The Edward Lambe Parsons Papers, 1865-1968, consist of correspondence, writings, and office files relating to his career as one of the leading figures of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, plus personal, biographical, and family papers. The collection spans Parsons' years from his days as a theology student in the 1890s, to his early career as a minister, a professor of theology, and as the third Episcopal Bishop of California, through his retirement in 1941.

Edward Lambe Parsons was born in New York on May 18, 1868. Intending to become a lawyer, he attended Yale University in 1885, where he and his roommate, Gifford Pinchot, served as deacons of their class. After graduation Parsons decided instead to attend Union Seminary in New York. Although his family on both sides were Presbyterians, his petition to the Presbyterian ministry was rejected. He consulted with Bishop William Lawrence, Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts, and attended Episcopal Theological Seminary at Cambridge, graduating in 1894. Parsons spent a year with Rector William R. Huntington at Grace Church in New York City, and in September 1896 became rector of a small church in Menlo Park, California. To supplement his salary he taught philosophy at Stanford University. In 1904 Parsons was called to serve as rector at St. Mark's in Berkeley, where he remained for the next fifteen years.

Number of containers: 35 cartons, 1 box, 1 oversize folder Linear feet: 44.15

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Collection is open for research.