Though perhaps less well-known today than some of Union Seminary’s recent faculty, Edward Robinson (1794-1863), whose papers have recently been processed by Rebecca Nieto, played several important roles in the early life of Union and in the broader world of biblical scholarship. A founding member of the faculty, Robinson was Union’s first Professor of Biblical […]
Left of the Middle – the Donald Laverne Benedict Papers
Don Benedict was many things — a Union alumnus, a founder of the East Harlem Protestant Parish, a WWII conscientious objector-cum-Air Force sergeant (retroactively pardoned by Truman in 1947), a staunch criminal justice reform advocate/prison abolition activist, a minister in the United Church of Christ, an ally and advocate to people of color targeted by […]
The U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School at Riverside Church in WWII
Reverend Harry Emerson Fosdick, a Union Theological Seminary graduate and professor as well as the founding pastor of Riverside Church, was a pioneer of liberal theology, an outspoken opponent of racism and injustice, and a fierce pacifist. The Burke Library is very fortunate to have been the archival recipient of Rev. Fosdick’s personal papers, some […]
Four Collections Later: LIS Student Paul Paulson’s Semester in the Burke Archives
The following blog post was written by Paul Paulson, the Burke’s most recent archival student intern. Paul is completing his coursework in the LIS program at Rutgers University, and saw several projects through the archival life cycle during his semester with the Burke. Here are some of Paul’s thoughts on the other side of his […]
All Roads Lead Back to Brooklyn
Matthew and I had the pleasure this summer to work with Dr. Henry Goldschmidt in having a library and archives session with the Religious Worlds of New York Summer Institute 2016 fellows. In addition to giving an overview of the resources at the Burke Library and elsewhere, we also had them look through the Department of […]
First Steps Processing the Henry Pitney Van Dusen Papers: An Odd Sort of Activist
Rebecca Lossin was a summer intern who began processing the Van Dusen Papers in the Burke’s archives. Below are some of her thoughts processing the first several series in the voluminous Van Dusen Collection. The project will be completed in the 2016-2017 academic year with the support of the Columbia University Libraries Primary Source Internship. […]
#LoveInAction: Voices in Social Justice
The Burke Library is excited about the start of it’s newest outreach project, #LoveInAction: Voices in Social Justice. This project will train two Union Theological Seminary students in the theory and practice of oral history and archival research. The students will be doing extensive research in the Union archives in order to prepare and conduct […]
Greetings from the Burke’s Interim Head, Meredith Levin
Now that we are all immersed in the hectic daily routines of the academic year, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself as the Interim Head of the Burke Library. It is my pleasure to work with the wonderful Burke staff, UTS faculty, and students this year, and I look forward to meeting […]
Behind the Stacks: Church Missionary Juvenile Instructor
Children’s missionary periodicals have some of the most charming, amusing, and eyebrow-raising content I’ve come across in the Burke Library’s collections. The Church Missionary Juvenile Instructor is one in particular that caught my eye with the delightful cover shown above. The Burke has fairly comprehensive holdings of this periodical, which was published in London by […]
Queer Books in the Theological Library: a Web Comic
In addition to being a student at Union Theological Seminary and working at the Burke Library, I also draw a weekly web comic called QueerBibleComics.com. It’s part diary, part art project. It’s a way for me to creatively and visually engage with the ideas I encounter as a seminarian. Most of the comics are about […]