William Lloyd Imes Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University

Biographical History

Dr. William Lloyd Imes was born December 29, 1889 in Memphis, Tennessee, to a minister, Benjamin A. Imes, and his wife, Elizabeth Wallace Imes. From Fisk University Dr. Imes received his B.A. degree in 1910 and the M.A. in 1912. His theological training was done at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, 1912 to 1915, from which he received the B.D. degree. From Columbia University he received an M.A. degree in 1915 and from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1929.

In 1915 Dr. Imes was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church and afterwards served as a pastor in the following churches: Bethel Chapel, Plainfield, N.J., 1915 to 1919; Lombard Central Church, Philadelphia, 1919 to 1925; St. James' Church, New York City 1925 to 1943.

He entered the education field in 1943 when he became president of Knoxville College in Tennessee. Leaving there in 1947, he became Director of Social and Adult Education for the New York State Council of Churches. He stayed in that position until his retirement in 1955. In the years since his retirement, Dr. Imes has continued to travel extensively as a lecturer and chapel speaker at many colleges and universities. He has also continued to be active in church affairs.

Dr. Imes was married in 1915 to Grace Virginia Frank. They had three children: Wendell Phillips (deceased), Hope Mathilde, and Jane Elizabeth (deceased). Since his retirement, Dr. Imes and his wife have lived in Dundee, N.Y.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The William Lloyd Imes Papers, 1881-1966, contain Correspondence, Writings, Memorabilia, General files, and Miscellany. The 1978 accession includes Correspondence, Memorabilia, General files, and Writings. The two accessions have not been integrated.

Correspondence covers, with gaps, the years 1917-1979, with concentration in the 1960's. It is largely concerned with arrangements for speaking engagements at colleges and universities or in churches. The largest group of letters on a single subject runs from September 10, 1963 to October 7, 1965 and concerns the efforts of several members of the John Brown Monument and Historical Association to set up a Flame for Freedom at the John Brown farm at North Elba, N.Y. Leaders in this effort were Ernst L. Gayden, Clarence S. Gee, Boyd B. Stutler and Dr. Imes. Of note also is the letter written by Dr. Imes to the Nashville Banner on October 10, 1917, replying to a "scathing editorial" by that newspaper against Dr. Imes.

Note that the 1978 and 1980 accessions have not been integrated chronologically, so letters from the same period may appear in more than one series.

Writings, 1881-1966, are arranged chronologically under the headings addresses, book reviews, books, class and conference notes, lectures and notes, reports, research paper, and sermons. The class and conference notes are those taken by Dr. Imes as a student of various courses or as a participant at conferences. One of the interesting items in this group is a book of notes taken on lectures at Union Theological Seminary by such teachers as John Baillie, Eugene Lyman, and Harry Fosdick. The category of lectures and notes refers to lectures delivered by Dr. Imes, the largest number falling between 1940 and 1943 when he gave homiletics lectures at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The sermons form the bulk of the collection and, spanning the years 1914 to 1966, cover the full range of Dr. Imes's preaching career. Many sermons were delivered more than once, but they have been filed under the earliest date on the manuscript. Though many of the sermons are typescript, the greater part are holograph. Included in this section, at the beginning, is a group of sixteen sermons written by Dr. Imes's father Benjamin A. Imes. The writings reveal traditional religious and ethical themes but also a deep social interest on Dr. Imes's part. Civil rights for blacks and migrant workers is the topic of several addresses and sermons.

Memorabilia includes church bulletins; programs, invitations, certificates and the like; a scrapbook of testimonial letters given to Dr. Imes upon his retirement in 1955 from the New York State Council of Churches; and two folders of miscellaneous printed material.

The Miscellany category contains a folder of necrological records compiled by Dr. Imes for the Steuben-Elmira Presbytery and several folders of assorted printed material collected by Dr. Imes and frequently containing annotations in his hand.

1978 Accession

Correspondence is made up of both personal and public communiques. Memorabilia is composed of items such as awards, negatives, and church bulletins. General files is an assortment of items reflecting Imes' day to day work interests. Imes was a Presbyterian minister and was an avid supporter of civil rights and all other endeavors in which he was involved.Writings is composed of sermons, articles, and one book which Imes authored entitled The Black Pastures.

Note that the box numbers begin again with "Box 1" for the 1978 accession.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on this material.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

William Lloyd Imes Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Library

Acquisition Information

Gift of Dr. William Lloyd Imes, 1964.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: SBM
Date: Feb 1971
Revision history: 20 Nov 1978 - accession (MPK); 30 Oct 2006 - converted to EAD (AMCon)

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Inventory

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