The Duncan Family Collection

Collection

Identifier: MU-PP-0035

Staff Only

The Duncan Family Collection Finding Aid

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Scope and Contents

The Duncan Family Collection is divided into 5 series. Series 1 contains materials from Pope Alexander Duncan Sr., while Series 2-5 contain materials from Pope Alexander Duncan Jr.

As a general rule, Duncan Sr.'s (d. 1938) sermon notes (Series 1) extended to no more than two handwritten half-sheets of paper or one typed half-sheet paper. He marked a few of them Gd = Good or Gt = Great. No full manuscripts were found. Most sermons were used only once or twice. A few were used ten, fifteen, or twenty times.

Materials in Files A-D are usually typed on half-sheets of paper and were apparently prepared from handwritten notes that were then destroyed. Duncan (d. 1938) did not always remember where he preached a sermon or what all of the proper names meant.

Materials in Files E/1-5 and F are often handwritten and come from every part of his preaching career. He evidently died before he had the opportunity to retype these materials.

Materials now in File A and B were arranged in alphabetical order using a key word in the sermon title.

Materials now in File C seem to have been preached at Central Baptist Church in Muskogee, Oklahoma from 1929 to 1930.

Materials now in File D have no obvious order.

Materials now in File E are divided into five sections for ease in handling and designated as E/1, E/2, E/3, E/4, and E/5. No particular order could be determined, except to note that many came from his last two pastorates, Thomson and Prince Avenue/Athens and that some were in alphabetical order using a key-word in the sermon’s title.

Materials now in File F were found loose in the box. Archives Personnel could find no particular order for them.

Materials now in Files A-E/5 are usually in the order in which they were found.

Materials now in File G (Sermons/Correspondence/Miscellaneous, 1918-1938 and no date) were removed from the other files. Each item in File G has been marked to show the file from which it was taken. File G is arranged in chronological order, with a final section devoted to items for which no date is presently known.

Duncan, Jr.’s (d. 2003) files are separated into 4 series. Files within each series are labeled chronologically.

Dates

Creation: 1889-1996

Creator

Duncan, Pope Alexander, Jr., 1920-2003 (Person)

Rights Statement

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the World Wide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original.

Biographical / Historical

Pope Alexander Duncan, Sr., was a white man born in 1883. He grew up in Dewey Rose, Georgia, and earned his B.A. from Mercer University in 1909. Duncan Sr. also attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He married Mabel Roberts. He pastored in Kentucky from 1915 to 1923, where their son, Pope A. Duncan, Jr., was born in 1920. Duncan Sr. also pastored First Baptist Churches in Cordele (1923-1925), Royston (1926-1928), and Thomson, Georgia (1932-1934), as well as Central Baptist Church in Muskogee, Oklahoma, from 1929 to 1931. He earned an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Mercer University in 1935. His last pastorate was at Prince Avenue Baptist Church in Athens, Georgia, from 1935 to 1938. Duncan Sr. died on March 28, 1938.

Pope Alexander Duncan, Jr. was a white man born on September 8, 1920, in Glasgow, Kentucky. He earned a B.S. (1940) and M.S. (1941) from the University of Georgia and a Th.M. (1944) and Th.D. (1947) from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as a pastor in Kentucky in the 1940s. Duncan Jr. served as Director of Religious Activities (1945-1946) and Roberts Professor of Church History (1948-1949) at Mercer University. He was a professor of religion at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida from 1946 to 1953. Duncan Jr. also served as a professor of Church History at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1953 to 1963. His career also included: Dean at Brunswick College (1964), President of South Georgia College (1964-1968), Vice President (1968-1971) and President (1971-1977) at Georgia Southern College, President (1977-1987) and Chancellor (1987-2002) of Stetson University. He also authored several books during his career. Duncan Jr. died in DeLand, Florida, on December 18, 2003.