PITTS THEOLOGY LIBRARY
ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS DEPT.

HEARN,  WALTER ANDERSON.
Papers, 1918-1935.
 

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 050

EXTENT: .9 cubic ft. (1 oversize legal archive box and 1 half-size legal archive box)

ACCESS: Unrestricted

REPRODUCTION: All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

COPYRIGHT: Information on copyright (literary rights) available from repository.

CITATION: Walter Anderson Hearn Papers, MSS 050, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University. 

Biographical Note
The son of Thomas A. Hearn, a Southern Methodist missionary, Walter Anderson Hearn was born in China about 1895 and spoke the Chinese language fluently. He was licensed to preach in 1913. After receiving his B.A. degree in 1916 from Hendrix College in Arkansas, Reverend Hearn spent three years teaching in Shanghai. In 1922, he graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University, with a master's degree in Religious Education, and in 1923, he graduated from Union Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree of divinity. In 1923, he and his wife, Olive Winthrow Hearn, went to Soochow University, where he became a Professor of Religion and Religious Education. Between 1924 and 1925, he also served as Acting Superintendent of the Hong Kong Institutional Church in Soochow.

In 1927, the China Annual Conference refused to admit into full connection Reverend Hearn because of his public statement of disbelief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Bishop William Newman Ainsworth, presiding bishop of the China Annual Conference, recommended to the Board of Missions that Reverend Hearn be withdrawn from the missionary field. In August 1927, after his hearing before a special committee of the Board of Missions, Reverend Hearn was dismissed from missionary service.

At the Little Rock Conference held at Camden, November 16- 20, 1927, Reverend Hearn was appointed junior preacher at the First Methodist Church, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. In 1928, Reverend Hearn accepted a position on the faculty of the Bible College of Missouri in Columbia.

Scope and Content Note
The papers of Walter Anderson Hearn chiefly concern his career at the Soochow University in the China Mission and his case before the special committee of the Board of Missions in 1927. The bulk of the papers consists of about 400 letters, dated from 1918 to 1935. One folder contains letters to and from his wife, his father, and other family members. These letters, mainly, offer advice and support to his work in China and his stance before the Board of Missions.

The remaining general correspondence is to and from members of the China Annual Conference, the China Mission, and the Board of Missions. Among the correspondents are Bishop William Newman Ainsworth, Sidney R. Anderson, W.B. Nance, W.O. Cram, Charles W. Rankin, Mary Culler White, Frank Rawlinson, and O.E, Goddard. Other materials relating to Reverend Hearn's case and his work include newspaper clippings, minutes and reports of the China Mission, his notes and statements to the Board, and a copy of the proceedings before the the special committee on August 5, 1927.

CONTAINER LISTING

BOX/FOLDER#
DESCRIPTION
1/1
 Family correspondence, 1927-1928
General Correspondence
1/2
 General correspondence, 1918-1923 
1/3
 General correspondence, 1924 
1/4
 General correspondence, 1926; January-November
1/5
 General correspondence, 1926; December
1/6
 General correspondence, 1927; January 2-10
1/7
 General correspondence, 1927; January 11-27
1/8
 General correspondence, 1927; February-April
1/9
 General correspondence, 1927; May 2-8
1/10
 General correspondence, 1927; May 9-17
1/11
 General correspondence, 1927; May 18-30
1/12
 General correspondence, 1927; June
1/13
 General correspondence, 1927; July 1-10
1/14
 General correspondence, 1927; July 11-15
1/15
 General correspondence, 1927; July 16-26
1/16
 General correspondence, 1927; July 27-31
1/17
 General correspondence, 1927; August 1-11
1/18
 General correspondence, 1927; August 12-31
1/19
 General correspondence, 1927; September
1/20
 General correspondence, 1927; October 1-10
1/21
 General correspondence, 1927; October 11-31
1/22
 General correspondence, 1927; November-December
1/23
 General correspondence, 1928; January-March
1/24
 General correspondence, 1928; April
1/25
 General correspondence, 1928; May-December
1/26
 General correspondence, 1929-1935
China Mission (Minutes and Reports)
1/27
 1926
1/28
 1927, April
1/29
 1927, May-September
1/30
 1928 and undated
1/31
 Missionary Yearbook, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1928
2/1-3
 Proceedings, before a Special Committee of the Board of Missions concerning Walter Anderson Hearn's case, August 5, 1927
Statements (Hearn's) to the Board of Missions
2/4
 1927, July
2/5&6
 1927, August
2/7
 1928
2/8
 Notes on case (Hearn's)
Articles and newspaper clippings
2/9
 1921-1927, July
2/10
 1927, August-1928, August; and undated
2/11
 Miscellaneous
Items separated: Three oversized black-and-white photographs from the Union Theological Seminary in New York. (OP-50/1-3)
Last Modified: 02/05/01