Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Frederick Sontag Papers
PC.0005
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Frederick Sontag Papers
Dates: 1944-2008
Collection number: PC.0005
Creator:
Sontag, Frederick H., 1924-2009
Extent:
13.6 Linear Feet
(12 record cartons, 4 document boxes)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: This collection contains the papers of
Frederick Sontag, Pomona College professor of philosophy, author, and minister in the United
Church of Christ. Over his five-decade career at Pomona College, Sontag served as Philosophy
Department Chair and as a visiting professor for a number of theological institutions. He
authored numerous publications and articles, his most well-known being "Sun Myung Moon and
the Unification Church" (1977). The collection includes correspondence, articles, book
reviews, teaching materials, sermons, lectures, and research materials.
Physical Location: Please consult repository.
Language of Material: Languages represented in
collection: English.
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
the Archives.
[Identification of item], Frederick Sontag Papers (PC-0005). Pomona College Archives,
Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Sontag Family, 2011.
Additions to the collection are not anticipated.
Processed and arranged by Jamie Weber.
Biography / Administrative History
Frederick Sontag was an author and long-time professor of philosophy at Pomona College,
where he taught from 1952 to 2009. Sontag was born on October 2, 1924 in Long Beach,
California. His father was a Jewish immigrant who escaped the pogroms in Russia and
settled in California in the early 1900s, where he became a follower of the Baptist faith.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Sontag attended Stanford University
where he developed an interest in philosophy. He graduated from Stanford in 1949 and went
on to earn a master's degree and a doctorate from Yale University in 1951 and 1952,
respectively. In 1952, Frederick Sontag joined the Pomona College faculty as an assistant
professor in philosophy.
During his tenure at Pomona College, Sontag served as chair of the Philosophy Department
twice, from 1960 to 1967 and 1976 to 1977, and chair of the Committee on Honors Study,
from 1961 to 1970. Sontag also served as a visiting professor for a number of
institutions, including Union Theological Seminary, the Pontifical University of San
Anselmo in Rome, University of Copenhagen, University of Kyoto, and the East-West Center
in Honolulu. In addition to teaching, Sontag was a prolific author and wrote on a wide
range of topics including existentialism, metaphysics, philosophy of religion,
philosophical theology, trends in American religious culture, and on notable figures like
Danish philosopher-theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, and the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the
Unification Church. Frederick Sontag was also an ordained minister in United Church of
Christ. While he never held a pastorate, Sontag served as a mentor and counselor to many
students.
In 1997, Pomona College renamed its renovated outdoor theater the "Sontag Greek Theatre"
in Frederick Sontag's honor. Sontag also received the Pomona College Trustees' Medal of
Merit upon his retirement in May 2009. Sadly, Frederick Sontag passed away shortly after
retirement on June 14, 2009. Both Sontag Residence Hall and the Sontag Center for
Collaborative Creativity (The Hive) continue to honor the late professor's legacy; both
named for Sontag posthumously in his honor.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The collection includes correspondence, articles and book reviews written by Sontag,
teaching and course materials, transcribed sermons and lectures, research materials, and
collected reviews for his book "Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church." Notable items
include a large selection of Sontag's articles and book reviews written over a five-decade
period, 1952 to 2002, as well as his personal research notes for select articles and
publications. The collection also contains Sontag's teaching materials related to his
philosophy courses at Pomona College and materials related to Greek life on campus.
The collection is organized into the following five series:
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1952-2007 and undated
- Series 2: Articles and Book Reviews, 1952-2002 and undated
- Series 3: Pomona College, 1944-2008 and undated
- Series 4: Sermons and Lectures, 1970-2001 and undated
- Series 5: Manuscripts and Research, 1977-1996 and undated
The collection is arranged at the file level. Items in Series 1 are arranged
alphabetically. Items in the remaining series are arranged chronologically.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.)
Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.) -- Faculty
Greek letter societies
Philosophy
Sontag, Frederick H., 1924-2009
United Church of Christ, Congregational, of Southern
California
Articles
Book reviews
Correspondence
Lectures
Manuscripts
Research notes and studies
Sermons