William H. Poteat Papers

The documentation contained in this collection was gathered from 2009-2014 at the impetus of Walter B. Mead. Mead was a doctoral student in Political Science at Duke University, 1960-1963, at the beginning of Poteat’s career at Duke, and he later became greatly influenced by Poteat’s writings and a close friend. Mead contacted former students of William Poteat, and others influenced by him, asking them to provide writings and correspondence of Poteat. The collection has been organized according to the contributors of the material, in order to retain information about the varied provenance of the material.

This collection consists of both classroom and public lectures (in both written and audio format) by William H. Poteat, an audio interview of him by one of his students, extensive correspondence between Professor Poteat and his students (and a few who had never taken his courses or seminars), essays and segments of his books in various stages of draft form, his doctoral dissertation, course notes taken by some of his students, and some journalistic clippings relating to Professor Poteat. It also includes reflective observations by those who had conversed with Poteat as readers of his writings, and by those privileged to have had, also, extensive personal contact with him as friends or colleagues, as well as those who participated, between 1968 and 1978 in annual, multi-day, informal, “retreat” symposiums, often traveling from distant parts of the United States in order to reflect upon and extend their earlier learning experiences with him. (These gatherings came to be known as the ‘Dutch Creek Falls’ symposiums after a location in North Carolina where the group often met. To get a sense of the characteristic conviviality of those who came under the charismatic influence of Professor Poteat, read “A Reflection on the Ethos of the ‘Poteat Bunch’,” in the file of James W. Stines, the principal symposium convener.) Copies of William H. Poteat’s obituaries are also included in this collection; also a complete bibliography of his published writings, a general, chronological outline of his life and career, four brief intellectual biographies of Poteat, and an essay that addresses the question of how his thinking relates to that of his chief mentor, Michael Polanyi.

In order to facilitate an introduction of Professor Poteat to the scholar who comes fairly new to these materials, the following have been pulled from the files of the individual contributors to this collection and placed, together with this present “Description of the William Hardman Poteat Collection,” in an introductory section to provide a relatively brief overview of the person and of the significance of his scholarly contributions: a) A Chronology of William H. Poteat’s Life and Career; b) The Question of Whether William Poteat is a ‘Polanyian’; c) A Bibliography of Poteat’s Published Writings; d) Two Brief Intellectual Biographies, by Ronald L. Hall and R. Taylor Scott, Assessing Poteat’s Contributions as a Philosopher; e) A Brief Intellectual Biography by James W. Stines, Assessing Poteat’s Contributions as a Theologian.