Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Imes, William Lloyd, 1889-1986.
Title:	William Lloyd Imes Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1881-1980
Quantity:	14 linear ft.
Abstract:	Papers of the African-American clergyman. Correspondence, writings (including sermons by Imes and his father Benjamin A. Imes), memorabilia (including numerous small scrapbooks), and subject files.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

William Lloyd Imes (1889-1986) was an African-American clergyman, educator, and civil rights activist.

Imes was born December 29, 1889 in Memphis, Tennessee, to Benjamin A. Imes and his wife Elizabeth Wallace Imes. Dr. Imes received his B.A. degree from Fisk University in 1910 and an M.A. in 1912. In 1915 he received a B.D. from Union Theological Seminary and an M.A. from Columbia University. That same year he was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church and afterwards served as a pastor for Bethel Chapel, Plainfield, N.J. (1915-1919), Lombard Central Church, Philadelphia (1919-1925), and St. James' Church, New York City (1925-1943). He was awarded an honorary D.D. (Doctor of Divinity) from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania in 1929.

He entered the education field in 1943 when he became president of Knoxville College in Tennessee. Leaving there in 1947, he became Director of Social and Adult Education for the New York State Council of Churches, a position he held until his retirement in 1955. Following retirement, Dr. Imes traveled extensively as a lecturer and chapel speaker at many colleges and universities, and continued to be active in church affairs.

Dr. Imes was married in 1915 to Grace Virginia Frank, with whom he had three children: Wendell Phillips (deceased), Hope Mathilde, and Jane Elizabeth (deceased).

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The William Lloyd Imes Papers contain Correspondence, Writings, Memorabilia, and Subject files.

Correspondence is made up of both personal and public communiques and covers, with gaps, the years 1917-1980, with concentration in the 1960's. It is largely concerned with arrangements for speaking engagements at colleges and universities or in churches. The largest group of letters on a single subject runs from September 10, 1963 to October 7, 1965 and concerns the efforts of several members of the John Brown Monument and Historical Association to set up a Flame for Freedom at the John Brown farm at North Elba, N.Y. Leaders in this effort were Ernst L. Gayden, Clarence S. Gee, Boyd B. Stutler and Dr. Imes. Of note also is the letter written by Dr. Imes to the Nashville Banner on October 10, 1917, replying to a "scathing editorial" by that newspaper against Dr. Imes.

Writings, 1881-1970, contains addresses, book reviews, books, class and conference notes, lectures and notes, reports, research paper, and sermons. The class and conference notes are those taken by Dr. Imes as a student of various courses or as a participant at conferences. One of the interesting items in this group is a book of notes taken on lectures at Union Theological Seminary by such teachers as John Baillie, Eugene Lyman, and Harry Fosdick. The category of lectures and notes refers to lectures delivered by Dr. Imes, the largest number falling between 1940 and 1943 when he gave homiletics lectures at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The sermons form the bulk of the collection and, spanning the years 1914 to 1976, cover the full range of Dr. Imes's preaching career. Many sermons were delivered more than once, but they have been filed under the earliest date on the manuscript. Though many of the sermons are typescript, the greater part are holograph. Included in this section, at the beginning, is a group of sixteen sermons written by Dr. Imes's father Benjamin A. Imes. The writings reveal traditional religious and ethical themes but also a deep social interest on Dr. Imes's part. Civil rights for blacks and migrant workers is the topic of several addresses and sermons.

Memorabilia includes awards, church bulletins, clippings, a reproduction of the Declaration of Independence, and a large number of small daily diaries which Imes used as scrapbooks, filled with clippings and Imes' annotations.

Subject files contains material on a wide range of topics reflecting Imes' day to day work interests as a Presbyterian minister and an avid supporter of civil rights. Topics include John Brown, the NAACP, necrological records compiled by Dr. Imes for the Steuben-Elmira Presbytery, religion and race, and several folders of magazines, pamphlets, and newsletters collected by Dr. Imes and frequently containing annotations in his hand.

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Arrangement of the Collection

The 1978 material and a few later additions were integrated with the rest of the collection in 2017. Correspondence is arranged chronologically. Writings are subdivided by type (addresses, articles, book reviews, books, etc.) and, within each type, arranged chtonologically. Memorbilia and Subject files are arranged alphabetically by type or topic.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

Three items have been transferred to Rare Books for cataloging: The Black Pastures (1957) by Mr Imes (View catalog record), The Hills Beyond the Hills with chapters by Imes and others (View catalog record), and The Rev. J.W. Loguen, as a slave and as a freeman : a narrative of real life by Jermaine Loguen (View catalog record). Please refer to Libraries Search to locate these items.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genres and Forms

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

William Lloyd Imes Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Dr. William Lloyd Imes, 1964-1980.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: SBM
Date: Feb 1971
Revision history: 20 Nov 1978 - accession (MPK); 30 Oct 2006 - converted to EAD (AMCon); 25 Sep 2012 - added transfer info about Black Pastures (MRC); 13 Mar 2017 - rehoused, separate accessions merged (MS)

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Inventory

	Correspondence
Box 1		[General] 1917-1957, 1962-1966 (7 folders)
Box 2		[General] 1967-1970 (5 folders)
Box 3		[General] 1971-1980 (6 folders)
Box 4		[General] undated

	Writings
Box 4		Addresses 1919-1964 (2 folders)
		Articles
Box 4			"The Black Pastures - An American Pilgrimage in Two Centuries, Essays and Sermons"
Box 4			"Some Changeless Values of a Changing World" in The Southern Workman Aug 1931
Box 4		Book reviews 1929, 1939, 1964, 1969-1970
		Books
			The Black Pastures, published edition 1957 - autographed
				Transferred to Rare Books for cataloging. Please refer to Libraries Search to locate this item.
			The Black Pastures, manuscript
Box 4				Notes
Box 4				Typescripts
Box 4				Correspondence
			The Hills Beyond the Hills, published edition 1971 - one chapter by Imes; inscribed by Imes to Syracuse University
				Transferred to Rare Books for cataloging. Please refer to Libraries Search to locate this item.
Box 4		Class and conference notes 1927, 1935, 1941, 1950-1951, 1953-1955
Box 4		Lectures and notes 1938, 1940-1943
Box 5		Lectures and notes 1962-1963
Box 5		Reports 1936, 1951
Box 5		Research paper,"Dramatization as a Means of Control" 1916
		Sermons
Box 5			Benjamin A. Imes 1881-1905
Box 5			[General] 1914-1924 (11 folders)
Box 6			[General] 1925-1941 (16 folders)
Box 7			[General] 1942-1948 (7 folders)
Box 8			[General] 1949-1954 (6 folders)
Box 9			[General] 1955-1976 (3 folders)
Box 9			Undated sermons, notes, and fragments

	Memorabilia
Box 9		Awards
Box 9		Church bulletins 1919-1959
Box 10		Church bulletins 1960-1976, undated (3 folders)
Oversize 1		Clippings
Oversize 2		Clippings
Oversize 3		Clippings
Oversize 3		Declaration of independence - reproduction
Box 10		Draft of report, "The Four Million" - report of the New York State Citizens' Committee of One Hundred for Children and Youth, of which Imes was a member (2 folders)
Box 10		Negatives
Box 10		Programs, invitations, certificates, etc.
Box 10		Scrapbooks 1946, 1950 (2 volumes)
Box 11		Scrapbooks 1951-1953 (4 volumes)
Box 12		Scrapbooks 1953-1954 (5 folders)
Box 13		Scrapbooks 1955-1956 (4 folders)
Oversize 4		Scrapbook 1955 (1 volume)
Box 14		Scrapbooks 1957-1959 (4 folders)
Box 15		Scrapbooks 1960-1961 (4 folders)
Box 16		Scrapbooks 1961-1964 (4 folders)
Box 17		Scrapbooks 1965-1967 (4 folders)
Box 18		Scrapbooks 1968-1969 (3 folders)
Oversize 4		Scrapbook pages undated
Box 18		Small address books 1947-1958 (4 folders)

	Subject files
Box 18		John Brown
Box 19		John Brown (cont.)
Box 19		College bulletins (2 folders)
Box 19		Jamaica 1956
Box 19		Magazines and pamphlets
Box 20		Magazines and pamphlets
Box 20		Migrants
Box 20		NAACP
Box 20		Necrological records 1963-1964
Box 20		New York State Citizens' Committee of One Hundred fpr Children and Youth
Box 20		New York State Council of Churches
Box 20		"News from NAACP" 1964-1965 - printed newsletter
Box 20		Presbytery of Geneva
Box 21		Presbytery of Geneva
Box 21		"Religion and Race Memo" 1964-1970 - printed newsletter
Box 21		Religious material (3 folders)
Box 21		Union Theological Seminary
Box 22		Union Theological Seminary (3 folders)
Box 22		Miscellaneous (2 folders)
Box 23		Miscellaneous (3 folders)

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