BRETHREN HISTORICAL LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES
Title: Donald F. Durnbaugh Papers (1927-2005)
Series: 18/
Boxes: 14 records center cartons
History:
Donald F. (Floyd) Durnbaugh was born in Michigan on November 16, 1927, the son of Floyd and Ruth Durnbaugh. He attended Manchester College where he was greatly influenced by the life and teaching of noted peace educator, Gladdys Muir. Following college he entered the third Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) unit, the first unit to be sent to Germany. He served there from 1949-1951. While directing a peace seminar in Vienna he met Hedwig (Hedda) Raschka, who was working with a Brethren work camp. They were married in 1952 and became the parents of three children, Paul, Chris, and Renata.
When Don returned home he earned his masters degree from the University of Michigan. He was later to receive his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to Austria in 1953, serving as director of Brethren Service work until 1956.
There followed a long and distinguished career of teaching and writing. He taught history at Juniata College from 1958-1962. He then became a professor at Bethany Theological Seminary, serving there till 1989. During his last year on the Bethany staff he was on leave to serve as the Good Lecturer at Juniata College. He then became the first Carl W. Ziegler Professor of Religion and History at Elizabethtown College, teaching there until 1993. He became the first Young Center Fellow in 1993. He served on the Young Center Advisory Committee from 1998-2004.
He never really fully retired; at least he never stopped working. Following his time teaching at Elizabethtown College he returned to James Creek near Huntingdon where he and Hedda had established a home. They both worked as volunteer archivists for Juniata College. While Don was working with Young Center projects he made many trips back and forth between Elizabethtown and Huntingdon.
Don became known as the leading historian for the Church of the Brethren. He first gained this recognition for his extensive research in Europe for the book European Origins of the Brethren, followed by another source book, The Brethren in Colonial America. He served on the Brethren Historical Committee for most of the years from 1955-2004.
Continuing the work of historical writing, he tackled the task of editing The Brethren Encyclopedia, with volumes I, II, and III published in 1883-1984. He and Dale Ulrich served as co-editors of Volume IV, published in 2005, though his death preceded the final publication. The first three volumes of the encyclopedia were a cooperative product of the five Brethren bodies which trace their common origins to Schwarzenau, Germany. By the time the fourth volume was produced, there was a newly formed sixth cooperating body.
The idea for the encyclopedia came from M.R. Zigler, one of Don’s early mentors in the European work and one of his heroes as well Don later wrote Zigler’s biography, titled Pragmatic Prophet. His final book, a massive narrative history of the church titled Fruit of the Vine was published in 1997.
Don also pulled together the first Brethren World Assembly in 1992 which was held at the Young Center for the Study of Anabaptist and Pietist Groups. The participants in this assembly were of the same five bodies which had cooperated on the encyclopedia.
Durnbaugh was a popular lecturer both in the classroom and in church and Sunday School events. He led tour groups to visit Church of the Brethren historical sites in Germany, kept up a demanding speaking schedule, wrote widely for both English and German publications, served long years on many boards and committees, and remained one who could converse with equal ease in educated or simple circles. In 1986 he served as Moderator of the Church of the Brethren, the highest elective office in the church. He was chair of the committee preparing for the 2008 300th anniversary celebration of the Church of the Brethren at the time of his sudden death in 2005.
Description of the Records:
Box 1 contains some general subject files which did not fit into the other sub-groups. Box 2 includes several bibliographies, along with encyclopedia records. The latter continue into Box 3 and Box 4. They are sub-divided by volume with the bulk relating to Volume IV. Records for the first three volumes were previously added to BHLA and can be found in Record Group 13/ . There is a separate subgroup of Encyclopedia Board records.
Boxes 4 and 5 contain records of his long years on the Brethren Historical Committee, the Brethren Journal Association, and the Brethren World Assembly. Box 5 also contains correspondence, including personal family letters.
Boxes 6 and 7 are labeled Education and are further divided by school. They include both his papers as a teacher and his work as a student. The sub-groups for Manchester, University of Michigan, and University of Pennsylvania are almost completely his own student work, while the remaining school sub-groups contain the contents of courses which he taught.
Box 8 begins with a sub-group of encyclopedias, many to which he contributed articles. It also begins (carried on into Box 9) the sub-groups relating to Germany, many of them written in the German language. This is further divided into general files, work for the Brethren Service Commission (especially refugee resettlement), and Schwarzenau material.
Box 9 and 10 include files from various organizations to which he belonged, most being history-related groups. It also includes files on M.R. Zigler and On Earth Peace (OEP), now known as On Earth Peace Assembly). The OEP files are a mixture of materials generated by Durnbaugh and Zigler.
The remainder of Box 10 contains the sub-group of speeches. Some of these are actual speeches noted by the title on the folder label, some are untitled or hard to read handwritten notes, and some are correspondence and bulletins related to Durnbaugh’s speaking engagements. In his later years, when he was much in demand for local anniversary celebrations, he frequently used the speech “A Cloud of Witnesses.”
Box 11, in addition to containing some legal size folders which did not fit into earlier boxes, contain material collected to develop a travel guide of Brethren sites and markers, a project begun by Kenneth I. Morse and not completed by either Durnbaugh or Morse. It also contains a sub-group of material on the Young Center.
Provenance:
Accession #2007.033 was transferred to BHLA by Hedda Durnbaugh. The records were mostly generated by Don, with a few files from M.R. Zigler (MRZ).
Restrictions: None
Separations:
Books, theses, and papers which BHLA already has in its collection were removed to be cataloged as second copies or placed with the excess book collection. They are as follows:
Blanchard, Scott, Living with Dying
Brown, Dale W., Brethren and Pacifism
Christian Family Companion, 1870 (bound periodical)
Dierdorff, Lee H., Genealogical Facts and Stories . . .
Ebey, Bob and Ruth, Ebey Family History
Fry, Linda L., A Study of the Architecture . . .
Hadley, Norval, Ed., New Call to Peacemaking
History of the UNRRA Brethren Service Unit
Kinsey, Samuel, The Parable of the “Supper”
Kochheiser, Gary M., The Doctrine of Nonresistance,” Thesis
Lefever, Ernest, A Report on the Administration of Social Action . .
Logan, Linda, Fruit of the Vine: A Study Guide
Lorsong, Gernot G., Taufe Uns, Alexander
Martin, Harold S., Glimpses of the Past
Under His Wings
Moore, J.H., Trine Immersion
Myers, Valley D., Step-Kin Stories
Pious Youth, 1871 (bound periodical)
Plum, Ed, A Brief History of the New Dunkard Church of God
Report of the Proceedings of the 1998 Brethren World Assembly
Schwalm, Vernon F., My Educational Pilgrimage
Shelly, Maynard, New Call for Peacemakers
Shull, Merlin G., History of the Brethren Service Commission . .
Skiles, John and Amanda, Jacob W. Skiles.
Stentz, Howard W., Andreas Frey
Thomason, Kermon, Fifty Miles for Fifty Years
The Missionary and the Major
Von-Hutten, Ulrich, A Review of the Modern Tunker . . .
Wieand, Albert C., An Analytic Diagram. . .
Wierbach, Eugene S., David Studebaker
Wurstner, Betty, Genealogy of the Matthias Nead Family in America
Ziegler, Carl Wenger, A Genealogy of John Ziegler and . . . .
Ziegler, Jesse, Ziegler Family Record
Books, theses, and papers which BHLA did not already own but will probably add to its library collection are as follows:
Boyer, Bryan, The Current Philosophy and Situation . . .
Deeter, Allan C., An Historical and Theological . . . (2 volumes)
Eshbach, Warren M., Plural Ministry (Thesis)
Hinks, Donald R. Brethren Hymn Books . . . (pre-publication)
Flora, Talbert Ted, A History of the Eby . . .
Frantz, Michael, Simple Doctrinal Considerations . . .
Heckler, James Y., Rudolph Harley
Keeney, William, Lordship as Servanthood
Miller, Donald E., Sozial-Okonomische Studie . . .
Mow, Anna B., Brethren Identity for Peacemaking
Reflections on the Theological Exploration of Vocation
Relief for Greece
Outlines of Discourses (Mt. Morris College)
Rohrer, Perry L., Frontier Boys Club
Smeltzer, Ralph E., The History of Brethren Service . . .
Stoner, John K., Called to be Peacemakers
VorMenigheds Historie
Items which were transferred to other BHLA collections if needed and discarded if not included several newsletters (“Brethren Encyclopedia News”, “Max Kade Center for German American Studies”, “Max Kade Institute Friends Newsletter”, “Brethren Heritage Center Recorder”, “Dasschone Wittgenstein”, “Die Heimat”, “Pennsylvania Folklife”, and others). Many brochures, pamphlets, and booklets were checked against BHLA collections. A CD and DVD from “A Place Apart” were added to media collections. Duplicates of letters, brochures, and mimeographed widely circulated items were discarded.
Photographs were removed and placed in the BHLA photo files. There was a large folder of Kalmuck Refugees and sets from The 1992 Brethren World Assembly and of the Encyclopedia Board.
A set of books written in the German language were set aside to be checked with Hedda as to their significance to the collection and may be discarded.
Processor: Rosalita J. Leonard, August 29, 2007
Container List: Subject Files
Box 1 Folder 1 250th Anniversary, Europe
2 250th Anniversary, USA
3 275th Anniversary
4 Annual Conference Study Committee, Church and State
5 Annual Conference Study Committee, Church and State Resources
6 Annual Conference, “That Bright Morning”, 1986
7 Brethren Historical Library and Archives
8 Brethren Volunteer Service Unit #3 Reunion, 1983
9 Bucks County Historical Society
10 Civilian Public Service Conference, 1990
11 Committee on Interchurch Relations, 1986-1988
12 Compact Disc, Brethren Origins
13 Conference on Faith and History
14 Cup of Cold Water
15 Deacon Study Committee
16 European Origins Research Material
17 Family
18 Fruit of the Vine, Brethren Press, Editing, Marketing
19 Fruit of the Vine, Reviews and Personal Responses
20 Fruit of the Vine, Sales Records
21 Future Events Scheduled
22 Germantown
23 Germantown Conservation Center
24 Kline, John
25 Kline, John, Correspondence, 1859-1861
26 Kline, John, Nair Material
27 Mennonite History
28 Middle District of PA
29 New Call to Peacemaking, 1977-1978
30 New Call to Peacemaking, 1978-1992
31 A Place Apart
32 Stone Church, Huntingdon, PA
33 Ulmann, Doris, Photographer
34 Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center
35 Wedding 1952
Bibliographies
Box 2 Folder1 Brethren History Sources in Europe
2 Church of the Brethren History
3 Church of the Brethren History
4 Grace Brethren
5 India
6 Nigeria
Brethren Encyclopedia
Box 2 Folder 7 Photo Collection Master List
8 Sales Brochures
Brethren Encyclopedia, Volume I
9 A-Children’s Friend
10 Children’s Friend-J
Brethren Encyclopedia, Volume II
11 K-M
12 N-R
13 S-Z
Brethren Encyclopedia, Volume III
14 pp. 1403-1810
15 pp. 1811-end
Brethren Encyclopedia, Volume IV
16 Articles
17 Articles
18 Articles
19 Articles, A
20 Articles, B
21 Articles, C
22 Articles, D-E
23 Articles, F-G
24 Articles, H-K
25 Articles, L
26 Articles, M
27 Articles, N-P
28 Articles, R-T
29 Articles, U-Z
Brethren Encyclopedia, Volume IV (Continued)
Box 3 Folder 1 Articles in Electronic Form, 6/98
2 Article Drafts, 10/15/03, A-Groff
3 Article Drafts, 10/15/03, Grow-Z
4 Article Drafts, 10/16/04
5 Article Drafts, 02/02/04
6 Article and Lists Draft, n.d.
Box 3 (cont) 7 Article Tracking 4/13/00
8 Article Tracking, 2001-2002
9 Article Tracking, 2003
10 Bibliography, Early Draft
11 Bibliography, Late Draft
12 Bibliography, Sources
13 Bibliography, Sources
14 Book Reviews
15 Index, A-Dorsey
16 Index, Doss-Kunkel
17 Index, Kurtz-Quinter, Grace
18 Index, Quinter, James-Zwingli
19 Index Drafts
20 Promotion, Progress, Publicity
21 Revisions
22 Website
Brethren Encyclopedia Board
B ox 4Folder 1 1985-1990
2 1990-1992
3 1993-1997
4 1998-2003
5 2002-2003
6 2003
7 2004
8 2004-2005
Brethren Historical Committee
Box 4Folder 9 1955-1965
10 1966-1968
11 1969-1971
12 1973-1978
13 1977-1979
14 1979-1980
15 1981
16 1982-1984
17 1983-1985
18 1987-1998
Brethren Historical Committee (Continued)
Box5 Folder 1 1990-1993
2 1992-1994
3 1994-1996
4 1997-1999
5 2000-2004
Brethren Journal Association, Brethren Life and Thought
6 1980-1992
7 1993-1995
8 1996-2004
Brethren World Assembly
9 1998
Brethren World Assembly, 1992
10 Follow-up
11 Planners’ Meetings
12 Presenters, Responders, Conveners
13 Publicity
14 Schedules
15 Tours
Correspondence
16 Don to Hedda
17 Hedda to Don
18 Don to Family
19 Family to Don
20 Fasnacht, Ted
21 Hatfield, Bill
22 Muir, Gladdys
23 Selective Service
24 Elgin, 1950s-1960s
25 Elgin, 1970s
26 Elgin, 1980s
27 Elgin, 1990-2005
Education
Box 6 Folder 1 Brethren Colleges Abroad
2 Bridgewater
3 Eastern Mennonite College Extension, Anabaptist History
4 Fellowship Applications
5 High School and Grade School
6 Institute of Mennonite Studies
7 Keystone Bible Institute, Historic Peace Churches and Believers Church
8 Kochheiser Dissertation
9 Middle District of PA, Institute for Religious Studies
10 Middle District of PA, Ministry Education Committee
11 Peggy Yoder Dissertation
12 Pietism Studies Group
Education, Bethany Theological Seminary
13 General
14 Centennial Homecoming, 2005
15 Credo, 1974-1975
16 Exploring Our Brethren Heritage, 1998
Education, Elizabethtown College
17 Anabaptist and Pietist Groups, PA
18 Anabaptist and Pietist Groups Since 1850
19 Anabaptist and Pietist Groups Source Material
20 Anabaptist and Pietist Groups Syllabi
21 Anabaptist and Pietist Movements
22 Biblical History
23 Communal Societies
24 Durnbaugh Lectures
25 Elderhostel
26 History of Christianity in America
27 Pacifism Among Anabaptist and Pietist Groups
28 Renaissance and Reformation
29 Topics in Western Civilization
Education, Juniata College
Box 7 Folder 1 Archives
2 Correspondence, 1956-1968
3 Good Lectureship, 1988-1989
4 Good Lectureship, 1988-1989
5 Historic Peace Churches
Education, Manchester
6 General
7 American Political Parties
8 Bases of Enduring Peace
9 Basic Philosophy of Peace
10 Chemistry
11 Economic History
12 Educational Psychology
13 European History
14 Expansion of Europe
15 French
16 Fundamentals of Sociology
17 History
18 History of the American Frontier
19 Latin American History
20 Literature
21 Medieval History
22 Philosophy of Civilizations
23 Political Science
24 Principals of Teaching
25 Reading Course
26 Secondary Education
27 U.S. History
Education, Susquehanna Valley Satellite
28 General
29 Believers Church
30 Brethren Life and Thought
31 History of the Christian Church
Education, University of Michigan
32 American Life and Thought
33 History
34 Intellectual History of Medieval Europe
35 Political Science
36 Religious Thought
37 Student Records
Education, University of Pennsylvania
38 Byzantine Empire
39 Correspondence
40 Diplomatic History of Europe
41 European History
42 History
41 History of the Book
42 Student Records
Encyclopedias
Box 8 Folder 1 Brethren in Christ Encyclopedia
2 Concise Encyclopedia
3 German-American Encyclopedia
4 International Encyclopedia of Religious Biography
5 Routledge International Encyclopedia of Peace
German, Germany, Austria
6 Benz
7 Brethren History, Krefeld
8 German Script
9 Historische Kommission zur Erforschung des Pietismus
10 Mack Day Book
11 Meier, Marcus
12 Pastorius Heim
13 Siegerlander und Wittgensteiner Book
14 Tour, Bad Berleburg
15 Tour Photographs, digital printouts
Newspaper articles, not photocopied [See Box 11, Folder]
German, Germany, Austria, BSC
16 BVS
17 BVS Certificate
18 Correspondence, 1953-1963
19 Correspondence, 1950s, 1960s
20 Diaries, 1949-1951
21 Historical Tour, 1958
22 Identity Card, Austria
23 Kalmuck Narrative Reports
24 Kalmuck Refugees
25 “News Report”, International Refugee Organization
26 Refugee Resettlement and Diary
27 Refugees, WCC
28 “Unformationen . . . . Bulletin”
29 Vienna Peace Seminar, 1950
30 Vienna Peace Seminar, 1960
31 Work Camp Material
32 Work Camp Loccum
33 Work Camp Tour, 1960
International Refugee Organization [See Box 11, Folder 20]
International Refugee Organization, Austria [See Box 11, Folder 21]
Refugee Information [See Box 11, Folder 22]
Refugee Information [See Box 11, Folder 23]
Newspaper Articles Written in German and Not Photocopied [See Box 11, Folder 24]
German, Germany, Austria, Schwarzenau
Box 9 Folder 1 General
3 General
2 Mack Schule
4 Pabst Essay
5 Project
6 Tour, 1983
M.R. Zigler
7 Manuscript
8 Memoirs, Typescript
9 Worker Lists, Europe, 1950s
On Earth Peace/On Earth Peace Assembly
10 1968-1975
11 1975
12 1975-1978
13 1976
14 1976-1977
15 1977
16 1978
17 1978-1979
18 1979
19 1980-1981
20 1980-1981
21 1982-1983
22 1984-1986
23 1989-1998
24 25th Anniversary Packet
25 History
26 Peace Academy
Organizations
Box10Folder 1 Foundation for Reformation Research
2 Max Kade German-American Research Institute
3 Pennsylvania German Society
4 Society for German American Studies
5 Society for the History of the Germans, MD
Speeches
Box 10 (cont) 6 1950s
7 1960s-1980s
8 Academy of Christian Living
9 “Back to Basics: The Blooming of Higher Education”
10 “Be Subject to the Governing Authorities”
11 Brethren Bible Institute
12 “Christ Incognito”
13 “Cloud of Witnesses”
14 “Come Home (To) America”
15 Dan West Days
16 Elizabethtown, Church and College
17 Engagements, 1950s-1960s
18 Engagements, 1970s-1980s
19 Eshleman Bible Institute
20 “Evidence of the Holy Spirit at Work Among the Brethren
21 Fall Ministry Seminar, Mid-Atlantic District
22 “Fanning the Flame: Where is the Holy Spirit Leading Us?”
23 Frick’s Meetinghouse
24 Glen Weimer Lectures
25 Heritage and Renewal Weekend, Martinsburg
26 Heritage Conference, Southern Ohio
27 Local Congregations, 1950s
28 Local Congregations, 1960s, 1970s
29 Local Congregations, 1970s
30 Local Congregations, 1980s
31 Local Congregations, 1990s
32 “Looking Forward to the City”
33 “M.R. Zigler, Pragmatic Prophet”
34 Manchester College Baccalaureate
35 “Meeting the Enemy”
36 “Mutual Aid Among the Brethren”
37 NOAC
38 Northern Baptist Theological Seminary
39 “Our Brethren Heritage: Ballast or Boost?”
40 “A Pilgrim People”
41 “Quest for a Usable Past”
42 “Reaching In, Reaching Out”
43 “Reflections on East and West”
44 “Release to the Captives”
45 “Sorting Out the Brethren”
46 “A Single Voice”
47 Urban Luncheon
48 “Where the Church of the Brethren Has Been”
Tour Guide of Brethren Historic Sites and Markers
Box 11Folder1 General
2 CA, IL, IN
3 KS, MD, MI, NM, OH
4 PA
5 TX, VA, WV
Young Center, Elizabethtown
6 General
7 Beginnings
8 Conference on Contemporary Issues
9 Conference on Land, Ethics, and Community Values
10 Coping with Modernity Conference
11 Director Search Committee, Review Committee
12 Hostetler, John
13 Media Ethics
Young Center, Elizabethtown, Advisory Board
14 1986-1994
15 1994-1995
16 1996-1997
17 1998-1999
18 2000-2002
19 2003-2004
20 International Refugee Organization
21 International Refugee Organization, Austria
22 Refugee Information
23 Refugee Information
24 Newspaper Articles Written in German and Not Photocopied
Slides
Box 12 Folder1 Tour Markers
Notebook 2 Brethren Service
Notebook 3 Brethren History
Notebook 4 Church History, Medieval-Reformation
Notebook 5 Church History, Modern, Cassel
Notebook 6 Liberty, Zigler
Carousel 7 Roots of Messenger
Box 13
Carousel 1 Brethren Church History
Small Box 2 1958 Anniversary
Tray 3 USSR, 1971
Tray 4 Kline/Brown
Microfilm
Small Box 5 Kaufmann Negative
File Box 6 Various
File Box 7 Various
Box 14 Reel-to-Reel tapes from M.R. Zigler
Reel 1 Zigler, 1972
2 Glick, 1972
3 Glick, 1972
4 Zigler, 1972
5 Zigler, 1972
6 Kermit Eby
7 Charles C. & Florence Baker, 1979
8 Zigler, 1977
Many loose cassette tapes