Summary Information
Guy Yoakum Papers
1888-1958
Mss 1207; PH 7075
1.2 cubic feet (1 records center carton and 1 archives box) and 0.2 cubic feet of photographs (1 folder and 1 oversize folder)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers, 1888-1958, of Guy Yoakum, a minister at Hope Congregational Church in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (1923-1935), and civic director of the City Club of Chicago (1953-1955). Personal and professional papers, including correspondence, sermons, copies of diary pages, and other writings including chapters of an unpublished book on American religion, news clippings, and photographs. Guy Yoakum was the father of Robert Yoakum, a writer and syndicated columnist.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01207 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Guy Delay Yoakum was born on January 11, 1881 to Hedges Conger Yoakum and Isabel Stone Yoakum near Basehor, Leavenworth County, Kansas. Hedges Yoakum's family was originally from Georgia, but moved in 1857 from the South to Kansas because of the family's opposition to slavery.
Yoakum attended Kansas State Agricultural College (Manhattan, Kansas) in the fall of 1898. In June 1901, he graduated from Campbell University with an A.B. ("The Growth and Influence of American Cities"). He studied at Chicago Theological Seminary and Oberlin Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in May 1906. In October 1906, he was ordained in Hubbell, Michigan. He served at various Congregational churches in the Midwest, the Southwest, and California: Hubbell, Michigan (1906-1907); Pilgrim Congregational, Hannibal, Missouri (1907-1910); Park Avenue Congregational, Berkeley, California (1910-1916); Leavitt Street, Chicago, Illinois (1916-1917); First Congregational, Phoenix, Arizona (1919-1923); and Hope Congregational, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (1923-1935). During this period, he also served as Religious Director of the 79th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in France (1918-1919), and as Religious Work Secretary for the 4th Division in Germany (spring 1919).
On July 30, 1920 Guy Yoakum married Eunice Marguerite Abbot. The couple's son, Robert Hedges Yoakum, was born on March 8, 1922, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Yoakum served as pastor of Hope Congregational Church in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, from December 1923 through December 1935. After serving as Director (1937-1939) of the Debt of Honor campaign of the Congregational Church in Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois, he served as interim pastor at a church in Chicago before ostensibly retiring from the ministry in 1942. During WWII (1942-1943) he was an instructor in meteorology for the Army Air Forces at stations in Illinois and Michigan.
He was Civic Director of the City Club of Chicago from 1953 to 1955. Toward the end of his life, he served as interim pastor for a number of churches.
Guy Yoakum died on July 30, 1957 in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.
Scope and Content Note
The Guy Yoakum papers document the life and work of a Congregational minister during the first half of the twentieth century, his social and political concerns, wide-ranging interests, and desire to share his thoughts through his writings. The papers are arranged in five series: BIOGRAPHICAL, PROFESSIONAL, CORRESPONDENCE, WRITINGS, and VISUAL MATERIALS.
The BIOGRAPHICAL series includes birth and marriage documents, school and armed service records, news clippings, and a photocopy of a diary that details Yoakum's life during part of his tenure as pastor of Hope Congregational Church in Sturgeon Bay. Also included are the patent, correspondence, and news clippings for the car tire chains Yoakum invented for winter driving when he was living in Wisconsin.
The PROFESSIONAL series includes papers from the various pastorates where Yoakum served, a well-documented aspect of the collection. News clippings included with the pastorate files document the social concerns that characterized his ministry and the subsequent difficulties he sometimes encountered because of his opinions. Also included are papers from Yoakum's work as Civic Director of the City Club of Chicago.
The CORRESPONDENCE series includes extensive correspondence between Yoakum and the Rev. Ella W. Brown, who was his former teacher, a women's suffragist, and the minister who performed the marriage ceremony for Guy Yoakum and Eunice Abbot. Some of the correspondence to Rev. Brown and to Yoakum's family was written during his service with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF, 1918-1919). Also included is personal and professional correspondence concerning his many interim pastorates in the Midwest and Southwest.
The WRITINGS series includes typewritten chapter drafts of Yoakum's unpublished book on American religion, as well as sermons, articles, columns, and poetry.
The VISUAL MATERIALS series includes group photographs from his work with the Wisconsin Congregational Conference and the City Club of Chicago, family photos, and his car tire chain invention. Also includes a poster for a public debate on politics in which Yoakum participated in Ephraim, Wisconsin, and a 4th Division road map from his work with the AEF.
Related Material
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Alice B. Yoakum, Lakeville, Connecticut, April 7, 2017. Accession Number: M2017-094
Processed by Julia Wong, December 2017.
Contents List
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Mss 1207
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Series: Biographical
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Birth and marriage records, 1920, 1943
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Diary pages: photocopies, 1927-1957
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Box
1
Folder
3
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News clippings, 1902-1957
: Included is a photocopy of a 1907 poster advertising a farm auction by Hedges Conger, Guy Yoakum's father.
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Box
1
Folder
4
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School records, 1899-1914, 1957
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Service records, 1918-1919, 1943
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Tire chains, 1937-1938
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Series: Professional
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City Club of Chicago
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Box
1
Folder
6
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50th anniversary, 1953-1954
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Bulletins, 1953-1955
: Guy Yoakum, editor.
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Box
1
Folder
8
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"Editor's Corner" columns, 1953-1955
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Correspondence, 1949-1956
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Forum address, "Building the City of Man," 1955 June 20
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Pastorates, 1906-1949
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Church programs, 1916-1957
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Box
1
Folder
13
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Hope Congregational Church 75th anniversary booklet, 1956
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Box
1
Folder
14
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Life and Work and Glad Tidings, church papers, 1950-1953
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Box
1
Folder
15
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Places and sermons lists
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Series: Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
16-17
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Brown, Ella W., 1901-1928
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Box
1
Folder
18
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Abbot family, 1929-1930
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Box
1
Folder
19
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Regarding Abbot and Goddard families genealogy, 1954-1955, undated
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Box
1
Folder
20
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Yoakum family, 1900-1937
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Box
1
Folder
21
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Yoakum, Eunice Abbot, 1923-1957
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Box
1
Folder
22
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Yoakum, Robert, 1943-1957
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General
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Box
1
Folder
23
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Incoming, 1905-1957
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Box
1
Folder
24
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Outgoing, 1906-1957
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Box
1
Folder
25
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Photocopies: annotated, 1906-1957
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Box
1
Folder
26
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Sympathy letters regarding death of Guy Yoakum, 1957-1958
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Series: Writings
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American Religion, proposed book: typewritten
: Chapters arranged alphabetically; see Folder 27 for Yoakum's proposed order for the book.
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Box
1
Folder
27
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Introduction
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Box
1
Folder
28
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The Bible
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Box
1
Folder
29
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Bible Legend
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Box
1
Folder
30
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The Church
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Box
1
Folder
31
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Death and the Future
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Box
1
Folder
32
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The Devil
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Box
1
Folder
33
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Exodus, the Hollywood version
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Box
1
Folder
34
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Faith Healing
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Box
1
Folder
35
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God
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Box
1
Folder
36
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Hell
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Box
1
Folder
37
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Jesus
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Box
1
Folder
38
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The Lord's Supper
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Box
1
Folder
39
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Miracles
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Box
1
Folder
40
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Old Time Religion
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Box
1
Folder
41
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Prayer
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Box
1
Folder
42
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The Priest
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Box
1
Folder
43
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Prophet versus Priest
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Box
1
Folder
44
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The Resurrection
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Box
1
Folder
45
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Revelation
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Box
1
Folder
46
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The Second Coming
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Box
1
Folder
47
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The Virgin Birth
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Box
1
Folder
48
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Conclusion
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Box
1
Folder
49
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Bibliography
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Box
1
Folder
50
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Miscellaneous, loose pages
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Box
1
Folder
51
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Articles, 1912, 1946
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Box
1
Folder
52
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Book reviews, undated
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Box
1
Folder
53
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Collected articles (not by Yoakum), 1888-1890, 1917-1957
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Box
1
Folder
54
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Christian Century articles, notes, 1956-1957
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Box
1
Folder
55
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Robinson, Gertrude, poems, 1943-1951
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Box
1
Folder
56
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Course on New Testament, 1931
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Box
1
Folder
57
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Door County Tourist Guide, 1937
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Box
1
Folder
58-61
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Essay drafts, undated
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Box
1
Folder
62
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Poetry, 1916-1952, undated
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Box
1
Folder
63-69
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Sermons, 1902-1955, undated
: Typewritten and manuscript. Some include handwritten notations regarding when and where a particular sermon was preached. Some have multiple places and dates.
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Box
1
Folder
70
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"Little Homilies on Great Virtues": manuscript, 1910 January-February
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Box
1
Folder
71
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"Regarding religion": typewritten and manuscript, 1910-1917
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PH 7075
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Series: Visual Materials
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Photographs
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Folder
1
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Negatives (5 2.25 x 3.25-inches and 6 4 x 3-inches)
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Folder
1
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Photo post cards
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Folder
1
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Prints
: Includes image of Eunice Abbot at age 6, 50th anniversary group photo of Board of Governors and Officers of the City Club of Chicago (1953-1954), and a photograph of the car tire chain Yoakum invented while in Sturgeon Bay. Negatives include family and group photos and images of buildings.
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Oversize Folder
1
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Wisconsin Congregational Conference group photo, Sparta, Wisconsin, 1926 October 4-7
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Oversize Folder
1
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Poster for public debate at Ephraim (Wisconsin) Village Hall, 1936 August 22
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Oversize Folder
1
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4th Division area road map, circa 1919
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