This collection is open for research. Restricted materials have been deaccessioned.
Correspondence and personal documents contain letters (including between Carter Heyward and Gale Yee), diaries, photos, awards and honorifics, degrees (including D.Min and M.Div), paintings, birthday invitations, and other memoirs and reminiscences. Writing materials including sermons, addresses, essays, reflections, collaborative statements, student materials, and; teaching materials from Cheek's tenure at Episocopal Divinity School (such as syllabi on Feminist Liberation Theology courses Cheek designed, hermeneutical models; and course evaluations). Newspaper clippings and publications on Cheek's ordination span across several decades. Materials from Cheek's religious outreach include planning records, sermons, and newsletters from Greenfire and the Well Woman Project. Audio visual materials include audiotapes and VHS recordings of Cheek's sermons and interviews.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1964 -- 2019
This series contains handwritten personal letters and cards; printed email correspondences, including exchanges between Gale Yee, Carter Heyward, Reverend Thomas Shaw, and Bishop Wendt. Topics of correspondence between institutions and organizations (churches, universities, hospitals, publishing houses) and affiliates include Cheek's ordination into the Episcopal diaconate (1972) and priesthood (1974).
Serires 2: Ordination, 1972 -- 2019
This series contains religious bulletins and programs; press releases; statements; publications pertaining to Cheek's ordination into the Episcopal diaconate (1972) and priesthood (1974); and the Appellate's Tribunal Decision regarding women's ordination into Diaconate (1987).
Series 3: Writings, 1963 -- 2006
This series contains sermons (handwritten and church bulletins); addresses and speeches; Cheek's work as a student at Virginia Theological Seminary and Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) including: course notes and files; Hebrew and Greek language practice; thesis drafts and final (1988 - 1990). EDS materials include: Cheek's teaching materials; course evaluations; EDS newsletters; faculty anti-racism initiatives; reports.
Series 4: Projects and Organizations, 1974 -- 2007
This series contains joint projects between Cheek and affiliates including: conferences, reports, proposals; the Well Woman Project; Greenfire. The Well Woman project contains: planning and financial documents; board letters; sermons. The Greenfire project contains: planning and financial documents; board letters; Greenfire newsletters; Greenfire logos and brochures; publications about the project.
Series 5: Personal Documents, circa 1927 -- 2019
This series contains personal records and documents including: images; memorabilia; journals; photography and film negatives; childhood records; university records; and various ephemera. Included in this series are: Cheek's baptism record (1928); Cheek's certification as a godmother; diplomas (including: D. Min and M. Div); diaries and journals; handmade books; watercolor paintings; birthday invitations; and a celebration of life invitation.
Series 6: Audio Visual, circa 1976 -- 1996
This series contains audio visual materials including: audiocassettes of Cheek's sermons and interviews of her; VHS recordings of Episicopal women's conferences; and a DVD entitled "The Ordination of Women: Benevolent Subversion."
Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship (AWTS)
This collection is arranged in 6 series: 1. Correspondences; 2. Ordination; 3. Writings; 4. Projects and Organizations; 5. Personal Documents; 6. Audio Visual Materials. Ordination materials from Cheek's ordination into the Episcopal diaconate in 1972 and priesthood in 1974 are arranged as follows. Sermons, public statements, releases, and publications are arranged in Series 2: Ordination. Correspondences pertaining to the ordination are arranged in Series 1: Correspondences, including correspondences specifically from institutions during the period surrounding Cheek's ordination. Religious and spiritual projects in which Cheek provided direction and leadership, including The Well Woman Project and Greenfire are arranged in Series 4: Projects and Organizations.
This collection is open for research. Restricted materials have been deaccessioned.
Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary
15 record cartons were donated in 2013 by Alison Cheek, 1 envelope was donated by Reverend Monica Styron in 2015, and 1 oversize box was donated by Reverend Carter Hayward in 2022. Materials were transferred by Ruth Tonkiss Cameron, Leah Edelman, and Calvin Mason between 2013 and 2022. Approximately 2 record cartons of newspapers that are in circulation and have already been digitized were removed from the collection. Original folders and titles were kept when possible; nearly all materials were re-housed in acid-free folders, and all folders were placed into acid-free boxes. Sensitive materials, including financial and legal records, were weeded from the collection. The finding aid, including box and folder-level inventories and series-level descriptions, was created by Lennox Németh in 2024 with the supervisory support of Leah Edelman and Matthew Baker.
2024-08-21 Finding aid updated by Catherine C. Ricciardi.
Alison Cheek (born Alison Mary Western) was a feminist theologian, priest, and professor at Episcopal Divinity School. Born in Adelaide, Australia in 1927, Cheek completed her undergraduate degree in Australia before enrolling in Virginia Theological Seminary as one of the first two women admitted into the Masters of Divinity program in 1963. Cheek then sought ordination into the priesthood when she reported receiving instructions from God telling her, "I want you to be my priest." Subsequently, Cheek was one of the first 11 women to be ordained into the Episocapal priesthood in 1974 beside a group of women who came to be known as the Philadelphia Eleven. Cheek's dedication to feminist theology presided over her religious service and academic scholarship, as she designed Feminist Liberation Theology courses with foundational roots in Black Liberation Theology. Cheek spent her lifetime as an educator and religious mentor, both within academia, and through external learning centers she co-designed, including The Well Woman Project and Greenfire.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.