11986579James Melvin Washington papers11986579Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

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This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-01-22 20:55:19 -0500.Description is written in: English, Latin script.Describing Archives: A Content Standard Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary James Melvin Washington papers Washington, James Melvin 11986579 English /repositories/5/resources/528 93 linear feet 93 linear feet; 93 boxes circa 1970 -- 1997 This collection contains the personal and professional papers of James Melvin Washington, professor of Church History at Union and Columbia University. The collection includes correspondence, subject files, course files, and writings. Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is located offsite. Please note that requests for use of boxes held in offsite storage must be made three business days in advance.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was donated by Patricia Washington, accession FIC-2021-004.

Biographical / Historical

James Melvin Washington (1948-1997) was an American Baptist pastor, church historian and professor, whose scholarship primarily engaged the African-American religious experience. Son of James W. Washington and Annie Moore Washington, he was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1948. His mother especially encouraged Washington's education and religious development, and in 1967 he was ordained to ministry at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, his home congregation. He earned a BA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1970, an MTS at Harvard Divinity School in 1972, and an M. Phil and Ph.D. from Yale Divinity School in 1975 and 1979. While a graduate student at Yale, Washington began teaching. He took an assistant professorship at Union Theological Seminary in New York, held from 1976 until his promotion to Associate Professor in 1983. In 1986, he earned tenure serving Union as full professor in Modern and American Church History. He worked at Columbia University as adjunct professor, and was visiting professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, Haverford College, Oberlin College, and Princeton University.

In 1986 he published Frustrated Fellowship: The Black Baptist Quest for Social Power. He also compiled and edited three anthologies dealing with the African-American religious experience: A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1986); I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World (1992); and Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans (1994). In addition Washington published a number of scholarly articles and before his death was preparing a major culminating work: his religious history of the Civil Rights Movement.

He held several board and leadership positions with the National Council of Churches, the American Historical Association, the American Society of Church History, the American Baptist Historical Society, and the American Academy of Religion. Among honors received were a Doctoral Fellowship from the Rockefeller Fund for Theological Education (1972-74), a National Endowment for Humanities Grant (1981), the Christopher Award (1987), and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association Honor Award (1995). Wsahington died of a stroke on May 3, 1997, and was survived by his wife, Patricia and his daughter, Ayanna.

Burke Library record group:

Union Theological Seminary Archives: UTS 1, papers of faculty and students

Preferred Citation

Item description, James Melvin Washington papers, box #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Processing Information

Materials were minimally processed: sensitive material was weeded (including the entirety of Box 70), and original order, boxes, and numbering were maintained when possible. The finding aid, including a box-level inventory and series-level description, was created by Leah Edelman with assistance from Matthew Baker in 2024.

Related Materials

Washington, James Melvin Papers 1965-1997, held by Fuller Theological Seminary.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of James Melvin Washington, including correspondence, subject files, course files, and writings. See box listings for detailed contents.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is minimally processed and may require review before it is available for use; please contact Burke staff for further details.

Conditions Governing Access

Some material in this collection may contain further restrictions. Restrictions related to specific material are listed in the detailed contents list.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in original order.

College teachers Church historians Washington, James Melvin -- : Archives Union Theological Seminary (New York, N.Y.) -- : Archives -- : Faculty Box 1/repositories/5/archival_objects/1578249circa 1970 -- 19971Conditions Governing Access