WHITAKER, JAMES CLARK, 1913-2000.
Papers, 1930-2000.
MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 211
ACCESS: Unrestricted. [Stored off site. Forty eight hours advance
notice required to access collection.]
Restricted: Class notebooks and Reflections containing names
of counseling patients.
Sanitized photocopies are available.
REPRODUCTION: All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.
COPYRIGHT: Information on copyright (literary rights) available from repository.
CITATION: [identification of item(s)] James Clark Whitaker Papers,
MSS 211, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory
University.
James C. Whitaker was born on July 22, 1913 in Black River, Louisiana. He received his B.A. from Asbury College in 1933; a B.D. from Candler School of Theology, Emory University in 1936; a S.T.M. from Drew Theological Seminary in 1966; and a M.S. in Educational Psychology in 1984 from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Whitaker served as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy during World War II. From 1935 to 1961 he served as pastor to several churches in the Louisiana Conference of the Methodist Church (U.S.). He actively supported desegregation of the New Orleans public schools in the late 1950s and early 1960s, however, his liberal views were not popular with the Louisiana Conference. He transferred to the Northern New Jersey Conference in 1961 where he remained until his retirement in the late 1970s. In 1982, at the age of 70, Whitaker pursued a degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee and began a counseling career.
Whitaker was profoundly influenced by the writings of Soren Kierkegaard about whom he wrote his thesis in the 1960s. He was also influenced by the writings of H. Richard Niebuhr, Paul Tillich and many other theologians and philosophers. This influence is prevalent in the journal of reflections Whitaker maintained from the late 1940s until 1998 as well as in his letters to friends and family. He also participated in layman study groups that engaged in scholarly theological discussions.
Whitaker and his wife, Mozelle Renshaw, had two children. He died on September 21, 2000 at the age of 87.
This collection consists of handwritten journals, typed memoirs, correspondence, class notes, handwritten and typed papers and sermons, newspaper clippings and a printed memoir. The material is divided into eight sub-series: Biographical, Calendars and schedules, Class and miscellaneous notes, Papers and other writings, Reflections - journals, Reflections and letters, Sermons and prayers, and Miscellaneous.
The first sub-series contains biographical information about James C. Whitaker. The material includes his own description of his papers and spiritual journey, a resume, transcripts, and Whitaker's obituary, funeral program and a copy of the eulogy delivered at his funeral. The second sub-series consists of Whitaker's handwritten schedules and a set of small pocket calendars he used from 1961-1997.
Class and miscellaneous notes is a larger sub-series that contains spiral bound notebooks with Whitaker's class notes from 1961 to 1985. Researchers must note that he recycled these notebooks so a notebook may contain class notes from the 1960s and class notes from the 1980s. He also used his class notebooks for church meeting notes and study group notes. Most of the notes are dated but in a few cases it is difficult to determine when or for what event notes were taken. Between 1982 and 1985 Whitaker was enrolled in psychology and counseling courses. These courses included practicums in which he counseled clients. The notebooks contained the names of his clients, information which cannot be made public for legal reasons. Whitaker also wrote some of his most insightful reflections regarding his own mental and spiritual health in these same notebooks. The notebooks are restricted but photocopies with the full names of clients removed are available for researchers to use.
The fourth sub-series consists of papers and other writings. These papers were primarily written to fulfill class assignments but a few papers were written for other reasons. This grouping also contains copies of the Counselor's Corner, a piece Whitaker wrote for his church newsletter, as well as some of his poetry and his collection of Soren Kierkegaard quotes.
The heart of the collection is contained in sub-series five and six. Whitaker began writing his reflections on his theology and what he learned in his reading and course work in 1946. The first sub-series consists of his journals and the chaplain's log he maintained in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1945. He began writing his reflections in small pocket-size spiral notebooks. In the early 1970's he switched to notebook paper size spiral notebooks, however, the format change was not consistent. Researchers may have to switch between notebooks to follow his line of thought although in some cases it appears that Whitaker wrote on different subjects in different notebooks. Names of his counseling clients also appear in Whitaker's journal from 1982 to 1985, but the names are not used as frequently as in the class notes. For this reason, only the pages that contain confidential names were removed from the notebooks and replaced with photocopies with the names removed. The journals sub-series also contains a two volume work of Whitaker's reflections entitled On Becoming One's Own Self: Reflected Existence, edited by Henri N. Levinspuhl. The sixth sub-series continues the reflections in the form of letters and handwritten reflections on scrap or blank paper. In the 1990s Whitaker acquired a computer and began typing his reflections using a word processor. Printouts of his work are in the final folder.
The seventh sub-series consists of Whitaker's sermons and prayers. The sermons are in two major groupings. The first group of sermons were handwritten and kept in small spiral notebooks and indexed by title and scripture. The second grouping are handwritten or typed sermons that were kept in folders. Most of the sermons are not dated and it is not apparent when or where they were preached. This sub-series also contains a small collection of written prayers for various occasions.
The final sub-series is a group of miscellaneous material that consists
primarily of clippings. There are considerable clippings and correspondence
regarding Whitaker's role in the desegregation of public schools in New
Orleans in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The remaining clippings
are about Whitaker or church related events in the family's life in Louisiana,
New Jersey, and Tennessee. Also included are photographs of James and
Mozelle Whitaker and a Chinese tapestry that was given to Whitaker to use
as an altar cloth when he was a Navy chaplain during World War II.
The tapestry is approximately 200 years old.
CONTAINER LISTING
Box Folder Description Date
Biographical
1 1 Introduction to papers 1998
1 2 Education information n.d.
1 3 Education information - Transcripts 1930-1984
1 4 Obituary and other material
relating to Whitaker's death 2000
Calendars and schedules
1 5 Schedules 1950-1960
1 6-12 Schedules 1970-1971
1 13 Schedules 1973-1974
61 Calendars 1961-1997
Class and miscellaneous notes
2 1 Wesleys 1961 Sept - 1962 Jan
2 2 Social Ethics 1961 Sept - 1962 Jan
2 3 Church at Worship 1961 Oct - 1962 Jan
2 4 Dietrich Monhoeffer 1962 Feb - May
2 4 includes Charles Reich article
from NY Times 1970 Nov
2 7 Theology of Prayer 1962-Feb - May
2 5 Church Ministry to Adults 1962 Jun - 1963 Jan
2 6 Theology of Schleiermacher 1962 Sept - Dec
2 7 Theology of Prayer 1962-Feb - May
3 1 German 1962-1964
3 2 German translations and notes on
Schroer and Kierkegaard 1962
3 3 German translations and notes on
Schroer and Kierkegaard 1962
3 4 ca. 1962-1970
3 5 Theology of Paul Tillich 1963 Jan - May
3 6 Theology of Rudolf Bultmann and
Theology of Evangelism 1963
3 7 Mansfield College, Oxford 1963 Aug
3 8 Kierkegaard studies with notes from
periodic re-reading of original
notes 1963-1990
23 6 Kierkegaard, Basic Theology Course 1964
4 1 Mass Culture and Christian Faith 1965 Apr - May
4 2 1965
4 3 Undated Kierkegaard notes; Self
and Society in Contemporary
Existentialist Thought;
Pocono Preaching Mission 1966-1967
4 1 Blaise Pascal notes 1967
4 4 Theology as History 1967 Feb - May
4 5 Philosophy and Theology 1967 Oct - 1968 Jan
4 6 Types of Dialogical Theology and
other class notes 1967-1976
26 4 Ontology and Ethics in
Contemporary Theology 1968 Oct - 1969 Jan
4 7 Problem of History and other
class notes 1968-1969
3 6 1969, n.d.
5 1 Westfield Study Group and other
notes 1969 Apr - July
5 2 Problem of the Self in Western
Thought; Christian Faith and
Natural Law 1969 Oct - 1970 Jan
4 8 Philosophical Analysis and
Theological Understanding
and other class notes 1969-1971
5 3 Christianity and Race Relations;
Three Kinds of Language 1970 Feb - May
4 4 Paul notes 1970 Mar - 1971 May
5 4 Paul Ricoeur; Richard Niebuhr
and other class notes 1970-1971
5 5 Troeltsch and Weber; Faith at
Work Conference; Evangelism 1971 Jan - May
5 6 Foundations of Evangelism 1971 July
5 7 Foundations of Evangelism 1971 July - Aug
5 8 Foundations of Evangelism 1971 Aug
5 8 Other notes 1971 Sept - 1972 Feb
4 5 Consultation on Racism 1971 Oct
6 1 Evangelism; Youth group notes;
other notes 1971 Nov - 1972 May
2 7 Gospel of John 1978 Sept - Oct
3 7 Westfield Study Group 1979
6 2 Teachings of Jesus; Religion
and Culture in Japan;
other notes 1979 July - 1981 May
5 5 Paul Tillich's Theology and Ethics 1980 June
6 3 Theology and Ethics of Paul
Tillich; God as Being or God as
Becoming 1980 June - 1981 Feb
6 4 Christian Vocation; Discovering the Old Testament; How the
New Testament Came into Being 1980 June - 1981 Mar
4 5 Questions in regard to Paul Tillich 1980 July
4 8 God as Being or. . . Becoming;
Contemporary Process Theology 1980-1981
6 5 Theories of Personality; Ephesians 1981 Sept - Dec
30 6 Creative Writing class notes;
Miscellaneous notes 1981 Sept - 1982 Jan
6 6 Theory and Practice of Consultation;
Group Dynamics; Seminar on
Behavioral Therapy 1982 Jan - Mar
6 7 Reality Therapy; Behavior Therapy 1982 Mar - June
31 4 Church notes and Comprehensive Exam 1982 Apr
7 1 Practicum "My Counseling Notebook"
[Photocopy] 1982 Aug - 1983 June
7 2 Career Development and Research;
Pre-Practicum; Seminar; Other notes 1982 Sept - 1983 Mar
7 3 Statistics; Alcoholism and Alcohol
Education; Seminar 1983 Jan - Mar
7 4 Counseling Practicum; Families in
Crisis; Statistics; Seminar 1983 Mar - Apr
7 5 Psychopathology and Social Deviance 1983 Sept - Dec
7 6 Practicum II [Photocopy] 1983 Sept - 1984 Mar
7 7 Social Planning 1983 Sept - Nov
8 1 Group Processes 1984 Jan - Mar
8 2 Family Therapy 1984 Jan - Feb
8 3 Internship [with personal reflections]
[Photocopy] 1984 Mar - May
6 7 Cognitive Therapy 1984 Nov - 1985 Jan
9 [Restricted counseling notebooks
and 1st photocopies] 1982-1984
Papers and other writings
10 Class papers and miscellaneous papers 1959-1971
11 Class papers and miscellaneous papers 1971-1996, n.d.
12 1-14 Class papers and miscellaneous papers n.d.
12 15-17 Counselor's Corner 1976-1993, n.d.
12 18-21 Poetry 1930-1932, 1975-1996
60 [Kierkegaard quotes on note cards] n.d.
Reflections - journals
23 1 Chaplain's log 1944-1945
13 Small notebooks 1946 - 1950 July 14
14 Small notebooks 1950 July 14 - 1953 June 17
15 Small notebooks 1953 June 17 - 1955 June 10
16 Small notebooks 1955 June 10 - 1958 Jan 24
17 Small notebooks 1958 Jan 24 - 1960
18 Small notebooks 1961 - 1963 Jan 3
19 Small notebooks 1963 Jan 3 - 1966 Jan 7
20 Small notebooks 1966 Jan 7 - 1968 Jan
21 Small notebooks 1968 Jan 3 - 1973 Feb
22 Small notebooks 1973 Feb - 1985
4 7 1969 Aug - Sept
23 2 1970 May 1- Nov 22
5 4 1971 July
23 3-7 1972 Apr - Dec. 7
23 5 [skips in date range] 1972 Oct. 6 - 1974 June 23
24 1972 Dec 7 - 1974 Feb 17
25 1974 Feb 17 - 1975 Feb 14
26 1975 Feb 15 - 1976 May 9
27 1976 May 11 - 1977 Aug 25
28 1977 Aug 25 - 1978 Oct 21
29 1978 Oct 21 - 1980 June 11
30 1980 June 11 - 1982 Aug 18
31 1982 Aug 18 - 1985 Oct 14
32 1985 Oct 15 - 1987 May 4
33 1987 May 5 - 1989 June 15
34 1989 June 16 - 1992 Feb 14
35 1992 Feb 14 - 1994 Nov 21
36 1994 Nov 23 - 1998 Oct 6
64 1 1998 Oct 6 - 2000 Aug 15
37 On Becoming One's Own Self:
Reflected Existence 2 volumes,
edited by Henri N. Levinspuhl 1999
38 [Restricted reflections and
1st photocopies] 1982 May - 1985 Oct
Reflections and letters
39 1945-1969
40 1970-1971
41 1972-1977
42 1977-1989
43 1990-2000, n.d.
44 [undated reflections] n.d.
45 [pages removed from 3 ring binders] ca. 1987-1994
Sermons and prayers
46 Sermon binders: Index, Vol. 1-5 ca. 1945-1967
47 Sermon binders: Vol. 6-10 ca. 1949-1958
48 Sermon binders: Vol. 11-14 ca. 1946-1957
49 Sermon binders: Vol. 15-19 ca. 1946-1959
50 Sermon binders: Vol. 20-24,
no vol. number ca. 1943-1979
51 1 Sermons and meeting notes 1970-1971
51 2 Miscellaneous sermon notes 1946
52 Unbound sermons with individual
folder titles 1972-1997, n.d.
53 Unbound sermons 1942-1996
54 Unbound sermons 1965-1988
55 Unbound sermons 1976-1994, n.d.
56 Unbound sermons n.d.
57 1-5 Unbound sermons n.d.
57 6 Funeral sermons 1961-1992, n.d.
58 1-4 Prayers 1961-1992, n.d.
59 Note cards with scripture references n.d.
Miscellaneous
58 5 New Orleans school integration 1957-1960
58 6 New Orleans school integration 1961-1962
58 7 New Orleans school integration n.d.
58 8 New Orleans school integration
[original clippings] 1960-1962, n.d.
58 9 Newspaper clippings - Louisiana 1949-1975, n.d.
58 10 Newspaper clippings - New Jersey 1961-1992
58 11 Newspaper clippings - Tennessee 1984-1991
58 12 Newspaper clippings - [originals] 1949-1992, n.d.
58 13 WWII Chaplain services 1944-1945
58 14 [Loose material sent to Pitts after
funeral. Contains notes and
explanations by family members.] 1959-2000
62 Photographs of James and Mozelle
Whitaker ca. 1950s
63 Chinese tapestry altar cloth n.d.
64 2 Wherever Our Feet Take Us, by Anna
Whitaker Smith 2007