The Howard Vaughn Family Papers document the life of a Congregationalist minister, his family, and the development of the religious day school movement in Wisconsin and Illinois. Family members include Howard Ridgeway Vaughn, Elizabeth Katherine Bradley Vaughn, and their children Myra, Howard Flagler (Flagler) and John Irving. The bulk of the collection consists of sermons and speeches given by Reverend Vaughn throughout his career. Except for the extensive family correspondence, there is limited documentation for Elizabeth, Flagler, and John; but Myra's career as a home economics teacher in Red Lake, Minnesota and her involvement with religious education is well documented. The religious day school movement is documented with curricula and prepared lessons as well as with Reverend Vaughn's business correspondence. Also in the collection are drafts of a biography of Reverend Vaughn written by his daughter, as well as several articles on the history of religious education. A draft of Reverend Vaughn's A Brief History of the Religious Day School is also included. Photographs document the Vaughns' family life, Reverend Vaughn's work in constructing churches and in religious education, and Myra Vaughn's life in Red Lake, Minnesota.
The papers are comprised of five series: CORRESPONDENCE, HOWARD RIDGEWAY VAUGHN PAPERS, MYRA VAUGHN PAPERS, RELIGIOUS DAY SCHOOL RECORDS, and FAMILY PAPERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS.
The CORRESPONDENCE (1877-1983) consists of letters exchanged between family members, correspondence to family members, and some drafts of letters from the Vaughns to non-family members. The correspondence is arranged chronologically. The bulk of the letters is from individual family members to each other, and includes correspondence written to and received from the Reverend H. R. Vaughn while he was away from his family at various Wisconsin communities; the children while they were at educational institutions and at their jobs; and the son, Flagler, while in the U.S. Navy during World War I. There are also letters exchanged between Elizabeth and a female relative in New Jersey.
The family correspondence provides details of everyday life, and relates news and stories about friends, descriptions of surroundings, and instructions for errands, chores, and traveling. The correspondence from friends, acquaintances and extended family provides much of the same information as the family correspondence, as well as details on the religious day school movement, life on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, and college life. Additional correspondence, primarily of a business nature, is located in the Howard Ridgeway Vaughn series.
The HOWARD RIDGEWAY VAUGHN PAPERS (1879-1934) document the education, ministerial career, and role in the religious day school movement of the Reverend H. R. Vaughn. In the collection are biographical materials, diaries written during school years, correspondence, class notes and memorabilia, writings including sermons and speeches, and records pertaining to organizations with which he was associated. The diaries contain short daily entries, clippings, and brief essays. Correspondents include Anne J. Morris (Vaughn's Sunday School teacher) and other teachers; employers; school friends; and colleagues in religious education. The class notes are from a variety of classes on religion taught at the Yale Divinity School.
The writings consist of articles, books, sermons and speeches written by Reverend Vaughn. The sermons and speeches comprise the bulk of the collection. Because of their number, subject variety, and date span, the sermons preserved in the collection seem to fully document Vaughn's oratory. Although Myra dated some of the sermons, very few of them were dated by Reverend Vaughn himself, and they are therefore arranged in alphabetical order by title. Brief titles were supplied when none existed. While the topics are extremely varied, special themes are the importance of a religious education for young people and the nature of God as illustrated by nature and science. The speeches, also arranged alphabetically and following the sermons, were delivered at graduations, conferences and fund raisers and contain the same themes as the sermons. The majority of the speeches, and all of the sermons, are on microfilm; there are a few speeches in paper format arranged in date order. The reel list itemizing the sermons and speeches by title is appended to this register. Filming was done for preservation; the originals were returned to the donor.
Also included in the writings is a draft of A Brief History of the Religious Day School and a volume of children's stories prepared by Vaughn but published after his death by his daughter. There are also publicity articles and reports to churches found in the writings. Issues of the Squirrel Island Squid, a summer vacation newspaper published by Vaughn and his school friend Charles Stackpole in 1888, and Academia, a Christian weekly published by Vaughn via the Second Congregational Church of Eau Claire circa 1885, are available on microfilm at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in the library.
The associations documented in the papers are those in which Reverend Vaughn was involved. They include local, regional and national organizations concerned with religious education as well as the People's Congregational Church of Elk Mound. The documentation is scattered, although there are minutes for the early years of the Elk Mound church, the Bible Teachers' Association of Northwestern Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Institute of Religious Education.
The MYRA VAUGHN PAPERS (1934-1976) consist of college papers and course work, teaching materials from Red Lake High School in Minnesota, photographs of life in Red Lake, and drafts of a biography of H. R. Vaughn and of a history of the religious day school movement. There is further documentation of Myra Vaughn's life in the Correspondence series.
The college papers and course work document the education Myra Vaughn received at various universities, especially the Hartford Seminary Foundation. Topics include the new and old testaments, nutrition, and religious education for children. Materials documenting Myra's teaching career at Red Lake are scattered and ephemeral, although there is supplementary documentation of her life on the reservation in the photographs of students, the school, FHA activities, and local families and friends. Of special interest are the food records kept by Vaughn's students which detail daily activities as well as types and quantities of food eaten. The manuscripts consist of complete drafts of a biography of H. R. Vaughn and of a history of the religious day school movement, and articles written for publication in various religious magazines and local church histories.
The RELIGIOUS DAY SCHOOL RECORDS (circa 1900-circa 1911) consist of complete curricula, lectures and class material, and limited quantities of student work and financial records. The materials were developed and used by the religious education institutes Reverend Vaughn initiated in the period 1900 to 1911.
The FAMILY PAPERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS consist of photographs of the Vaughn family and friends, religious day school activities, and early church construction, as well as a small quantity of miscellaneous papers including papers on Flagler's military service, illness, and death benefits, vanity press publications by relatives, and a small quantity of family mementos. Also included is a large number of negatives taken by John I. Vaughn.
