Sweet, (Evander McIver E.M. Jr.) Papers, ca. 1885-1975, bulk 1894-1947

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Summary

Title:
Evander McIver (E.M.) Sweet, Jr. papers
Dates:
ca. 1885-1975, bulk 1894-1947
Creators:
Sweet, Evander McIver, Jr. 1870-1947
Abstract:
This collection contains family correspondence.
Extent:
6 linear feet
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

Evander McIver (E.M.) Sweet, Jr. papers. MSS 303. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains family correspondence, personal correspondence, business correspondence, correspondence about the Oklahoma Prohibition Statehood, miscellaneous correspondence; writings by E.M. Sweet, Sr. and E.M Sweet, Jr.; job recommendations for E.M. Sweet, Jr.; letters of introduction for E.M. Sweet, Jr.; blueprints of E.M. Sweet, Jr.'s inventions; journals; scrapbooks of E.M. Sweet, Jr.'s trip to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe; photographs; newspaper clippings, and ephemera.

Biographical / historical:

Evander McIver Sweet, Jr. was born in Sexton, Sabine County, Texas on June 3, 1870, the son of a pioneering Methodist Minster. Sweet attended Waxahachie College in Waxahachie, Texas, and Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and graduated in 1894, with an A.B. (classical studies). In 1892 he married Blaxie Sanford and in 1893, while Sweet was a junior, their first of five children was born. After graduation Sweet was the private secretary to United States Senator Horace Chilton (TX) in Washington D.C. from 1895-1897. In 1898 Sweet worked for the War Department, and was transferred in 1901 to the Department of Interior, Bureau of Education. In 1903 Sweet started a new career as a minister for the Indian Mission Conference and was appointed to Muskogee, Tulsa, Lawton, and Ada Districts in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Later he was appointed presiding elder of the Vinita District in the Indian Territory. While in the Indian Territory Sweet and his colleagues were concerned about the sale of liquor on the Indian Reservations. The Five-Civilized Tribes were promised by the Federal Government that liquor would be not be sold to the Indians. However, the United States Supreme Court ruled that sale of liquor to Indians is a police regulation and therefore did not apply to Indians who were citizens in the Indian Territory. In 1904, to prohibit the sale of liquor in the Indian Territory, Sweet organized the Indian Territory Church Federation for Prohibition Statehood, which elected him executive secretary, and was instrumental in writing prohibition into the Oklahoma Constitution.

In 1915, Sweet was hired as an Inspector for the Department of Interior, Office of Indian Affairs. Sweet was terminated by the Office of Indian Affairs in 1921 and became an agent for Pacific Mutual Life in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1925 Sweet moved his family to Stockton, CA and became a General Agent for Pacific Mutual Life Insurance, and retired in 1935. After his retirement Sweet traveled to the World Mission Fields with Bishop Arthur J. Moore, at the Bishop's invitation. They traveled to China, Japan, Africa, and Europe, visiting over twenty countries. During their travels Sweet took pictures and movies of the countries that he visited. Sweet returned to the United States in 1936 and lectured throughout the United States with his missionary movies, channeling thousands of dollars into the foreign missions. Later he became a lay delegate to the Annual Conference of the Methodist Church, South, 1937-1939. In addition to these activities Sweet also wrote articles for the Ladies Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, American Illustrated Methodist Magazine, The Christian Advocate, and The World Today. At the time of his death he was on his way to Vancouver, Canada to spend his summer writing a book entitled "The Hand of God in a Democracy." E.M. Sweet, Jr. died on November 14, 1947.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Annie Golden
Date Prepared:
© 2007
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid created by Michael Wurtz. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: March 16, 2007.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Terms of access:

Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

Evander McIver (E.M.) Sweet, Jr. papers. MSS 303. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library.

Location of this collection:
University of the Pacific, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University Library
Stockton, CA 95211, US
Contact:
(209) 946-2404
Website