Robert Thomas Parsons Collection

Elementos de identidad

Código de referencia

US NjMdUMCG 4223

Nombre y localización del repositorio

Nivel de descripción

Colección

Título

Robert Thomas Parsons Collection

Fecha(s)

  • 1940 (Creación)

Extensión

0.18 cubic feet

Nombre del productor

(1904-?)

Historia biográfica

Robert Thomas Parsons (1904-?) was a Church of the United Brethren in Christ missionary, pastor, and academic. Parsons was born on September 27, 1094 to J.B. Parsons, D.D. and Ada Parsons in Dayton, Ohio.

Parsons received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana Central College in 1926, and a Bachelor of Divinity from Bonebrake Theological Seminary in 1929. He was ordained, and in 1929 went to serve as a missionary under the Foreign Missions Board of the United Brethren in Christ to the Kono tribe in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

Parsons would return to the United States on his first furlough in 1933 to enroll as a Ph.D. candidate in the Kennedy School of Missions at Hartford Theological Seminary. During his second furlough in 1937, alongside his Ph.D. work, he received a Master of Arts from Cornell University. Parsons then returned to Sierra Leone for two years and taught at Union College in Bunumbu.

Parsons completed his dissertation in 1940, and went on to serve Fifth Ave Church in Columbus, Ohio. Parsons would join the faculty at Hartford in 1947 as a Professor of African Studies, and would later become Dean of the Kennedy School of Missions. Parsons would make a handful of other trips back to Africa for research. He also went on to serve on committees of the Division of Foreign Missions of the National Council of Churches. His dissertation was published in book form as "Religion in an African society: A Study of the Religion of the Kono People of Sierra Leone in its Social Environment With Special Reference to the Function of Religion in that Society" by Brill in 1964.

Área de contenido y estructura

Alcance y contenido

The Robert Thomas Parsons Collection contains both a complete copy and a partial copy of Parsons' Ph.D. dissertation from the Kennedy School of Missions of the Hartford Seminary Foundation. The first folder contains biographical data and a photograph of Parsons from a collection of his papers at Hartford Theological Seminary. A complete manuscript of the thesis, titled "The Function of Religion in an African Society", is collected in two volumes. A partial collection of the thesis containing sections III, IV, V, VI, and VII is collected in two volumes and marked with a logo from the Department of World Missions of the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

Sistema de arreglo

Documents arranged by record type.

Condiciones de acceso y uso de los elementos

Condiciones de acceso

There are no restrictions regarding this collection.

Acceso físico

Acceso técnico

Condiciones

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.

Idiomas del material

  • inglés

Escritura(s) de los documentos

    Notas sobre las lenguas y escrituras

    Instrumentos de descripción

    Elementos de adquisición y valoración

    Historial de custodia

    Origen del ingreso

    1972-020

    Valoración, selección y eliminación

    Acumulaciones

    Elementos de material relacionado

    Existencia y localización de originales

    Existencia y localización de copias

    Unidades de descripción relacionadas.

    Scarritt-Bennett Center Records

    Hartford Theological Seminary Archives

    Descripciones relacionadas

    Elemento notas

    Nota general

    The purpose of this finding aid is to help you understand the nature of this collection and to assist you in the retrieval of material from this collection. The following pages contain a brief biographical history of the person, or persons, who created or collected these papers, followed by a general description of the collection in the scope and content note. If more detailed information is warranted then series descriptions also appear. The container listing appears last and is the listing of material in each box, or container, of this collection. To request material you need to turn to the container listing section. It is essentially a listing of file folders, or artifact items, in the collection. Each folder, or item, has a call number associated with it. Each folder also lists the inclusive dates of the material in the folder. On the material request form list both the call number and the folder, or item, title. Use a different line for each folder, or item, requested. When your request sheet is complete, or full, bring it to the archivist and the material will be retrieved.

    Nota general

    When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Robert Thomas Parsons 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.

    Notas especializadas

    Identificador/es alternativo(os)

    Área de control de la descripción

    Reglas o convenciones

    Fuentes

    Nota del archivista

    Nota del archivista

    Prepared by Kevin Gregory, Student Intern

    Puntos de acceso

    Puntos de acceso por materia

    Puntos de acceso por lugar

    Tipo de puntos de acceso

    Área de Ingreso