Harm Henry Meeter Collection, 1909-1982 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

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Collection Overview

Title: Harm Henry Meeter Collection, 1909-1982

ID: COLL/168

Primary Creator: Harm Henry Meeter (1886-1963)

Extent: 17.0 Boxes

Arrangement: Folder level description

Abstract

Minister of the Christian Reformed Church and Professor of Bible at Calvin College. Correspondence, sermons, lectures, course outlines, topic files, periodicals, commitee minutes and reports. Class notes taken while a student at Calvin Theological Seminary, 1909-1911, primarily student notes of Professor L. Berkhof's lectures. Princeton Theological Seminary student notebooks of the lectures of Professor J. Gresham Machen, Geerhardus Vos, Benjamin B. Warfield, and others, 1912-1914. Material in connection with H.H. Meeter's ministry at Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church, 1917-1926. Correspondents include: F.W. Grosheide, C. van Gelderen, J. L. den Houting, H. H. Kuyper, Catherine Kuyper, and H. G. Stoker.

Biographical Note

Born April 29, 1886, in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Meeter received his elementary education in the public and Evangelical Lutheran schools of Lansing, Illinois. After graduating from Calvin College and Seminary in 1911, he did post-graduate work at Princeton Seminary.

Of two fellowships offered him at Princeton, he chose the one that allowed him three years of study at the Free University in Amsterdam, from which he graduated in 1916, the first American cum laude with a doctorate in Theology from that institution. His dissertation was titled: "The Heavenly High Priesthood of Christ: an Exegetical Study."

In January 1917, he was ordained as the first minister of the Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. While at Neland, he served on the Board of Trustees of Calvin College and Seminary, on the board of the Grand Rapids Christian High School, on various synodical committees, and as chairman for several years of the Publication Committee of the Christian Reformed Church.

In 1926, Dr. Meeter began his illustrious career of teaching at Calvin College, serving there until 1956. He was the sole teacher of Bible at Calvin until 1946. He wrote two books, The Fundamental Principle of Calvinism and Calvinism, an Interpretation of Its Basic Ideas. The latter book was translated into the Dutch, Japanese, and Korean languages.

Retiring in 1953, Dr. Meeter lived until July 19, 1963 and was survived by his wife, Jennie, and son, Hugh.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Calvin Seminary Courses. Student Notebooks, 1909-1911],
[Series 2: Calvin Seminary Courses, 1909-1911; Princeton University Courses; 1912-1914. Student Notebooks],
[Series 3: Princeton Seminary Student Notebooks, 1912-1914; Free University Student Notebooks, 1915-1916. University of Chicago],
[Series 4: Publications: Background Material],
[Series 5: Sermons, 1917 - 1924],
[Series 6: Correspondence, 1911 - 1958],
[Series 7: Calvin College Period, 1926 - 1969],
[Series 8: Varia, 1918-1982],
[All]

Series 6: Correspondence --- 1911 - 1958

Box 11

Folder 1: Alphabet index of correspondence --- 1911-1958
Folder 2: Correspondence --- 1911-1913
Folder 3: Correspondence --- January-April 1914
Folder 4: Correspondence --- 1914
Folder 5: Correspondence --- July 1917-May 1919
Folder 6: Correspondence --- 1919
Folder 7: Correspondence --- 1920-1928
Folder 8: Correspondence --- 1930-1934
Folder 9: Correspondence --- 1935-1939
Folder 10: Correspondence --- 1940-1942
Folder 11: Correspondence --- April 1943-August 1946
Folder 12: Correspondence --- September 1946-1949
Folder 13: Correspondence --- 1950-1958
Folder 14: William Trapp correspondence with H.H. Meeter
Folder 15: correspondence --- undated
Folder 16: Personal correspondence, between family and friends; Call letters from various churches; letters of recommendation for others; miscellaneous letters --- 1914-1950
Folder 17: Classical and Synodical reports and correspondence regarding Herman Hoeksema case --- 1924
Folder 18: Correspondence --- 1909-1955