William Harry Jellema Collection, 1868-1982 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

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Collection Overview

Title: William Harry Jellema Collection, 1868-1982

ID: COLL/135

Primary Creator: William Harry Jellema (1893-1982)

Extent: 63.0 Boxes

Arrangement: Folder level description

Abstract

Philosophy professor at Calvin College and at Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan. This extensive collection includes lectures; articles; pamphlets; reports; correspondence; a study entitled “The Curriculum in a Liberal Arts College”; an interview detailing memories of the Christian Reformed Church, its ministers, and the Dutch community; gown, cap, and two hoods; family correspondence and genealogy materials; compact discs; and sound recordings. [See also the Campus Titles Database.]

Biographical Note

William Harry Jellema was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 10, 1893. Jellema attended Calvin College and graduated in 1914. He went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. In 1920, Jellema returned to Calvin, not as a student, but as a professor of philosophy. Jellema served Calvin until 1936 when he accepted a faculty position at Indiana University. While at Indiana University, Jellema served as head of the university’s philosophy department until 1947. Jellema returned once again to Calvin College to teach philosophy, and did so until his “first” retirement in 1963.

A former student of Jellema, Alvin Plantinga once said, “By far, he was the greatest teacher of philosophy I’ve ever encountered and probably the greatest teacher of anything I’ve ever encountered.” Inspired by Jellema, Plantinga also became a philosophy professor at Calvin.

Although “retired,” Jellema accepted an offer from Grand Valley State Colleges to set up the new state school’s philosophy department. Jellema served GVSC until his official retirement in 1975. At the age of 89, the philosophy professor of fifty-five years, William Harry Jellema, passed away at Butterworth Hospital on May 16, 1982. His wife, Frances, preceded him in death, but five of his children survived him: Dirk, Jon, Gay, Mary, and Trudy.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Biographical Material, 1910-1980],
[Series 2: Preparatory Years, University of Michigan, 1914-1922],
[Series 3: Early Calvin College Period, 1920-1948],
[Series 4: Indiana University Period, 1937-1953],
[Series 5: The Harvard University Semester, 1938-1939],
[Series 6: Late Calvin College Period, 1948-1963],
[Series 7: Hope College, 1944; Fuller Seminary, 1954-1958],
[Series 8: Haverford College Experience, 1960-1962],
[Series 9: Grand Valley State College Period, 1963-1974],
[Series 10: Philosophy Department, Calvin College, 1928-1959],
[Series 11: Philosophy Department, Calvin College, 1928-1959],
[Series 12: Philosophy Department, Indiana University, 1936-1966],
[Series 13: Bibliographies, 1938-1949],
[Series 14: Correspondence, 1920-1975],
[Series 15: Notes re: Various Subjects, 1923-1974],
[Series 16: Papers, 1917-1962],
[Series 17: Published Articles, 1921-1967],
[Series 18: Speaking Engagements, 1920-1965],
[Series 19: Special Reports, 1926-1969],
[Series 20: Calvin Foundation Activities; Junior College Studies, 1949-1959],
[Series 21: Grand Rapids Christian High Board; Christian Labor Association (CLA) Contacts, 1932-1963],
[Series 22: Resource Material: Abstracts and Articles Reprinted],
[Series 23: Resource Material: Educational Bulletins, Curriculum],
[Series 24: Resource Material: Brochures],
[Series 25: Publications],
[Series 26: Publications, Bound Copies],
[Series 27: Books with Notations],
[Series 28: Resource Material, Brochures, Reprints],
[Series 29: Books, Brochures, Reprints: A - E],
[Series 30: Books, Brochures: E - W],
[Series 31: Published Articles; Resource Material],
[Series 32: Grand Valley State College, Philosophy Department Material, 1967-1969],
[Series 33: Grand Valley State College, Philosophy 101, 1963-1977],
[Series 34: Grand Valley State College, Preliminary Drafts of the Blue Book, 1970-1977],
[Series 35: Grand Valley State College Blue Books, 1967-1973],
[Series 36: Grand Valley State College, Lectures on Ethics],
[Series 37: Artifacts],
[Series 38: Family Correspondence and Genealogy, 1868-1982],
[All]

Series 4: Indiana University Period --- 1937-1953

Box 8

Folder 1: Ethics (C203) extension division, correspondence study assignments
Folder 2: Ethics (203) notes --- Summer 1937
Folder 3: Ethics (203) outline for February, typed material --- 1938
Folder 4: Ethics (203) handwritten notes --- 1939
Folder 5: Ethics (203) typed and handwritten notes --- 1939-1940
Folder 6: Ethics (203) additional notes --- 1939-1940
Folder 7: Ethics (203) lecture notes including notes from previous lectures --- 1942
Folder 8: Ethics (203) lecture notes including notes from previous lectures --- 1942
Folder 9: Ethics (203) lecture notes including notes from previous lectures --- 1942
Folder 10: Ethics (203) lecture notes, typed material --- 1942-1943

Box 9

Folder 1: History of Philosophy (206) syllabus outline and questions --- 1939
Folder 2: History of Philosophy (206) lecture outlines and exams --- 1940-1941
Folder 3: History of Philosophy (206) typed notes --- 1942-1943
Folder 4: History of Philosophy (206) lecture notes including notes from previous lectures --- 1944
Folder 5: History of Philosophy (206) lecture notes including notes from previous lectures --- 1947
Folder 6: History of Philosophy (206) lecture notes --- 1947-1948
Folder 7: History of Philosophy lecture notes --- undated
Folder 8: Modern Philosophy (207) notes on philosophers --- 1937
Folder 9: Modern Philosophy (207) class notes, questions on Weber --- 1937-1938
Folder 10: Modern Philosophy (207) lecture notes --- 1947
Folder 11: Place of Religion in Modern Society, Business Ad, students orientation course --- 1938-1939
Folder 12: Representative thinkers, extension course, notes and note book --- 1938-1939
Folder 13: Representative thinkers, student notes on lectures
Folder 14: Philosophy 225, text: Elements of Constructive Philosophy by J. S. MacKensie, lecture notes and discussion material --- 1936
Folder 15: Moral theory on the common sense level, conservativism and radicalism, (327) typed and handwritten notes

Box 10

Folder 1: Introduction to Philosophy (227 and 227S) typed notes --- 1937, 1942
Folder 2: Philosophy of Religion (228) outline of the course notes
Folder 3: Philosophy of Religion (228) the self-definition of religion, typed materials
Folder 4: Philosophy of Religion (228) lecture notes --- 1938-1939
Folder 5: Philosophy of Religion (228) lecture notes --- 1939-1940
Folder 6: Philosophy of Religion (228) handwritten notes --- 1944-1945
Folder 7: Philosophy of Religion (228) including notes of previous lectures
Folder 8: Philosophy of Religion (228) typed notes --- 1946-1947
Folder 9: Philosophy of Religion (228) student questions and lecture notes --- 1947
Folder 10: Philosophy of Religion (228a) lecture notes, questions --- 1936-1937
Folder 11: Philosophy of Religion (228b) notes on W. K. Wright --- 1936
Folder 12: Philosophy of Religion (228b) typed notes
Folder 13: Philosophy of Religion (228b) handwritten notes --- 1946-1947
Folder 14: Philosophy of Religion (C228a) correspondence course assignments --- 1937
Folder 15: Philosophy of Religion (C228b) correspondence course assignments, lecture notes
Folder 16: Philosophy of Religion (C228) correspondence course assignments and material --- 1947

Box 11

Folder 1: American Thought (231) subjects for reports, outline of Townsend's argument, notes --- 1937
Folder 2: Seminar in Francis Herbert Bradley, general assignments, bibliography, notes --- 1940-1941
Folder 3: Seminar in Plato (232) schematic outline of Kant's doctrine in the Critique of Pure Reason, notes --- 1936-1937
Folder 4: Kant (232), critique, notes --- 1938-1939
Folder 5: Kant seminar notes --- 1939-1940
Folder 6: Post-Kantian Idealism, Hegel's logic (232), typed and handwritten notes --- 1938
Folder 7: Kant (232) lecture notes --- 1952-1953
Folder 8: Metaphysics, reworked notes, notes from previous lectures included --- 1942-1943
Folder 9: Metaphysics, handwritten notes --- 1950-1951
Folder 10: Metaphysics, typed notes --- 1951-1952
Folder 11: Religion and democracy, lecture notes --- 1941
Folder 12: Modern mind, Calvin and democracy, notes, corrections
Folder 13: Modern mind, Calvin and democracy, notebook notes and additional notes