Overview
Papers of Unitarian minister Walter Beckman Pedersen. The collection includes sermons, administrative material, academic papers, poetry, and notes.
Dates
- Creation: 1912-1959.
Access
There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
Extent
1 collection (2 boxes (.45 linear feet))This collection includes sermons written by Pedersen, administrative material, academic papers, poetry, educational materials, notes for speeches and sermons, and notes on literature and the Bible. The collection follows the original order; the administrative material, poetry, and academic papers are organized chronologically and the sermons are arranged chronologically and thematically.
Biographical / Historical
Walter Beckman Pedersen (1906-1959) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from New York University in 1930 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1933. He married Rebecca Pickering Fitzgerald in June 1933, and was ordained as a Unitarian minister in September 1933 in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He served pastorates in Lebanon, New Hampshire, 1933-1936; Meadeville, Pennsylvania, 1936-1942; Cohasset, Massachusetts, 1942-1945; and Birmingham, Michigan, 1958-1959. He toured with the Red Cross from 1945 to 1946, served as an education officer in the military government of Japan from 1946 to 1951, and was head of the Westchester and Cleveland Ethical Societies from 1952 to 1954 and 1954 to 1958, respectively. In addition to being a minister, Pedersen wrote poetry, and this collection contains some of his poems.
Acquisition Information
Gift of R. Leigh Fitzgerald, 1995.
General note
The number after the slash in each entry in the following list indicates the box number, and the number in parentheses is the folder number.
Processing Information
Processed by Rachel Adler, 2010
- Title
- Pedersen, Walter Beckman. Papers, 1912-1959: A Finding Aid.
- Author
- Andover-Harvard Theological Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- div00703
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Divinity School Library, Harvard University Repository
Special Collections at Harvard Divinity School Library preserves and makes accessible primary source materials documenting the history of religion and theology, with particular historical emphasis on American liberal religious traditions. Though the historical strengths of the collections have been in the field of Christianity, other religious traditions are increasingly reflected, in step with Harvard Divinity School's evolving focus on global religious studies. Known as Andover-Harvard Theological Library since 1911, it was renamed the Harvard Divinity School Library in 2021.
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