Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- J. Gordon Melton papers
- Dates:
- circa 1950s-2000s
- Creators:
- Melton, J. Gordon
- Abstract:
- Materials produced or compiled by J. Gordon Melton, an American religious scholar and founder of the Institute for the Study of American Religion.
- Extent:
- 49.5 Linear Feet (49 cartons, 1 document box)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], J. Gordon Melton papers, ARC Mss 20. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains files accumulated by J. Gordon Melton during the course of his research, writing, and as a part of his testimony as an expert witness in court cases related to various religious groups.
- Biographical / historical:
-
John Gordon Melton (September 19, 1942-) is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and a Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) in Waco, Texas.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Melton graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a Bachelor's degree in Geology in 1964, before moving to Illinois to study theology and ancient church history at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary on the campus of Northwestern University. Melton graduated as an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church from the Seminary with a Masters of Divinity in 1968, and continued with his doctoral studies at Northwestern, from which he earned a Ph.D. in the history and literature of religion in 1975.
In 1968, Melton founded the Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR) in Evanston, Illinois, and has continued to serve as it's director over the past five decades. The institute is devoted to organizing, motivating, and producing research-based studies and educational material on North American Religion. It has been responsible for the publication of more than 400 reference and scholarly texts since its founding, including multiple editions of Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions.
From the 1980s through to 2011, Melton spent time as a Visiting Scholar and Research Specialist with UC Santa Barbara's Department of Religious Studies, as well as a Senior Research Associate at the Santa Barbara Centre for Humanistic Studies. In 1985, Melton moved ISAR to Santa Barbara, California and donated its research library to UCSB Library's Special Research Collections, where it now exists as the American Religion Collection.
In March of 2011, Dr. Melton became Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at Baylor University's ISR. In addition to teaching, Melton developed a set of joint survey projects between Baylor's ISR and his own ISAR, the initial project being a comprehensive census of the American Buddhist and Hindu communities completed in 2010. Throughout his time at ISR, he continued his own research, published new and edited books, and participated in conferences internationally. He formally retired from Baylor University in May 2022.
Dr. Melton is the author of more than fifty books and numerous scholarly articles and papers, including several encyclopedias, handbooks, and scholarly textbooks on American religious history, Methodism, world religions, and new religious movements (NRMs). He is a pioneering scholar in the field of New Religions Studies and his areas of research include major religious traditions, American Methodism, new and alternative religions, Western Esotericism (popularly called occultism), and parapsychology, New Age, and Dracula and vampire studies.
Today, he resides in Waco, Texas, with his wife Suzie, and sits on the international board of the Turin-based Center for Studies in New Religions (CESNUR), an academic association focusing studies of new and minority religions.
- Acquisition information:
- Multiple gifts from J. Gordon Melton, circa 1980s-2006.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection has been arranged by topic into 16 series:
- Series 1: Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship
- Series 2: Encyclopedia of American Religions
- Series 3: Churches
- Series 4: Bibliographic files
- Series 5: Biographical/Personal files
- Series 6: Correspondence
- Series 7: Grant information
- Series 8: Lectures and talks
- Series 9: Publications and writings
- Series 10: Institute for the Study of American Religions files
- Series 11: Clippings
- Series 12: Research and subject files
- Series 13: Teaching files
- Series 14: Churches Speak Project
- Series 15: Unsorted materials and ephemera
- Series 16: Legal files
- Physical location:
- A portion of the collection is stored offsite at the Systemwide Library Facility: South.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-03-13 16:28:19 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
A portion of the collection is stored offsite. Advance notice is required for retrieval.
Some legal files contain restricted materials. Please contact the Department of Special Research Collections in advance to request access.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and may be retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.
All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@library.ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assignees for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], J. Gordon Melton papers, ARC Mss 20. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Location of this collection:
-
UC Santa Barbara LibrarySanta Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-3062