Ralph T. Templin Papers

Identity elements

Reference code

US NjMdUMCG 2723

Name and location of repository

General Commission on Archives and History

Level of description

Collection

Title

Ralph T. Templin Papers

Date(s)

  • 1913 -1996 (Creation)

Extent

12.0 cubic feet

Name of creator

Templin, Ralph T.
(1896-1984)

Biographical history

Ralph T. Templin (1896-1984), an American missionary, educator, publisher, and social activist, married Lila Horton in 1920. Templin was a missionary in India from 1925 to 1940.

While working in India, Templin created a cooperative education method that allowed senior boys to help build various structures for local villages.

Templin was a founding member of the Peacemakers' movement, after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. When he returned to the United States, he continued Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence in all areas of his active ministry. Templin was the director of the School for Living, Suffern, New York from 1941 to 1945. Later he became the professor of sociology at Central State University, at Wilberforce, Ohio, from 1948 to 1968. Central State University was historically black, and Templin was the first white faculty member.

In 1954 he was the first white clergyperson to be received in full connection within the Central Jurisdiction. Another expression of his social activism was his fast to protest suppression of Puerto Rican independence nationalist movement.

Other avenues that Templin used to promote his belief in social justice included a refusal to pay taxes, did not register for the draft during World War II, and refused to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the McCarthy era. He published, Democracy and Non-Violence, in 1965. Templin died in 1984.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The papers contains file folders on various places, organizations, and people Ralph T. Templin associated with during his missions. There are five files while he was at Central State University. Eight files directly related with missionary work in India but there are a number of others also pertaining to the India Missions. Eight files on the Puerto Rican independence nationalist movement which Ralph Templin strongly supported. There are various amounts on information pertaining to the Peacemaker movement and a number of files on personal correspondence. The other folders are manuscripts and published works. Some files contain photographs and newspaper clippings. The last box of the collection contains three large copies of Templin's, "Farewell Address" at Clancey High School. Two of the copies are in English and the final copy is in Sanskrit.

System of arrangement

All files of this collection are arranged in alphabetical order from the first box to the twenty-first folder of the eleventh box (arranged from A - W). The rest of box eleven contains photographs, archival notes, two copies of Democracy and Nonviolence, and two boxes of index cards all arranged by dates. Box twelve contains a scrapbook, manuscripts, photographs, and personal works and papers filed according to the date except for the scrapbook which is in the front of the box. The last box contains three copies of the farewell address with the two copies in English on the front and the copy in Sanskrit on the back.

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

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    Notes element

    General note

    When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Ralph T. Templin 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

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    Description control element

    Rules or conventions

    Sources used

    Archivist's note

    Prepared by Walter Cano, Student Assistant, Kristen Turner and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivists.

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