Descriptive Summary
Creator(s)
Biographical Note / Administrative History
Addison Hardie Leitch was born in 1908 in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania, to lawyer Robert Hardie Leitch and Mary Stirling Leitch. He grew up in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and attended Muskingum College from 1926 to 1931. In 1931 he was appointed by the Board of Foreign Missions of the U.P.C.N.A. to Assiut College in Egypt, where he taught science until 1932. From 1933 to 1936 Leitch attended the Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, where he received his B.D. and Th.M. degrees. In September of 1936, Addison Leitch married Margaret Brown Heslip (1908-1968) of Rochester, New York. He received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University in England in 1938.
Dr. Leitch began his career as a professor of theology at Pikeville College in Pikeville, Kentucky in 1938. From 1940 to 1946 Dr. Leitch served as Dean of Men and College Pastor at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He then returned to Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary as a professor until 1961, and as president from 1955 to 1959. He began teaching at Tarkio College in Tarkio, Missouri in 1961. From 1969 until his death in 1973, Dr. Leitch taught theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. During his many years of teaching, Leitch was an editor of and contributed regularly to the journal Christianity Today. He also wrote a number of books, including Meet Dr. Luke (1957), Interpreting Basic Theology (1962), and A Reader's Introduction to the New Testament (1970).
Dr. Leitch had four children by his first wife, Margaret: Elizabeth Leitch Bonkovsky, Marian Leitch, Helen Leitch Mullan and Katherine Leitch Scamman. Margaret Leitch died in 1968. One year later, Dr. Leitch married Elisabeth Howard Elliot, a widow whose husband, Jim Elliot, was murdered in 1956 by Auca Indians while the couple served as a missionaries in Ecuador. She wrote the book Through Gates of Splendor about this experience. Dr. Leitch died of cancer in 1973.
Collection Overview
The bulk of Addison Leitch's papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, and materials dealing with classes he taught. Earlier correspondence consists mostly of letters to him while later correspondence is an even mix of letters to and from Dr. Leitch. The majority of correspondence between 1969 and 1973 has retained Dr. Leitch's original alphabetical subject organization. The topics of the correspondence include letters to his mother from Egypt, letters from friends in Egypt, book and article publication, academic matters, speaking engagements, responses to his articles, and responses to his professional resignations and appointments.
During the later part of his life, Dr. Leitch stapled copies of his own letters to related letters written to him. These letters have been kept together and the chronological order of correspondence in these cases always follows the dates of Dr. Leitch's letters, not those written to him.
Organization and Arrangement
SERIES 1: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 1934-1973, n.d.
SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE, 1930-1973, n.d.
SERIES 3: MANUSCRIPTS, PUBLICATIONS, AND NOTES 1935-1972, n.d.
SERIES 4: ACADEMIC MATERIALS, 1941-1972, n.d.
SERIES 5: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1931-1970, n.d.
SERIES 6: MISCELLANEOUS, 1946-1972, n.d.
Administrative Information
Collection Processed and Finding Aid Prepared: April 1997
Robert Lukens, Archives Technician
Catalog Headings
Collection Inventory
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1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 405 | |
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| SERIES 1: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 1934-1973, n.d. | |
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1 | 2 | Biographical sketch and resume, n.d. | |
1 | 3 | Obituaries and eulogistic materials, 1968-1973, n.d. | |
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3 | 1 | Certificates, 1934-1955 | |
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| SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE, 1930-1973, n.d. | |
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3 | 2 | Correspondence, 1930-1933 | |
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1 | 4 | Correspondence, 1934-1941, n.d. | |
1 | 5 | Correspondence, 1942-1949 | |
1 | 6 | Correspondence, 1950-1955 | |
1 | 7 | Correspondence, 1956 | |
1 | 8 | Correspondence, 1957 | |
1 | 9 | Correspondence, 1958 | |
1 | 10 | Correspondence, January-June, 1959 | |
1 | 11 | Correspondence, June-August, 1959 | |
1 | 12 | Correspondence, September-October, 1959 | |
1 | 13 | Correspondence, November-December, 1959 | |
1 | 14 | Correspondence, January-May, 1960 | |
1 | 15 | Correspondence, June-August, 1960 | |
1 | 16 | Correspondence, September-November, 1960 | |
1 | 17 | Correspondence, 1961 | |
1 | 18 | Correspondence, 1968-1973 | |
1 | 19 | Correspondence, A-B, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 20 | Correspondence, C-D, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 21 | Correspondence, E-G, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 22 | Correspondence, H-J, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 23 | Correspondence, K-L, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 24 | Correspondence, M-N, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 25 | Correspondence, O-R, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 26 | Correspondence, S, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 27 | Correspondence, T-U, 1969-1973 | |
1 | 28 | Correspondence, V-Z, 1969-1973 | |
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| SERIES 3: MANUSCRIPTS, PUBLICATIONS, AND NOTES, 1935-1972, n.d. | |
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2 | 1 | "Christ's Teaching About God the Father," 1935 | |
2 | 2 | "The Ten Commandments," 1935 | |
2 | 3 | "A Reader's Introduction to the New Testament," 1971 | |
2 | 4 | "This Cup," n.d. | |
2 | 5 | "The Book of John: An Introduction," n.d. | |
2 | 6 | "Calvin and Protestantism: A Study in Relevancy," n.d. | |
2 | 7 | "On the Canon of Scripture," n.d. | |
2 | 8 | "II Kings: An Introduction," n.d. | |
2 | 9 | "Theology of John Calvin," n.d. | |
2 | 10 | Miscellaneous writings, 1955-1972 | |
2 | 11 | Miscellaneous writings, n.d. | |
2 | 12 | Addresses, 1942-1966 | |
2 | 13 | Addresses, n.d. | |
2 | 14 | "Wolverine Newsletter," Grove City College, 1944-1945, n.d. | |
2 | 15 | Miscellaneous articles and pamphlets, 1955-1973, n.d. | |
2 | 16 | Sermon notebooks, n.d. | |
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| SERIES 4: ACADEMIC MATERIALS, 1941-1972, n.d. | |
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2 | 17 | Bible class lecture notes and test, 1941-1942, n.d. | |
2 | 18 | Systematic Theology class lecture notes and test, 1956, n.d. | |
2 | 19 | John Knox class lecture notes and test, 1957, n.d. | |
2 | 20 | Church and the Future class lecture notes and test, 1959, n.d. | |
2 | 21 | Martin Luther class lecture notes, test and syllabus, 1959, n.d. | |
2 | 22 | John Calvin class lecture notes and test, 1971, n.d. | |
2 | 23 | C.S. Lewis class lecture notes, test and syllabus, 1972, n.d. | |
2 | 24 | The Meaning of the Sacraments class lecture notes, n.d. | |
2 | 25 | Theology in the Classics class lecture notes, n.d. | |
2 | 26 | Miscellaneous class lecture notes, tests and syllabi, 1960-1972, n.d. | |
2 | 27 | Notes on reformers, 1937 | |
2 | 28 | Academic administrative materials, 1959-1969, n.d. | |
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| SERIES 5: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1931-1970, n.d. | |
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3 | 3 | Dr. Leitch, 1936-1970, n.d. | |
3 | 4 | Egypt and travels in Europe album, 1931-1932 | |
3 | 5 | Assiut College, Egypt album, 1932 | |
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| SERIES 6: MISCELLANEOUS, 1946-1972, n.d. | |
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2 | 29 | Correspondence related to but not to or from Leitch, 1958-1973, n.d. | |
2 | 30 | Eulogy for Margaret Leitch, 1968 | |
2 | 31 | Service and conference programs, 1946-1968 | |
2 | 32 | Reviews of Dr. Leitch's books, 1970-1972, n.d. |