Check out the Newest Contributor to the Atla Digital Library, GTU

We are pleased to welcome Graduate Theological Union (GTU) as the newest contributor to the Atla Digital Library!

GTU in Berkeley, California, is a consortium of eight schools of theology representing the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions; five centers of Jewish, Islamic, Dharma, Art & Religion, and Theology and Natural Sciences; and four affiliates of Swedenborgian, Buddhist, Christian Studies/Spiritual Formation, and Orthodox. The sixteen digital collections contributed to the Atla Digital Library include 433 items made up of materials such as archival photographs, oral histories, sermons, correspondence, clippings, speeches, and much more.

Explore highlights from some of these collections below.

The Pacific Coast Theological Society

The Pacific Coast Theological Society (then Group) was established by John C. Bennett (1902-1995) and supported by the Hazen Foundation in 1939. Bennett, then Professor of Christian Theology at Pacific School of Religion, was inspired by a similar organization on the East coast (“the younger theologians”). Since then, the society continues to meet twice a year, in the spring and fall for two days (Friday and Saturday) to discuss critical theological and societal issues. Members and speakers have always been among the best-regarded theologians on the West coast. The organization is based in Berkeley, California, and associated with the Graduate Theological Union.

View the entire Pacific Coast Theological Society collection

Religious Leaders in California

The Religious Leaders in California collection features representative images and documents of prominent theologians, religious leaders, and organizations in California and the West. Below are a few highlights (click to see the work in the Digital Library).

View the entire Religious Leaders in California collection

Remembering Theological Education in the Sixties

This extensive oral history includes interviews from seventy-nine scholars who discuss the founding of the Graduate Theological Union and issues in theological education before, after and during the 1960s. The interviews were conducted in 1993-94 by Ray F. Kibler III, a Lutheran minister, and archivist, who obtained funding from the Lilly Endowment to conduct the project.

View the entire Remembering Theological Education in the Sixties collection

Sacred Dance

The Sacred Dance collection features representative images and documents from the sacred dance collections. The earliest collection features selected activities and materials from Margaret Palmer Taylor (1908-2004), whose sacred and congregational dancing was influenced by Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, and Martha Graham.

View the entire Sacred Dance collection

Graduate Theological Union Newspapers, Journals and Pamphlets

The Newspapers, Journals, and Pamphlets collection was created to feature unique newspapers, journals, and pamphlets from the Graduate Theological Union Library. Currently, the majority of issues are the complete run of Right On, published by the Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF) in Berkeley, one of the first “underground” Christian newspapers in the United States. The group was founded by Jack Sparks, a former professor with a PhD in statistics, who with others in Berkeley broke away from Campus Crusade for Christ to found the CWLF. The paper was considered the most intellectual of the Jesus People publications at the time.

View the entire Graduate Theological Union Newspapers, Journals and Pamphlets collection

Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, 1938-1940

Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, 1938-1940 collection documents the religious activities at the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island. Religious leaders in the Bay Area raised $100,000 to construct the two buildings. The San Francisco Temple represented all faiths, unlike the Temple of Religion at the 1938 World’s Fair in New York City that only represented Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. As involvement in the Second World War seemed increasingly inevitable, the organization sponsored a series of events and lectures on the last eight Sundays of the exposition in 1939 to promote peace and keep America out of the conflict. The exposition was reopened in May 1940 and remained open through the end of September.

View the entire Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, 1938-1940 collection

You can see all of the Graduate Theological Union’s collections and all of the over 67,000 works in the Atla Digital Library.

About

The Atla Digital Library brings together digital collections of scholarly, historical, and cultural significance that are relevant to the study, teaching, and learning of religion and theology. It is designed to provide Atla members and other organizations with a standards compliant, sustainable, and inter-operable hub that will promote visibility and access of their valuable digital collections. Visit the Atla Digital Library.

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