| Creator | Park, William Edgar, 1909-1987 |
| Title | William Edgar Park papers |
| Dates | 1910-1960 (bulk 1933-1947) |
| Identification | MS 98 |
| Quantity | 1.5 linear feet (3 manuscript boxes) |
| Collection Abstract | The William Edgar Park papers document the career work of the third President of Simmons College. The majority of the collection consists of sermons, speeches, and prayers given by President Park from the years 1933 to 1963. There are also materials relating to President Park's two books, which the majority of the correspondence of this collection relates to. There is some information about President Park's personal life, including early photographs. |
| Historical Abstract | William Edgar Park was born in West Newton, Massachusetts on January 20, 1909. He graduated from Williams College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1930 and received a Bachelor of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in 1933. From 1933 to 1934, he studied English Literature at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. From 1934 until 1940 Park assumed three pastorates first in North Abington, Massachusetts, and subsequently in Orient, Long Island, and Buffalo, New York. In 1940, Park became president of Northfield Schools, guiding both the Northfield School for Girls and the Mount Hermon School for Boys. Park published two books of religious writings, Narrow is the Way in 1945, and The Quest for Inner Peace in 1947. In 1955, Park left the Northfield Schools to become the third President of Simmons College. During Park's tenure at Simmons, three dormitories were constructed, facilitating the change from a predominantly commuter campus to a more residential campus. Beatley Library and Lefavour Hall were also completed during Park's presidency. Park retired from Simmons College in 1970. He died after an illness at Falmouth Hospital on Cape Cod. |
| Language | Material in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], William Edgar Park papers, MS 98, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Note cards and photographs donated by Georgia M. Park, 1989 and 1992, all other materials transferred from the Office of the President 1994.
Accession number: 89.017, 89.093, 92.102, 94.009
Processed by Kent Woynowski, February 2001
Supervised by Claire Goodwin, February 2001
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Aliza Allen Leventhal, July 2013
William Edgar Park was born in West Newton, Massachusetts on January 20, 1909 to Dr. J. Edgar and Grace (Burtt) Park. He graduated from Williams College (A.B. 1930) and received the B.D. from Union Theological Seminary in 1933. From 1933 to 1934, he studied English Literature at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In 1934, Park assumed the first of three pastorates, beginning with the North Congregational Church in North Abington, Massachusetts. His second and third pastorates were in Orient, Long Island and the North Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, New York.
In 1940, Park became president of Northfield Schools, guiding both the Northfield School for Girls and the Mount Hermon School for Boys. During this time, he also supervised the Northfield Summer Conference, the Northfield Hotel, and the East Northfield Water Company. In 1945, Park published the first of two books of religious writings entitled Narrow is the Way. The second book, The Quest for Inner Peace, was published two years later in 1947.
In 1955, Park left the Northfield Schools to become the third President of Simmons College. During Park's tenure at Simmons, three dormitories were constructed, facilitating the change from a predominantly commuter campus to a more residential campus. Beatley Library and Lefavour Hall were also completed during Park’s presidency.
By far the most important event to occur at Simmons College during Park's presidency was the Self Study, conducted from 1963 to 1965, which resulted in several changes for the College:
Park retired from Simmons College in 1970. He died after an illness at Falmouth Hospital on Cape Cod.
Park received honorary degrees from Simmons College, Middlebury College, Williams College, Lesley College, and Emerson College. He served as a trustee of Vassar College (1945-1954), the International College (Lebanon), Andover-Newton Theological School, Garland Junior College, and Williams College (1959-1964). Park also served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education, a member of the Board of Collegiate Authority, and a trustee of the WGBH Educational Foundation.
Biographical information compiled by Peter Carini, 1994, from material in the Simmons College Archives.
The William Edgar Park Papers document the career and work of the third President of Simmons College. The majority of the collection consists of sermons, speeches, and prayers given by President Park from the years 1933 to 1963. These sermons were jotted down on note cards, sometimes handwritten, sometimes typed. A few of these notes contain the full text of the sermon, while the majority of cards are only an outline.
Also included are materials relating to President Park's two books, Narrow is the Way and The Quest for Inner Peace. The majority of the correspondence relates to these books, with the correspondents either thanking President Park for a copy of the book, offering praise of the book, or (more often) both. Of particular interest in the correspondence is a series of letters from Chester H. Howe and Halford E. Luccock alerting Park to the possibility that Narrow is the Way had been plagiarized by Dr. Frederick K. Stamm. There are also published book reviews that President Park collected, along with the original dust jackets of both books.
Among information of President Park's personal life is an early photograph of the Park family, taken when President Park was a young boy. There are also two copies of a photograph of Beatrix Potter. Of note is a program from the memorial service for King Edward VII in Belfast in 1910, at which a Rev. William Park (assumed to be President Park's grandfather) delivered a prayer.
Much of the material relating to President Park's books had to be removed from a deteriorating scrapbook.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Collection is arranged into 6 series:
Arranged by title, then chronologically
This series contains the note cards that President Park referred to when delivering sermons, speeches, and prayers.
Box 1
Box 2
This series contains published book reviews of Park's two books, Narrow is the Way and The Quest for Inner Peace. Also included are the original dust jackets of those two books. These items were removed from a deteriorating scrapbook.
Arranged chronologically.
Box 2
This series contains correspondence to Park, mostly in praise of his two books. Of particular interest are letters from Chester H. Howe and Halford E. Luccock regarding a sermon allegedly plagiarized from Park. Also included are personal letters from Park's mother (Grace Burtt Park) and grandmother ("Gram"). There is also one letter from Astrid Hagenguth, a Northfield student thanking Mrs. Park for her work and support as class advisor included in the series. Much of this correspondence was removed from a deteriorating scrapbook.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Box 2
This series contains photographs, slides, and negatives of the Park Family (ca. 1918), Beatrix Potter (1936), a promotional photograph of President Park (circa 1945) and President Park at Northfield (1955).
Arranged chronologically.
Box 2
This series contains yearbooks from the Northfield Seminary/Northfield School for Girls, Mt. Heron School, and the Century Association.
Arranged by organization, then chronologically.
Box 2
Box 2
Box 3
This series consists of a program from the memorial service of King Edward VII (1910) in Belfast, at which a Rev. William Park (assumed to be Park's grandfather) gave a prayer. A color portrait King Edward VII is on the back of the program.
