Collections in the Special Collections Department richly document the Clergy and the Church. Collections are described by denomination where information is available. Non-demoninational materials and related records are placed at the end of the list.
This guide primarily lists collections of manuscript materials. Most manuscript numbers are clickable and lead you to an online finding aid for the collection. Finding aids not yet online are available in the Special Collections Department. Many other sorts of materials, such as manuscript letters and rare book titles, are cataloged in InfoHawk. For a complete listing of materials, you can use the following search directions for InfoHawk:
Use “Advanced Search” function;
In the “Location” drop down box, select “Special Collections,” “Government Publications,” or “Main Media Services”;
In the “Format” drop down box, limit by format to “Book” or “Archival Material” or “Microform”;
Use appropriate keywords.
If you have questions about our holdings, please feel free to contact us.
The Baptist Church
Papers of John Anson Nash, MsC223. Baptist Church. Pioneer in Des Moines
Papers of Newell Willard Bixby. MsC253. Minister of Free Will Baptist Church in Clayton County, IA.
The Church of England
Papers of Brook Lambert, MsC228. Church of England. English clergyman and social reformer.
The Congregational Church
Papers of Ebeneezer Alden. MsC349. Congregational Church.
Papers of Lyman Whiting, MsC172. Congregational Church.
Papers of O. D. Foster, MsC211. Congregational Church. Starkes, M. T. The O. D. Foster Collection. Books at Iowa 6, April 1967.
Papers of Marcellus Warner Darling. MsC236. Congregational Minister.
The Czech-Moravian Brethern Church
Papers of Francis Kun. MsC 284. Czech-Moravian Brethern Church
The Evangelical and Reformed Church
Papers of Frank Emmanuel Stucki. MsC90. Evangelical and Reformed Church.
The Lutheran Church
Papers of the American Lutheran Church Board of Pensions and Executive Committee. MsC238.
Papers of Henry N. Graven. MsC222. Papers relating to the Lutheran Church
The Methodist Church / United Methodist Church
Papers of Homer L. Calkin. MsC504. Church historian.
Papers of John Gordon Chamberlin, MsC580. Methodist Minister.
Papers of Alfred Bolton Chamberlin. MsC380. Methodist Minister.
Papers of Fayette L. Thompson. MsC6. Methodist Minister.
Papers of the United Methodist Church, Iowa Conference, Enviromental Stewardship Committee Records. MsC264.
Papers of Hartzell Spence, MsC701. Methodist Church. Journalistic writings, including writings on the church.
Papers of William Titus Rigby, MsC82, including papers of Joshua Hopkins Rigby, Methodist Minister.
Papers of Thomas E. Corkhill. MsC60. Methodist Minister and organizer of schools at Eldora and Mitchellville.
Papers of Paul Shearer. MsC489. United Methodist lay leader.
The Presbyterian Church
Papers of James Peery Schell. MsC205. Presbyterian Minister and missionary.
Papers of the Batchelder Family. MsC64. Rev. Joseph Mayo Batchelder, Presbyterian Minister.
Papers of the Haskell Familiy. MsC766. Edwin Charles Haskell, Presbyterian Minister.
Records of Old Brick, MsC406. First Presbyterian Church in Iowa City.
The Quaker Church
Elton Trueblood Papers, MsC710. Quaker scholar.
The Unitarian
Papers of Waldemar Argow. MsC557. Single manuscript of a Unitarian Minister.
Organizations
Related Collections
Americans United for Separation of Church and State. MsC306.
Papers of the Federal Writer’s Project, Iowa. MsC295. Contains histories of Iowa counties, towns, colleges, and churches.
The French Revolution Collection. Haubold, Marcia Ann. The French Revolution Collection. Books at Iowa 3 (November 1965). Collection includes pamphlets on church-state relations in France during the Revolution. For collection holdings, please see the Card Catalog in Special Collections.
Emblem Books Published during the 16th – 18th centuries, Emblem Books sought to teach moral lessons through the use of short mottos, allegorical pictures and short verses. This online exhibit features Emblem Books from the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections.
University of Iowa Archives. Records of the School of Religion.
Medieval Manuscripts Collection. MsC542. The collection includes 12th – 16th century texts, including leaves from Bibles and psalters, two entire books of hours, notarial records from an Italian monastery, and books of sermons.
Originally compiled by Amy Cooper Cary, Special Collections Librarian, and Kathryn Hodson, Reader Services Liaison, 2004.