Episcopal Church. Diocese of Michigan records, 1830-2016
66.5 linear feet — 12 oversize volumes — 3 oversize folders
66.5 linear feet — 12 oversize volumes — 3 oversize folders
The records of the diocese of Michigan have been arranged into the following series: Bishops' files, Executive and administrative bodies, Diocesan organizations, Diocesan programs, Diocesan staff, Parishes and missions, Clergy, Audio and visual material, and Miscellaneous.
The record group is most valuable for its documentation of the history of the diocese and the individual churches within its administration, with a lesser amount of material pertaining to religious functions performed and to the operation of diocesan administrative groups and departments. For a number of reasons, there is scant material pertaining to the administration of the diocesan office or to the special programs that have been initiated by it over the years. Some of this material may be found in the papers of individual bishops whose papers have also come to the library and are separately cataloged. These include Samuel McCoskry, Samuel Smith Harris, Charles D. Williams, Herman Page, and Richard Emrich.
66.5 linear feet — 12 oversize volumes — 3 oversize folders
32.5 linear feet — 1 film — 1 optical discs (DVDs) — 1 digital files (streaming video file) — 113 GB (audiofiles, online)
The files of clergy are often narrow in scope encompassing only the activities of an individual within the setting of his/her own church. Henry Hitt Crane was more than the pastor of Central Methodist Church in Detroit. He was a nationally known speaker, eloquent in his advocacy of pacifism and civil rights. The Crane collection reflects the scope of his activities both within the churches he pastored, within the city of Detroit as an influential church leader, and nationally within larger Methodist circles and among other advocates of liberal causes similar to his own. Through his correspondence, articles, and published messages, we see Crane as representative of that class of nationally known clergymen, respected for their opinions, champion of progressive causes, and willing participants in the often contentious debates that followed World War I on matters of morality, politics, and social justice.
The Crane papers, with some exceptions, cover the period when Henry Hitt Crane first entered the ministry during the years of World War I and continuing past his retirement, until approximately 1964. There is decidedly less material from the years before his coming to Central Methodist Church in 1938; by far the largest bulk of documents date from 1938 to 1958 when Crane pastored this metropolitan church. The exceptions to the basic span dates of 1917 to 1958 are files collected by Crane of sermons, published pamphlets, and other materials of his father and uncle, also Methodist clergymen. There are also materials that date after 1958, mainly copies of messages received from other clergy with some correspondence.
The Crane papers have been maintained in the order as created by Crane and his secretarial staff at Central Methodist Church. The series in the collection are Correspondence, Subject Reference Files, Name Files, Sermon Files, Scrapbooks, Church Bulletins and Newsletters, Visual Materials, and Retirement Files.
32.5 linear feet — 1 film — 1 optical discs (DVDs) — 1 digital files (streaming video file) — 113 GB (audiofiles, online)
Current results range from 1830 to 2018