Guide to the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America Department of Information Records
Open for research.
The Department of Information "is the central source of information and news about the Council and its activities." The Department "prepares and releases news and feature stories and articles for the nation's press and broadcast news media; provides all news media services for Council meetings; produces and distributes information materials; handles public query correspondence; and acts as liaison between the Council and the nation's news and information media."
The Department began in 1951 as the Central Department of Public Relations. In 1956 it became the Office of Public Relations and in 1960 the Office of Information. The Department of Information was placed under the Office of Communication in 1965. The Department was successively a part of the Central Division of Communication (1971) and the Office of Communication and Interpretation (1973). The Department was abolished in 1975.
Donald C. Bolles was executive director of the Department from 1951 to 1959. William Frye was executive director in 1960. From 1962 to 1971 F. Fletcher Coates was executive director. Coates was associate director of the Department from 1953 to 1961
The Department of Information, 1951-1974, files are those of F. Fletcher Coates. The files are arranged alphabetically by subject. Items within the files are arranged chronologically by year, month, and day. Partially dated documents are placed at the end of the month or year; undated items are placed after all dated material. Enclosures are placed after their letter of transmittal. Newspaper clippings, unless enclosed with correspondence, are placed at the end of subject files.
The files consist principally of press releases. There is also incoming and outgoing correspondence, form letters, newsletters, reprints, pamphlets, leaflets, and newspaper clippings.
The press releases are organized under the headings of "Conference Releases" and "General Press Releases." The "Conference Releases" consist of extracts of speeches, resolutions, and the actions of various meetings of the NCC and its divisions such as Christian Education, Foreign Missions, Home Missions, Church World Service, Overseas Ministries, Broadcasting and Film Commission, United Church Women, and the General Board. The "Conference Releases" concern various topics including family life, immigration, nuclear power, Christian unity, race relations, sex education, world economy, women's rights, legalized gambling, abortion, the Vietnam War, international affairs, and church/state relations.
The "General Press Releases" detail NCC activities, policy statements, general religious news, announcements of meetings, officers elected, and staff appointed. The releases concern subjects such as United Evangelistic Advance, World Day of Prayer, gambling, Race Relations Sunday, the Korean War, church membership, Churchmen's Week, United States/Russian exchange visits, civil rights, Cuban refugees, and the Middle East.
The correspondence files concern requests for information, news stories sent out, subscriptions for NCC publications, and comments about NCC news stories. The files also contain copies of NCC publications and newsletters including the bimonthly Tempo; Capsule, a newsletter prepared by General Secretary R.H. Edwin Espy; and The Religious Newsweekly, which reported "significant events in the cooperative church movement—in the community, the nation and the world.
The archives of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America were processed in 1980-1984 through two grants awarded to the Presbyterian Historical Society by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Work under the first grant was performed by Dr. Alan Thomson and under the second grant by Donald L. Haggerty.
The archives of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America have been dated from 1950 to 1972; however, there is material dating from before and after this time period. Documents from the predecessor organizations date from as early as 1839. There is also a small amount of material found in the files from as late as 1975. The year 1972 was selected as a cutoff date for the archives because of the major reorganization which the NCC underwent at this time. The archives are arranged in the following record groups:
NCC RG 1: Planning Committee for the NCC, 1941-1951
NCC RG 2: General Assemblies, 1952-1972
NCC RG 3: General Board, 1950-1972
NCC RG 4: General Secretary, 1950-1973
NCC RG 5: Deputy General Secretary, 1947-1975
NCC RG 6: Division of Christian Life and Mission, 1945-1973
NCC RG 7: Division of Home Missions, 1950-1964
NCC RG 8: Division of Overseas Ministries, 1914-1972
NCC RG 9: Division of Christian Education, 1897-1974
NCC RG 10: Division of Christian Unity, 1935-1973
NCC RG 11: Office of Administration, 1938-1973
NCC RG 12: Assistant General Secretary for Executive Operations, 1950-1966
NCC RG 13: Washington Office, 1951-1966
NCC RG 14: Office of Planning and Program, 1943-1973
NCC RG 15: Department of Information, 1951-1974
NCC RG 16: Broadcasting and Film Commission, 1923-1974
NCC RG 17: Special Topics, 1951-1970
NCC RG 18: Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, 1894-1952
NCC RG 19: International Council of Religious Education, 1839-1953
NCC RG 20: Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 1901-1952
NCC RG 21: National Protestant Council of Higher Education, 1911-1951
NCC RG 22: United Stewardship Council, 1917-1950
NCC RG 23: Inter-Council Field Department, 1935-1950
NCC RG 24: Association of Council Secretaries, 1915-1971
NCC RG 25: Church Executive Development Board, 1960-1974
NCC RG 26: Home Missions Council of North America, 1903-1951
NCC RG 27: Foreign Missions Conference of North America, 1887-1951
NCC RG 28: Scrapbooks, 1915-1963
Catalog Note
In the society's electronic catalog, all 28 NCC record groups are cataloged together as the records of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Guide to NCC RG 15 | |
| 1 | 2 | Capsule, April 1967-July 1969 | |
| 1 | 3 | Capsule, Aug 1969-Dec 1971 | |
| 1 | 4 | Capsule, Jan 1972-Dec 1973 | |
| 1 | 5 | Conference Releases, Jan-June 1952 | |
| 1 | 6 | Conference Releases, Feb-May 1953 | |
| 1 | 7 | Conference Releases, Sept-Dec 1953 | |
| 1 | 8 | Conference Releases, Jan-Oct 1954 | |
| 1 | 9 | Conference Releases, March-Nov 3, 1955 | |
| 1 | 10 | Conference Releases, Nov 4-10, 1955 | |
| 1 | 11 | Conference Releases, Nov 28-Dec 1955 | |
| 1 | 12 | Conference Releases, Feb-April 1956 | |
| 1 | 13 | Conference Releases, June-Sept 1956 | |
| 1 | 14 | Conference Releases, Oct-Dec 1956 | |
| 1 | 15 | Conference Releases, Jan-April 1957 | |
| 1 | 16 | Conference Releases, May-Aug 1957 | |
| 1 | 17 | Conference Releases, Jan-May 1958 | |
| 1 | 18 | Conference Releases, June-Oct 1958 | |
| 2 | 1 | Conference Releases, Nov 1958 | |
| 2 | 2 | Conference Releases, Dec 1958 | |
| 2 | 3 | Conference Releases, Feb-March 1959 | |
| 2 | 4 | Conference Releases, June-Dec 1959 | |
| 2 | 5 | Conference Releases, Jan-Dec 1960 | |
| 2 | 6 | Conference Releases, Feb 1961 | |
| 2 | 7 | Conference Releases, April-Sept 1961 | |
| 2 | 8 | Conference Releases, Oct 9-24, 1961 | |
| 2 | 9 | Conference Releases, Oct 25-Dec 1961 | |
| 2 | 10 | Conference Releases, Jan-Feb 26, 1962 | |
| 2 | 11 | Conference Releases, Feb 27-June 1962 | |
| 2 | 12 | Conference Releases, Aug-Dec 1962 | |
| 2 | 13 | Conference Releases, Jan 10-15, 1963 | |
| 2 | 14 | Conference Releases, Jan 16-Feb 14, 1963 | |
| 2 | 15 | Conference Releases, Feb 26-Aug 1963 | |
| 3 | 1 | Conference Releases, Jan-Feb [7?], 1964 | |
| 3 | 2 | Conference Releases, Feb 8-April 1964 | |
| 3 | 3 | Conference Releases, May-Oct 1964 | |
| 3 | 4 | Conference Releases, Nov-Dec 1964 | |
| 3 | 5 | Conference Releases, Jan-Feb 16, 1965 | |
| 3 | 6 | Releases, Feb 17-April 2, 1965 | |
| 3 | 7 | Conference Releases, April 23-July 1965 | |
| 3 | 8 | Conference Releases, Aug-Oct 20, 1965 | |
| 3 | 9 | Conference Releases, Oct 21-Dec 1965 | |
| 3 | 10 | Conference Releases, Jan 1966 | |
| 3 | 11 | Conference Releases, Feb-March 1966 | |
| 3 | 12 | Conference Releases, April-May 1966 | |
| 3 | 13 | Conference Releases, June-Dec 1966 | |
| 3 | 14 | Conference Releases, Jan-Feb 23, 1967 | |
| 3 | 15 | Conference Releases, Feb 24-May 1967 | |
| 3 | 16 | Conference Releases, June-Sept 1967 | |
| 3 | 17 | Conference Releases, Oct 1967 | |
| 4 | 1 | Conference Releases, Jan-Feb 15, 1968 | |
| 4 | 2 | Conference Releases, Feb 19-June 1968 | |
| 4 | 3 | Conference Releases, Sept-Nov 1968 | |
| 4 | 4 | Conference Releases, Jan-April 1969 | |
| 4 | 5 | Conference Releases, May-June 1969 | |
| 4 | 6 | Conference Releases, June-Dec 1969 | |
| 4 | 7 | Conference Releases, Jan-Sept 1970 | |
| 4 | 8 | Conference Releases, Jan-Sept 1971 | |
| 4 | 9 | Conference Releases, Jan-June 1972 | |
| 4 | 10 | Conference Releases, Feb 1973-March 1975 | |
| 4 | 11 | Correspondence, March 1951-Nov 1967 | |
| 4 | 12 | Correspondence, Jan-Feb 1968 | |
| 4 | 13 | Correspondence, March-April 1968 | |
| 4 | 14 | Correspondence, May-July 1968 | |
| 4 | 15 | Correspondence, Aug-Oct 1968 | |
| 4 | 16 | Correspondence, Nov 1968-Jan 1969 | |
| 4 | 17 | Correspondence, Feb-March 1969 | |
| 4 | 18 | Correspondence, April-May 1969 | |
| 4 | 19 | Correspondence, June-Aug 1969 | |
| 5 | 1 | Correspondence, Sept-Oct 1969 | |
| 5 | 2 | Correspondence, Nov-Dec 1969 | |
| 5 | 3 | Correspondence, Jan-Feb 1970 | |
| 5 | 4 | Correspondence, March-April 1970 | |
| 5 | 5 | Correspondence, May-July 1970 | |
| 5 | 6 | Correspondence, Aug-Nov 1970 | |
| 5 | 7 | Correspondence, Dec 1970 | |
| 5 | 8 | Correspondence, Jan 1971 | |
| 5 | 9 | Correspondence, Feb 1971 | |
| 5 | 10 | Correspondence, March 1971 | |
| 5 | 11 | Correspondence, April-May 1971 | |
| 5 | 12 | Correspondence, June-July 1971 | |
| 5 | 13 | Correspondence, Aug-Sept 1971 | |
| 5 | 14 | Correspondence, Oct 1971 | |
| 5 | 15 | Correspondence, Nov-Dec 1971 | |
| 5 | 16 | Correspondence, Jan 1972 | |
| 5 | 17 | Correspondence, Feb 1972 | |
| 5 | 18 | Correspondence, March-April 1972 | |
| 5 | 19 | Correspondence, May-June 1972 | |
| 6 | 1 | Correspondence, July-Aug 1972 | |
| 6 | 2 | Correspondence, Sept-Oct 1972 | |
| 6 | 3 | Correspondence, Nov 1972 | |
| 6 | 4 | Correspondence, Dec 1972 | |
| 6 | 5 | Correspondence, Jan 1973 | |
| 6 | 6 | Correspondence, Feb 1973 | |
| 6 | 7 | Correspondence, March 1973 | |
| 6 | 8 | Correspondence, April-May 1973 | |
| 6 | 9 | Correspondence, June-Aug 1973 | |
| 6 | 10 | Correspondence, Sept-Oct 1973 | |
| 6 | 11 | Correspondence, Nov 1973-May 1974 | |
| 6 | 12 | Debate on the NCC, Jan 1966 | |
| 6 | 13 | General Press Releases, Jan-June 1951 | |
| 6 | 14 | General Press Releases, July-Sept 1951 | |
| 6 | 15 | General Press Releases, Oct-Dec 1951 | |
| 6 | 16 | General Press Releases, Jan-May 1952 | |
| 6 | 17 | General Press Releases, June-Dec 1952 | |
| 6 | 18 | General Press Releases, Jan-June 1953 | |
| 7 | 1 | General Press Releases, July-Dec 1953 | |
| 7 | 2 | General Press Releases, Jan-April 1954 | |
| 7 | 3 | General Press Releases, May-Sept 1954 | |
| 7 | 4 | General Press Releases, Oct-Dec 1954 | |
| 7 | 5 | General Press Releases, Jan-April 1955 | |
| 7 | 6 | General Press Releases, May-Sept 1955 | |
| 7 | 7 | General Press Releases, Oct-Dec 1955 | |
| 7 | 8 | General Press Releases, Jan-April 1956 | |
| 7 | 9 | General Press Releases, May-Aug 1956 | |
| 7 | 10 | General Press Releases, Sept-Dec 1956 | |
| 7 | 11 | General Press Releases, Jan-April 1957 | |
| 7 | 12 | General Press Releases, May-Oct 1957 | |
| 7 | 13 | General Press Releases, Nov-Dec 1957 | |
| 7 | 14 | General Press Releases, Jan-June 1958 | |
| 7 | 15 | General Press Releases, July-Dec 1958 | |
| 7 | 16 | General Press Releases, Jan-Aug 1959 | |
| 8 | 1 | General Press Releases, Sept-Dec 1959 | |
| 8 | 2 | General Press Releases, Jan-July 1960 | |
| 8 | 3 | General Press Releases, Jan-July 1961 | |
| 8 | 4 | General Press Releases, Aug-Dec 1961 | |
| 8 | 5 | General Press Releases, Jan-June 1962 | |
| 8 | 6 | General Press Releases, July-Dec 1962 | |
| 8 | 7 | General Press Releases, Jan-June 1963 | |
| 8 | 8 | General Press Releases, July-Oct 1963 | |
| 8 | 9 | General Press Releases, Nov-Dec 1963 | |
| 8 | 10 | General Press Releases, Jan-April 1964 | |
| 8 | 11 | General Press Releases, May-Sept 1964 | |
| 8 | 12 | General Press Releases, Oct-Dec 1964 | |
| 8 | 13 | General Press Releases, Jan-April 1965 | |
| 8 | 14 | General Press Releases, May-Sept 1965 | |
| 8 | 15 | General Press Releases, Oct-Dec 1965 | |
| 8 | 16 | General Press Releases, Jan-June 1966 | |
| 8 | 17 | General Press Releases, July-Dec 1966 | |
| 9 | 1 | General Press Releases, Jan-May 1967 | |
| 9 | 2 | General Press Releases, June-Oct 1967 | |
| 9 | 3 | General Press Releases, Nov-Dec 1967 | |
| 9 | 4 | General Press Releases, Jan-June 1968 | |
| 9 | 5 | General Press Releases, July-Dec 1968 | |
| 9 | 6 | General Press Releases, Jan-June 1969 | |
| 9 | 7 | General Press Releases, July-Dec 1969 | |
| 9 | 8 | General Press Releases, Jan-Dec 1970 | |
| 9 | 9 | General Press Releases, Jan-Dec 1971 | |
| 9 | 10 | General Press Releases, Jan-Dec 1972 | |
| 9 | 11 | General Press Releases, Jan 1973-Feb 1974; n.d. | |
| 9 | 12 | Harris Report, Sept 1953 | |
| 9 | 13 | Interchurch Center Fact Book, Oct 1958 | |
| 9 | 14 | Miscellaneous, June 1952-Sept 1955; n.d. | |
| 9 | 15 | Printed Matter, [1950?]-1965 | |
| 9 | 16 | Printed Matter, Dec 1966-March 1968; n.d. | |
| 9 | 17 | Printed Matter, Undated | |
| 9 | 18 | The Religious Newsweekly, May 1952-Dec 1953 | |
| 9 | 19 | The Religious Newsweekly, Jan 1954-Dec 1955 | |
| 10 | 1 | The Religious Newsweekly, Jan 1956-Dec 1957 | |
| 10 | 2 | The Religious Newsweekly, Jan 1958-Dec 1959 | |
| 10 | 3 | The Religious Newsweekly, Jan 1960-Dec 1961 | |
| 10 | 4 | The Religious Newsweekly, Jan 1962-Dec 1963 | |
| 10 | 5 | The Religious Newsweekly, Jan 1964-Dec 1965 | |
| 10 | 6 | The Religious Newsweekly, Jan 1966-Dec 1967 | |
| 10 | 7 | The Religious Newsweekly, Jan 1968-March 1970 | |
| 10 | 8 | Reports, 1951-March 1954 | |
| 10 | 9 | "The Role of Public Relations in the National Council of Churches," Nov 1953 | |
| 10 | 10 | South Africa Suit, March-May 1967 | |
| 10 | 11 | Tempo, Oct 1968-May 1969 | |
| 10 | 12 | Tempo, June-Dec 1969 | |
| 10 | 13 | Tempo, Jan-Dec 1970 | |
| 10 | 14 | Tempo, Feb 1971-Oct 1974 | |
| 10 | 15 | World Order Study Conference (Sixth), Aug-Dec 1965 |