Descriptive Summary
Creator(s)
Unrestricted
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Biographical Note / Administrative History
Bernard M. Taylor was born October 14, 1906, in Tallapoosa, Georgia. He completed his high school education in West Philadelphia and graduated from Lafayette College in 1928. Taylor entered Union Theological Seminary in New York and completed his studies there in 1931. In that same year he married Anne Justice, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, who was also at Union Seminary.
Mr. Taylor was ordained on September 30th, 1931 and was immediately installed as pastor of the Olive Church, Clarion Presbytery, in Oliveburg, Pennsylvania. In 1936, Taylor accepted a call by Christ Church in Alpine, Tennessee. The work in Alpine focused on the Dale Hollow Larger Parish, an interdenominational project designed to minister to the spiritual needs of the rural communities spread out several hundred square miles where the Dale Hollow Lake was later created. The Taylors also helped the community deal with other problems associated with rural life including proper education, vocational training, electrification, and transportation. Bernard Taylor served as Stated Clerk of Cumberland Mountain Presbytery, Synod of the Mid-South, from 1942 to 1951.
The Taylors took a leave of absence in 1946 and returned to New York City where both earned Master's Degrees in Christian Education from the Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University. They returned to Alpine the following year and served there until 1952 when they were called by Old Rehoboth Church (Maryland). Taylor served as pastor of that congregation and as the Stated Supply for the Gunby Church in Stockton, Maryland for five years. In 1957, Taylor received a call from the Georgetown and Coolspring Presbyterian Churches, and served as the Moderator of New Castle Presbytery for one year. Bernard Taylor was installed as Associate Pastor of the First and Central Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware in 1962 and remained there until his retirement in 1976. Taylor died in 2003.
Collection Overview
The Bernard Taylor papers consist of correspondence, logs, newsletters, academic work, reports, minutes, photographs and miscellaneous materials (sermons, pamphlets, clippings, biographical materials and maps) spanning the years 1891-1988. The majority of the materials cover the 1930s-1950s.
The most comprehensive series in this collection is the correspondence, which reflects the Taylors' experiences as missionaries to rural communities in Tennessee and Western Pennsylvania. The most extensive correspondence deals with the Taylors' parish in Alpine, Tennessee. Bernard Taylor's newsletters to family, friends, and parishioners are also descriptive accounts of the rural community of Alpine.
The logs, which are similar to diaries, are candid narratives of rural traditions in Oliveburg and Alpine. The logs only cover the years 1931-c.1939, but Taylor kept narratives similar to the logs sporadically until 1984. These accounts can be found in the logs series.
Also of note are the reports and minutes, which largely reflect the work in Alpine.
The photographs series encompasses most of the Taylors' parishes. Some of the most fascinating photographs are of the rural community of Alpine.
Organization and Arrangement
SERIES II: LOGS, 1931-1984
SERIES III: NEWSLETTERS, 1937-1959
SERIES IV: ACADEMIC WORK, 1946-1947
SERIES V: REPORTS, 1924-c. 1983
SERIES VI: MINUTES, 1939-1952
SERIES VII: PHOTOGRAPHS, c. 1930-1960
SERIES VIII: SERMONS, c. 1941-c. 1947
SERIES IX: MISCELLANEOUS, 1891-1980
Alternative Formats
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Administrative Information
The original file headings in the correspondence series were maintained, and then arranged in alphabetical order for easier use. The researcher should be aware that Bernard Taylor frequently used the back of incoming correspondence for carbons of his outgoing correspondence. Therefore, perfect chronological arrangement was impossible.
The newsletter series contains both personal newsletters to family and friends, as well as to parishioners and the community.
The two photograph albums in the collection were disassembled for conservation reasons. The photographs remain in the original order they appeared in the albums.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: June, 1989
Susan W. Miller, Processing Archivist
Finding Aid revised: January, 1998
Stephanie Phillips, Archive Technician
Catalog Headings
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | Description | |
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1 | 0 | Finding Aid to Record Group 254 | |
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| SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1931-1988 | |
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1 | 1 | Alpine, TN, 1937-1947 | |
1 | 2 | Alpine, TN, 1948-1952 | |
1 | 3 | Alpine, TN--Crafts, 1937-1954 | |
1 | 4 | Alpine, TN--Dedications and Fire, 1936-1940 | |
1 | 5 | Alpine, TN--Farm, 1937-1952 | |
1 | 6 | Alpine, TN--Forestry, 1939-1942 | |
1 | 7 | Alpine, TN--Forestry, 1943-1952, 1984-1986 | |
1 | 8 | Alpine, TN--"Leaving Alpine" | |
1 | 9 | Alpine, TN--Memorial Building, 1939-1952 | |
1 | 10 | Alpine, TN--Miller Chapel, 1937-1987 | |
1 | 11 | Alpine, TN--"Moving to Alpine," 1936-1940 | |
1 | 12 | Alpine, TN--Promotional, 1936-1952 | |
1 | 13 | Alpine, TN--Property, 1943-1952 | |
1 | 14 | Alpine, TN--"Special Supporters," 1938-1951 | |
1 | 15 | Alpine, TN--Staff, 1937-1943 | |
1 | 16 | Alpine, TN--Staff, 1944-1952 | |
1 | 17 | Alpine, TN--"Struggle to Save" Alpine Institute, 1942 | |
1 | 18 | Alpine, TN--Walnut Club, 1937-1951 | |
1 | 19 | Bethel College, Memphis, TN, 1951-1952 | |
1 | 20 | Cumberland Mountain Presbytery, 1942; 1951-1952 | |
1 | 21 | Dale Hollow Larger Parish, 1948-1952 | |
1 | 22 | Dale Hollow Larger Parish, Tuberculosis Center, 1942-1952 | |
1 | 23 | Georgetown, DE, 1957-1962 | |
1 | 24 | Oliveburg, PA, 1931-1934 | |
1 | 25 | Oliveburg, PA, 1935-1936 | |
1 | 26 | Orangeburg, NY--Study leave, 1946-1947 | |
1 | 27 | Personal, 1936-1988 | |
1 | 28 | Rehoboth, MD, 1952-1958 | |
1 | 29 | Smyrna, TN, 1943-1948 | |
1 | 30 | Taylor, Anne, 1946-1949 | |
1 | 31 | Warren H. Wilson Institute of Rural Church Work, Swannanoa, NC, 1946-1951 | |
1 | 32 | Wilmington, DE, 1960-1968 | |
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| SERIES II: LOGS, 1931-1984 | |
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2 | 1 | Oliveburg, PA, 1931 | |
2 | 2 | Oliveburg, PA, 1931-1932 | |
2 | 3 | Oliveburg, PA, 1932 | |
2 | 4 | Alpine, TN, c. 1936-c. 1939 | |
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3 | 1 | 1941, 1946-1948, 1951; 1956 | |
3 | 2 | 1982-1984 | |
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| SERIES III: NEWSLETTERS, 1937-1959 | |
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3 | 3 | Taylor, 1937-1945 | |
3 | 4 | Taylor, 1946-1949 | |
3 | 5 | Taylor, 1950-1953 | |
3 | 6 | Taylor, 1954-1959 | |
3 | 7 | Alpine Institute, 1939-1943 | |
3 | 8 | Alpine and Dale Hollow, 1939-1957 | |
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| SERIES IV: ACADEMIC WORK, 1946-1947 | |
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3 | 9 | Papers, 1946-1947 | |
3 | 10 | Sunday School Evaluations, 1946-1947 | |
3 | 11 | Thesis, 1947 | |
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| SERIES V: REPORTS, 1924-1951 | |
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3 | 12 | Alpine, TN, 1929-1952 | |
3 | 13 | Alpine, TN, n.d. | |
3 | 14 | Alpine, TN--Crafts, 1948-c.1961 | |
3 | 15 | Alpine, TN--Farms, 1944-1945 | |
3 | 16 | Alpine, TN--Forestry, 1940-1951 | |
3 | 17 | Alpine, TN--"Re-Thinking Alpine" Seminar, 1945 | |
3 | 18 | Alpine, TN--School, 1924, c. 1928-c. 1949 | |
3 | 19 | Cumberland Mountain Presbytery, c. 1940, 1952 | |
3 | 20 | Dale Hollow Larger Parish, 1945-1952 | |
3 | 21 | Dale Hollow Tuberculosis Center, 1947-1949 | |
3 | 22 | Oliveburg, PA, c. 1936 | |
3 | 23 | Presbyterian Summer School of the Mid-South, Warren Wilson College, 1944 | |
3 | 24 | Rehoboth, MD, c. 1952-c. 1983 | |
3 | 25 | Rural Ministers' Course, Bethel College, 1951 | |
3 | 26 | Smyrna, TN, 1941, 1945 | |
3 | 27 | TN--Camps and Courses, 1941-1951 | |
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| SERIES VI: MINUTES, 1939-1952 | |
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3 | 28 | Alpine Community Council, 1939-1942 | |
3 | 29 | Alpine Staff Meetings, 1940-1948 | |
3 | 30 | Alpine Staff Meetings, 1949-1951 | |
3 | 31 | Cumberland Mountain Presbytery, 1946, 1952 | |
3 | 32 | Dale Hollow Larger Parish Health Committee, 1949-1952 | |
3 | 33 | Session, Christ Church Alpine, 1951-1952 | |
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| SERIES VII: PHOTOGRAPHS, c. 1930-1960 | |
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4 | 1 | Alpine, TN--Index to Album #1, c. 1930s-1940s | |
4 | 2 | Alpine, TN--Album #1, 1-37, c. 1930 | |
4 | 3 | Alpine, TN--Album #1, 38-81, c. 1930 | |
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4 | 4 | Alpine, TN--Album #2, "Alpine Views," "Parish People," c. 1930 | |
4 | 5 | Alpine, TN--Album #2, "Oak Dale," "Alpine Construction," c. 1930 | |
4 | 6 | Alpine, TN--Album #2, "Alpine Institute," "Parish Activities," c. 1930 | Digital |
4 | 7 | Alpine, TN--Miscellaneous, c. 1930-1952 | |
4 | 8 | Bethel College, 1951 | |
4 | 9 | Coolspring, PA, c. 1931 | |
4 | 10 | Georgetown, DE, 1957-1960 | |
4 | 11 | Oliveburg, PA, 1932, 1936 | |
4 | 12 | Oliveburg, PA, c. 1934-1935 | |
4 | 13 | Rehoboth, MD, 1952-c. 1954 | |
4 | 14 | Warren Wilson Institute, c. 1949 | |
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| SERIES VIII: SERMONS, c. 1941-c. 1957 | |
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3 | 35 | c. 1941-c. 1957 | |
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| SERIES IX: MISCELLANEOUS, 1891-1980 | |
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3 | 36 | Alpine, TN--Pamphlets, c. 1920-c. 1940 | |
3 | 37 | Dale Hollow, TN--Pamphlets, c. 1945-c. 1951 | |
3 | 38 | Alpine, TN--School Publications, 1891, 1914, 1924, c. 1929, 1932, 1936-1937 | |
3 | 39 | Clippings, c. 1920-1962, 1980 | |
3 | 40 | Bernard Taylor Biographical Information, 1939-1950 | |
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| Oversize Maps: | |
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| Alpine Mountain Relief Map | |
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| Overton County | |
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| Alpine Forest Reserve |