DICKS, RUSSELL L. (RUSSELL LESLIE), b. 1906-  .
Papers, 1935-1976.

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 164

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CITATION:  Russell L. Dicks Papers, MSS 164, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.

Russell Leslie Dicks received his A.B. degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1929 and his B.C. degree from Union Theological Seminary in 1933.  A pioneer in the hospital chaplaincy program, he served as chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, Presbyterian Hospital and Wesley Memorial Hospital, both in Chicago, Illinois, and Duke Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.  While at Wesley Memorial, he was a member of the faculties of McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago Theological Seminary, and Garrett Biblical Institute.  Dr. Dicks was also a member of the faculty at Southern Methodist University and associate pastor of Highland Park Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas.

Dicks conducted seminars on personal counseling for military chaplains, civilian clergy, social workers, and USO personnel for the Army and Navy YMCA-USO during 1943.  He was the author of numerous books and articles pertaining to pastoral counseling and clinical pastoral work.  Dicks served as the first president of the Association of Protestant Chaplains of the American Protestant Hospital Association.  He died in 1965 while serving as director of the Central Florida Counseling Center in Orlando, Florida.

This collection consists of correspondence, materials concerning various publishers, scrapbook materials, unpublished manuscripts, and literary works.  Correspondence between Dicks, Dr. Helen Flanders Dunbar, and Seward Hiltner provides information about disagreements between Dicks and the Council for the Clinical Training of Theological Students, Inc. over the type of training and background needed for chaplaincy work in a general hospital setting.  Materials from publishers such as Abingdon Press and Prentice-Hall, Inc. include correspondence, publishing contracts, and royalty information relating to several of Dicks' publications.

Scrapbook materials contain some biographical information as well as clippings of various articles and lesson series written by Dicks; announcements, reviews, and correspondence regarding books written by Dicks; and clippings of newspaper articles and correspondence pertaining to his series of USO seminars on personal counseling in wartime.  Some correspondence relates to the three unpublished manuscripts, one entitled Deep Sands, another, Lindsey, Jud, and Lisa, and one untitled hospital novel.  Literary works by Russell Dicks include And Ye Visited Me, Meditations for the Sick, Principals and Practices of Pastoral Care and others, as well as books from two series for which Dicks served as general editor.

The collection is arranged according to type of material and alphabetically thereunder.

CONTAINER LISTING

Box/
Folder     Description                                 Dates
1/1        Correspondence - Dunbar and Hiltner         1935
1/2        Publishers - Abingdon Press                 1957-1958 
1/3        Publishers - Bethany Press                  1961-1965
1/4        Publishers - Harper and Bros.               1938-1939, 1961
1/5        Publishers - Macmillan Company              1935-1965
1/6        Publishers - Prentice-Hall, Inc.            1961-1965
1/7        Publishers - Westminster Press              1949-1957
1/8        Publishers - Willett, Clark and Co. and
                    unidentified pieces                1937, 1963, n.d.
1/9        Publishers' correspondence with Mrs. Dicks  1966-1976
1/10       Publications - Magazine articles            1940-1960
1/11       Miscellaneous                               n.d.
1/12-23    Scrapbook material                          1936-1948
1/24-30    Unpublished manuscripts                     n.d.
1/         Holy Bible - King James Version             n.d.

2          Written by Russell L. Dicks:
             And Ye Visited Me                         1939
             The Art of Ministering to the Sick 
                (Cabot and Dicks)                      1936
             Meditations for the Sick                  1937
                Meet Joe Ross                          1957
             Pastoral Work and Personal Counseling     1949    
             Principles and Practices of Pastoral Care 1963
             Articles in Religion and Health           1952-1957
           Edited by Russell L. Dicks:
             Counseling the Serviceman and His Family
                (Harris)                               1964
             How to Help an Alcoholic (Earle)          1952
             Whom God Hath Joined (Mace)               1953    
           Other: 
             What Men Live By  (Cabot)                 1914    
                                                                
Last Modified: 08/19/2003