Paul L. Holmer Papers

The Writings of Holmer in Series I are divided into seven sub-sections: his writings as a student, material related to published and unpublished book-length works, forewords to books, chapters in books, published articles, sermons, and lectures, unpublished essays and lectures, and reviews written by Holmer. In each sub-section dated writings are arranged chronologically, followed by undated works that are arranged alphabetically by title. Holmer published more than 100 articles, many of which are represented here. While an effort has been made to associate unpublished typescript writings with later published versions, there are undoubtedly cases where an association has not been drawn.

The Notes by Holmer contained in Series II are arranged alphabetically by topic or folder title. Most of the notes are undated handwritten sheets, which were received in an unorganized state. Some of the folders of notes contained a range of seemingly unrelated pages, but these "miscellaneous" groupings have been retained intact. Some of the notes are from the era when Holmer was a student while others appear to be notes for lectures, on reading, or preparatory for future writings. Notes for course lectures are primarily in Series III, Course-related Material, but it is likely that some of the notes in Series II were also course-related.

The Course-related Materials in Series III are arranged alphabetically by topic or course title. As noted above, there is overlap between Series II and Series III as it was not always easy to tell whether notes related to courses, lectures, or writings.

Series IV, Correspondence, is arranged chronlogically, dating from 1954 to 1996, with correspondents noted. The correspondence is primarily with Holmer's colleagues, students, publishers, or related to requests for Holmer to speak in various venues.

Series V, Personal Items and Memorabilia, includes biographical information about Holmer, including items from his student days, documentation of speaking engagements and other events attended, articles and interviews, and an obituary.

Series VI, Collected Material, consists primarily of writings by others. Reviews of works by Holmer are not in this series, but rather have been filed in Series I with the relevant work by Holmer. The last several folders in the collection are a very eclectic mixture of materials, which have been retained in the order received; the range of Holmer's interests and his methods of gathering material are reflected in these files.