Emerson gave us last Monday evening the most brilliant lecture I ever listened to from any mortal. It was on the identity of the laws of the mind with the laws of nature. He proved conclusively that man is only a higher kind of corn, that he is a squirrel gone up into the first class, that he is a liberated oyster fully educated, that he is a spiritualized pumpkin, a thinking squash, a graduated sun-flower, and inspired turnip. Such imagery, such wit, such quaint things said in a tone solemn and sublime! I have the most profound respect henceforth for every melon-vine as my ancestor (melancholic thought). I look upon every turtle as of kin. Tonight he lectures again. I fear I may lose it.
Page 3 of letter from Thomas Starr King to Randolph Ryer, January 29, 1849.
John Pairman (Jock) Brown passed away on April 5, 2010. He was a lecturer at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in the sixties, a visiting scholar at GTU and active in Friends of the Library for many years. In addition to his scholarly efforts, much of his activities supported peace and justice through such organizations as the Ecumenical Peace Institute, an arm of Clergy and Laity Concerned.
Brown initiated the Sacred Text lectures at the library in 1993, providing the very first address: What Makes a Text Sacred? The lecture continues as one of GTU's most interesting annual events.
Son of two mathematicians (Eleanor Pairman and Bancroft Brown), he studied mathematics and the classics at Dartmouth and Harvard, served in the US Army Air Corp, and received a doctorate from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He taught classics at the American University in Beirut and then returned to the US.
Brown was a mentor for Richard York, directing minister of the Berkeley Free Church, which ran from 1967 to 1972. Brown became the resident theologian to the church, applying his profound knowledge of classical literature and the New Testament to the experimental ministry. He was beaten by police without provocation during one of the many protests in the late sixties. Such incidents and the difficulty in finding a hospital that would treat street people, led to founding the free medical clinic in Berkeley. His house became a central point for processing donations to pay legal expenses for those arrested during the initial People's Park protests. His wife Emily Waymouth Brown created and managed Win with Love (4 publications 1969-1971), described as "A Comprehensive Directory of the Liberated Church including Peace organizations; Youth Switchboards; National resource groups; Immigrant aid centers in Canada."
Beginning with a great deal of media attention and influencing the creation of support services on multiple levels in Berkeley, the Free Church collapsed in a whimper of internal struggles in 1971-72. Brown continued his work for peace and wrote his well received writings on Israel and Hellas.
Brown's style is supremely clear. Below is a sample, addressing the need to study the past, from the preface of Ancient Israel and Ancient Greece: Religion Politics and Culture (2003, p x.):
In decades when the human race faces unprecedented dangers--political, military, environmental--I propose that one necessary feature of our response is to study how we got where we are. From the civilizations of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates we can learn most of all not to repeat their false starts; from Iran ...the dangers of imperialism. Rome, heir to both Israel and Greece, as well as of Iran and the Hellenistic empires, is here seen as a bridge to the ambiguities and dilemmas of our world. In the end, then, this work is a plea for better and deeper understanding of the societies that lie behind us in our best moments."
Brown is well worth further study. His books and articles on Israel and Hellas are available in the library. His efforts for peace and justice, as well as liturgical reform, can be found in materials from the Berkeley Free Church Collection, which links to images on line, and from his books, several of which are on Internet Archive. A few images and two articles about him are at our Digital Content site.
One of the commemorative posters from the Sanctuary Oral History Project Collection
Thirty years ago Oscar Romero was shot and killed while celebrating mass in the chapel of a hospital. The date prompts commemorative activities in El Salvador and across the world in recognition of his courage in confronting a repressive regime. Of course, he still has his enemies, who condemn him as a recruiter for Marxism and not as a martyr for human rights.
In the early 1980s, refugees from Central America became the focus of the Sanctuary Movement. Faced with civil war, military aggression and terror, citizens left the country and joined refugee camps in Honduras or traveled north to Mexico and then to the United States. US policy did not recognize Central Americans, or El Salvadorans, as qualifying for refugee status. Those who were caught were deported and returned to their countries. Becoming aware of the situation, churches responded to the needs of the refugees by offering sanctuary.
On March 24, 1982, five congregations in Berkeley and one in Phoenix, Arizona, publicly committed to "protect, defend and advocate for" men, women and children fleeing from Guatemala and El Salvador. Churches throughout the country joined in this movement. After protection was no longer necessary for Central American refugees, the movement continued, focusing on issues with immigrants from throughout the world
For the past few months, we've been adding materials from our collections on the sanctuary movement to our digital content site. Of special note are transcripts of 12 of the leaders of the movement, part of an oral history project begun by Eileen Purcell, one of the movement leaders.
This Saturday, March 27, an Archbishop Oscar Romero Commemoration will be held at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, beginning at 11 am. Carla DeSola and the Omega West Dance Company will be among the performers.
The Graduate Theological Union : A Vision of Excellence, 1983. To view enter: GTU2400.
The Graduate Theological Union: A Vision of Excellence (1983) was commissioned by the GTU Development Office as part of the Capital Campaign to raise funds for the completion of the GTU library. The tape was produced, written and narrated by George Conklin and Linda McFadden. Among those interviewed are Mary Ann Donovan, JTSB; Benjamin Reist, SFTS; Claude Welch, academic dean; Bishop John Cummins, Diocese of Oakland; Joseph Asher, Rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco; William Herzog, ABSW; John Coleman, JTSB; Will Herzfeld, PLTS; Teruo Kawata, PSR; and Michael Blecker, president of GTU. This video, converted from a VHS tape, jumps and skips.
Voices of the GTU premiered at the inauguration of James A. Donahue as President in February 2001. Produced by Kevin C. Koczela and Greg Tarin, the short film is a series of interviews with students and faculty explaining their experience at GTU. Those interviewed include Donahue; Margaret Miles, dean and vp for academic affairs; Judith Berling, former dean; John Dillenberger, former dean and president; Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, faculty; Ruth Ohm, student; Kirk Wegter-McNeilly, student; and Nancy Pineda-Madrid, student. The archives has the complete videotaped interviews of each person interviewed.
These are two of the videos from the archives. We also have three others that we have not yet received permission to post, but which can be viewed within the library:
Holy Hill was aired on KRON-4's local news-magazine program --30 Minutes: Assignment Four--on December 14, 1974. The report is anchored by Phil Wilson. Among the students featured are Alda Clark Marsh Morgan, wearing a headscarf, and Jacob K. Moody, with the glasses and short curly hair. Claude Welch, John Bennett and John C. Coleman are also interviewed. The original is on a Sony V-30H tape. This digital copy was transferred from the VHS show copy, which is a little jumpy.
A Holy Alliance: Part 1 The New Seminarian and Part 2 Devotion and Diversity ran on the CBS Sunday morning show For Our Times in 1984. The show was produced by Chalmers Dale and Pamela Ilott and narrated by Douglas Edwards. The show focuses on the changes in theological education at the Graduate Theological Union. There are interviews with presidents, deans, faculty and students from the various GTU member schools. Topics discussed include cooperation with University of California-Berkeley, minority clergy education, what it means to be in the ministry, the work of the church in the world and Catholic Religious Life.
My 20th century : the Graduate Theological Union aired March 30, 2001 on KTVU-TV 2, 10 o'clock news. George Watson produced and narrates this television segment which aired March 30, 2001 on KTVU-TV 10 o'clock news about the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., its history and in the present day. Shots of the present day are intercut with historical film footage about Berkeley. James Donahue, President of the GTU, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Assistant Professor of Theology and Womanist Studies, and Laura Kakis, Director of the Pacific School of Religion Choir are interviewed. The segment includes shots of the area, the GTU Library, classes in session, and a choir rehearsal.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Gus Schultz, reception at First Congregational Church in Berkeley, 1994
During my dialogue with the GTU community, I recounted the story of my meeting with a group of students in Haiti a month before the December 1990 elections. In that meeting, the students and I talked about the harsh realities that the nation was facing--an 85% illiteracy rate, a repressive military that consumes 45% of the national budget, an economy that benefits only the elite. As we spoke, one student , drawing an analogy to water, asked a profound question about the future of the country: "Can one single drop of fresh water change an entire glass of salt water?" I answered with two questions: "How many drops of water does it take to make rain? How many rivers does it take to cause a flood?"
The answer to both questions is "many."
Letter to Dr. Glenn R. Bucher from Jean-Bertrand Aristide, May 4, 1994
Haiti's problems have always seemed to be nearly insurmountable. The January 12 earthquake resulted in a staggering lost of life (approaching 300,000 by one count) and of support structures.
Michael Deibert writes today in the Chronicle of Higher Education about the destruction of the university facilities in Port-au-Prince and the loss of many students and professors. Among the intellectual leaders who died were Micha Gaillard, a university professor and political activist; Myriam Merlet, founder of Enfofamn; lawyer Magalie Marcelin, who established Kay Fanm (Woman's House); and Anne Marie Coriolan, who founded the group Solidarité Fanm Ayisyen (Solidarity With Haitian Women).
For those who have yet to send donations to support aid to Haiti, a few agencies are suggested at the GTU site.
We recently updated the finding aid for the National Sanctuary Defense Fund (NSDF) Collection in order to post it to Online Archives of California. While much of the NSDF efforts were initially to help refugees and those who were arrested for helping refugees from Central America, by the nineties the fund had broadened to include most immigrant populations into the US.
Haiti received particular attention due to the forced removal by military of the former priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had been elected as president, resulting in persecution of proponents of democracy and US issues with refugees.
GTU invited Aristide to speak at the First Congregation Church in Berkeley on April 17, 1994. The City of Berkeley declared that Sunday, Haitian National Day. The NSDF sponsored the reception to raise money to support Haitians affected by the military actions. Above, Gus Schultz, minister at University Lutheran Church, and board president of the NSDF, welcomes the deposed president. Aristide spoke later that week at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco and at Stanford.
Over seventy years ago, religious leaders in the Bay Area raised $100,00 to construct a Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace for the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island.
San Francisco's Temple represented all faiths, unlike the Temple of Religion at the 1938 World's Fair in New York City that only represented Protestants, Catholics and Jews. Also, as involvement in the second world war seemed increasingly inevitable, for the last eight Sundays of the exposition the organization sponsored a series of events and lectures to promote peace and keep America out of the conflict.
Treasure Island was later seized from the City and County of San Francisco by the Navy for use as a base during World War II.
We recently received a scrapbook and other materials collected by Fred D. Parr, Parr was the President of the California Church Council and Vice-President and Chairman of the Finance Committee for Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, Inc.
The scrapbook details the events surrounding the Temple. Besides the activities of local religious organizations, there were a number of curious crises. One mural met with great concern. The depiction of Jesus by Austrian artist Franz Bergmann seemed too dark and "lacking in spirituality and kindness" by many clergymen. Moses appeared too stern and, in a departure from usual form, mostly bald. Bergmann agreed to soften both figures.
Among the exhibits were archeological artifacts from the Palestine Institute (now Bade Institute of Biblical Archaeology) of Pacific School of Religion, a Marcus Whitman exhibit from San Francisco Theological Seminary, and the John Howell exhibit of Bibles, later donated to PSR.
For more information about the Fred D. Parr: Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, Golden Gate International Exhibition Collection, 1938 – 1939, GTU 2009-11-01, please contact the archivist at archives@gtu.edu.
Statue of Thomas Starr King as unveiled in Washington, DC, 1932
I hear frequently the charge that I preach politics, and that it will make trouble if I do not desist. This undoubtedly refers to the frequency of the treatment I have given, during the last year or so, to the Christian spirit and obligation of humanity, and the application I have often made of it to our responsibility as members of the American government, as entrusted in part with the destiny of an Empire. Wherever there is power there is trust and duty. The preacher’s business is with spiritual laws, and their bearing upon or their application with the duties and the action of common life. If I think and see clearly how a great spiritual principle may be honored by the method in which you can trade, or use your money or exercise your genius, or live at home, am I not bound to interpret that way, leaving it for your conscience and your insight to accept or refuse my interpretation? Sermon at Hollis Church, Boston, 1856
The statue of Thomas Starr King, which had been on display since 1932 in Statuary Hall in the Capital as one of the heroes of California, is being dedicated at its new location in Sacramento on December 8, 2009, at 1:30 pm. The statue will greet visitors entering the Civil War Grove in Capitol Park.
King's statue was replaced by one of a smiling Ronald Reagan in June this year. The Reagan Foundation donated $35,000 to move the King statue to Sacramento.
King only spent four years in San Francisco before succumbing to pneumonia at the age of 39 in 1864 but his impact was tremendous. A Unitarian Universalist minister, he campaigned actively for the Union cause throughout the state during the Civil War. A small man with a commanding voice, King promoted a love of nature and a love of his fellow man. Besides his efforts to support the Union, he campaigned for support of the Sanitary Commission, a predecessor to the Red Cross, to care for sick and wounded Union soldiers. California raised about 25% of the nearly $5 million for the organization.
In conjunction with the dedication ceremony for the statue, a Thomas Starr King exhibit is on display at the State Capitol Museum through June 30, 2010. The GTU Archives contributed a few items from the Starr King Collection: a traveling case used on his trip from New York to San Francisco, an ambrotype of his wife Julia, and a copy of his journal of the voyage to California.
The GTU archives maintains the collection for the Starr King School of Ministry. For additional information, please contact the archivist at archives@gtu.edu or view the finding aid. We recently put online the book on the 1932 unveiling of the statue in Washington, some photographs, and a scrapbook maintained by Charles W. Wendte.
