Augustus Waldo Drury Collection

Identity elements

Reference code

US NjMdUMCG 4203

Name and location of repository

General Commission on Archives and History

Level of description

Collection

Title

Augustus Waldo Drury Collection

Date(s)

1793-1935 (Creation)

Extent

2.06 cubic feet

Name of creator

Drury, Augustus Waldo

(1851-1935)

Biographical history

Augustus Waldo Drury (1851-1935), Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History at Bonebrake Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, served as the denominational historian during his lifetime. He had a number of academic interests, most notably in theology, history, and later in his career he was interested in secularization, the local histories of Dayton, Ohio area, and William James. Drury is most well known for his biography on Otterbien as well as his three volume history of the United Brethren Church in Christ; Drury received high praise from his denomination for these works.

Drury was a husband and father and had an avid correspondence with a significant number of persons related to the United Brethren Church in Christ. He would regularly receive questions regarding lineage in families and church relations, as well as financial histories--such as a minister's salary at a particular church.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

This collection contains many of Drury's publications: his biography of Otterbein, as well as a number of pamphlets; photographs; Drury's letters that he authored, and letters he received; letters or collections of old works that Drury kept for himself.

Among his letters, most of them are demonstrative of the kind of inquiry he was making into Otterbein and the history of the United Brethren Church in Christ. For the kind of histories that Drury was writing, he was meticulous about dates and the need to keep them straight in order to construct a coherent history. Much of his personal notes contain lists of dates, where it is clear he was hovering over the page attempting to connect disperate material or events. The largest collection of letters comes between 1883-1884, where Drury was ostensibly doing the bulk of his historical writing and attempting to contact any living witnesses available.

The photographs of this collection are largely unmarked, though there is at least one picture of A.W. Drury that is identified.

Drury's interest in Christian apologetics eventually led to an interest in things secular, as he later developed an interest in behavioral patters and their relation to religion; this led to his interest in William James, and the pamphlet he wrote on Psychology of Religion.

System of arrangement

This collection is arranged by series.

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

There are no restrictions regarding this collection.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.

Languages of the material

English

Scripts of the material

Language and script notes

Finding aids

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Related materials elements

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

Records of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Board of Christian Education.

Records of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. General Conference.

Records of the Division of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.

Records of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. The Otterbein Press.

Related descriptions

Notes element

General note

When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Augustus Waldo Drury Collection, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.

Specialized notes

Alternative identifier(s)

Description control element

Rules or conventions

Sources used

Archivist's note

Prepared by Joseph Kramp and Joseph Strausbaugh, Student Assistants and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist