Pacific and Asian American Collections

General Collections

Pacific and Asian American Center for Theology and Strategies Collection

Organized in 1972 as the Asian American Center for Theology and Strategies and incorporated in 1974, the name was changed to Pacific and Asian American Center for Theology and Strategies in 1977 to reflect inclusiveness of constituencies.

PACTS was an ecumenical center for research, resourcing, recruiting, training, and consciousness-raising which sought to promote the fulfillment of God's mission through the ministries of the churches and the service of community groups. The organization, influenced by liberation theology, focused on local as well as international issues regarding Asia and the Pacific Islands. This is a collection of publications, newsletters, and journals that reflect the scope and depth of PACTS.

Many of their publications are online:

The Transforming Spiritual Landscape of Peripheral Faith Communities Series, 2017-2019

The Japanese American National Library, the Japanese American Religious Federation, and the Asia Project at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley presented four forums on The Transforming Spiritual Landscape of Peripheral Faith Communities.

The forums were History and Origins of Racial-Ethnic Faith Communities, October 28, 2017; Remembering the Future: Reflections on Theological Education: November 28, 2017; Remembering the Future: Reflections on Theological Education: Model Programs, Initiatives & Curricula, February 24, 2018; and Resistance: Theological Responses to Discrimination, March 2, 2019.

These events were an ongoing exploration in theological education and responses within peripheral communities as experienced by Asian-American and multi-cultural professors of religion. The recordings are part of an effort by the Graduate Theological Union Special Collections to preserve the memories of significant educators that have not been captured before.

Pacific Coast Theological Society Among the many programs by the Pacific Coast Theological Society  is a 1985 event that explores Liberation Theology from Asian, African and Latin American perspectives.

Japanese Internment

Japanese-American Internment Camp Church Bulletins and Newsletters, 1942-45

The worship bulletins and newsletters in this collection were mailed to the Pacific School of Religion Library in Berkeley, California (J. Stillson Judah, Librarian) from seven of the ten WWII relocation centers, commonly referred to as internment camps. The library must have been on the camps' mailing lists. In the Library, the materials were put into pamphlet boxes but never cataloged. It is not clear that all material sent from the camps was retained. 

J. Stillson Judah:  Japanese Camp Books, 1942-1946

In late 1942, J. Stillson Judah, Librarian at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, started a project to "establish small libraries of religious books for Japanese ministers in the WRA [War Relocation Authority] camps." (Letter: Judah to Eugene B. Hawk, 11/17/1942, File Folder 2) To accomplish this, he first enlisted the aid of the four othernearby seminaries:  Berkeley Baptist Divinity School, Starr King School for the Ministry (Unitarian), San Francisco Theological Seminary (Presbyterian), and the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (Episcopalian). Judah wrote, "We hope to have about a hundred volumes in each camp library, and intend to rotate these every few months among the several centers." (Letter: Judah to Eugene B. Hawk, 11/17/1942, File Folder 2) Since there were twelve camps, there would be 1,200 volumes total. The combined resources of the Berkeley seminaries were not enough to fill the need. Judah therefore recruited book contributions from seminaries all over the United States reasoning that the more libraries participating, the less interference it would make on their own institutional needs. Six other seminaries joined the original five in Berkeley to total eleven seminaries participating in the project.

Gordon K. Chapman:  Protestant Church Commission for Japanese Service, 1942 – 1947

The Protestant Church Commission for Japanese Service was set-up in response to Executive Order 9066 ordering all Japanese-American citizens and aliens evacuated from the U.S. West Coast and relocated to centers in the interior. The Commission acted as a conduit of information among the camp churches, various denominational headquarters, and the wider American culture. Toward the end of the War, the Commission's main activity was to aid returning evacuees, clergy in resuming their interrupted ministries, and lay people with their lives. Gordon K. Chapman, a Presbyterian minister with extensive Japanese missionary experience, was the Executive Director from start to finish.

Post World War II

Nuclear Free Pacific and Other Pacific Island Issues Collection

Hugh Wire, a Presbyterian minister and activist, collected these materials while touring the Pacific Islands in 1982. There were several organizations who were involved: Bay Area Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Pacific; U.S. Nuclear-Free Pacific Network; Pacific Conference of Churches; and Micronesia Support Committee. The collection contains pamphlets, handouts, articles, posters and other materials on creating a Nuclear Free Pacific. Some of the materials address social issues.

Missionaries

Archives and Special Collections has two collections from missionaries who spent considerable time in Japan prior to World War II.

Steingrimur Octavius Thorlaksson Papers, 1916-1970 (Lutheran)

Steingrimur Octavius Thorlaksson (1890-1977) and his wife were commissioned missionaries to Japan --by the Icelandic Synod of America on behalf of the old General Council of the Lutheran Church --arriving there in the fall 1916. Thorlaksson served various pastorates, including Kobe, and as the Treasurer for the American Lutheran Mission in Japan until his evacuation at the outbreak of WWII. Before evacuation, he transferred all mission properties to the independent Japanese Lutheran Church which prevented confiscation by the military during the war.

Clay MacCauley Collection, 1863-1925 (Unitarian)

Clay MacCauley served as a soldier and a prisoner in the Civil War, then attended seminary and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church. He studied in Europe and developed an interest in Karl C.F. Krause. In 1868, he entered the Unitarian ministry, serving several churches. He was sent to Japan, 1889, to establish a Unitarian mission, serving there for 25 years.