William Palmer Ladd Papers

This collection documents the academic and professional career of William Palmer Ladd and provides valuable insight on issues in American society, especially during the early 1920s. Correspondence, sermons, and writings document the views of Ladd, a prominent Episcopal educator, on theological and social issues. Documentation related to the "socialist controversy" at Berkeley Divinity School (1919-1920) and the Connecticut Child Welfare Commission (1918-1921) is detailed and substantial.

Additional correspondence, writings, and biographical documentation relating to William Palmer Ladd are contained in the archives of Berkeley Divinity School, Record Group 216.

Series I, Correspondence, contains few personal letters. The bulk of the correspondence relates to the socialist controversy at Berkeley, Ladd's work with the Child Welfare Commission, and comments on Ladd's "Prayer Book Interleaves" - a series of articles that were later published as a book..

The Writings and Notes of Ladd in Series II include many handwritten sermons dating from his ordination in 1897 until his death in 1941. Addresses and talks include Ladd's discourses on the opening of the school year at Berkeley from 1933 to 1937. His published articles and essays are often focused on the interpretation of theology and church history for a lay audience, including a series titled "A Bird's Eye View of Church History."

Series III, Collected Material, contains valuable documentation of the socialist controversy at Berkeley, including many clippings and articles from local and regional newspapers and church organs. Reports, minutes, and articles relating to the work of the Connecticut Child Welfare Commission also provide an interesting snapshot of social conditions in Connecticut in the early 1920s.

Series IV, Personal Items and Memorabilia, includes a photographic portrait of Ladd and an article by the donor, Rosalind Ekman Ladd, relating to New Hampshire history of the Ladd family.