Guide to the Edward L. R. Elson Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Edward L. R. Elson Papers

Inclusive Dates

1920-1988

Bulk Dates

1924-1988

Call Number

RG 253

Creator(s)

Elson, Edward L. R. (Edward Lee Roy), 1906-1993.

Quantity

10.00 cubic feet (14 boxes)

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Digital Content

To browse this collection's digital content visit Pearl.

Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not be available on Pearl or in their entirety.

Repository

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

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

Edward L.R. Elson was born on December 23, 1906, in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Asbury College (Wilmore, Kentucky) in 1928. After studying one year at Asbury Theological Seminary, he pursued post-graduate study for nearly four years in the Graduate Schools of Religion, Philosophy, and Education at the University of Southern California, receiving the degree of Master of Theology in 1931. In 1929 he married Frances Sandys, who died in 1933. Elson was remarried in 1937 to Helen Chittick.

Edward Elson was ordained by the Presbytery of Los Angeles at Santa Monica, California on April 27, 1930. He served as assistant minister in the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica from 1929 until 1931. In September of 1931 he was called to be minister of the First Presbyterian Church of La Jolla, California and served there for ten years.

In 1930 Elson was appointed Chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve, and prior to the outbreak of World War II entered extended active duty. He completed nearly five years of continuous service and rose to the rank of Colonel. At the end of the war, Elson was General Eisenhower's emissary to the German Protestant Church Consistory and consulted on the reconstruction of the German Protestant Church. He was present at the capture of Landsberg and Dachau Concentration Camps, conducted investigations of the imprisoned clergy at Dachau, and witnessed the execution of Private Eddie Slovik in 1945.

In 1946, Elson was called to the Pastorate of the Covenant-First Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. He served as Pastor ad Interim until 1947. When he became pastor, Elson succeeded in establishing the National Presbyterian Church on the foundation of the Covenant-First Presbyterian Church in October of 1947.

As pastor of the National Presbyterian Church, Elson served presidents and heads of state, including Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower (he baptized and confirmed President Eisenhower in 1953). Elson was also instrumental in the campaign for a new building for the National Presbyterian Church. The campaign began in 1960, and resulted in the completion of the new church in 1969. Edward Elson was pastor at the National Presbyterian Church until 1973, when he was named Minister Emeritus.

Elson served as moderator of the Presbytery of Los Angeles in 1938, moderator of Washington City Presbytery in 1966, and commissioner to the General Assembly six times. He served as president of the Council of Churches of Greater Washington from 1952-54, and headed the Military Chaplains Association from 1957-59. Edward Elson became Chaplain of the United States Senate in 1969 and served in this capacity until he retired in 1981.

In the late 1950's, Elson made regular visits to the Middle East and was chairman of the National Council of the American Friends of the Middle East. President Eisenhower consulted Elson on Middle East issues, and had him carry a message to the King of Saudi Arabia in 1957. In 1967, Elson was appointed by President Johnson to a special team to observe the elections in Vietnam.
Edward Elson is also the author of numerous articles and five books, including: Wide was His Parish, One Moment with God, America's Spiritual Recovery, And Still He Speaks, The Inevitable Encounter.

Collection Overview

The Edward Elson papers consist of correspondence, printed and original public speaking transcripts (sermons, lectures, addresses, funeral tributes, prayers, and invocations) diaries, notebooks, photographs, and miscellaneous items (news clippings, oral history transcript, biographical data, and ephemera), spanning the years 1920-1988.

The most comprehensive series is the correspondence, which reveals the nature of his relationship with various national figures. It also includes letters from family friends, including John and Barbara Hayes. John Hayes' letters to Elson are narrative accounts of his experiences in Shanghai, China as a missionary. Other noteworthy correspondents include Harry Truman, Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower, J. Edgar Hoover, and Billy Graham. The general correspondence file (arranged chronologically) includes the complete "call" file for Elson from Covenant-First Presbyterian Church and a file of letters from members of the People's Church (led by Jim Jones), commending Elson on his stance on the Middle East.

The collection contains a large number of public speaking transcripts, primarily sermons. Some of these transcripts give insight into Elson's views on current events of the day. Access to the sermons can be obtained through a title index and a chronological list of sermons given.

The photograph subgroup largely contains posed professional shots of Elson with Presbyterians, politicians and other national and international figures. There are also photographs from Elson's trips to Vietnam and the Middle East. A series of John Hayes' photographs depicting the Presbyterian mission work at Shanghai, China are also including in this subgroup.

Elson's diaries only cover a span of two years (1952-1954). The travel notebooks contain sketchy information about his trips and are not in diary format.

Organization and Arrangement

SUBGROUP I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1931-1988

SERIES I: Presidential, 1947-1980

SERIES II: National Figures, 1947-1986

SERIES III: General, 1931-1988

SUBGROUP II: MANUSCRIPTS, 1920-1986

SERIES I: Printed Sermons and Articles, 1927-1981

SERIES II: Scholarly Papers, 1924-1946

SERIES III: Public Speaking Transcripts, 1930-1986
SUBSERIES I: Sermons, 1930-circa 1981
SUBSERIES II: Lectures/Addresses, 1930-circa 1981
SUBSERIES III: Funeral Tributes, 1934-1986
SUBSERIES IV: Invocations and Prayers, circa 1950-circa 1980

SERIES IV: Diaries, 1952-1954

SERIES V: Notebooks, 1920-1984
SUBSERIES I: Travel Notes, 1920-1968
SUBSERIES II: Ceremonies Preformed, 1930-1984

SUBGROUP III: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1927-1982

SERIES I: Presidential, 1950-1974

SERIES II: National Figures, 1953-1975

SERIES III: John D. Hayes--Shanghai, China, 1949

SERIES IV: Middle East, circa 1957-circa 1970

SERIES V: Vietnam, 1967

SERIES VI: Military and Political Service, 1942-1960

SERIES VII: Group Photographs, 1930-1982

SERIES VIII: Portraits, 1927-circa 1980

SERIES IX: National Presbyterian Church, 1940-1971

SUBGROUP IV: MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS, 1928-1983

SERIES I: Biographical Information, circa 1930-circa 1980

SERIES II: Oral History Transcript, 1970

SERIES III: Clippings, 1940-1981

SERIES IV: Certificates and Ephemera, 1928-1983

Alternative Formats

To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.

Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Processing Information

The correspondence subgroup is arranged chronologically and includes both incoming and outgoing letters. The majority of Presidential letters are copies of the originals. Elson still maintains the original letters in his own personal collection.

Edward Elson's oral history was completed in 1970 by Columbia University's Oral History Research Office as part of the Office's "Eisenhower Project." The transcript in this collection is a copy sent to the Office of History by Columbia University at the request of Edward Elson.

The sermons have been kept in their original arrangement. Elson filed his sermons by the biblical text he emphasized in the sermon. After the Old and New Testament boxes are the miscellaneous invocations, addresses, etc. There is no subject access to Elson's sermons. The indices that exist (title and chronological listing) were compiled by Edward Elson.

Researchers should also check the card catalog for additional published material by and about Edward Elson.

Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1989
Susan W. Miller, Processing Archivist

Preferred Citation

Edward L. R. Elson Papers, RG 253, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Catalog Headings

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

Corporate Subject

United States. Army Reserve Chaplains.

National Presbyterian Church (Washington, D.C.)

Covenant-First Presbyterian Church (Washington, D.C.)

First Presbyterian Church (Santa Monica, Calif.)

First Presbyterian Church (Los Angleles, Calif.)

Topical Subject

Presbyterian Church--Clergy--California.

Presbyterian Church--Clergy--Washington (D.C.)

Chaplains, Military--United States.

Church work with military personnel--United States.

Presidents--United States--Religion.

Presidents--United States--Correspondence.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--China--Shanghai.

Genre-form

Clippings (information artifacts) aat

Correspondence. aat

Diaries. aat

Oral histories (literary genre) aat

Photographs. aat

Sermons. aat

Transcripts. aat

Personal Added Name

Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.

Hayes, John David, 1888-1957.

Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.

Eisenhower, Mamie Doud, 1896-

Graham, Billy, 1918-

Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar), 1895-1972.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description	Alternative Formats

1	1	Finding Aid to Record Group

		SUBGROUP I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1931-1988

		SERIES I: PRESIDENTIAL, 1947-1980

1	2	Harry S. Truman, 1947-1972
1	3	Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952-1957
1	3a	Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957-1969
1	4	Lyndon B. Johnson, 1967-1969
1	5	Richard M. Nixon, 1948-1980
1	6	Gerald Ford, 1973-1977

		SERIES II: NATIONAL FIGURES, 1947-1986

1	7	Mamie Doud Eisenhower, 1952-1978
1	8	Billy Graham, 1953-1986
1	9	John and Barbara Hayes, 1947-1957
1	10	J. Edgar Hoover, 1949-1972

		SERIES III: GENERAL, 1931-1988

1	11	1931 February-1939 July
1	12	1940 June-1944 December
1	13	1945 January-1946 December
1	14	Complete File of the Pulpit Committee Concerning the call of Edward Elson to Covenant-First Presbyterian Church, Washington, DC, 1946 June-1946 September
1	15	1947 January-1950 April
1	16	1951 July-1953 January
1	17	1954 January-1955 July
1	18	1955 October-1957 March
1	19	1957 March-1958 January
1	20	1958 February-1959 December
1	21	1960 March-1964 December
1	22	1965 January-1967 May
1	23	1967 June-1968 July
1	24	1968 July-1969 April
1	25	1969 April-1969 December
1	26	People's Temple Church Members; 1969 October-1969 November
1	27	1970 February-1972 March
1	28	1972 April-1973 April
1	29	1973 May-1977 May
1	30	1977 June-1979 December
1	31	1980 January-1981 December
1	32	1982 January-1988 September
1	33	undated

		SUBGROUP II: MANUSCRIPTS, 1920-1986

		SERIES I: PRINTED SERMONS AND ARTICLES, 1929-1981

		Sermons:
2	1	1929-1952
2	2	1953-1954
2	3	1955-1956
2	4	1957-1961, 1963
2	5	1966-1976, undated

		Articles:
2	6	1927-1953
2	7	1954-1981

		SERIES II: SCHOLARLY PAPERS, 1924-1946

2	8	1924-1930
2	9	1930-1946
2	10	undated

		SERIES III: PUBLIC SPEAKING TRANSCRIPTS, 1930-1986

		SUBSERIES I: SERMONS, 1930-CIRCA 1981

3	1	Early Sermons, 1930-1934
3	2	Early Sermons, 1935-1942, 1945, 1955
3	3	Early Sermons, circa 1930-circa 1950

		Old Testament Files:
3		Genesis-Malachi

4		Apocrypha

		New Testament Files:
4		Matthew
4		Mark
4		Luke

5		Luke (continued)
5		John
5		The Acts
5		Romans
5		Corinthians I

6		Corinthians I, (continued)
6		Corinthians II - Revelation

7		Christmas
7		Easter
7		Lenten Series
7		Thanksgiving
7		Communion Meditation
7		Charge to the Minister and the Congregation

		Sermon Indices:
7		Chronological, 1947-1978
7		Title, circa 1950-circa 1980

8		A-M

9		N-Z

		SUBSERIES II: LECTURES/ADDRESSES, 1930-CIRCA 1981

10		Addresses--Patriotism
10		Addresses--Asbury College
10		Special Addresses
10	1	Addresses, 1936-1980
10	2	Lectures--Europe and Russia, 1936-1937

		SUBSERIES III: FUNERAL TRIBUTES, 1934-1986

10	3	Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1969
10	4	J. Edgar Hoover, 1972
10	5	Hubert Humphrey, 1978
10	6	Mamie Doud Eisenhower, 1979
10	7	1934-1974
10	8	1975-1986

		SUBSERIES IV: INVOCATIONS AND PRAYERS, CIRCA 1950-CIRCA 1980

		Invocations:
10	9	circa 1950-circa 1980
10	10	Federal Bureau of Investigation Graduations, 1959-1979

		Prayers:
10	11	Special Occasions, 1957-1980

		SERIES IV: DIARIES, 1952-1954

10	12	1952-1953
10	13	1953-1954

		SERIES V: NOTEBOOKS, 1920-1984

		SUBSERIES I: TRAVEL NOTES, 1920-1968

10	14	Itineraries, 1920-1968

11	1	circa 1945-1967
11	2	England/Germany, 1935
11	3	"Kiev to New York," 1935
11	4	Paris/Geneva, 1936
11	5	Geneva/Vienna, 1936
11	6	Russia, 1936
11	7	Berlin, 1936
11	8	London I, 1936
11	9	London II/Canterbury, 1936
11	10	Jerusalem, 1952

		SUBSERIES II: CEREMONIES PREFORMED, 1930-1984

12	1	Baptisms, 1930-1978
12	2	Marriages and Baptisms, 1931-1971
12	3	Funerals, 1929-1942
12	4	Funerals, 1947-1984

		SUBGROUP III: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1930-1980

		SERIES I: PRESIDENTIAL, CIRCA 1950-1974

13	1	Harry Truman, circa 1950

		Dwight D. Eisenhower:
13	2	Steps of National Presbyterian Church, circa 1960
13	3	Dwight Eisenhower with Elson, circa 1952-circa 1962
13	4	Mamie Eisenhower with Elson, 1954-circa 1970
13	5	Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower with Elson, circa 1952-1960
13	6	Elson and Eisenhowers greeting people at National Presbyterian Church, 1955-1962
13	7	Eisenhower Family, 1957-1960	Digital
13	8	Eisenhowers, Queen Elizabeth, and Elson, 1957
13	9	Washington Events, circa 1950-circa 1968
13	10	Eisenhower funeral, 1969
13	11	John F. Kennedy, 1961
13	12	Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966
13	13	Richard Nixon, 1959-1971
14	14	Gerald Ford, 1969-1974

		SERIES II: NATIONAL FIGURES, 1953-1975

13	15	J. Edgar Hoover, 1953-1965
13	16	Hubert Humphrey, circa 1965-1967
13	17	Billy Graham, circa 1950-1975
13	18	Moderators, circa 1940-1975

		SERIES III: JOHN D. HAYES SHANGHAI, CHINA, 1949

13	19	1949

		SERIES IV: MIDDLE EAST, CIRCA 1957-CIRCA 1970

13	20	circa 1957-circa 1960	Digital
13	21	1960-circa 1970

		SERIES V: VIETNAM, 1967

13	22	1967	Digital
13	23	1967
13	24	1967
13	25	1967

		SERIES VI: MILITARY SERVICE, 1942-CIRCA 1960

13	26	1942-circa 1960	Digital

		SERIES VII: GROUP PHOTOGRAPHS, 1930-1982

13	27	1930-1954
13	28	1954-1957
13	29	1957-1958
13	30	1959-1963
13	31	1963-1969
13	32	1969-1971
13	33	1970-1982
13	34	(circa 1940?), undated
13	35	(circa 1950?), undated
13	36	(circa 1960?), undated
13	37	(circa 1970?), undated
13	38	Unidentified, circa 1940-circa 1980

		Autographed:
13	39	1966-1969
13	40	1972-1980
13	41	(circa 1940?), undated
13	42	(circa 1950?), undated

		SERIES VIII: PORTRAITS, 1927-CIRCA 1980

13	43	1931-circa 1945	Digital
13	44	circa 1945-1948
13	45	1948-circa 1960
13	46	circa 1967-circa 1980	Digital

		Family:
13	47	1927-circa 1980

		SERIES IX: NATIONAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 1940-1971

13	48	Elson at NPC functions, circa 1950-1971	Digital
13	49	Old Building, circa 1940-1957
13	50	New Building, circa 1970

		SUBGROUP IV: MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS, 1928-1983

		SERIES I: BIOGRAPHICAL DATA, CIRCA 1930-CIRCA 1980

14	1	circa 1930-circa 1980

		SERIES II: ORAL HISTORY, 1970

14	2	pages 1-130, 1970
14	3	pages 131-236, 1970
14	4	pages 237-295, 1970

		SERIES III: CLIPPINGS, CIRCA 1940-1981

14	5	About Elson, circa 1940-1981
14	6	About Elson's relationship with Eisenhower, circa 1950-1969
14	7	About Elson's work in the Middle East, circa 1950

		SERIES IV: CERTIFICATES AND EPHEMERA, 1928-1983

14	8	Ephemera, 1928-1953
14	9	Certificates, 1930-1957	Digital
14	10	Certificates, 1958-1983

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Guide to the Edward L. R. Elson Papers

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