This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
This collection contains correspondence sent to Bird over the course of his career; many of his correspondents are other clergymen involved in the study and publication of hymns. Topics common to the correspondence include establishing a hymn's authentic text or identifying its author, as well as the buying, selling, and trading of hymnbooks. This collection also contains writings by and about Bird and writings by and about others. The former includes unbound galley proof copies of Hymns for the Use of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and Songs of the Spirit, as well as some of his newspaper publications. The latter includes samples of publications and research into the work of other scholars and practitioners of hymns. There are also many clippings from newspapers and hymnals, some of which have been annotated.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1862 -- 1902
This series contains correspondence sent to Bird over the course of his career. Many of his correspondents are other clergymen involved in the study and publication of hymns. Topics common to the correspondence include establishing a hymn's authentic text or identifying its author, as well as the buying, selling, and trading of hymnbooks.
Series 2: Writings, 1846 -- 1910
This series contains writings by and about Bird and writings by and about others. The former includes unbound galley proof copies of Hymns for the Use of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and Songs of the Spirit, as well as some of his newspaper publications. The latter includes samples of publications and research into the work of other scholars and practitioners of hymns. There are also many clippings from newspapers and hymnals, some of which have been annotated.
Union Theological Seminary Archives: UTS 1, papers of faculty and students
This collection is organized in two series: Series 1: Correspondence; and Series 2: Writings.
This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
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.
Item description, UTS1: Frederic Mayer Bird papers, 1846-1910, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Frederick Mayer Bird Scrapbook, Archives and Manuscript Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.
Donated by Frederic Mayer Bird, UTS Alumnus of 1860, in 1891. See correspondence with Thomas S. Hastings, then President of Union, in Series 1, box 1, folder 6.
Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary
Some material was cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-07-07. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Acidic items were separated from one another by interleaving with acid-free paper as needed. Any items in an advanced state of deterioration, in particular the large amount of newspaper clippings, were placed in Mylar sleeves. The finding aid was created by Alex W. Black in 2015 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2022.
2022-08-04 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.
Frederic Mayer Bird, whose first name is sometimes spelled "Frederick," was born on June 28, 1838 to Mary Elizabeth Mayer (1809-1868) and Robert Montgomery Bird (1806-1854) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bird's maternal grandfather was a Lutheran pastor. Bird's father was a successful dramatist and novelist. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1857) and Union Theological Seminary (A.M., 1860), Bird was ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1860. His first position was as pastor in Rhinebeck, New York. He served as chaplain to the 103rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment from October 1862 to February 1863. His pastorship in in Valatie, New York began in 1866 and ended in 1888. After taking orders as a deacon in the Episcopal Church in 1868, he advanced to the priesthood in 1869. From 1870 to 1874, he was rector in Spottswood, New Jersey. It was there that he met Frances Palmer Snowhill (1858-1941), whom he married in 1877. They had one child, a son, survive to adulthood, Robert Montgomery Bird (1882-1942). After spending some years as a rector in Indianapolis, Indiana, Hightstown, New Jersey, Iowa City, Iowa and Waterloo, Iowa, Bird was appointed Chaplain and Professor of Psychology, Christian Evidences, and Rhetoric at Lehigh University in 1881. He held that position until his retirement in 1887. Bird was also a contributor to the secular press, including the New York Independent and The Nation, and the religious press, including The Lutheran and Missionary. From 1893 to 1898, he was editor of Lippincott's Magazine. Bird died on April 2, 1908 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Some of his publications include Charles Wesley Seen in his Finer and Less Familiar Poems (1866) and The Story of Our Christianity (1893). By the order of the Lutheran General Council, Bird co-edited Hymns for the Use of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (1865) with Beale Melanchthon Schmucker (1827-1888). He also co-edited Songs of the Spirit (1871) with William Henry Odenheimer (1817-1879). In addition to his editorial work, Bird contributed multiple entries to John Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology (1892), one of which remarked that "his library of hymnological works is the largest in the United States." That library, which numbered over 3,000 volumes, came to Union Theological Seminary as a gift from Henry Day, a member of the Board of Directors, in 1888. Bird also wrote two novels: A Pessimist in Theory and Practice (1888) and An Alien from the Commonwealth (1889). In 1889, he published A Belated Revenge, a novel based on a manuscript that his father left unfinished before his death.
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