Dr. Walter H. Conser Jr. Papers

Collection

Identifier: SC-MS-332

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of the accumulated working papers of professor, historian, and author Dr. Walter Conser Jr. between 1970 and 2014. The collection is comprised primarily of research materials, in English and German, including articles, magazines, newspapers, books in whole or part, and associated notes; also included are publishing documents, personal and professional corresondence, newsletters, serials, memorablia, personal papers, and materials documenting Dr. Walter Conser Jr.'s participation in professional and academic panels, conferences, and events. The collection also contains various correspondence, academic and professional papers of scholars Sumner B. Twiss, William G. McLoughlin, and Gene Sharp. Additionally donated were over 100 books, primarily regarding nonviolence, and 13 phonograph records from the 1960s and 70s.

These materials are especially useful to persons studying issues relating to Native Americans, nonviolent action, civilian-based defense, Western religious history and specifically religious history of the American Southeast.

Dates

Creation: 1770-2018

Creator

Conser, Walter H. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Copyright Statement

Copyright retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Biographical Information

Timeline

This timeline was created by aggregating information from Dr. Walter Conser's CV (Box 64 File 5)

Timeline

1971
: Graduated with B.A. from the University of California, Irvine
1974
: Graduated with A.M. from Brown University
1977-1978
: Awarded research Fellowship from Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, spent year in Munich, Germany
1981
: Graduated with Ph.D. from Brown University
1981-1982
: James A. Gray Fellow in Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1984
: Church and Confession published
1984-1987
: Fellow of the Albert Einstein Institution for Nonviolent Alternatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts
1985
: Adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco
1986
: Visiting assistant professor of religion at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (UNCW)
1986
: Resistence, Politics and the American Struggle for Independence published
1986-1989
: Asisstant professor of religion at UNCW
1987
: Recipient of North Carolina Humanities Grant for lecture series "Native Americans in the 20th Century"
1989-1994
: Associate professor of religion at UNCW
1990
: Visiting professor at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at the Free Berlin University
1992
: Experience of the Sacred published
1993
: God and the Natural World published
1994
: Cherokees and Christianity published
1994--
: Professor of Religion at UNCW
1992-1998
: Chairman of Philosophy and Religion Department at UNCW
1995
: Joint appointment as Professor of History
1997
: Religious Diversity and American Religious History published
1997--
: Advisory Board, Journal of Southern Religion
1998
: Recipient of North Carolina Humanities Grant for lecture serires "Sacred Spaces"
1999
: Sacred Spaces: Architecture and Religion in Historic Wilmington published; Guest Curator of "Sacred Spaces" at the Bellamy Mansion Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina
2000--
: Listed in Who's Who in America
2005
: Chosen as one of three lead instructors for the NC Humanities Council's Teachers' Institute Program
2006
: A Coat of Many Colors published
2007
: Recipient of the Clarendon Cup from Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, of the Annual Book Award from North Carolina Presbyterian Historical Society, and of the Ethel W. Twiford Religious History Book Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians for A Coat of Many Colors
2008
: Southern Crossroads published
2012
: Presbyterians in North Carolina published; Recipient of the Annual Book Award from North Carolina Presbyterian Historical Society and of the Ethel W. Twiford Religious History Book Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians for Presbyterians in North Carolina

Major Publications:

Church and Confession: Conservative Theologians in Germany, England, and America 1815-1866 (1984)

Resistance, Politics, and the American Struggle for Independence, 1765-177 edited by Walter Conser Jr., McCarthy, D. Toscano, and Gene Sharp (1986)

Experience of the Sacred: Readings in the Phenomenology of Religion edited by Walter Conser Jr. and Sumner B. Twiss (1992)

God and the Natural World: Religion and Science in Antebellum America (1993)

The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794-1840 essays of William G. McLoughlin edited by Walter Conser Jr. (1994)

Religious Diversity and American Religious History: Studies in Traditions and Cultures edited by Walter Conser Jr. and Sumner B. Twiss (1997)

A Coat of Many Colors: Religion and Society along the Cape Fear River of North Carolina (2006)

Southern Crossroads: Perspectives on Religion and Culture by Walter Conser Jr. and R.J. Cain (2008)

Presbyterians in North Carolina: Race, Politics and Religious Identity in Historic Perspective (2012)

For further information about these books and additional listings of papers, reviews, lectures, articles, chapters in books and other works by Walter Conser Jr. please reference his Curriculum Vitae in Box 64 File 5.

Extent

82 Containers (Contains 74 document boxes, 5 oversize boxes, and 3 map case folders)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection consists of the accumulated working papers of professor, historian, and author Dr. Walter H. Conser Jr. between the years 1970 and 2014. Throughout this period Dr. Walter Conser wrote, compiled, and/or edited nine major works, over twenty academic papers, and various lectures, speeches and presentations. The collection is comprised primarily of research materials, publishing documents, memorabilia and correspondences. Additionally donated were over 100 books and 13 records from the 1960s and 70s.

These materials are especially useful to persons studying Native Americans, nonviolent action, civilian-based defense, Western religious history and religious history of the American Southeast.

Arrangement Note

The arrangement reflects the original filing system of Dr. Walter H. Conser Jr. and is divided into 9 series: Church and Confession, God and the Natural World, Experience of the Sacred, American Indians, Cape Fear Religions, Nonviolence, Files, Maps and Oversized Material, and Artwork.

Series 1 through Series 6 each represent an area of study and include all of the associated research and documents pertaining to that topic. Each of these series is generally organized with research and notes leading into drafts, publishing documents, and reviews. Series 7, Files, includes documents and memorabilia associated with Dr. Walter H. Conser Jr.'s smaller publications and/or various academic and professional events.

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated by Dr. Walt Conser on 19 July 2012. Subsequent additions were made prior to processing in 2014 and again in 2017.

Processing Information

Processed by Lauren Love in the summer and fall of 2014 through the Certified Internship Program and an Internship for Credit course. Additions processed by Lauren Fulcher in Fall 2018.