Gullah: Negro Life in the Carolina Sea Islands

uacrum Inventory of the Mason Crum Papers, 1885 - 1974 Processed by: University Archives staff; machine-readable finding aid created by: Jill Katte University ArchivesDuke University

Durham, N.C., U.S.A.

Aleph Number: 003258673

Machine-readable finding aid derived from automated markup system. Date of source: August 1995 Processed by University Archives staff August 1995; Finding Aid encoded by Jill Katte, University Archives, Duke University, September 2003 Description is in English. 05-01-2006 PUBLIC "-//University Archives//TEXT (US::NDD::::Mason Crum Papers)//EN" uacrum.xml converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).Also, the top level of the finding aid (above the dsc) was changed to conform to the NC EAD Best Practice Guidelines. Within the dsc, dates for series were normalized. Inventory of the Mason Crum Papers, 1885 - 1974 University Archives Duke University Durham, North Carolina 27708-0202 USA

Descriptive Summary Mason Crum Papers, 1885 - 1974. Crum, Mason, b. 1887. 6.0 Linear Feet, 7,000 Items University Archives, Duke University For current information on the location of these materials, please consult University Archives, Duke University. Mason Crum (1887-1980) served as a Professor in the Dept. of Religion at Duke University from 1930 to 1957. He studied race relations and Christianity, as well as social history of the Gullah community of the South Carolina Sea Islands. The papers contain correspondence, printed material, manuscripts of books and articles, clippings, photographs and glass slides, and and a sound recording. Major subjects include religious aspects of race relations and segregation, African American religion and churches, Gullah dialect and culture, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Lake Junaluska retreat. English. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.

In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, Duke University permits students to inspect their education records and limits the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records.

Use Restrictions

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Mason Crum Papers, University Archives, Duke University.

Provenance

The Mason Crum Papers were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1973-1977.

Processing Information

Processed by University Archives staff. Completed August 1995, September 2003.

Encoded by Jill Katte, September 2003

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

Biographical Note

Educator, author, Methodist minister; born Frederick Mason Crum; A.B. Wofford College, 1909; Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 1925; LI.D, 1950. Professor of Biblical Literature, Duke University, 1930-1957. Author, Gullah: Negro Life in the Carolina Sea Islands (1940); The Negro in the Methodist Church (1950). Married (1914) Katherine Howell of Waterboro, S.C.; six children.

Mason Crum was born in Rowesville, S.C., the son of William C. and Nonie (Neeley) Crum. His father was a merchant, farmer, and landowner in Orangeburg County. Crum received his undergraduate education at Wofford College, Spartanburg, graduating in 1909. He then attended the School of Religion at Vanderbilt in 1910, and was principal of a school in Fort Mill, S.C. for a year. In 1911, desiring to work for a Ph.D. in order to teach at the college level, he entered Harvard for courses in psychology and philosophy. After a year's study, he returned to South Carolina and began what his autobiography calls a kind of detour in life. During the few next years, he worked as an agent for the Department of Agriculture, sold cars, and became interested in the ministry. He was ordained in the Methodist Church in 1919 and received a pastorate in Summerville, S.C. in 1920. Still desiring to teach, he was appointed Professor of Religious Education at Columbia College. From 1920 to 1930 he taught courses in Biblical literature, psychology, ethics, and education, and completed the Ph.D. program in education at the University of South Carolina, receiving the degree in 1925; his dissertation was on the Project Principle in Religious Education. He was a member and officer of the Chi Phi fraternity.

He began teaching Biblical Literature part-time at Duke University in 1930, and was appointed to the faculty two years later. While at Duke, Crum worked extensively on the question of race relations and Christianity and began studying the social history of the South Carolina Sea Islands, and especially the Gullah communities on Edisto and St. Helena. He took part in cooperative efforts in bettering race relations through education, and was active in a number of organizations. He began teaching a course in Black History, The Negro in the Religious Life of America, in 1954; the course was described as an examination of Christian churches' attempts to apply the Christian ethic to race relations, although Crum intended it as a course about Black life and culture. Crum retired from Duke in 1957, and, after moving to Florida, he volunteered his services as a pastoral counselor to a clinic associated with the Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, Florida. He and his wife returned to North Carolina sometime after 1963, and took up residence at Lake Junaluska, the Methodist Church's retreat in western North Carolina, where Crum died in September, 1980.

Collection Overview

The Mason Crum papers include correspondence, printed material, hand written and typewritten manuscripts of books and articles, clippings, photographs and glass slides, and an audio tape, with the bulk dates being 1931-1959. Crum acquired the materials over the course of his career as a professor of Biblical literature who had interests in Black history, psychology, race relations, and recent Methodist church history. His major area of research was the Gullah communities of Edisto and St. Helena, two of the South Carolina Sea Islands, with the bulk of work here dating from the 1930s; the result of the research was Gullah, published by Duke University Press in 1940. Other areas of interest were moral education, pastoral counseling, and religious pageantry. His concern with Christianity and race relations is shown by his participation in cooperative efforts, and in the teaching of one of the first Black studies courses in the South (1954).

Subject Headings

These and related materials may be accessed under the following subject headings in the Duke University Libraries online catalog.

African American churches. African Americans--South Carolina--Sea Islands. African Americans--Study and teaching. Crum, Mason, b. 1887. Duke University. Dept. of Religion. Duke University--Faculty. Edisto Island (S.C.) Gullahs. Islands--South Carolina. Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Race relations--Religious aspects. Religion--Study and teaching. Sea Islands. Sea Islands Creole dialect. Segregation--Southern States. St. Helena Island (S.C.) Clippings. Lantern slides. Photographs. Sound recording. Contents of Collection Correspondence, 1900-1974, undated

Consists of personal and family letters; correspondence from Crum's days as a salesman, and correspondence relating to his activities as an educator and Methodist layman. Among the last is material relating to boys' camps, Methodist Church activities, the Y.M.C.A., letters to publishers, Lake Junaluska Summer School, and Crum's other interests and activities.

Arranged chronologically, with a sub-series, Subject Correspondence, 1926-1971, arranged alphabetically by subject.

1 1 1900-1930 2 1931-March 1936 3 April 1936-1937 4 1938 2 5 1939-1940 6 1941 7 1942-1943 8 1944-1945 9 1946-1947 3 10 1948-October 1949 11 November 1949-1950 12 1951-February 1952 13 March 1952-December 1952 14 1953-April 1954 15 May 1954-October 1959 16 1960-1967 17 1970-1974 18 Undated Subject Correspondence

The sub-series, Subject Correspondence, consists of one box with material on: Camp Junaluska for Boys, 1926-1930; Chi Phi fraternity, 1948-1958; correspondence and reviews concerning the publication of Gullah; Lake Junaluska properties, 1949-1958; North Carolina College Teachers of Religion, 1938-1949; correspondence and reactions to his article, A Southerner Looks at Segregation (1954), which was published in The Christian Advocate, November 11, 1954; correspondence concerning cooperative efforts in race relations, 1936-1954. This last contains material from state, college and university, and denominational agencies concerned with bettering race relations. Among the organizations represented are the Division of Cooperation in Education and Race Relations of the North Carolina Dept. of Public Instruction, the University of North Carolina, the Dept. of Race Relations of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, and Duke University. Committee work, conferences, and other activities are represented in the file.

4 19 Camp Junaluska for Boys, 1926-1930 20 Chi Phi fraternity, 1948-1958 21 Gullah publication, 1938-1971 22 Lake Junaluska, 1949-1958 23 North Carolina College Teachers of Religion, 1938-1949 24 Race relations, 1936-1954 25 A Southerner Looks at Segregation article, 1954-1955 Subject files, 1885-1957, undated

Printed materials, research notes, a diary and cashbook, and other materials. Personal records include Crum's vitae and genealogy, a diary he kept while at Harvard, and a cashbook (1885-1895) from his father's store in Orangeburg County. Academic materials consist of class rolls, 1930- 1957, course materials, including test materials and clippings concerning his course on Black History, and several student papers. Also in the subject files are records and programs for the Lake Junaluska Assembly, research notes on various topics, including race relations and the Gullah communities, and a bibliography on Black History.

Arranged alphabetically.

5 26 Bibliography of the Negro, 1860-1927 27 Family genealogical and Mason Crum biographical information 28 Cashbook, 1885-1895 29 Cherokee history 30 Clippings and reprints, 1951-1954 31 Personal clippings, 1935-1957 32 Columbia College Courses 33 Educational Psychology, 1929 34 Religion 185, "Negro Americans," 1954-1956 35 Religion 169-170, 1932-1933 36 Test material, 1957 37 Diary from year at Harvard University, 1912 Lake Junaluska 6 38 Assembly Programs, 1913-1929 39 Assembly Programs, 1930-1951 40 Camps, 1927-1931 41 Conferences, 1917-1953 42 Land management, Orangeville County, S.C., 1928-1948 43 Miscellaneous documents, 1921-1960 44 Miscellaneous published material 45 Miscellaneous records, 1894-1930 46 Pastor's School, 1926-1934 7 47 Personal and worship notes, reflection on call to ministry 48 Printed material 49 Recommendations [written by others about Mason Crum], 1909-1913 50 Race relations 51 Religio-Psychiatric Clinic, 1957-1963 52 Religious education, 1929-1949 53 Study of Religion in the Colleges of N.C., ca. 1937 54 Sermon notes, 1915-1920 55 University of South Carolina, 1950-1951 56 Teaching Writings, 1911-1967, undated

Hand- and typewritten manuscripts, notebooks, bound volumes, together with research notes, for published and unpublished books and articles. Not included are the Guide to Religious Pageantry (published in 1923) and The Project Method in Religion (Ph.D. thesis, University of South Carolina, 1924). Works represented are: 1) Autobiography, tentatively titled The Young Bee Makes the Honeycomb, [1959-1960]. 2) A Boy's Life of Albert Schweitzer, undated 3) Character Building, various dates 4) Cherokee Legends of the Great Smokey Mountains, [1954-1962] 5) Child Development, writings on, various dates 6) Childhood and Character, [1929] 7) College term papers, Harvard, [1911-1912]. 8) Counseling College Students, [1930-1967]. 9) Doorways of Duke, [1950], on Duke architecture. 10) Duke University and the Things of the Spirit, undated 11) Family counseling, writings on, various dates. 12) Fiction, unpublished short stories, various dates. 13) Gullah. Duke University Press, 1940. Bound typescript and personal copy. 14) History of the Southern Christian Advocate, undated The Advocate is a South Carolina Methodist publication. 15) Life Among the Gullah Negroes, undated 16) Life and Times of Washington Duke, undated 17) A Little Girl Named Maggie, [1953, how Maggie Valley, N.C. got its name.] 18) Miscellaneous articles 19) The Negro in the Methodist Church. The Board of Missions and the Church Extension, The Methodist Church, 1951. Bound copy inscribed to Dr. and Mrs. Gross. 20) A Negro Story Nobody Knows: When Negro Methodists sat in Southern Churches (tentative title), undated [on the pre-Civil War period] 21) Writings on Religion 22) A Southerner Looks at Segregation, 1955 23) Speaking of Boys, undated (Chapter 3) 24) The Story of Lake Junaluska, 1950, and Chief Junaluska. 25) Where Your Hillbilly Music Comes From, undated

Arranged alphabetically.

Autobiography 8 57 Books 1-2, First draft, 1959-1960 58 Books 3-4, First draft, 1959-1960 59 The Young Bee Makes the Honeycomb: The Short and Simple Annals of a College Professor, Chapters 1-11, 1959-1960 60 The Young Bee Makes the Honeycomb: The Short and Simple Annals of a College Professor, Chapters 12-20, 1959-1960 61 A Boy's Life of Albert Schweitzer 62 Character Building 63 Cherokee Indians, 1953-1954 64 Cherokee Legends of the Great Smokey Mountains, 1954-1962 9 65 Cherokee Indian legends 66 Child development 67 Childhood and character, 1929 68 College term papers, Harvard, 1911-1912 69 Counseling college students, 1930-1967 70 Doorways of Duke, 1950 71 Duke University and things of the spirit 72 Family counseling, 1919-1953 73 Fiction Gullah: Negro Life in the Carolina Sea Islands, 1940 10 74 Research notes, Gullah life and visit to a Negro Church in Durham 75 Gullah: Negro Life in the Carolina Sea Islands. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1940. Signed by the author on the front fly-leaf and on the title page. 76 Typed manuscript draft, Chapters 1-8, undated 77 Typed manuscript draft, Chapters 9-14, undated 78 Dust jacket, Duke University Press, 1940 11 75 History of the Southern Christian Advocate 76 Life Among Gullah Negroes 77-80 Life and Times of Washington Duke 81 A Little Girl Named Maggie or Maggie Valley: A True Story from a Great Smoky Mountain Region, 1953 12 82 The Negro in the Methodist Church. New York: Board of Missions and Church Extension, The Methodist Church, 1951. Inscribed by the author on the title page: "To: Dr. Paul Gross and Mrs. Gross from Mason Crum". A Negro History Nobody Knows 83 A Negro History Nobody Knows; When Negro Methodists Sat in Southern Churches, holograph manuscripts, undated 84 A Negro Story Nobody Knows: The Forgotten Chapter in Southern History, holograph manuscript, 1944 A Negro Story Nobody Knows, annotated typescript 85-86 Chapters 1-9 87-88 Chapters 10-16 13 89 Religion 90 A Southerner Looks at Segregation, 1955 91 Speaking of Boys, Chapter 3 92-93 The Story of Lake Junaluska, 1946 94 Where Your Hillbilly Music Comes From Photographs, 1910, 1930s, undated

62 10" x 13" black and white prints, many autographed and dated by Mason Crum, mounted on 15" x 20" boards, in two volumes, and numbered; plus one box of snapshots, lantern slides, magazine clippings and small mounted prints. Most of the mounted prints date from 1935-1936, and are landscapes, portraits, buildings and activities in the Gullah communities on the islands of Edisto and St. Helena's; also photographs of charcoal portraits done in the Sea Islands by Winold Reiss of St. Helena, family prints and portraits, and prints of old maps. Most of the remaining photographs are family snapshots, scenes at Lake Junaluska, small prints of the Sea Island photographs, approximately 48 3" x 4" glass lantern slides of Sea Island prints, and scenes at Duke University (including 5" x 7" prints for an article titled 'Doorways of Duke.')

Unarranged.

14 Photographs

Includes snapshots, lantern slides, clippings, small prints.

15 Mounted photographs 1-30, "Volume 1" 16 Mounted photographs 31-60, "Volume 2" Audio tape, undated

1 7" reel audio tape, Mason Crum performing "Cotton Field Ballads" said to be illustrative of a chapter in his autobiography on southern songs and ballads.

Audio tapes are stored with the Sound Recordings collection.

This recording has been transferred and is available on audio cassette.