Evangelical Alliance records, circa 1800 -- 1944

Summary Information

Abstract

The Evangelical Alliance for the United States of America was a voluntary society for the promotion and manifestation of Christian unity, as well as the protection of religious liberty at home and abroad. Included in the collection are administrative records, correspondence, scrapbooks, and a photo album. Some records are in other languages such as German and French.

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in four series: Series 1: Administrative records; Series 2: Correspondence; Series 3: Proposed General Conference in New York City; and Series 4: Special formats.

• Series 1: Administrative records, 1846 -- 1944
• Series 2: Correspondence, 1869 -- 1901
• Series 3: Proposed General Conference in New York City, 1869 -- 1870
• Series 4: Special formats, circa 1800 -- 1899

Description

Scope and Contents

This collection contains the administrative records of the Evangelical Alliance in the United States, including lists of the Alliance's various committees, lists of Branch Alliances and officers, registers of guests, and Executive Committee Minutes; bound letter copying books and loose correspondence comprised of telegrams, postal cards, and letters, as well as the correspondence of Heli Chatelain, field manager in Africa of the  Philafrican Liberators' League; material related to the Alliance's General Conference of 1870 in New York City, including proposed conference programs, lists of individuals who have accepted their invitations to the conference, and a list of people invited to speak or present papers at the conference; as well as images and scrapbooks, which include pamphlets, conference programs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and various documents broken down by Branch Alliances across the United States.

• Series 1: Administrative records, 1846 -- 1944

  This series contains the administrative records of the Evangelical Alliance in the United States. Records include lists of the Alliance's various committees, lists of Branch Alliances and officers, registers of guests, and Executive Committee Minutes. Among the more notable documents in this series are an autograph book lithograph from the inaugural meeting of the Evangelical Alliance in the United Kingdom from 1846 and the Dissolution Document of the United States branch of the Alliance from 1944, which stated that all of the Alliance's assets be transferred to the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America. Topics covered in this series range from administrative issues to serious issues of religion around the world, including the persecution of both the Baptists and the Jews in Russia and the persecution of the Armenians by the Turkish.

• Series 2: Correspondence, 1869 -- 1901

  This series contains bound letter copying books and loose correspondence comprised of telegrams, postal cards, and letters, as well as the correspondence of Heli Chatelain, field manager in Africa of the Philafrican Liberators' League, to the Rev. L.T. Chamberlain, President of both the Evangelical Alliance in the United States and of the Liberators' League. Some of the records are in other languages, such as German and French. Noteworthy correspondents in this series include Kaiser Wilhelm, Prince von Bismarck, and Booker T. Washington. The topics covered in the correspondence address many of the same that are covered in the administrative records, including the status of religion and religious persecution around the world. Additionally, the correspondence focuses on such topics as upcoming Alliance conferences, requests for Alliance publications, and the Week of Prayer. The correspondence also demonstrates how world events, including the Franco-Prussian War and the Boer War, affected the Alliance and its planned initiatives. A few of the Chatelain letters are from Chatelain to his sister, describing Chatelain's efforts while stationed in Africa on behalf of the Philafrican Liberators' League, which included securing the freedom of slaves in Africa and the promotion of their welfare during the Boer War. Other pieces of correspondence contain supply lists for his base at Lincoln Station and Chatelain's report of his European trip.

• Series 3: Proposed General Conference in New York City, 1869 -- 1870

  This series contains material related to the Alliance's General Conference of 1870 in New York City, including proposed conference programs, lists of individuals who have accepted their invitations to the conference, and a list of people invited to speak or present papers at the conference. The materials describe and reflect the preparatory processes involved in organizing the conference, as well as the barriers to its success. One such document, a letter regarding travel restrictions to and from Europe due to the Franco-Prussian War, emphasizes the far reach that global events had on the rest of the world.

• Series 4: Special formats, circa 1800 -- 1899

  This series contains images and scrapbooks, which include pamphlets, conference programs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, as well as various documents broken down by Branch Alliances across the United States. The photo album contains photographs of Evangelical Alliance members, including William Dodge, once President of the Alliance, and Philip Schaff, among others. The wide range of topics covered in the scrapbooks reflects the wide array of document types found within them. Such topics include Alliance events, both domestic and international; the Franco-Prussian War; religious persecution in Europe; and Alliance conferences.

Burke Library record group:

William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library Archives

Using the Collection

Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Onsite storage.

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.

Preferred Citation

Item description, WAB: Evangelical Alliance records, circa 1800-1944, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Related Materials

WAB: Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America Records, 1905-1971, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Various material available on the Internet Archive, including: Report of the Deputation of the American Branch of the Evangelical Alliance, Appointed to Memorialize the Emperor of Russia in Behalf of Religious Liberty (1871), by the Evangelical Alliance for the United States of America, is available via the Internet Archive at http://archive.org/stream/reportdeputatio00amergoog#page/n6/mode/2up. Christianity practically applied. The discussions of the International Christian Conference held in Chicago, October 8-14, 1893, in connection with the World's Congress, Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition, and under the auspices and direction of the Evangelical Alliance for the United States. The general conference (1894), by the Evangelical Alliance for the United States of America, is available via the Internet Archive at http://archive.org/stream/christianityprac00evan#page/n7/mode/2up. National perils and opportunities; (1887), by the Evangelical Alliance for the United States of America, is available via the Internet Archive at http://archive.org/stream/cu31924029357013#page/n5/mode/2up.

UTS1: Philip Schaff Papers, 1838 - 1896, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Custodial History

The papers are part of the William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library Archives, which was founded in 1945 by the Union Theological Seminary Board of Directors.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The exact provenance of this collection is unknown. Earlier papers within this collection related to Philip Schaff 's involvement with the Evangelical Alliance may previously have been sourced from Philip Schaff's papers donated to the Burke Library by his son, David, in 1896.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Processing Information

Some material was cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-08-08. Metal clips and staples were removed from materials and folded items were flattened. 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 were placed in Mylar envelopes. Books were wrapped in acid-free tissue. A fragile scrapbook consisting of newspaper clippings in envelopes was disbound and is now in Box 13. The finding aid was created by Rebecca Weintraub in 2012 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2023.

Revision Description

2023-04-06 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

The first incarnation of the Evangelical Alliance for the United States of America was founded by American delegates to the London Conference of 1846 (which established the Evangelical Alliance in the United Kingdom) at a five-day meeting that took place on May 5-11, 1847. The group had its issues from the start, which lead to its early demise only three years later. One of the major contributors to the Alliance's downfall was the issue of slavery and whether or not to allow slave owners membership. Some wanted the complete exclusion of slave owners, while others were more open to their inclusion. The Alliance came to a compromise in its stance regarding slavery in what became Article Seven of the Alliance's organizational criterion. While it was believed that the institution of slavery was an evil one, and that they seek its end, the object of the Alliance was still that of the "promotion of Christian union and brotherly love." The disbanding of the Evangelical Alliance for the United States, however, did not eliminate its presence completely. Though the Civil War divided evangelicalism, public meetings took place that carried on the traditions of the Alliance in a more informal way. Finally, in 1866, the Evangelical Alliance was revived in New York. Philip Schaff, soon appointed as the corresponding secretary of the Alliance, played an important role in its revival. According to Schaff, the "essence" of the Alliance was: The 'Evangelical Alliance' is not an ecclesiastical organization, and has, therefore no authority to issue and enforce an ecclesiastical creed or confession of faith. It is a voluntary society for the manifestation and promotion of Christian union, and for the protection of religious liberty. Its object is not to bring about an organic union of Churches, nor a confederation of independent Churches, but to exhibit and to strengthen union and cooperation among individual members of different Protestant denominations without interfering with their respective creeds and internal affairs. It aims to realize the idea of such a Christian union as it is consistent with denominational distinctions and varieties in doctrine, worship, and government. It may ultimately lead to a closer approximation of the Churches themselves, but it may and does exist without ecclesiastical union; and ecclesiastical union would be worthless without Christian union. A good amount of the Alliance's efforts throughout its existence was directed towards religious liberty at home and abroad. Appeals were made to the Czar on behalf of the Alliance protesting the persecution of Baptists and Jews in Russia, to the Sultan in Turkey protesting the Protestant discrimination of the Armenians by the Turks, in addition to those regarding the religious persecution of all non-Roman Catholics in Peru and Ecuador. The Alliance continued to fulfill its missions until 1944, by which time it had been deemed to have "outlived its usefulness." The Evangelical Alliance for the United States of America formally dissolved and turned over its assets to the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America.