Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation
Hugh Chamberlain Burr papers
Burr, Hugh Chamberlain, 1890-1978
D.605
/repositories/2/resources/1392
5.19 cubic feet
(14 boxes)
1892-1965
English
.
Scope and Contents
The materials in the Hugh Chamberlain Burr papers (1892-1965) are largely organizational records from Burr's time with the National Council of Churches and the Rochester Federation of Churches, with a small amount which he collected during his time as a Baptist minister in Elmira. The bulk of the materials are meeting minutes, notes, conference organization records and proceedings, bylaws and constitutions, inter-organizational newsletters, financial planning materials and reports, pamphlets and fliers for events, and reports from various committees under the National Council, particularly those related to the work of the Council secretaries. Correspondence from members of the community is found throughout in various formats (printed, personal letters, letters to the Council, etc.). Additionally, there are a large number of newspaper clippings, articles and issues from Christian newsletters and magazines focused on topics pertinent to the mission and work of the National Council.
The content focus of the less administrative materials includes the communist threat to the United States in schools and churches, John T. Flynn's attack on the National Council during the McCarthy era, religious education and prayer in public schools, temperance programs and laws, social programs for urban renaissance (including the Rochester-area FIGHT group and their interactions with the Kodak Company), labor laws and protections and improvements for workers, anti-war and peace missions (including a large folder on WWII), youth services programs, contraception/birth control and population control, and Christian interfaith efforts. There are also individual files on Christian fundamentalists and other figures or publications who loomed large in the Church's eye, including J. Frank Norris, Gerald B. Winrod, Mildred Horton, Justin Wroe Nixon, William H. Stackel, Agnes E. Meyer, and Frederik Kuhns.
Access
The Hugh Chamberlain Burr papers are open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.
Biographical / Historical Note
Dr. Hugh Chamberlain Burr (1890-1978) was a Baptist clergyman born in Gloversville, New York. He became interested in religious work while serving as the student Graduate Secretary of the Princeton Philadelphian Society (the Youth YMCA of the day), and held an A.B. from Princeton, a Master's in Sociology from Columbia, graduated from Union Theological Seminary, and earned his Doctorate of Divinity at Kalamazoo (1915). Dr. Burr was highly active in national Christian interfaith organizations, including the Federation of Churches of Rochester and the Vicinity, for which he served as Executive Secretary from 1948-1959. The regional Federations consolidated to form the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America ("the National Council") in 1950. While missionary and faith-based work was a core tenet of the National Council, the organization and its chapters were particularly ardent in their mission to improve social and human conditions, including immigration and labor reform, child labor laws, social programs to aid the poor, pacifism and anti-war efforts, and temperance. They were regularly accused of being socialists, a situation which came to a head during the McCarthy era when the National Council was targeted by political journalist John T. Flynn as un-American. During Dr. Burr's tenure with the National Council the organization also wrangled with issues of birth control and contraception, religion in public education, and the threat of Christian fundamentalists. Today it is the largest ecumenical body in the United States.
Dr. Burr was also active with the Michigan Baptist State Convention, the New York State Baptist Convention, the Federation of Churches in Haverhill, MA, the American Baptist Convention, the Rotary Club, and several subcommittees of the National Council, most notably the Association of Council Secretaries. Before moving to the Rochester area he served as a reverend in Haverhill, and at the First Baptist Church of Elmira, NY. He died in New Jersey in 1978.
Related Materials
The Ecumenical and Interfaith Archives of Rochester (Eiar)
The David Rhys Williams papers
The Franklin Florence papers
The Dr. Walter Cooper papers
Preferred Citation
[Item title, item date], Hugh Chamberlain Burr papers, D.605, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Note on Arrangement
The materials in the Hugh Chamberlain Burr papers arrived with an established organization which had been conducted before their transfer, whether by Burr himself or someone acting on his behalf. Folders are arranged in one long run, alphabetically, by subject. This original order has been maintained and is reflected in the lack of true series in the finding aid.
Substantial groupings of records include those on the Association of Council Secretaries (1946-1960), the Federal Council of Churches (1926-1949), the National Council of Churches (1948-1963), and the Rochester Federation of Churches (1937-1960).
Restrictions on Use
Reproductions are made upon request but can be subject to restrictions. Permission to publish materials from the collection must currently be requested. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information contact rarebks@library.rochester.edu.
New York (State)--Rochester
Christianity
Baptists--Clergy
Conference papers and proceedings
Public welfare
Social reformers
Religion
Religion and politics
Religion and sociology
Contraception--Religious aspects
Church and education
Prayer in the public schools
Temperance
Fundamentalists
World War (1939-1945)
Pacifism--Religious aspects--Christianity
Burr, Hugh Chamberlain, 1890-1978
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America
Flynn, John T., 1882-1964
Association of Council Secretaries/repositories/2/archival_objects/357312Annual conferences/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574811946-1960_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3572971946Box 11_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3572981947Box 12_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3572991948Box 13_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573001949Box 14_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573011950Box 15_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573021951Box 16_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573031952Box 17_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573041953Box 18_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573051954Box 19_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573061955Box 110_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573071956Box 111_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573081957Box 112_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573091958Box 113_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573101959Box 114_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573111960Box 115Boston Discussion/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573131954Box 21Financial counseling /repositories/2/archival_objects/3573141953-55Box 22Financial counseling/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573151956-58Box 23Newsletters/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573161945Box 24Primer/repositories/2/archival_objects/357317Box 25Philosophy of cooperation/repositories/2/archival_objects/357318Box 26Baptists, correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/357480_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573191892-1920Box 27_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573201920-1929Box 28_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573211930-1939Box 29_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573221940-1949Box 210_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573231950-1959Box 211Community affairs and concerns/repositories/2/archival_objects/357324Box 212-13Federal Council of Churches/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574821926-1949[content description]/repositories/2/archival_objects/357328Box 31_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573291926-1940Box 32_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573301942-1946Box 33_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573311945-1950Box 34_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573321949Box 35FIGHT/repositories/2/archival_objects/357327New Republic/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573331965Box 36_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573341965-1966Box 37FIGHT and Kodak/repositories/2/archival_objects/357335Box 38-9Leiper, Henry S.- Relations between the ecumenical movement and the vatican/repositories/2/archival_objects/357337Box 310Litany for a State Council/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573381950Box 311Local Councils of Churches/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573391959Box 312National Council of Churches/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573431948-1963Planning committee/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573401948Box 313Planning committee/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573411949Box 314-15Planning committee/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573441950Box 41-4Committee on program/repositories/2/archival_objects/3573481949-1950Box 45Communism - John T. 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Frank and Gerald B. Winrod/repositories/2/archival_objects/357455Box 1010The operation of co-operation/repositories/2/archival_objects/357456Box 1011Population control/repositories/2/archival_objects/357457Box 1012Prayer in Public Schools/repositories/2/archival_objects/357458Box 1013Rauschenbusch/repositories/2/archival_objects/357459Box 1014Rauschenbusch/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574611937Box 111Rochester Federation of Churches/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574601937-60Bulletin/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574621938Box 112Radio Broadcast Church of the Air/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574631938Box 113Correspondence /repositories/2/archival_objects/3574641938-39Box 114Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574651940-41Box 115Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574661942-43Box 116Peace/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574671944Box 11725th Anniversary/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574681944Box 118Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574691944-45Box 119List of ministers and churches/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574701946Box 1110Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574711946-1947Box 1111Financial statement/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574721947Box 1112YWCA - YMCA Campaign/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574731947Box 1113Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574741948-49Box 111410th Anniversary of Burr/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574751948Box 1115_/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574761949Box 1116Kuhn article/repositories/2/archival_objects/3574771948Box 1117David W. 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