Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Lawrence Lazelle Durgin Papers (T/011).
Creator/Collector: Lawrence Durgin; and others.
Date(s): 1940-1981; n.d.
Size: 4.30 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: Tougaloo College staff; Finding Aid by MDAH staff, A.J. Williams and J.L. Hocking, 2005.
Provenance: Gift of Durgin Family to Tougaloo College in 1981-1982.
Provenance: Loan of Tougaloo College of Madison County, MS, in 2004.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research. Boxes 7, 11, and 12 are restricted; reference photocopies in box 9 must be used instead. The film negatives in series 5 are also restricted.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to Tougaloo College. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to MDAH Reference Services, Attention: Tougaloo College Civil Rights Collection. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Tougaloo College as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: Lawrence Lazelle Durgin Papers (T/011), Tougaloo College Civil Rights Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

Lawrence Lazelle Durgin

Lawrence Lazelle Durgin was born June 28, 1918, in Newark, New Jersey, to Delphine Lazelle and Russell Luther Durgin. Russell Durgin was the secretary of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Tokyo, Japan, prior to World War II. The Durgins raised their family, which included two other children, Russell and Helen, in Japan. Lawrence Durgin graduated from the American School in Tokyo in 1937, and after a second senior year of high school in America, attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Upon graduation in 1940, he attended Oberlin College’s Graduate School of Theology (now Vanderbilt Divinity School) in Oberlin, Ohio, and worked as an executive secretary at the Oberlin College YMCA. He graduated in 1944.

Durgin led pastorates in New York and Rhode Island for thirty-six years, culminating in his pastorship of Broadway United Church of Christ in New York City in 1961. The Broadway congregation had a long history of participation in social causes: it hosted abolitionist speeches from Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison and was a stop on the Underground Railroad. During his tenure, Durgin further aligned the church with the Civil Rights Movement: the church sent a busload of members to the 1963 March on Washington. He also opened the ministry to women by bringing in female assistant ministers.

In addition to his pastorates, Durgin sat on several boards. He was the director of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries of the American Missionary Association. Durgin also served on the boards of the Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tennessee) and Andover Newton Theological (Newton, Massachusetts) schools. In 1961, he became a member of the Tougaloo College Board of Trustees. Durgin was an active fundraiser for the United Church of Christ affiliated schools, which included Tougaloo College in Madison County, Mississippi. An academic chair in Tougaloo’s Department of Religion and Philosophy was endowed in Durgin’s honor in 1967. In 1980, Durgin moved to Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi; resigned from the Tougaloo Board of Trustees; and accepted the position of Vice President for Development at the college.

Durgin married Eunice Baldwin King of Raleigh, North Carolina in 1941. They had two children, Katherine and Wentworth. Lawrence Durgin died August 12, 1981, in Jackson.

 

Scope and Content Note:

The Lawrence Durgin Papers are composed of his personal material, sermons and writings, materials relating to The Bloody Tenet, material relating to Tougaloo College, photographs, and printed materials. Of interest are family photographs of pre-World War II Japan, taken during Durgin’s adolescence.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Biographical and Personal Material. 1944-1981; n.d. 11 folders.
This series contains biographical information, correspondence, and memorial material for Lawrence Durgin.

Box 9, folders 1-11

 

Series 2: Writings. 1961-1980; n.d. 3 boxes and 6 folders.
This series contains material written by Lawrence Durgin. Included are essays, lectures, poetry, speeches, and sermons. The sermons are based on various religious topics with titles such as “God’s Purpose,” and “The Theological Imperative (A Prayer of the Mind).” Also included are pages of a typed personal journal and poetry written for a prisoner fund.

Boxes 1-3
Box 9, folders 12-17

 

Series 3: The Bloody Tenet. 1956-1957; n.d. 3 folders.
This series consists of materials from the production of The Bloody Tenet, a play based on the life of Roger Williams, the theologian who founded the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The play was commissioned in partnership by the National Council of Churches and Durgin’s Providence Central Congregational Church. Durgin played a role in the play, which was televised on April 19, 1956. The series contains the script, reviews, and correspondence relating to the play.

Box 9, folders 18-20

 

Series 4: Tougaloo College. 1963-1981; n.d. 4 folders.
This series contains correspondence and materials relating to Durgin’s involvement with Tougaloo College. Included are Board of Trustees materials and fundraising information.

Box 9, folders 21-24

 

Series 5: Photographs. 1940; 1953-1980; n.d. 3 boxes and 3 folders.
This series is composed of photographs and photograph albums of Lawrence Durgin during different periods of his professional and personal life. The albums include photographs taken in Japan, as well as captioned pictures of YMCA activities. Also included are photographs that were taken during the production of The Bloody Tenet. Several film negatives housed in film canisters labeled “Japan” and “New Haven and the Orient” are also included in this series, but have been restricted for conservation reasons.

Boxes 5-6
Box 8
Box 10, folders 1-3

 

Series 6: Printed Materials. 1948-1981; n.d. 1 box and 9 folders.
This series contains church announcements, programs, conference materials, notes, and newsclippings relating to the various events in which Durgin participated. It also contains photocopies, newspapers and magazine articles.

Box 4
Box 10, folders 4-12

 

Series 7: Duplicates and Restricted Material. 1944-1981; n.d. 3 boxes and 8 folders.
Box 7
Box 10, folders 13-20
Box 11
Box 12

 

Box List:

Box 1: Writings: Sermons, 1961-1980; n.d.
Box 2: Writings: Sermons, 1966-1968.
Box 3: Writings: Sermons, 1964-1979; n.d.
Box 4: Printed material: Books and pamphlets, 1948-1981; n.d.
Box 5: Photographs, 1953-1980; n.d.
Box 6: Photographs, n.d.
Box 7: Degrees and plaque, 1944-1976 (Restricted material)
Box 8: Photographs, 1940; n.d.

Box 9, folder 1: Personal material: Biographical material, 1957-1981; n.d.
Box 9, folder 2: Personal material: Copies of advanced degrees, 1944-1967.
Box 9, folder 3: Personal material: Correspondence, 1956-1976; n.d.
Box 9, folder 4: Personal material: Fund raising: Correspondence and information, 1981; n.d.
Box 9, folder 5: Personal material: Oberlin Women’s Club of New York: Correspondence, 1970.
Box 9, folder 6: Personal material: “A Tribute to Lawrence Lazelle Durgin,” presentation, 1970.
Box 9, folder 7: Personal material: Plaque from Northfield Mount Hermon School, reference copy, 1976.
Box 9, folder 8: Personal material: “Service of Dedication for the Tolman Memorial Window,” church program, 1956.
Box 9, folder 9: Personal material: Durgin obituaries and memorial service program, 1981.
Box 9, folder 10: Personal material: Condolence letters, 1981.
Box 9, folder 11: Personal material: Miscellaneous, n.d.
Box 9, folder 12: Writings: Essays and lectures, 1965-1968; n.d.
Box 9, folder 13: Writings: “An Introduction to Broadway Congregational Church,” sermons and essays, 1966.
Box 9, folder 14: Writings: Personal journal, six typed pages, 1973.
Box 9, folder 15: Writings: Poetry and partial draft of play, 1974-1975; n.d.
Box 9, folder 16: Writings: Poetry printed in fund raising booklet for The Prisoners’ Family Transportation and Assistance Fund, with financial information on the group, 1975-1977.
Box 9, folder 17: Writings: Tougaloo College: Speeches, 1967; 1980.
Box 9, folder 18: The Bloody Tenet: Script, n.d.
Box 9, folder 19: The Bloody Tenet: Reviews, programs, and tickets, 1956; n.d.
Box 9, folder 20: The Bloody Tenet: Correspondence, 1956-1957; n.d.
Box 9, folder 21: Tougaloo College: Board of Trustees, member list and meeting agenda, 1963-1965; n.d.
Box 9, folder 22: Tougaloo College: Correspondence, 1964-1981; n.d.
Box 9, folder 23: Tougaloo College: Press releases and program information, 1963-1980; n.d.
Box 9, folder 24: Tougaloo College: Prospective donors, 1981; n.d.

Box 10, folder 1: Photographs: Group photograph, n.d.
Box 10, folder 2: Photographs: Portrait photographs, 1969; n.d.
Box 10, folder 3: Photographs: Slides: “Larry Durgin-Ethan Clark,” n.d.
Box 10, folder 4: Printed material: Arc Directions, newsletters, 1967; n.d.
Box 10, folder 5: Printed material: Broadway United Methodist Church: Announcements, bulletins, pamphlets, 1963-1981; n.d.
Box 10, folder 6: Printed material: Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, 1969; n.d.
Box 10, folder 7: Printed material: “Report on Conference Tutorial Project West Point, Mississippi,” report, 1967.
Box 10, folder 8: Printed material: Tougaloo Summer Enrichment Program: “Comments and Recommendations from Miriam Wasserman,” report, n.d.
Box 10, folder 9: Printed material: United Church of Christ, 1981; n.d.
Box 10, folder 10: Printed material: Newspaper clippings: Durgin, photocopies, 1963-1981; n.d.
Box 10, folder 11: Printed material: Newspaper clippings: Miscellaneous, photocopies, 1959-1977; n.d.
Box 10, folder 12: Printed material: Newspaper clippings: Reference material, n.d.
Box 10, folder 13: Duplicates: ARC Directions, 1967; n.d. (Restricted material)
Box 10, folder 14: Duplicates: Durgin writings, 1967-1978. (Restricted material)
Box 10, folder 15: Duplicates: Memorial program, sermons, and Bloody Tenet programs, 1956-1981; n.d. (Restricted material)
Box 10, folder 16: Duplicates: Sermons, 1963-1965. (Restricted material)
Box 10, folder 17: Duplicates: Sermons, 1968-1973. (Restricted material)
Box 10, folder 18: Originals: Magazine articles, 1965-1969; n.d. (Restricted material)
Box 10, folder 19: Originals: Newspaper clippings, 1956-1969; 1981; n.d. (Restricted material)
Box 10, folder 20: Originals: Newspapers, 1963. (Restricted material)

Box 11: Advanced degrees cases, 1944-1964. (Restricted material)
Box 12: Audio cassettes, 1972; 1981; n.d. (Restricted material)