Title: Edward A. Dickinson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1947-1962

Creator:

• Dickinson, Edward A.

Call Number: Mss 328

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Edward A. Dickinson, a member of the committee of Milwaukee's Plymouth Congregational Church which studied the proposed merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church; including clippings and printed matter, mostly representing opposition to the merger from the League to Uphold Congregational Principles, the Committee for the Continuation of the Congregational Christian Churches, the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (U.S.), and others. Also included is a small amount of correspondence, and papers relating to the Wisconsin Congregational Conference and the United Church of Christ.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00328

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

Attorney Edward A. Dickinson headed the E.A. Dickinson & Associates, Manufacturers' Representatives office in Milwaukee in the 1950's and 1960's. A member of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Milwaukee, Dickinson in June 1955 was appointed by the Joint Board of that church to a study committee on the merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church; within this group he chaired the subcommittee on the study of doctrine and organization of the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Dickinson was also at one time vice chairman and then president of the Layman's Fellowship of the Wisconsin Congregational Conference, an organization which opposed the merger proposal. The file gathered by Dickinson in the course of the study committee's work constitutes the present collection; it is strongly oriented in opposition to the merger.

The churches involved in the merger both had a long history in America. The Congregational Church in America traces its origin to the Pilgrim Fathers and later streams of Puritan immigrants to the continent. They practiced autonomy in their church life, although a spirit of cooperation gradually developed and the church formed unions with other denominations. The Evangelical and Reformed Church's membership in the United States dates back to the eighteenth-century with the immigration of Reformed Church members from Germany and Switzerland.

The Reformed Church later formed a union with Evangelical members who settled in the Mississippi Valley. Originally proposed in 1942, the possibility of merger between the Congregational and Evangelical and Reformed denominations had been studied and set aside. Congregationalists feared the loss of independence, and some believed that the merger was more an effort to convert them to the Evangelical and Reformed religion than to unite the two churches. Initially the opposition was scattered, but in 1947 some Congregationalists organized the League to Uphold Congregational Principles. Within three years open discussion of the merger ceased and the matter seemed to be closed. In 1954, however, the original questions were revived when the executive groups of the two denominations began a new effort to effect the merger. The following years were spent in study and discussion, with the first uniting synod held in 1957. The merger was completed in 1962 creating the United Church of Christ.

The Dickinson Papers include the correspondence, minutes, and reports of the Plymouth Congregational Church of Milwaukee's study committee on the merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the source materials used in the study, Edward Dickinson's notes as a member of the committee, many publications pertaining to the merger, and a number of papers concerning other church-related matters of interest to Dickinson. The collection is arranged in two series: MERGER and OTHER CHURCH-RELATED ACTIVITIES.

An overview of the merger is provided in the MERGER series by a chronological listing of merger-related events in the history of the Congregational Church, and by a graduate term paper, “Imperfect Union,” by John N. Dickinson, donor of the collection and son of Edward A. Dickinson. The chronological list, produced by a Congregationalist opposed to the merger, was used by the committee as a resource on the background of the movement. The booklet, “The Basis of Union” (1947), a rationale and plan for merger, is not included in the collection, nor is “An Analysis of 'The Basis of Union'” (1947), published by the pro-merger group to meet Congregationalist criticism of “The Basis of Union.” However, the committee studied Joseph Diehl Fackenthall's critical response, “Some Comments Upon 'The Basis of Union'” (1947); and the revision of the first work, “The Basis of Union with Interpretations,” (1949). Both booklets are found in the Merger series. The latter treatise was the point of departure for the renewed merger efforts in 1954; it formed the basis of most of the discussion, both favoring and opposing the merger, until the merger was effected.

The Plymouth Congregational Church Merger Study file contains correspondence, minutes, reports, and resource materials which indicate that the merger was highly controversial. A variety of groups organized in opposition to it, produced rebuttals to the promerger publications, and a quantity of anti-merger literature. The action taken by those opposed to the merger is represented by the literature of the League to Uphold Congregational Principles, the Committee for the Continuation of Congregational Christian Principles, the Committee for the Continuation of Congregational Christian Churches, and the anti-merger papers of various other sources. Despite intense opposition, the leaders of both denominations continued to work toward realization of the merger; the action of those favoring the merger is represented by a small file of material emanating chiefly from the executive bodies of the two denominations. By the time the merger was put to a vote the merger was certain to occur. The question for individual congregations became, “Should we join the merged church?” The Plymouth Congregation voted against joining it. The Wisconsin Congregational Conference attempted to maintain its Congregationalist identity while simultaneously developing a cooperative relationship (but not union) with the Evangelical and Reformed Church in Wisconsin. The response of those opposed to merger and not disposed to compromise is in the files of the Wisconsin Congregational Council and the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. Reference materials include publications pertaining to the history and religious beliefs of both denominations; the catechisms and constitutions of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, and materials pertaining to the United Church of Christ from 1955 to 1960.

The series OTHER CHURCH-RELATED ACTIVITIES consists of those church-related papers collected by Dickinson which are not related to the merger. Other papers, not directly dealing with the merger issue, remain in the Merger series filed with other papers of the organization that created them because it was not possible to separate these latter materials readily from merger papers of the organization they represent.

Acquisition Information

Presented by John N. Dickinson, Oxford, Ohio, 1965. Accession Number: M65-223

Processing Information

Processed by Sister Jo Ann Euper, 1975; Robert F. Burk and Joanne Hohler, 1979.

	Series: Merger
Box   1 Folder   1	Historical Background and Overview
Box   1 Folder   2	“The Basis of Union with Interpretations” (1949) and “Some Comments Upon the Basis of Union” (1947)
Box   1 Folder   3	Plymouth Congregational Church Merger Study Committee, 1952-1960
Box   1 Folder   4	Dickinson's Notes on Merger, circa 1950-1960
Box   1 Folder   5	Arguments and Rebuttals, 1954 December-1958 February
Box   1 Folder   6	General Opposition, 1946 December-1961 August, undated
Box   1 Folder   7	League to Uphold Congregational Principles, 1948-1961
Box   1 Folder   8	Committee for the Continuation of the Congregational Christian Churches, 1955 June-1961 October
Box   1 Folder   9	Wisconsin Congregational Conference, 1950-1961
Box   1 Folder   10	Wisconsin Congregational Council, 1959-1961 April
	National Association of Congregational Christian Churches
Box   1 Folder   11	Reports, Newsletters, 1955 December-1961 June
Box   1 Folder   12	Correspondence, 1956 September-1962 March
Box   1 Folder   13	Publications, 1955-1961
Box   1 Folder   14	Congregational Christian Executive Committee, 1954 October-1958
Box   2 Folder   1	General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches, Minutes and Report, 1956
	United Church of Christ
Box   2 Folder   2	1st General Synod, 1957
Box   2 Folder   3	2nd General Synod, 1959-1960
	Reference Material
Box   2 Folder   4	Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1902-1953
Box   2 Folder   5	Congregational Christian Church, 1953-1957
Box   2 Folder   6	United Church of Christ, 1955-1959
	Series: Other Church-Related Activities	⇧
Box   2 Folder   7	United Church of Christ, Council for Social Action, 1956-1961
Box   2 Folder   8	Wisconsin Fellowship of Congregational Christian Women, 1957-1961 May
Box   2 Folder   9	Congregational Christian Church Education and Mission Concerns, 1957 October-1961 April
Box   2 Folder   10	Christian Anti-Communist Issue, 1960 February-September