Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Christian Education Office of the General Secretary Records

Descriptive Summary

Title

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Christian Education Office of the General Secretary Records

Inclusive Dates

1964-1973

Call Number

RG 123

Creator(s)

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Christian Education. Office of the General Secretary.

Quantity

6.00 cubic feet

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. Medical, educational, and psychological records of living people are closed.

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Administrative History

The General Secretary was the chief executive officer of the Board of Christian Education of the PCUSA/UPCUSA. The Board was one of four major boards of the Church, along with those of National Missions, Foreign Missions and Pensions. It was organized as the Board of Christian Education in 1923, but its history began in 1819 under other official names. The Board provided scholarships, field education, and continuing education; during the years of Gailey's secretaryship it administered the Commission on Religion and Race, created in 1963 to involve the church in the struggle for racial equality. It was dissolved in 1973 during a church wide reorganization of board and agencies, and its functions were dispersed among the newly created agencies.

James Reed Gailey was born in 1905. He attended the University of Delaware and Princeton Theological Seminary. After ordination he served churches in Smyrna, DE and in Bristol, PA. He began his association with the Board of Christian Education in 1944 as a field director. In 1948 he joined the headquarters staff, and in 1962 he became Associate General Secretary. In 1965, upon the retirement of William Morrison, Gailey was elected General Secretary. He held this post until the dissolution of the Board in 1973.

Collection Overview

Record Group 123 comprises the files of General Secretary Gailey's term of office. It includes correspondence, minutes and reports. It deals with civil rights matters such as the Angela Davis Defense Fund, the Black Manifesto, and the Council on Church and Race. Gailey superintended the sale of the Witherspoon Building, built in Philadelphia in 1896 to house the headquarters of the Church.

Organization and Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically.

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Collection processed and container list prepared: February 1976
Frederick M. Schalow, Archivist

Notes added to finding aid: February 1992
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Corporate Subject

Angela Davis Legal Defense Fund.

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Council on Church and Race.

Witherspoon Building (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Title Subject

Black Manifesto.

Topical Subject

Race relations Religious aspects Presbyterian Church.

African Americans.

Religious education.

Genre-form

Minutes. aat

Property records. aat

Personal Added Name

Gailey, James Reed, 1905-

Corporate Added Name

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Council on Church and Race.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Finding Aid to Record Group 123

1	2	Correspondence, A-B, 1970-71
	3	Balasz, the Rev. Joseph, 1964-66
	4	Black Manifesto, 1969
	5	Board of Christian Education--Policy
	6	Committee on Budget Planning, 1970
	7	Committee of 15, 1970
	8-10	Council on Church and Race, 1970-71
	11	Correspondence, C
	12	Communications
	13	Continuing Education
	14	Davis, Angela
	15	Distinguished Service Awards
	16	Driscoll, Margaret--Trusts, 1964-72
	17	Correspondence, E
	18-19	Electronic Data Processing
	20	Freak Correspondence

2	1-2	Family Education Research
	3	General Assembly, 1973
	4	1970-72; Reactions to Standing
	5	Committee on Christian Education, 1972
	6	Committee on Christian Education, 1970
	7-8	General Assemblies, miscellaneous
	9	General Assemblies, Department of History, 1966-73
	10-12	General Assemblies, Program Agency

3	1	General Assemblies, Self-Development of People
	2	General Assemblies, General Assembly--Special Committees
	3	General Assemblies, Support Agency
	4	General Assemblies, Vocation Agency
	5-9	General Assemblies, Task Forces, Restructuring
	10	General Assemblies, Task Force on Support Agency
	11	General Assemblies, Task Forces, Restructuring
	12-15	General Council

4	1	Handbook
	2	Interboard Office of Personnel Services
	3	Instroteach
	4	Inter-American Concerns--Coordinating Committee
	5	Joint Education Development
	6	Joint Budget Conference
	7	Laboratory Training Office
	8	Correspondence, M, 1969-71
	9	Correspondence, N
	10	National Christian Education Conference, 1970-72
	11	Correspondence, P
	12	Pack, Arthur N.
	13	Board of Pensions
	14-20	Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS)

5	1	PCUS
	2-5	Presbyterian Laymen
	6	Project Education--City Churches
	7	Publishing Operations--Manager
	8	Correspondence, R
	9	Resource Materials
	10	Roman Catholic Relations
	11	Correspondence, S
	12	Staff Notices
	13	Planning Procedures
	14	Restructure
	15	Correspondence, T
	16	Council on Theological Education
	17	Time Chart--Calendar of Events
	18	Treasurer
	19	Correspondence, U

6	1	United Church of Christ
	2	Visitors
	3	Correspondence, W
	4	Washington Office (UPCUSA)
	5	White House Conference on Children and Aging
	6	Task Force on Women
	7	World Arts Foundation, Inc.
	8	World Council of Christian Education
	9-11	World Council of Churches
	12-13	World Alliance of Reformed Churches
	14	Worship and Music--Joint Office
	15	Youth Ministry
	16	World of Youth Study
	17	Leaves of Absence for Study

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Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Christian Education Office of the General Secretary Records

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