Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Moderator Lois Stair Records

Descriptive Summary

Title

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Moderator Lois Stair Records

Inclusive Dates

1971-1972

Call Number

RG 97

Creator(s)

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly. Moderator (1971-1972 : Stair)

Quantity

4.00 cubic feet

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. Medical, educational, and psychological records of living people are closed.

Digital Content

To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.

Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

Lois Harkrider was born in Waukesha, WI, on June 22, 1923. She earned her BA at Smith College in 1944. She married Ralph Martin Stair of Waukesha; they had two sons.

In 1957 Stair was ordained a ruling elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Waukesha. She was a commissioner to the 171st General Assembly (PCUSA) (1959) and was elected secretary to the Standing Committee on Theological Education. She became Vice-Moderator of Milwaukee Presbytery in 1965 and was subsequently the first person to serve two successive terms as moderator of that presbytery. In 1968 she was named vice-moderator of Wisconsin Synod and moderator the year after that.

In 1971 Stair became the first woman to be elected moderator of the General Assembly, in the face of a storm of controversy which had begun only days before. An agency of the Church had set up a $10,000 fund to support the defense of African-American militant Angela Yvonne Davis, who was charged with conspiracy and murder. Over 7,000 church members from across the country protested the fund, but Moderator Stair held firm in defense of it, stating that "Angela Davis may be the symbol of the Black's fight for justice." Stair maintained her involvement with the Presbyterian Church after her term as moderator ended, working with the Council on Church Union until her death in 1981.

Collection Overview

Record Group 97 consists of Lois Stair's moderatorial records from 1971-72, the twelve months of her tenure in that office.

The records are arranged alphabetically, with the material on the Angela Davis Defense Fund at the end.

Alternative Formats

To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.

Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1972
Jane Ramsay

Notes added to finding aid: October 1991
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Personal Name Subject

Davis, Angela Yvonne, 1944-

Corporate Subject

Angela Davis Legal Defense Fund.

Presbyterian women.

Topical Subject

Church controversies.

Personal Added Name

Stair, Lois, 1923-1981.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description	Digital

1	1a	Finding Aid to Record Group 97
	1	American Bible Society
	2	Appointments to General Assembly Committees and Commissions
	3	Black Panthers
	4	Black Presbyterians (gift from)
	5	Book of Discipline
	6	Child Care
	7	Christian Education
	8	Church and Society
	9	Church and State
	10	Church and Race (COCAR)
	11	Consultation on Church Union (COCU)--Denver Plenary
	12	Consultation on Church Union (COCU)--Crow Correspondence
	13	Consultation on Church Union (COCU)--Correspondence
	14	Consultation on Church Union (COCU)--Executive Committee
	15	Consultation on Church Union (COCU)--Interpretation Commission
	16	Consultation on Church Union (COCU)--Structure Commission
	17	Advisory Committee on Future Policies and Programs
	18-19	COEMAR–General Correspondence
	20	Committee on Disaster Relief
	21	Committee on Nominations
	22	Confession of 1967
	23-24	National Committee on Self-Development of People
	25	Council on Church Support
	26	Dubuque Seminary
	27	Ecology
	28	Education
	29	Elderly
	30	Equal Opportunity
	31	Evangelism, Celebration of
	32	Work of Division of
	33	Farm Workers' Ministry
	34	Fifty Million Fund
	35	General Assembly
	36	General Council

2	1	General Protest
	2	General Secretaries' Conference
	3	Glossolalia
	4	Gulf Oil Corporation
	5	Harvard Agricultural Group for the Blind
	6	Higher Education
	7	Homosexuality
	8	Interdenominational Meeting of US Churchmen
	9	Invitations
	10	Lay Committee--"The Layman"
	11	Legal Aid, Emergency Fund for (NOT Angela Davis defense)
	12	Mass Media, Division of
	13	Membership, Communicant; Committee on Church Membership
	14	Ministerial Relations, Department of
	15	Mormons
	16	National Committee on Resources
	17	National Council of Churches
	18	National Missions
	19	National Presbyterian Church and Center
	20	Nominations
	21	Peace
	22	Peace--J. Delmar Crawford
	23	Presbyterian Economic Development Corporation, Inc.
	24	Penology
	25	Population--Planned Parenthood
	26	Prayer in Public Schools
	27	Presbyterian Church in the US
	28	Presbyterian Life
	29	Presbytery, Synod, Congregational Matters
	30	Racism
	31	Red Cross
	32	Regional Synods
	33-34	Reorganization
	35	Sexuality
	36	Social Responsibility in Investment

3	1	South Africa
	2	Spanish
	3	Synods--Texas, Washington/Alaska, and Wisconsin
	4	Task Force on Compensatory Hiring (Equal Employment Opportunity)
	5-6	Task Force on Women
	7	Taxes
	8	Theological Seminaries
	9	United Presbyterian Foundation
	10	National Council of United Presbyterian Men
	11	United Presbyterian Women
	12	Vietnam
	13	Washington Office
	14	World Council of Churches
	15	Youth

		Angela Davis Defense Fund

3	16	Assorted
	16	"The Angela Davis Affair," Presbyteer, July 1971	Digital
	17	General Council
	18	Correspondence which cannot be answered	Digital
	19	Gulf Oil Corporation
	20	Correspondence pro (filed by state)
	21-22	Sessions (filed by state)
	23-26	Correspondence, Alabama-California

4	1-17	Correspondence, Colorado-Wyoming
	18	Telegrams and Moderator's Replies
	19	Statements and Sermons
	20	Miscellaneous

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Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Moderator Lois Stair Records

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