Guide to the Gayraud Wilmore Papers

Correspondence, essays, and teaching files document Gayraud Wilmore’s work as a Presbyterian pastor and scholar of African American church history.

The Personal matters and correspondence series, 1947-2019, mostly consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence with Wilmore. This includes academic correspondence such as reference questions to Wilmore, letters from former students, and correspondence with publishers. Also included is personal correspondence with members of Wilmore’s family.

The series also contains biographical information, including Wilmore's resume, bibliography, statement of faith, and autobiographical recollections on his experiences in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There are two folders of photographs which mostly contain portraits and candid shots of Gayraud and Lee Ella Wilmore.

The Writings, speeches, and sermons series, 1964-2015, consists entirely of material written and delivered by Wilmore. The writings include published articles, manuscript drafts, reports, and some addresses given at conferences. A substantial amount relates to race relations within the PC(USA). This includes Wilmore's essay “Color Us Presbyterian” and responses to it. Writings and reports on Black Presbyterian history that were collected, but not written by Wilmore are in Series III: Teaching and subject files, 1948-2017.

This series also contains one folder of sermons that Gayraud labeled as “special” before donating his papers. Most of these sermons are undated; included is Wilmore’s sermon “The Cosmic Cross.”

The Teaching and subject files series, 1848-2017, consists of photocopied articles, essays, and periodicals that Wilmore used for research when teaching or writing. Subject files labeled as “classes” contain syllabi, lecture notes, sources, and student papers from specific courses Wilmore taught, mostly at the Interdenominational Theological Center.

Also included in this series are subject files from organizations that Wilmore worked with such as Black Presbyterians United and the UPCUSA Commission on Religion and Race (CORAR). The folders on Black Presbyterians United contain correspondence, publications, and reports. The CORAR material mostly consists of copies of Wilmore’s reports as Executive Director. There is one folder related to Presbyterians in the Civil Rights Movement which includes documents from the Black Economic Development Conference and responses by the National Council of Churches to the Black Manifesto. Another folder contains correspondence related to “Is This New Wine?” which was a 1993 paper prepared by African American Presbyterians addressing whether or not to form a new denomination.

The Audiovisuals series, 1985-2011, consists of videocassettes, DVDs, and audiocassettes either created or collected by Wilmore. The series contains both published and unpublished recordings. The bulk of the recordings are of sermons and lectures given by Wilmore including lectures on the history of Black theology.

Also included is music that Wilmore collected, including his personal recordings of Tanzanian music. There is one audiocassette from a conference on the Presbyterian Church during the Civil Rights Movement held in 1995 in Atlanta, Georgia.