Dr. Robert V. Hine collection on The Kingdom
Finding aid prepared by Julianna Gil, Student Processing Assistant.
Special Collections & University Archives
© 2017
The UCR Library
P.O. Box 5900
University of California
Riverside, California 92517-5900
Phone: 951-827-3233
Fax: 951-827-4673
Email: specialcollections@ucr.edu
URL: http://library.ucr.edu/libraries/special-collections-university-archives
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Title: Dr. Robert V. Hine collection on The Kingdom
Date (inclusive): 1902-1979
Date (bulk): 1971-1979
Collection Number: MS 087
Creator:
Hine, Robert V., 1921-2015
Source:
Thomas, Mary
Source:
White, Arnold L.
Extent:
0.42 linear feet
(1 box)
Repository:
Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
Riverside, CA 92517-5900
Abstract: The Dr. Robert V. Hine collection on the Kingdom contains documents, correspondence, photographs, audio reels, and press clippings
collected by Dr. Hine from Mary Thomas and Arnold L. White, who were members of the religious commune The Kingdom. The Kingdom,
informally known as Shiloh, was an evangelical Christian sect founded in Maine in 1897 by Frank Sandford. The majority of
the collection documents Thomas' and White's recollections of the living experience within Shiloh, as well as their interactions
with Dr. Robert V. Hine as part of his research on The Kingdom.
Languages: The collection is in English.
The collection is open for research.
Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction,
and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and
publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by
copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions
apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for
obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
[identification of item], [date if possible]. Dr. Robert V. Hine collection on The Kingdom (MS 087). Special Collections &
University Archives, University of California, Riverside.
Gift of Dr. Robert V. Hine, 1975, 1976, and 1979.
This collection was processed by Julianna Gil, Student Processing Assistant, in 2017.
Processing of the Dr. Robert V. Hine collection on The Kingdom was completed by undergraduate students from the University
of California, Riverside as part of the Special Collections & University Archives Backlog Processing Project started in 2015.
This project was funded by the UCR Library and administered by Jessica Geiser, Collections Management Librarian.
The Kingdom was a religious commune established in Shiloh, Maine, and founded by Frank Sandford. Sandford established The
Kingdom in 1897, after he became convinced that God had told him to build a home for a Bible school on top of a hill near
Durham, Maine. His school quickly expanded to become a settlement with more than six hundred residents at its height, all
of whom worked for no pay and followed Sandford's strict vision of apocalyptic Christianity. Poor living conditions, along
with prescribed fasting and Sandford's rejection of medicine led a number of his followers to die of disease and malnutrition,
and led to Sandford being tried for manslaughter in 1903 and 1911. The Shiloh community was disbanded in 1920, but The Kingdom
continued on and still exists today.
Mary Thomas was born in Shiloh, Maine, on April 24, 1904. Her parents were Canadian immigrants who arrived at Shiloh in 1900.
Thomas and her family moved out of the main Shiloh community building when she was eleven years old, and lived on a farm that
was part of the commune. Towards the end of her life, she moved and resided in Riverside, California.
Arnold L. White was also a member of The Kingdom, born in Brunswick, Maine, on January 27, 1890. He and his family arrived
in Shiloh in 1902. White left the commune and later resided in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In 1979, he wrote a novel about his
experiences, called
The Almighty and Us: The Inside Story of Shiloh, Maine.
Dr. Robert V. Hine was a professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Riverside, who researched
the commune movement in the United States.
This collection contains items pertaining to The Kingdom, a religious commune located in Shiloh, Maine. The materials in the
collection were collected by Dr. Robert V. Hine as part of his general research into religious communes, and consists of his
interactions with Mary Thomas and Arnold L. White, who were two former members of The Kingdom. Items in the collection include
photographs, correspondence, notes, press clippings, and written rememberances about The Kingdom sent to Hines by Thomas and
White. Also included are three audio reels of an interview Thomas gave to the UC Riverside Library in 1971 about her life
in The Kingdom, as well as partial manuscript drafts for White's novel about The Kingdom,
The Almighty and Us.
The collection is arranged topically by folder title.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Thomas, Mary
White, Arnold L.
Collective settlements
Religion
Correspondence
Interviews
Box 1, Folders 1-2
Articles and newspaper clippings 1902-1979
Box 1, Folder 3
Arnold L. White correspondence 1975-1979
Box 1, Folder 4
Arnold L. White manuscripts circa 1938-1970
Box 1, Folder 5
Mary Thomas correspondence 1971-1972
Box 1, Folder 6
Mary Thomas interview - Questions and transcripts 1971
Box 1, Folders 7-8
Mary Thomas interview - Recordings 1971
Box 1, Folder 9
Photographs circa 1914-1917