Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly Moderator William Laws Records
Open for research.
Materials marked "Digital*" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.
Access to this collection’s digital content is indicated in the Collection Inventory section of this guide, in the Alternative Formats column. When materials are marked “Digital*” with an asterisk, they are available upon request. Click on the hyperlink to contact the Reference Desk to request access. Access is provided via a temporary password-protected link.
William Laws was born in 1916 in Durham, North Carolina. He graduated from Davidson College in 1938 and from Louisville Seminary in 1943. That spring he married Ellen McDowell Davis. Laws was called to the Buechel Presbyterian Church in Buechel, Kentucky; he remained pastor of that church until 1950, when he moved his family to Columbus, Indiana to accept a call to the First United Presbyterian Church. This occasioned a change in denomination for Laws from the PCUS to the PCUSA. During the next two decades Laws was active in the community and the Indiana Synod, serving on various local boards and synod committees. In 1970 he was elected moderator of the General Assembly. He died in 1985.
Record Group 130 contains Laws' moderatorial files, including a file on his moderatorial visits throughout the country, and a file of general correspondence.
SERIES 1: SUBJECT FILES, 1970-1971
SERIES 2: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1970-1971
SERIES 3: MODERATORIAL VISITS, 1970-1971
Materials marked "Digital*" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.
Collection processed and container list prepared: 1978
Robert A. Goldstein, Assistant Records Researcher
Notes added to finding aid and series created: March 1992
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist
| Box | Folder | Description | Alternative Formats |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 130, Biography of Laws, Publicity relating to the 182nd General Assembly | |
| SERIES 1: SUBJECT FILES, 1970-1971 | |||
| 1 | 2 | Academy of Parish Clergy, Inc. | |
| 3 | Arctic Slope Native Association | ||
| 4 | Board of Christian Education; Curriculum: Studies on Human Sexuality | ||
| 5 | Board of National Missions | ||
| 6 | Board of Pensions | ||
| 7 | Boggs Academy (Keysville, GA) | ||
| 8 | Brandon, Walter (student at McCormick Seminary confined in U.S. Penitentiary) | ||
| 9 | Brazil (Human Rights) | ||
| 10 | Christian Children's Fund (reliability of) | ||
| 11 | Church hostel facilities (proposal for) | ||
| 12 | Church and Race, Division of | ||
| 13 | Columbus, IN--Community Celebration of Laws' Moderatorial Election | ||
| 14 | Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations | ||
| 15 | Community of Reconciliation Presbyterian Church (Dallas, Texas) | ||
| 16-18 | Complaints (general); Suggestions for Church Government | ||
| 19 | Congratulations to colleagues | ||
| 20 | Consultation on Church Union (COCU)/National Council of Churches (incl. original petition against Union, Session of Ebenezer Pres. Church, Lennox, SD) | ||
| 21 | Council on Church and Society | ||
| 22 | Council on Theological Education (Annual Meeting); Theological Education (general) | ||
| 23 | Council on Church Support; Department of Interpretation and Stewardship; Correspondence re Spiritual Support of Church | ||
| 24 | Creative Associates (proposal re videotaping GA 1971) | ||
| 25 | Cuba (Cuban Presbyterians in Miami, etc) | ||
| 26 | Davis, Angela--Defense Fund (complaints) | ||
| 27 | Designations, Policy Statement on (182nd GA) | ||
| 28 | Evangelism (increased church support for/Special Task Force on Mission and Evangelism | ||
| 29 | Financial Assistance Requests | ||
| 30 | 182nd General Assembly (1970) (miscellaneous); Proposals on Procedure; Report to Presbytery of a Youth Advisory Delegate to l82nd GA | ||
| 31 | 183rd General Assembly (1971) (miscellaneous); Planning correspondence; Permanent Committee on Nominations (nominations to); Proposals for Worship | ||
| 32 | General Assembly: Finances/Budget | ||
| 33-34 | General Council (1970-71); General Council Committee on Social Responsibility in Investment (1971, and post-moderatorial: 1971-73) (incl. committee member background questionnaires) | ||
| 35 | General Secretaries Conference | ||
| 36 | Ghost Ranch Conference Center (Abiquiu, NM) | ||
| 37 | Hawkins, Rev. Edler (Testimonial Dinner--incl. testimonial letters; typescript cards for address by Laws, etc) | ||
| 38 | Health and Human Values Task Force (Metropolitan Philadelphia) | ||
| 39 | Interdenominational Strategy to End the Draft (1971); Interfaith Vigil and Fast | ||
| 40 | Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFC0) (pre-moderatorial: 1969) | ||
| 41 | Invitations, declined (moderatorial year) | ||
| 42 | Invitations (post-moderatorial: 1971) | ||
| 43 | Long Range Planning Committee of General Council (pre-moderatorial: 1970 | ||
| 44 | Ministerial Relations, Department of | ||
| 45 | Moderator's Travel (calendars and itinerary correspondence) | ||
| 46 | National Committee on the Self-Development of People | ||
| 47 | North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) | ||
| 48 | Presbyterian Church US (PCUS) (incl. historic moderatorial exchange of pulpits, 1-3-71) | ||
| 49 | Presbyterian Lay Committee (incl. draft of Laws' article for The Presbyterian Layman: "What Can a Man Do for His Church?") | ||
| 50 | Presbyterian Life (correspondence; drafts of various articles by Laws); Presbyterian Outlook (correspondence with Editor); The Upper Room (correspondence with Editor); Colloquy (complaint, etc.) | ||
| 2 | 1 | Presbytery of Chicago (re: search for Executive Presbyter, 1971) | |
| 2 | Presbytery of Philadelphia (re: Kenyatta Affair, etc.; moderatorial visit) | ||
| 3 | Russia (re: Leningrad hijack trial, 1970) | ||
| 4 | (Report) "Sexuality and the Human Community" (note: many letters protesting report include criticism of a variety of Church policies) | ||
| 5 | Southeast Asia (re: US military involvement in Vietnam, Church policy toward | Digital* | |
| 6-7 | Submarine Church (at 182 GA, etc.) Youth (general); Youth Advisory Delegates (YADs) (at 182 GA); "Youth Organizations United (Y0U); White House Conference on youth | ||
| 8 | Supersonic Transport (SST) (complaints re Church policy toward) | ||
| 9 | Tarkio College (Missouri) | ||
| 10 | Task Force on Southern Africa (re Church policy toward South Africa) | ||
| 11 | Theological Seminaries (Louisville, Pittsburgh, Princeton) | ||
| 12 | United Presbyterian Foundation (UPCUSA) | ||
| 13 | United Presbyterian Men; United Presbyterian Women (re: Annual meeting at Purdue; Statement issued by Executive Committee, UPW, at 182nd GA etc.); Task Force on Women | ||
| 14 | University Presbyterian Church (Buffalo) (correspondence, post-moderatorial: 1971) | ||
| 15 | Worshipbook (correspondence)/Worship Services (Order of Worship, Hymns, etc.) | ||
| SERIES 2: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1970-1971 | |||
| 2 | 16 | A - K | |
| 17 | L - Z | ||
| SERIES 3: MODERATORIAL VISITS, 1970-1971 | |||
| 2 | 18 | Allentown, NJ/Woodbury, NJ | |
| 19 | Ames, IA | ||
| 20 | Baltimore, MD | ||
| 21 | Berwyn, PA | ||
| 22 | Bethlehem, PA | ||
| 23 | Bloomfield,IN | ||
| 24 | Boise, ID | ||
| 25 | Bridgehampton, NY | ||
| 26 | Buffalo, NY | ||
| 27 | Cherry Hill, NJ | ||
| 28-29 | Chicago, IL | ||
| 30 | Cincinnati, OH | ||
| 31 | Columbus, IN | ||
| 32 | Crawfordsville, IN | ||
| 33 | Dayton, OH | ||
| 34 | Deerfield, IL | ||
| 35 | Detroit, MI | ||
| 36 | Dover, DE | ||
| 37 | Dubuque, IA | ||
| 38 | Easton, PA | ||
| 39 | Elwyn, PA | ||
| 40 | Erie, PA | ||
| 41 | Gary, IN | ||
| 42 | Geneva, NY | ||
| 43 | Germantown PA | ||
| 44 | Goshen, NY | ||
| 45 | Grove City, PA | ||
| 46 | Hanover, IN | ||
| 47 | Henderson, KY | ||
| 48 | Houston, TX | ||
| 49 | Indianapolis, IN | ||
| 50 | Jacksonville, FL | ||
| 51 | Kansas City, MO/northwest MO | ||
| 52 | King of Prussia, PA | ||
| 53 | Kirkwood, MO | ||
| 54 | Lafayette, IN | ||
| 55 | Lancaster, PA | ||
| 56 | Lebanon, KY | ||
| 57 | Lexington, KY | ||
| 58 | Louisville, KY | ||
| 59 | Maryville, TN | ||
| 60 | Minneapolis, MN | ||
| 61 | New Orleans, LA | ||
| 62 | New York, NY | ||
| 63 | Parson, KS | ||
| 64 | Pittsburgh, PA | ||
| 65 | Plainfield, IN | ||
| 66 | Rochester, NY | ||
| 67 | Rome, NY | ||
| 68 | San Francisco/Los Angeles, CA | ||
| 69 | Sandusky, OH | ||
| 70 | Seattle, WA | ||
| 71 | South Bend, IN | ||
| 72 | Springfield, MO/Plainfield, MO | ||
| 73 | Tulsa, OK | ||
| 74 | Washington, DC | ||
| 75 | Waterloo, NY | ||
| 76 | Webster Groves, MO | ||
| 77 | Wheeling, WV | ||
| 78 | Wichita, KS | ||
| 79 | Wooster, 0H |