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Inventory of the Isaac Leroy Shaver Papers, 1893-1982

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Abstract

Isaacy Leroy Shaver (1893-1984) was a Methodist clergyman and missionary to Japan from the 1920s to the 1960s.

The collection includes sermons, correspondence, photographs, printed material and published works related to Shaver's missionary work in Japan and Idaho. The material ranges in date from 1893-1982.

Descriptive Summary

Repository
David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Creator
Shaver, Isaac Leroy, b. 1893
Title
Isaac Leroy Shaver Papers, 1893-1982
Language of Material
English, Japanese
Extent
13.0 Linear Feet, 4000 Items
Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Series Quick Links

Collection Overview

The collection consists of sermons, personal files, photographs, diaries, and appointment books. The sermons are largely from the 1940s-1960s. The sermon notes are in English, though some were transliterated into Japanese. The personal files include correspondence, church bulletins, baptism and marriage records from Idaho, family papers, passports, and clippings. Some correspondence, largely from 1942, concerns Shaver's work on behalf of Japanese held in U.S. detention centers. The photographs include eight albums and numerous loose pictures which have been placed in archival sleeves. The majority of the images are in black and white and were taken in Japan. Some were take at various locations in the United States. Photographic subjects include children, families, congregations, conference attendees, landscape/exterior views and the Shaver family. The printed matter/published works include books written about Japan and Christianity, the mission field, and sermons. There are also several Bibles, hymnals (some in Japanese), prayer calendars, and appointment books. The material that has been sent to the Preservation Dept. within Perkins Library includes photographs and certificates of achievement. The collection ranges in date from 1893-1982.

Administrative Information

Collections are on the move for the renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Contact Rubenstein Library staff before visiting. Read More »

warning Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

However, collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.

Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

warning Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Contents of the Collection

expand Browse List of Series  collapse Collapse All  expand Expand All

This series contains a sampling of Shaver's sermon notes, largely from the 1930s-1960s. The majority of the sermons notes are in English, although there are some that were transliterated into Japanese. Each folder contains multiple sermons, typically with a sermon index at the beginning of each folder. Sermon titles include On Holding Fast, Search the Scriptures, Three Crosses on Calvary, Dare to be Different, and Christmas Then and Now.

Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 1
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 2
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 3
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 4
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 5
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 6
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 7
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 8
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 9
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 10
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 11
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 12
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 13
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 14
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 15
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 16
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 17
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 18
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 19
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 20
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 1 Folder 21
Notebook, 1956-1957; Sermons, 1919-1958
Box 1 Folder 22
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 23
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 24
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 25
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 26
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 27
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 28
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 29
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 30
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 31
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 32
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 33
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 34
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 35
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 36
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 37
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 38
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 39
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 40
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 41
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 42
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 43
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 44
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 45
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 46
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 47
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 48
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 49
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 50
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 51
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 52
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 53
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 54
Sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 55
Funeral sermon notes, circa 1930s-1960s
Box 2 Folder 56

This series includes correspondence (some of which pertains to Japanese held in U.S. detention centers during World War II), church bulletins, clippings, baptism and marriage records from Idaho, papers regarding the Anti-Alien Bill in Arizona, and family papers.

Correspondence, 1893-1925
Box 3 Folder 57
Correspondence, 1926-1936
Box 3 Folder 58
Correspondence, 1939-1941
Box 3 Folder 59
Correspondence, 1942 Jan.-June
Box 3 Folder 60
Correspondence, 1942 July-Dec.
Box 3 Folder 61
Correspondence, 1943
Box 3 Folder 62
Correspondence, 1944-1948
Box 3 Folder 63
Correspondence, 1950-1951, 1953, 1955
Box 3 Folder 64
Correspondence, 1956-1957
Box 3 Folder 65
Correspondence, 1958
Box 3 Folder 66
Correspondence, 1959
Box 3 Folder 67
Correspondence, 1960-1964, 1968-1971, 1974-1977, 1982, undated
Box 3 Folder 68
Anti-Alien Bill in Arizona, 1933, 1935-1936

Includes clippings and correspondence

Box 3 Folder 69
Caldwell, Idaho Church Bulletins, circa 1941-1947
Box 3 Folder 70
Kuna Methodist Church (Caldwell, Idaho) Bulletins, 1961-1962, 1965, 1967-1969
Box 3 Folder 71
Miscellaneous Church Bulletins, circa 1935-1970s
Box 3 Folder 72
Caldwell (Idaho) Japanese Methodist Church, circa 1942, 1947

Includes lists of members

Box 3 Folder 73
Kuna (Idaho) Methodist Church Membership, circa 1960s
Box 3 Folder 74
Kuna (Idaho) Methodist Church Baptism Records, 1942, 1946-1947, 1961-1968
Box 3 Folder 75
Kuna (Idaho) Methodist Church Baptism Records, 1954-1968 (1954-1960 incomplete)
Box 3 Folder 76
Marriage Records, Caldwell and Kuna, Idaho, circa 1941-1969
Box 3 Folder 77
Papers: China, Korea, Japan, undated
Box 3 Folder 78
Journal of the Pacific Japanese Provisional Annual Conference, 1943, 1946-1947
Box 3 Folder 79
Clippings
Box 3 Folder 80
Trinity College/Duke University materials, circa 1893-1935, 1969
Box 3 Folder 81
Rutherford College materials, 1912-1916
Box 3 Folder 82
Pearl Shaver materials, 1916, circa 1958-1960
Box 3 Folder 83
Shaver Family: Miscellaneous materials, circa 1913-1955

Includes passports and other travel documents

Box 3 Folder 84
Isaac Leroy Shaver biographical materials
Box 3 Folder 85
Preacher Licenses, 1911-1913, 1917-1918
Box 3 Folder 86
Miscellaneous Newsletters, 1936, 1942, 1945, 1959
Box 3 Folder 87
Miscellaneous, circa 1913-1970s (1 of 2)
Box 3 Folder 88
Miscellaneous, circa 1913-1970s (2 of 2)
Box 3 Folder 89

This series includes photograph albums and loose photographs (largely black and white) that document Shaver's time in Japan and to a lesser extent, Caldwell, Idaho. The majority are unidentified and undated, although the bulk appears to have been taken post-World War II, likely during the 1950s. Many of the shots are posed although there are a good number of candid shots throughout the collection. In addition to serving as a missionary to Japan, Shaver also worked briefly in Korea. Some of the images from the late 1930s could possibly be from there. There are also family photographs.

Photograph album, circa 1940s-1960s

Includes: images of conferences; church congregations; Greencastle, Indiana; Oita, Japan; the Shaver family; outdoor shots of Japan; Japanese orphans; Caldwell, Idaho; Camp Chickamauga; the 187th American Airborne Regimental Combat Team; photographs from the dedication of the American Airborne Memorial Children's Home (Eiko-en, 1952)

Box 4 Folder 90
Photograph album, circa 1950s

Includes: images of dedication of the American Airborne Memorial Children's Home (Eiko-en), Japanese orphans, the Shaver family, Japanese children at play, Camp Chickamauga.

Box 4 Folder 91
Photograph album, 1920s-1930s

Includes: group shots of congregations and possibly conference attendees, outdoor shots of Japan, the Shaver family, Japanese and/or Korean children and families.

Box 4 Folder 92
Photograph album, circa 1940s-1950s

Front and back covers are separated from the album. Includes: outdoor shots of Japan, groups shots, congregations, Japanese children, Japanese women, Japanese families, the Shaver family, weddings.

Box 4 Folder 93
Loose album pages, 1920s-1930s

Images of the Shaver family, outdoor scenes of Japan and Korea, groups, and congregations.

Box 4 Folder 94
Loose album pages, 1940s-1950s

Images of groups, conference attendees, weddings, Japanese families, and the Shaver family.

Box 4 Folder 95
Loose album pages, 1930s-1950s

Images of groups and landscapes in Japan and Korea

Box 4 Folder 96
35mm negatives, 1940s-1960s
Box 4 Folder 97
Photograph album, 1920s-1930s

Images of Japanese and/or Koreans at work, groups, congregations, the Shaver family, images of destroyed buildings, outdoor shots of Japan and/or Korea.

Box 5 Folder 98
Postcard album (Japan), undated

Colored postcards from Japan

Box 5 Folder 99
Photograph album, 1920s-1930s

Images of groups, congregations, the Shaver family, Japanese children.

Box 5 Folder 100
Photograph album, 1940s-1950s

Images of Oita, Japan, kindergarteners and their mothers, kindergarten teachers, the Shaver family, teachers' wedding, field day.

Box 5 Folder 101
Loose photographs: Oita Church, portrait and wedding photos
Box 5 Folder 102
Loose photographs: Dr. J.C. Rowe, circa 1880s-1890s

J.C. Rowe was the father of Trinity College professor Gilbert Rowe

Box 5 Folder 103
Loose photographs, circa 1920s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 104
Loose photographs, circa 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 105
Loose photographs, circa 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 106
Loose photographs, circa 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 107
Loose photographs and postcards, 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 108
Loose photographs, circa 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 109
Loose photographs, circa 1950s-1970s
Box 5 Folder 110
Loose photographs, 1950s-1970s
Box 5 Folder 111
Loose photographs, 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 112
Loose photographs, 1940s-1970s

Includes photographs of Hiroshima, circa late 1940s

Box 5 Folder 113
Loose photographs, 1940s-1970s
Box 5 Folder 114
Loose photographs, 1919-1960s
Box 5 Folder 115
Loose photographs, 1960s

Mostly from Caldwell, Idaho

Box 5 Folder 116
Loose photographs, 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 117
Loose photographs, 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 118
Loose photographs, 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 119
Loose photographs, 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 120
Loose photographs, 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 121
Loose photographs, 1950s-1960s
Box 5 Folder 122

This series includes small diaries, appointment books, prayer calendars, and address books kept by Shaver and his wife, Pearl Shaver.

Diary and prayer calendar, 1939
Box 6 Folder 123
Diary and prayer calendar, 1940
Box 6 Folder 124
Diary, 1941
Box 6 Folder 125
Diary, 1942
Box 6 Folder 126
Diary, 1943
Box 6 Folder 127
Diary, 1944
Box 6 Folder 128
Diary, 1945
Box 6 Folder 129
Diary, 1946
Box 6 Folder 130
Diary, 1947
Box 6 Folder 131
Diary and account book, 1948
Box 6 Folder 132
Diaries, 1949
Box 6 Folder 133
Diary, 1950
Box 6 Folder 134
Diary, 1951
Box 6 Folder 135
Diary, 1952
Box 6 Folder 136
Diary, 1953
Box 6 Folder 137
Diary, 1954
Box 6 Folder 138
Diary, 1955
Box 6 Folder 139
Diary, 1956
Box 6 Folder 140
Diary, 1957
Box 6 Folder 141
Diary, 1958
Box 6 Folder 142
Diary, 1959
Box 6 Folder 143
Diary, 1960
Box 6 Folder 144
Diary, 1961
Box 6 Folder 145
Diary, 1962
Box 6 Folder 146
Diary, 1963
Box 6 Folder 147
Diary, 1964
Box 6 Folder 148
Diary, 1965
Box 6 Folder 149
Diary, 1966
Box 6 Folder 150
Diary, 1967
Box 6 Folder 151
Diary, 1968
Box 6 Folder 152
Diary, 1969
Box 6 Folder 153
Diaries, 1970
Box 6 Folder 154
Diary, 1971
Box 6 Folder 155
Diary,1972
Box 6 Folder 156
Diary, 1973
Box 6 Folder 157
Diary, 1974
Box 6 Folder 158
Diary, 1975
Box 6 Folder 159
Mrs. Shaver's Diary, [1955?]
Box 6 Folder 160
Address book, undated
Box 6 Folder 161
Diary, [1949?]
Box 6 Folder 162
Account book, undated
Box 6 Folder 163
Book of names, undated
Box 6 Folder 164
Account book, undated
Box 6 Folder 165

This series includes books written about Japan and Christainity, missions, sermons, as well as Bibles and hymnals. Handwritten notes can be found in most of the printed matter/published works. Some of the hymnals are in Japanese.

Bibles, hymnals, and prayer calendars
Box 6a
Books related to sermons, ministers' manuals
Box 7
Books related specifically to Japan and/or Christianity
Box 8
New Testament, books related to missions, Christianity
Box 9

Oversize Items

(9 items)
Oversize photographs and papers

Includes: Panoramic image of California Street Community Church and its Japanese/Japanese-American congregants; panoramic image of an unidentified group of conference attendees, taken in Seattle, undated; Pan-Am certificate "Domain of Phoebus Apollo," given to Shaver after he crossed the International Dateline, dated 1954 Feb. 20; five documents written in Japanese; certificate naming Shaver an Elder of the Methodist Church, 1922 Aug. 29

Ovsz. Folder 1

Historical Note

Isaac Leroy Shaver was born in Rowan County, North Carolina in August 1893. He graduated from preparatory school at Rutherford College in 1915 and from Trinity College (now Duke University) in 1919. That same year, he married Pearl Tesh and soon thereafter, moved to Japan to begin work as a Methodist missionary. In 1924, he returned to Durham where he graduated with a master's degree from Duke University in 1925. Over the next several years, Shaver and his family moved between Japan and the United States, spending almost a year in Korea as well. During World War II, Shaver served as a Methodist minister to a Japanese community in Caldwell, Idaho and worked on behalf of Japanese held in U.S. detention centers. After the war, Shaver returned to Japan to continue his missionary work until returning to Idaho in 1959. He retired from his work as a pastor in 1969 and moved back to North Carolina with his wife. Shaver died in 1984.

Subject Headings

Related Material

  • Park-Lambuth-Sherertz family papers, 1825-1989 (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University)
  • Mary McMillan Papers, 1936-1997 and undated (bulk 1952-1991) (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University)

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Isaac Leroy Shaver Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Provenance

The Isaac Leroy Shaver Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a gift in 1983-1986.

Processing Information

Processed by Kimberly Sims, October 2009

Encoded by Kimberly Sims, October 2009; updated October 2010

Updated by Noah Huffman after digitization, August 2012

Accessions were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.