Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, Golden Gate International Exposition Scrapbook

Lucinda Glenn and David Stiver
Graduate Theological Union Archives
Graduate Theological Union
2400 Ridge Road
Berkeley, California, 94709
Phone: (510) 649-2523/2501
Email: archives@gtu.edu
URL: http://gtu.edu/library/information/special-collections
© 2014
Graduate Theological Union. All rights reserved.

Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, Golden Gate International Exposition Scrapbook: Collected by Fred D. Parr

Collection number: GTU 2009-11-01

Graduate Theological Union Archives

Graduate Theological Union

Berkeley, California
Processed by:
Lucinda Glenn and David Stiver
Date Completed:
October 10, 2011
Encoded by:
David Stiver
© 2014 Graduate Theological Union. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, Golden Gate International Exposition Scrapbook: Collected by Fred D. Parr
Dates: 1938-1940
Collection number: GTU 2009-11-01
Collector: Parr, Fred D.
Collection Size: 2 boxes (1 linear foot) 17 online documents and images
Repository: The Graduate Theological Union. Library.
Berkeley, CA 94709
Abstract: The collection includes a scrapbook collected by Fred D. Parr with correspondence, published pamphlets, event programs, and extensive news articles from California newspapers, and two versions of the book by Stanley Armstrong Hunter on the Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace at the Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939 and 1939-1940.
Physical location: 2/H/3
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace publications are in the public domain. However, the copyright for news and other articles have not been assigned to The Graduate Theological Union. Permission to reproduce those materials must be obtained from the source.

Preferred Citation

Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, Golden Gate International Exposition Scrapbook: Collected by Fred D. Parr, GTU 2009-11-01. Graduate Theological Union Archives, Berkeley, CA.

Acquisition Information

Donated by the California-Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church Archives in November 2009.

Biography / Administrative History

In 1938 religious leaders in the Bay Area raised $100,00 to construct a Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace for the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island.
San Francisco's Temple represented all faiths, compared with the Temple of Religion at the New York World's Fair, 1939-1940, that represented an interfaith organization including Protestants, Catholics and Jews. As involvement in the Second World War seemed increasingly inevitable, the organization sponsored a series of events and lectures to promote peace and keep America out of the conflict. These took place on the last eight Sundays of the exposition in 1939. Officially closed in October 1939, the exposition was reopened the following yeat and extended from May 25 through September 29.
Treasure Island was built between 1937 and 1938 for the exposition. In 1941, the island was obtained from the City and County of San Francisco for use as a base during the war. Nearly all of the buildings used for the exposition were taken down. However, some of sculptures and art survived.
The scrapbook was collected by Fred D. Parr (1885-1964) a native Californian and Methodist layman. He was founder of the Dodge Steamship Company, organizer of the Parr-McCormick Steamship line, Parr-Richmond Terminal Company and the Parr-Richmond Industrial Corporation. He served on several charitable boards and commissions. In 1938, Parr became president of the Temple of Religion Committee coordinating all efforts to include the Temple and Tower in the 1939 Golden Gate International Exhibition.
Work included planning and constructing the buildings, coordinating exhibits and art work, and scheduling programs and events throughout the exposition. Aurelia Henry Reinhardt, President of Mills College, gave speeches during the Exhibition. The artist, Franz W. Bergmann, painted the religion themed murals on the buildings.
Stanley Armstrong Hunter, long-time minister of Saint John's Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, authored two accounts of the Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace: one containing activites through 1939; the other, from 1939 through 1940. President Robert Gordon Sproul of University of California wrote: "the book will have historical significance as an accounting of one of our earliest efforts to bring people of faith together, regardless of their religions."

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection includes the scrapbook of the event and the two books by Stanley Armstrong Hunter, Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. The scrapbook includes formal documents by the Hall of Religion committee, various pamphlets and most of the locally published clippings on the Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace in 1938 and 1939. Besides the activities of local religious organizations, there were several controversies. One mural met with great concern. The depiction of Jesus by Austrian artist Franz Bergmann seemed too dark and appeared "lacking in spirituality and kindness" by many clergymen. Moses seemed too stern and, in a departure from usual form, mostly bald. Bergmann agreed to soften both figures. Among the exhibits were archeological artifacts from the Palestine Institute (now Bade Institute of Biblical Archaeology) of Pacific School of Religion, a Marcus Whitman exhibit from San Francisco Theological Seminary, and the John Howell exhibit of Bibles, of which a portion was later donated to PSR.

Arrangement

The collection is in chronological order.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Parr, Fred D.
Reinhardt, Aurelia Henry, 1877-1948.
Bergmann, Frank W. (Frank Walter), 1898-1977.
Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, Inc.
Golden Gate International Exposition, (1939-1940: San Francisco, Calif.)
Religion -- Museums
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Religion

Related Material

Pamphlets on religion and democracy, 16th to 19th centuries / Sutro Library project, Work projects administration (July 4, 1940). From the collection of Adolph Sutro, these eight pamphlets represent the development of ideals of religious tolerance and democracy. The publication was sponsored by the Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace.