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Princeton University Student Christian Association Records

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Held at: Princeton University Library: University Archives [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: University Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Student Christian Association (Princeton University).

The first student religious societies appeared at the College of New Jersey before 1770; later groups included the Nassau Hall Bible Society (1813) and the Nassau Hall Tract Society (1817). On Christmas Eve, 1824, a small group of students founded a secret fraternity called Chi Phi, dedicated to its members' spiritual life and personal holiness. In February 1825, they changed the group's name to the Philadelphian Society. The Society had exclusive membership requirements and very strict codes of behavior; students had to testify to a personal experience of conversion and be unanimously elected. Exclusive and student-directed, it became popular as a student-directed alternative to the college's all-inclusive and compulsory chapel services and Bible classes.

In 1877, three members of the Society helped to found the Intercollegiate YMCA Movement; one, Luther Wishard, became the Movement's first secretary. The Society became known as the "Mother Society" of the Movement, the dominant national student organization through World War I. The Philadelphian Society built the movement's first building, Murray Hall (1879), later joined by Dodge Hall (1900). Philadelphians went on to become prominent in the Student Volunteer Movement (which focused on missions) and the World's Student Christian Federation.

The 1890s saw an increasing role for the Society. College faculty members, less interested in organizing campus religious life, by default turned it over to the Society, making it the college's quasi-official religious agency. The Society organized Bible study and other courses, as well as coordinating student volunteer activities in the community. By 1897 the Society employed a full-time general secretary to run its expanding programs; to help pay the secretary's salary, the college's trustees created a board of directors for the Society, made up of alumni and faculty members. The Society became the university's all-inclusive religious organization, incorporating all elements of campus religious life; in 1914 it included as members all students who belonged to evangelical (broadly defined) churches. The Society ran a campus-wide campaign to raise funds for its work and for other charities. In 1905, at the request of the International YMCA, the Society founded a settlement house in China, called Princeton-in-Peking; this mission became Princeton-in-Asia. In 1906 the Society founded the Princeton Summer Camp for inner-city boys.

World War I marked the peak of the Society's work. In 1919 followers of Frank Buchman, an itinerant evangelist, joined the Society's staff and used Buchman's often-controversial evangelical methods on campus. In 1926 the resulting conflict led President Hibben to appoint a special committee to investigate the Society's work; while the Society was cleared of scandal, it never regained its standing on campus. Its explicitly religious work was largely taken over by the Dean of the Chapel, appointed in 1928. The Student-Faculty Association, created by the Dean in 1930, coordinated student volunteer activity, the campus fund-raising drive, and other campus good works (such as an emergency loan fund for students and faculty-student social events) under the direction of the Assistant Dean of the Chapel. A skeletal Society board raised money for and held title to the camp in Blairstown, New Jersey.

After the dislocations of World War II, the university reorganized its religious life by replacing the Society and the SFA with the Student Christian Association, a more explicitly religious organization that coordinated student community service and religious societies. It also connected students to national and international student religious movements. In 1967 the SCA was replaced by the Student Volunteers Council, which concentrated on community service without an explicitly religious component.

While these three organizations had different names and operated under different charters, they shared a common tradition and filled the same role in campus life. This collection documents their activities on campus and elsewhere, with both official documents (minutes, letters, memoranda) and clippings from the Daily Princetonian. The collection is incomplete, being informally assembled by many people over the years.

The Student Christian Association records are organized into three series, arranged as follows:

Within each series, the records are arranged hierarchically, starting with constitutions and minutes, followed by material describing activities, and concluding with clippings.

This collection documents the activities of these organizations from 1855 (the earliest records of the Society were lost in the Nassau Hall fire of 1855) through 1967. It includes constitutions and by-laws, board and cabinet minutes, committee reports, membership lists, correspondence, publications, clippings and scrapbooks. Particularly important are documents relating to the Buchmanism controversy of 1926-1927 and the Philadelphian Society's long relationship with the Intercollegiate Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Movement. Numerous important Protestant churchmen served as officers or staff of the Society during their Princeton years, including Luther Wishard, Samuel Shoemaker, Henry Pitney Van Dusen, Eugene Carson Blake, John D. Rockefeller III, and John Oliver Nelson.

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

This collection was processed by Daniel Sack in Summer 1995. Finding aid written by Daniel Sack in Summer 1995.

No appraisal information is available.

Publisher
University Archives
Finding Aid Author
Daniel Sack
Finding Aid Date
2001
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

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For instances beyond Fair Use where the copyright is not held by the University, while permission from the Library is not required, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Collection Inventory

Arrangement

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Scope and Contents

Series 1, Philadelphian Society Records, 1855-1946, consists of bound volumes and files containing the Society's charter and by-laws, membership lists, and minutes of Society, board, and cabinet (undergraduate officer) meetings. (The bulk of the collection ends in 1930, while board minutes and correspondence continue until 1946, relating to business matters of the Princeton Summer Camp.) Files contain reports of general secretaries and committee chairs to the board and the cabinet. Committee records include bound volumes and files of membership and financial information, including information on the annual campus fund-raising drive, plus material relating to the Society's religious and social work. Among the Society's publications are several journals, the Student Handbook, and a newspaper. Files regarding Buchmanism contain testimony before President Hibben's committee of 1926, the committee's report, and clippings and correspondence related to the controversy. Several scrapbooks include correspondence, circulars and clippings regarding the Society's work on and off campus.

Physical Description

23 boxes

Constitution and membership (bound volume), 1874-1896. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Constitution and amendments, membership lists (bound volume), 1865-1873. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Constitution and by-laws, 1874. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Charter and by-laws, 1914. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Minutes–Society (bound volumes), 1855 March-1905 April. 4 folders.
Physical Description

4 folders

Minutes–Society (bound volume), 1899 March-1905 April. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes–Board of Directors, 1925-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes–Cabinet (bound volume), 1898 November-1906 May. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes–Cabinet, 1927-1930. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

General Secretary–Secretary's book (bound volume), 1897-1900. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

General Secretary–Town Work, Library, and Summer Conferences Book (bound volume), 1897-1898. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

General Secretary–Address book, 1897-1898. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

General Secretary–Reports to the board of directors, 1911. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

President–President's book (bound volume), 1900-1906. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Minutes of the board of directors (bound volume), 1915 September-1925 June. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Cabinet–Committee reports (bound volume), 1883-1891. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Cabinet–Statistical record and reports, 1892-1896. 3 folders.
Physical Description

3 folders

Cabinet–Reports to the Society President, 1927 April. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Cabinet–Reports, 1927-1929. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Bible Study Committee–Chairman's book (bound volume), 1893. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Bible Study Committee–General Secretary's book (bound volume), 1897-1901. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Bible Study Committee–Chairman's book (bound volume), 1891-1901. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Bible Study Committee–Policy book (bound volume), 1902-1907. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Deputation Committee–General Secretary's book (bound volume), 1897-1900. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Deputation Committee–Chairman's book (bound volume), 1897-1903. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Deputations Committee–Correspondence, 1927-1930. 3 folders.
Physical Description

3 folders

Finance Committee–General Secretary's book (bound volume), 1897-1901. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Chairman's book (bound volume), 1898-1906. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Dues record, 1898. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Ledger (bound volume), 1908-1915. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Finance Committee–Ledger (bound volume), 1921-1926. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Budgets, 1917. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Financial Statements, 1928-1929. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Annual drive publicity, 1920-1924. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Annual Combined Drive, 1924-1927. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Campus Drive, 1927-1930. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Financial Reports, 1932-1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Finance Committee–Investments, 1938-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Library Committee–Chairman's book (bound volume), 1897-1904. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Library Committee–Catalogue, 1877. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Library Committee–Catalogue (bound volume), 1904. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Membership Committee–Statistical record (bound volume), 1894-1897. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Membership Committee–Preparatory schools of members (bound volume), circa 1893-1896. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Membership Committee–General Secretary's book (bound volume), 1898-1899. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Membership Committee–Chairman's book (bound volume), 1897-1903. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Membership Committee–Membership roll (bound volume), 1898-1905. 8 folders.
Physical Description

8 folders

Missionary Committee–General Secretary's book (bound volume), 1897-1901. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Missionary Committee–Chairman's book (bound volume), 1897-1903. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

New Student Committee–General Secretary's book (bound volume), 1897-1902. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

New Student Committee–Reports (bound volume), 1903-1904. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Meetings Committee–General Secretary's book (bound volume), 1897-1899. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Meetings Committee–Chairman's book (bound volume), 1897-1899. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Student Volunteer Band–Constitution and minutes, 1900-1904. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence–Board of Directors, 1923-1930. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Correspondence–Board of Directors, 1931-1946. 4 folders.
Physical Description

4 folders

Correspondence–General Secretary, 1900-1918. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence–Cabinet, 1927-1930. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Activities–Correspondence, 1928-1929. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Lists, 1928-1930. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Boy Scouts, 1928-1930. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Freshman, 1928-1930. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Princeton-in-Peking, 1907. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Princeton Summer Camp, 1917. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Town Club (I) (bound volume), 1900-1901. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Town Club (II) (bound volume), 1900-1901. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA– College Association Buildings by John R. Mott, 1895. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Conference, 1917-1928. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Correspondence, 1927-1930. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Intercollegiate Movement (booklets), 1881. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Intercollegiate Work in New Jersey (bound volume), 1882-1891. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Local, county, and state, 1906. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Middle Atlantic Field Council, 1925-1928. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–National Council, 1927-1930. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Notebook, circa 1892. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Preparatory School Conference, 1928-1930. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Student Volunteer Movement, 1927-1928. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

YMCA–Week of Prayer, 1927-1928. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– The Philadelphian 1 (bound volume), 1887 January-June. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– The Philadelphian 2 (bound volume), 1887-1888. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– Philadelphian Bulletin 1, 1891-1892. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– The Philadelphian 1-3, 1902-1904. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– Princeton Men in India (bound volume), 1911. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– Princeton and Service, 1920. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– One Hundred Years, 1825-1925, 1925. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications–Report to alumni, 1899-1900. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– The Real Issue 1-4, 1924. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– Student Handbook, 1900-1901. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Buchmanism Controversy–Committee testimony, 1926. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Buchmanism Controversy–Committee report, 1926. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Buchmanism Controversy–Correspondence, 1926-1969. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Buchmanism Controversy–Clippings, 1926-1970. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Miscellaneous, 1877-1927. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Scrapbook (Circulars and correspondence), 1897-1901. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Scrapbook (Circulars and correspondence), 1915-1921. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Scrapbook (Circulars and correspondence), 1921-1926. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Scrapbook (Circulars and correspondence), 1926-1930. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

China scrapbook (Clippings), circa 1896. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Scrapbook (Clippings), 1915-1916. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Scrapbook (Clippings), 1915. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Scrapbook (Clippings), 1924-1927. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Scrapbook (Clippings), 1927-1930. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Arrangement

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Scope and Contents

Series 2, Student-Faculty Association Records, 1930-1946, contains primarily papers from the files of the Assistant Dean of the Chapel, who served as the SFA's director. This series includes the SFA's board minutes and materials relating to the Association's various good works. Most important were its Depression relief activities and its programs to bring faculty and students together socially.

Physical Description

2 boxes

Board of Directors–Minutes, 1930-1934. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Board of Directors–Committee Reports, 1931-1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Board of Directors–Correspondence, 1930-1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Director–Reports to President of the University, 1935-1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Campus Drive, 1930-1945. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Financial Reports, 1931-1937. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Discussion Groups, 1932-1934. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Freshman Advisory System, 1930-1931. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Hospitality, 1930-1931. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Lunches, 1936-1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Student Loan Fund, 1933-1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Student Loan Library, 1934-1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Community Reading Room, 1933-1940. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Dorothea's House, 1938-1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Food distribution, 1939-1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Jamesburg Reformatory, 1930-1936. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Princeton Summer Camp, 1930-1931. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Prospect Heights, 1930-1932. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–National–YMCA, 1930-1931. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–International–Grenfell Mission, 1931-1940. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Miscellaneous, 1930-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Arrangement

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Scope and Contents

Series 3, Student Christian Association Records, 1946-1961, also largely drawn from the files of the Assistant Dean of the Chapel, contains the SCA's charter, and minutes of its board and cabinet. The bulk of the collection relates to the SCA's activities on campus (including the campus drive), in the local community, nationally (including the Student Christian Movement and the YMCA), and internationally (including the World's Student Christian Federation). A small group of files describe the activities of other campus religious societies grouped under the SCA's umbrella.

Physical Description

6 boxes

Reorganization, 1945-1947. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Charter and By-Laws, 1946-1954. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Board of Directors–Minutes, 1947-1961. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Board of Directors–Correspondence, 1946-1961. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Cabinet–Minutes, 1946-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Clippings, 1930-1942. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Cabinet–Minutes, 1949-1960. 3 folders.
Physical Description

3 folders

Cabinet–Membership, 1949-1967. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Cabinet–Reports, 1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Cabinet–Correspondence, 1947-1961. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Financial Statements, 1947-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Banquets, 1946-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Bicentennial Conferences, 1946-1947. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Biennial Conferences, 1955-1966. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Campus Fund Drive (Potential Benevolences), 1946-1947. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Campus Fund Drive, 1947-1963. 4 folders.
Physical Description

4 folders

Activities–Campus–Foreign Service Committee, 1956-1957. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Home Preceptorials, 1947-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Loan Fund, 1946-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus– Perspective (correspondence), 1948-1950. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–Speakers, 1946-1964. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Activities–Campus–Student Loan Library, 1946-1948. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Campus–University Christian Mission, 1950. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Activities–Campus–Miscellaneous, 1946-1967. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Jamesburg Reformatory, 1947-1967. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Princeton Summer Camp, 1948-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Social Service, 1947-1948. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–Trenton Tutoring Project, 1963-1967. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–Local–YMCA, 1947-1950. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–National–National Intercollegiate Christian Council, 1942-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–National–Student Christian Movement, 1946-1958. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Activities–National–YMCA, 1946-1958. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–International–Grenfell Association, 1946-1947. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–International–Old Clothes Drive, 1947-1952. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–International–Princeton-Yenching Foundation, 1946-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–International–Student Overseas Committee, 1947-1952. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Activities–International–Student Overseas Committee–Book Drive, 1948. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–International–Student Volunteer Movement, 1946-1948. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Activities–International–World's Student Christian Federation, 1946-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publications– Perspective, 1949-1952. 2 folders.
Physical Description

2 folders

Religious Groups–Evangelical Fellowship, 1946-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Groups–Inter-racial Committee, 1946-1948. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Groups–Lutherans, 1946-1948. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Groups–St. Paul's Society (Episcopalians), 1947-1948. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Groups–Sunday Evening Club, 1946-1947. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Groups–Wesley Foundation (Methodists), 1946-1952. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Groups–Westminster Foundation (Presbyterians), 1946-1952. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Groups–Witherspoon/Pre-ministerial group, 1946-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Religious Groups–Miscellaneous, 1946-1949. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Scrapbook–Individuals & Events, 1950s. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Physical Description

1 box

Philadelphia Society Minutes, 1927-1944. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Student-Faculty Association Minutes, 1930-1943. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Jeremiah S. Finch, 1947-1955. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Print, Suggest