Collection Overview
Title: John Clover Monsma Collection, 1919-1970
ID: COLL/177
Creator: John Clover Monsma (1890-1970)
Extent: 5.0 Boxes
Arrangement: Folder level description
Abstract
Minister of the Christian Reformed Church, author, and publisher of the American Daily Standard, plus president of The World. The collection includes the periodical The World, manuscripts, reviews, articles, and correspondence, (of special note is a letter, directed to Abraham Kuyper with a plea for him to form a World Alliance of Calvinists, and expressing Monsma's gratitude for the influence of his teachings).
Biographical Note
John Clover Monsma was born in the Netherlands in 1890. In 1902, he immigrated to the United States and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He attended Calvin Seminary graduating in 1917. In the same year, he accepted the call from Summit, Illinois to become their minister. He remained at the church until 1919. He resigned from the CRC and became a pastor of PCUSA. He served the congregation of Grandville, NY, (1920-22) and First, Oostburg, WI (1922-28). In 1923, he earned his PhD at Princeton University. He was the editor of The New Reformation: A Magazine for Ministers and Other Church Workers (The Ministers' Monthly) from 1924 to1925
In 1928, Monsma decided to pursue a non-ministerial vocation as a journalist and author. He also was a radio commentator and had a weekly radio program in the Chicago area. His work as an author includes The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe (1958), Science and Religion (1962), and Behind the Dim Unknown (1966). John Clover Monsma passed away on April 24, 1970 in Grand Rapids. His wife, Katherine and their three children survived him.
Box and Folder Listing
- Series 1: Manuscripts
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Manuscript: Behind the Dim Unknown
- Folder 2: Manuscript: The President Resigns, Copy ?
- Folder 3: Manuscript: The President Resigns, Copy ??
- Folder 4: Manuscript: Prince Abraham, pp. 1-156
- Box 2
- Folder 1: Manuscript: Prince Abraham, pp. 157-293
- Folder 2: Manuscript: Religion and Birth Control
- Folder 3: Manuscript: Toward A Greater America, pp. 1-147
- Folder 4: Manuscript: Toward A Greater America, pp. 148-280
- Folder 5: Manuscript: Tulips and Stinkweed, by Peter Van Dam
- Series 2: Manuscripts and Reviews
- Box 3
- Folder 1: Manuscript: This I Believe About Jesus Christ --- 1955
- Folder 2: Manuscript: The White House Has a Guest, Copy ?
- Folder 3: Manuscript: The White House Has a Guest, Copy ??
- Folder 4: Reviews and correspondence on "Behind the Dim Unknown" --- 1963-1967
- Folder 5: Reviews on "The Evidence of God in Our Expanding Universe" --- 1958
- Folder 6: Reviews on "Religion and Birth Control" --- 1963-1965
- Folder 7: Correspondence on Symposium on "Religion and Medical Ethics" --- 1962
- Folder 8: Reviews on "Science and Religion" --- 1962
- Folder 9: Material on Hour of Silver Trumpets, a Religious Radio Program from Chicago --- 1947
- Series 3: Miscellaneous Papers
- Box 4
- Folder 1: The American Daily Standard --- Feb. 10 and 12, 1921
- (two copies)
- Folder 2: Antioch, the Beautiful. Article in Pictorial Review --- December 1929
- Folder 3: Author-Publisher Agreements, G. P. Putnam's Sons
- Folder 4: Book: The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe. Arabic translation --- 1961
- Folder 5: Book: Why the American Daily Standard Failed. Seymour and Muir, Grand Rapids, Michigan --- 1921
- [HERH PN4899.C5 A5]
- Folder 6: "Lion of the East Indies". Article rejected by the Saturday Evening Post --- March 28, 1938
- Folder 7: Morrison Smith, Master Scientist. Notes on the novel
- Folder 8: Press releases, book cover, radio message --- September 19, 1948
- Folder 9: Stories: When the "Mountain Giant Became Real," "How Bonnie Saved Her Marriage," articles
- Box 5
- Folder 1: Why the American Daily Standard Failed, two copies
- Folder 2: The World: An International Weekly.
- (1 copy ea. Vol. 1 no. 1, no. 2, no. 4, loose)
- Folder 3: The World: An International Weekly, vol. 1, #1-4 bound
- Folder 4: Unfinished Autobiography Chapter 1, "Farewell to Windmills and Dikes" --- c. 1950
- Folder 5: Correspondence --- undated, 1970
- Folder 6: Letter to Abraham Kuyper --- 1919