Sewanee Controversy Papers

The Papers include the official documents surrounding the controversy, as well as personal correspondence and collected material. The material dates primarily from 1952 to 1954, although there is some material from before and after that timeframe. The collection provides valuable documentation of a specific instance of racial discrimination in the American South during the early 1950s.

Series I contains relevant official documents about the events including Proceedings and Reports of the Board of Trustees and Board of Regents, faculty responses, and other statements. It also includes documents that refer to the wider discussion of the controversy, including statements of support from universities and students, discussions of the issue, miscellaneous notes, and background. The papers address the controversy of 1952-1953 but also include papers about the following school year, including remarks by students. It also includes a few historical accounts, including a thorough history called the "Sewanee Story."

Series II contains relevant correspondence about the Sewanee events. The bulk of the correspondence was written to and from Dean F. Craighill Brown on behalf of the faculty. Most are letters of support. The response to some of the letters to Brown/faculty were written by other members of the faculty, notably R. Lansing Hicks (who was later on the faculty at Berkeley Divinity School and Yale Divinity School and from whom these papers were received by the Library.) Where possible and logical, the correspondence of specific individuals has been sorted out of this collection, including correspondence of Bishop R. Bland Mitchell, Morgan Cartledge Williams (a trustee), Vice-Chancellor McCrady, C.F. Peniman, and Bishop Edwin Penick. The responses of Members of the Board of Trustees in June and July of 1952 are separated out from the rest of the correspondence to Dean Brown. Series II also contains the correspondence of Professors R.Lansing Hicks, Richard Hooker Wilmer, and. Thomas Govan, a professor of History at Sewanee. This series also contains letters of student support and correspondence about media coverage of the events.

Series III contains Collected Material from a variety of sources. Most of the articles/clippings were collected by R.Lansing Hicks and Dean F. Craighill Brown. They are in chronological order and span from 1950-1954. There are also complete journals and publications from the same time span, including the Episcopal Church News, The Living Church, The Sewanee Alumni News, and The Theo-log. There is also a large article from the New Oxford Review about Bishop Pike from 1976.