William M. Blackburn Papers, 1855-1904
Collection Overview
Title: William M. Blackburn Papers, 1855-1904
ID: OGLMC116
Primary Creator: Blackburn, William
Extent: 0.5 Linear Feet
Subjects: Religion, University of North Dakota - Presidents
Languages: English
Abstract
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The William M. Blackburn Papers, 1855-1910, consist primarily of his handwritten sermons. Most of the sermons were delivered on multiple occasions and are arranged chronologically by the date the sermon was first delivered. Also included are several folders of miscellaneous untitled manuscripts and two folders of correspondence.
Also included is a copy of Blackburn’s sermon “The Crime Against the Presidency” reproduced on microfiche. The sermon was delivered Sunday, April 16, 1865, at the Fourth Presbyterian Church, in Trenton, New Jersey. This was the first Sunday following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Collection Historical Note
On April 9, 1884, William Maxwell Blackburn accepted the presidency of the University of North Dakota. Blackburn graduated from Princeton Seminary in 1854 and came to UND as its first president after thirty years of pastoral and ecclesiastical academic positions; his last two at the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, Chicago, and Central Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. Blackburn had established a solid reputation for his scholarly work and in addition served UND as a professor of Mental, Moral, and Political Science.
President Blackburn faced numerous challenges in organizing and administrating the new university, particularly in establishing the academic curriculum. Blackburn favored a more practical curriculum open to all, including mechanics and agriculture, while his colleagues, professors Webster Merrifield and Henry Montgomery, favored a classical liberal arts curriculum. UND Regents supported Merrifield and Montgomery and Blackburn was dismissed. After his one year presidency at UND, Blackburn became president of Pierre University in South Dakota.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections
Accruals: Additional materials were donated by Ken Smith, Crookston, Minnesota, on July 14, 1997 (97-2132).
Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.
Acquisition Method: Donation; the acquisition records are unavailable
Separated Materials: Also included is a copy of Blackburn’s sermon “The Crime Against the Presidency” reproduced on microfiche. The sermon was delivered on Sunday, April 16, 1865, at the Fourth Presbyterian Church, in Trenton, New Jersey. This was the first Sunday following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The microfiche is in the microfiche cabinet in the Family History Room.
Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). William Blackburn Papers. OGLMC 116, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in December 2013.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[Box 1],
[All]
- Box 1
- Folder 1: “Jesus Coming to Troubled Souls”: April 1, 1855
- Folder 2: “Authenticity of the Scriptures”: October 26, 1856
- Folder 3: “Endure Hardness”: June 30, 1858
- Folder 4: “The Noble Bereans”: July 25, 1858
- Folder 5: “A Good Conscience”: July 10, 1859
- Folder 6: “Son Remember”: October 26, 1862
- Folder 7
- Folder 8
- Folder 9: “Responsibility for the Use of Liberty”: March 11, 1865
- Folder 10
- Folder 11: “Analysis of 1st John”: March - May 1867
- Folder 12: “John Calvin”: February 14, 1869
- Folder 13: “Mohammed and the Conquest of Islam”: December 17, 1874
- Folder 14: “The Levity of All Excuses”: May 1882
- Folder 15: “Individual Influence”: April 1, 1883
- Folder 16: “Reasons for Converting the Sinner”: March 16, 1884
- (Digitized as part of the Chester Fritz Library Digital Collections)
- Folder 17: “Opportunity Lost”: 1886
- Folder 18: “More Abundant Life”: August 1886
- Folder 19
- Folder 20: “The Christians’ Indebtedness to the Heathen World”: November 1887
- Folder 21: “Temperance”: 1889
- Folder 22: “The Crisis in a Seaman's Life”: 1889
- Folder 23: “Eclipse of Soul”: March 10, 1895
- Folder 24: “New Year - 1898": January 2, 1898
- Folder 25: “Things that Accompany Salvation”: March 20, 1898
- Folder 26: “Prodigal Welcome”: undated
- Folder 27: Wasting and Rioting”: undated
- Folder 28: “The Conviction of Sin”: undated
- Folder 29: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 30: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 31: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 32: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 33: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 34: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 35: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 36: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 37: Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts: undated
- Folder 38: Personal correspondence: 1863-1877, undated
- Folder 39: Correspondence and miscellaneous items concerning the University of North Dakota: 1884-1904
- Folder 40: Sermon: “The Crime Against the Presidency” (microfiche), April 16, 1865
- Fourth Presbyterian Church, Trenton, New Jersey
- Folder 1: “Jesus Coming to Troubled Souls”: April 1, 1855
Browse by Box:
[Box 1],
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