-Christopher J. Anderson, Methodist Librarian and Coordinator of Special Collections, Drew University Library

The United Methodist Archives and History Center

Hosts a reception to celebrate the exhibit of

“ . . . For the Cause of Freedom”
The Prophetic Ministry of Bishop Gilbert Haven and the Rev. Frank Mason North

An Exhibit of the Papers of Gilbert Haven donated by the Charles Eric North Family

Tuesday, April 9, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Methodist Center Lobby

Comments by Dr. William B. Gravely, biographer of Haven
and holder of the B.D. degree from Drew

Light refreshments.  All welcome.

The exhibit includes photos, letters, and other texts related to these two important individuals in the history of Methodism. The exhibit has resulted from the generous gift of the Charles Eric North Family to the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church containing possibly about 1000 letters to and from Gilbert Haven, a vocal abolitionist and advocate for the rights of African Americans. The family are also descendants of Frank Mason North, hymn writer and advocate for social reform, and thus the exhibit recognizes the work of both men.

Gilbert Haven was editor of Zion’s Herald and a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1872-1880. Frank Mason North is best known for the hymn, “Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life.” The desk used by North sits in the lobby of the Methodist Archives Center and his papers are housed at Drew. This exhibit is the reminder that the quest for “liberty and justice” for all is ongoing but one with deep roots in Drew’s and in Methodism’s past.

DJs, Some Sophisticated, That I Have Known

A conversation with

David Porter

Wednesday, March 27

4:00 p.m.

Pilling Room

on the second floor of the Library

Light Refreshments. All are Welcome. For more information, call 973.408.3471.

Work is scheduled to run from December 2012 through August 2013. Collections housed on the second floor will be moved to temporary storage areas. These collections include all Methodist books, periodicals, pamphlets and serials, as well as the Byron Society of America collection and the Society for Biblical Literature archive. They will be unavailable for the duration of the renovation project. All Methodist manuscript collections, microforms, Drew University Library’s special collections and Drew University Archives will continue to be available.

For further information or to check the availability of collections, please contact Chris Anderson at cjanders@drew.edu.

Collins was a lead donor in the funding of the Methodist Center thirty years ago. In collaboration with Drs. Robert and Vivian Bull and Dr. Ken Rowe, she has donated a number of unique collections to Drew, including Civil War papers that were pivotal to History Professor Wyatt Evans’ volume, The Legend of John Wilkes
Booth: Myth, Memory, and a Mummy (University of Kansas, 2004).

At the present time, these collections are scattered throughout the three Library buildings and not always readily available for use. But not for long. Thanks to a $1 million gift from Norman Tomlinson of Miami, Florida, most of these collections will soon be brought together in one location in the Methodist Center.

The second floor of the building will be renovated so that an ideal, climate-controlled environment will be provided for these unique materials—an environment that will rival that of the fabled underground vaults. A new, non-water fire-suppressant system will also be installed and security measures tightened.Movable, compact shelving will replace the traditional shelving, thereby doubling the storage capacity. Several deferred maintenance projects will also be addressed.

The collections currently residing on the second floor will be moved to temporary storage areas in other parts of the building starting in October 2012 and will not be accessible until May 2013. However, the other collections in the building, including the microforms and many manuscript collections, will continue to be available. In May, the collections in the other buildings will be moved to their new home.

Mr. Tomlinson has taken a keen interest in the care of Drew’s special collections and has urged Drew to do all it can to make them easily accessible, especially to undergraduates. During the Library’s strategic planning in 2007, and again last year, he helped shape plans that extended these values. Tomlinson has not only donated priceless collections to Drew but has actively encouraged others to do the same and played a strategic role in convincing the Byron Society of America that Drew was the ideal location for its library.

As further funds become available, the second phase of the project will unfold. It calls for renovating the Wilson Reading Room and doubling the cramped space with a glass-walled addition. The expanded reading room will become a beautiful and inspiring space worthy of the collections and conducive to scholarly exploration.

“Land of the Morning Calm”
Drew Theological Seminary and Early Christian Missions to Korea

Methodist Center Lobby
September 27, 2012 – January 31, 2013
Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

The Drew University Library exhibit “Land of the Morning Calm”: Drew Theological Seminary and Early Methodist Missions to Korea examines the origins of Korean Methodism and the historic links between Drew Theological School and American missionary presence in Korea. The exhibit highlights the Henry and Ella Appenzeller family and brings attention to five lesser known Drew graduates and their families between 1885 and 1920. Attention is also given to the origins of Western medical and educational work in Korea.

Materials for the exhibit have been drawn from several collections including: Chung Dong First Methodist Church in Seoul, Korea, the Drew University Archives, Drew Methodist Library and the General Commission on Archives and History for The United Methodist Church. Historical items include manuscript journals, denominational records, photographs, ephemera, and film footage documenting the lives and work of Drew Alumni during the initial years of Methodist missionary outreach to Korea.

The exhibit is housed at the United Methodist Archives and History Center on the campus at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. The free exhibit runs from September 27, 2012, to January 31, 2013, and is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For questions please contact Christopher Anderson, Director of the Methodist Library and Coordinator of Special Collections at Drew University. He can be reached by phone (973) 408-3910 or by email cjanders@drew.edu.