Pitts Theology Library
Archives and Manuscripts Department
Descriptive Summary
| Creator: | Denman, Harry, 1893-1976. |
| Title: | Harry Denman papers, 1938-1977 |
| Call Number: | Manuscript Collection No. 081 |
| Extent: | .6 cubic feet (2 boxes) |
| Abstract: | Consists of approximately 350 letters from Harry Denman to Mrs. Weldon T. Meyers. |
| Language: | Materials in English. |
Administrative Information
| Restrictions on Access | Unrestricted access. [Stored off-site. Forty-eight hours advance notice required.] |
| Terms Governing Use and Reproduction | All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction. |
| Citation | [after identification of item(s)], Harry Denman Papers, Archives and Manuscript Department, Pitts Theology Library, Emory University. |
| Processing | Processed by Cynthia Crouch, July 1987. |
Biographical Note
Dr. Harry Denman, noted Methodist lay leader and evangelist, was the son of Hattie Leonard and William Henry Denman. His parents immigrated from Gloucestershire, England, to Birming-ham, Alabama, where he was born on September 26, 1893. He was educated at Birmingham-Southern College, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1921 and a master's degree in social work in 1930. In 1936 he received an honorary doctorate at Athens College in Alabama.
In 1915 Dr. Denman became secretary of the Birmingham, Alabama, Sunday School Association, a post which he held until 1919 when he became church manager of the First Methodist Church in Birmingham. He became a strong lay leader of the North Alabama Conference. After the church union in 1939 he was elected General Secretary of the Commission on Evangelism, later the Board of Evangelism, of the Methodist Church. As the general secretary, he also had responsibility for the publication of The Upper Room. He was a member of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1934 and 1938. He was also a member of the Jurisdictional Conferences in 1940, 1944, 1948, and 1952. After his retirement in 1965, Dr. Denman traveled extensively in the United States and throughout the world to preach and conduct evangelistic meetings.
Dr. Harry Denman died at the age of 83 in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 8, 1976. Two days later services were held in Elmwood Cemetery, with Phillip C. Jackson, Tram Sessions, The Rev. W. G. Adams, and The Rev. Edwin Kimbrough officiating. Further information about Dr. Denman may be obtained from Love Abounds: A Profile of Harry Denman, A Modern Disciple by Asbury Smith and J. Manning Potts; Harry Denman: A Biography by Harold Rogers; and file 27 in these papers, which contains a few articles about Harry Denman and his work.
Scope and Content Note
The papers consist primarily of approximately 350 letters from Denman to Mrs. Weldon T. Meyers, formerly Miss Lucia May Giddens. Spanning from 1939 to 1977, the letters include personal correspondence, some clippings, and travel diaries. Also included are printed materials by and about Harry Denman. The papers are divided into four subgroups, arranged chronologically: correspondence, travel descriptions, articles by Harry Denman, and articles about Harry Denman.
Container List
| Box | Folder | Content |
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence, 1938-1939 |
| 1 | 2 | Correspondence, 1940-1951 |
| 1 | 3 | Correspondence, 1952-1956 |
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence, 1957-1959 |
| 1 | 5 | Correspondence, 1961 |
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence, 1962 January-July |
| 1 | 7 | Correspondence, 1962 August-December |
| 1 | 8 | Correspondence, 1963 January-April |
| 1 | 9 | Correspondence, 1963 May-July |
| 1 | 10 | Correspondence, 1963 October-December |
| 1 | 11 | Correspondence, 1964 January-March |
| 1 | 12 | Correspondence, 1964 April-December |
| 1 | 13 | Correspondence, 1965 |
| 1 | 14 | Correspondence, 1966 |
| 1 | 15 | Correspondence, 1967 |
| 1 | 16 | Correspondence, 1968 January-May |
| 1 | 17 | Correspondence, 1968 June-December |
| 1 | 18 | Correspondence, 1969 January-May |
| 1 | 19 | Correspondence, 1969 June-December |
| 1 | 20 | Correspondence, 1970 |
| 1 | 21 | Correspondence, 1971 January-March |
| 1 | 22 | Correspondence, 1971 April-May |
| 1 | 23 | Correspondence, 1971 June-December |
| 1 | 24 | Correspondence, 1972 January-April |
| 1 | 25 | Correspondence, 1972 May-December |
| 1 | 26 | Correspondence, 1973-1977 |
| 2 | 1 | Travel descriptions, 1951, 1963 April-June |
| 2 | 2 | Travel descriptions, 1963 July |
| 2 | 3 | Travel descriptions, 1963 August-October |
| 2 | 4 | Travel descriptions, 1965 |
| 2 | 5 | Articles by Harry Denman, 1938-1956 |
| 2 | 6 | Articles by Harry Denman, 1957-1963, undated |
| 2 | 7 | Articles about Harry Denman, 1954-1977 |
Last Modified: July 17, 2015 (bcw)