Guide to the Donald Dean Parker Papers
Open for research.
Born on October 3, 1899, in Harford County, Maryland, Donald Dean Parker was the sixth of nine children of Reverend Albert George Parker and Jessie Bewley Parker. He graduated from high school in Macomb, Illinois, and attended Park College in Parkville, Missouri.
After graduating from Park College in 1922, Parker began a three year term as the head librarian at Shantung Christian University in Tsinanfu (Jinanfu), China. From 1929 to 1930, he taught English at the Camarines Sur High School in Naga, Philippines. The time spent abroad and the influence of his older brothers became the impetus for Parker's desire to become a missionary. In February 1930, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. appointed and assigned Parker and his wife, Florence, as special term missionaries to the Philippine Mission.
From 1930 to 1931, Parker served as the librarian at Union Theological Seminary in Manila and, from 1931 to 1935, he was acting principal of the Union High School of Manila.
After completing his term in the field, Parker and his family returned to the United States, and he went on to pursue careers in both education and the ministry. Parker received his Bachelor of Divinity and his Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago in 1936. He was ordained in 1942 and filled pulpits in South Dakota and Minnesota while teaching history at South Dakota State College from 1944 to 1965.
Donald Dean Parker died on March 25, 1982.
This collection primarily consists of photographs taken during Parker's service in the Philippines, 1929-1935. Included are images of missionaries; class photographs, especially of Union High School groups; and images of buildings and street scenes. The collection also contains excerpts of Parker's dissertation, "Church and State in the Philippines," as well as various other publications, articles, essays, and correspondence.
SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1931-1976
SERIES II: WRITINGS, ca. 1932-ca. 1968
SERIES III: TEACHING RECORDS, 1931-1962
SERIES IV: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1923-1935
SERIES V: PRINT EPHEMERA, 1929-1930s
Researchers should consult RG 360 for the Donald Dean Parker missionary personnel file and the society's catalog for related materials.
Augustana College (Sioux Falls, S.D.) holds the Donald Dean Parker Papers, 1893-1973, primarily related to his teaching career in South Dakota and his writings on South Dakota history.
Processed in 2006 from accessions 88 0420 and 91 0103b. Originally housed in library collection, brought in by unsolicited donation, 24 March 1980.
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 426 | |
| Series I: Correspondence, 1931-1976 | |||
| 1 | 2 | Incoming, 1931-1976 | |
| Series II: Writings, ca. 1932- ca. 1968 | |||
| 1 | 3 | Essay, “Taishan, The Holiest Mountain of China,” ca. 1932 | |
| 1 | 4 | “The Chimes,” letter excerpts, 1933, n.d. | |
| 1 | 5 | Dissertation excerpts, 1936, 1938 | |
| 1 | 6 | Summaries of publications, ca.1960-ca.1968 | |
| Series III: Teaching Records, 1931-1962 | |||
| 1 | 7 | Mapa High School [Manila East High School], 1931 | |
| 1 | 8 | Union High School of Manila, 1935-1950, n.d. | |
| 1 | 9 | Asian history class notes, 1962 | |
| Series IV: Photographs, 1923-1935 | |||
| 1 | 10 | Shantung Christian University class photo, 1923 | |
| 1 | 11 | Philippines, photograph album, 1929-1935 | |
| 1 | 12 | Philippines, loose photographs, 1929-1935 | |
| 1 | 13-14 | Philippines, loose photographs, n.d. | |
| 1 | 15 | Philippines, postcard scrapbook, annotated, n.d. | |
| Series V: Print ephemera, 1929-1930s | |||
| 1 | 16 | Philippines travel packet, 1929 | |
1 |
17 |
Collage, village life, 1930s |