103

Folder 1: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1921-1922 September
Folder 2: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1921-1922 September
Folder 3: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1921-1922 September
Folder 4: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1921-1922 September
Folder 5: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1921-1922 September
Folder 6: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1921-1922 September

Box 104

Folder 1: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January
Folder 2: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January
Folder 3: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January
Folder 4: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January
Folder 5: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January
Folder 6: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January
Folder 7: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January
Folder 8: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January
Folder 9: Near East Relief–Board of Trustees or Executive Committee, 1922 October-1924 January

Box 105A

Folder 1: Ohio College Association, 1924-1927
Folder 2: Ohio Council of Churches, 1924-1926
Folder 3: Ohio Federation of Churches, 1922
Folder 4: Pilgrim Memorial Fund, 1919-1924
Folder 5: Pullem Hans, 1922: Letters and writings in German
Folder 6: Rose Institute Case Tax Decision, 1913-1915

Box 105B

Folder 1: Religious Education Association, 1906-1927
Folder 2: Religious Education Association, 1906-1927
Folder 3: Religious Education Association, 1906-1927
Folder 4: Religious Education Association, 1906-1927
Folder 5: Religious Education Association, 1906-1927
Folder 6: Religious Education Association, 1906-1927
Folder 7: Religious Education Association, 1906-1927

Box 106

Folder 1: Replies to Invitations to Inauguration, 1903
Folder 2: Society for the Promotion of Training for Public Service, 1915-1917
Folder 3: Student Army Training Corps, 1918-1919
Folder 4: Study of Higher Education: Florida, Georgia, Montana, and South Dakota, ca. 1920
Folder 5: Sunday School & YMCA War Work Council, 1917-1918
Folder 6: Tobacco Legislation, 1918-1923

Box 107

Folder 1: Trustee Committee on Appointments, 1925-1926
Folder 2: Trustee Letters, 1917-1928: Includes general topics, plus moving the gymnasium (1920), increasing number of meetings (1926), honorary degrees (1925-1927), and change of pensions (1927).
Folder 3: United Society of Christian Endeavor, 1924-1927
Folder 4: Universal Christian Conference on Life & Work, 1922-1926
Folder 5: World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches, 1924-1927

Box 108

Folder 1: World Alliance of the Churches, 1916-1923
Folder 2: World Conference on Faith & Order, 1924-1926
Folder 3: YMCA Advance Program–Student Associations, 1923
Folder 4: YMCA International Committee–Value of War Work, 1919
Folder 5: YMCA Letters, 1916-1927