TABLE OF CONTENTS______________________________________________

Brief Description of Collection 2

Provenance 3

Chronology 4

Biographical Note 5

Scope and Contents 7

Series Descriptions 8

Container Lists

Series 1: Personal Papers

Correspondence 9

Articles 10

Sermons 15

Radio & Television Talk Shows 23

Series 2: Notebooks 24

Series 3: Memoirs 27

Series 4: Subject Files

People 28

Topics 31

Series 5: Church Bulletins 43

Series 6: Family Papers 44

Series 7: Newspaper Clippings 44

Series 8: Maps 44

Series 9: Photographs 45

Series 10: Audio Tapes 45

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COLLECTION_______________________

Name Wahlberg, Edgar M.

Title Papers, 1920-1990.

Extent 18 linear ft.

Biographical note Born in 1899 in Denver, Colorado, Edgar M. Wahlberg graduated from Iliff School of Theology in 1924; pastorates included Grace Church and Community Center (Denver, Colorado), Mt. Olivet Community Methodist Church (Dearborn, Michigan), and Dearborn First Congregational Church (Dearborn, Michigan); served with United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration from 1944-1946; died in Estes Park, Colorado in 1990.

Scope & contents Includes pastoral and personal correspondence, articles, sermons, subject files, photographs, and audio tapes documenting a variety of human rights activities.

Arrangement Organized into the following series: 1. Personal papers; 2. Notebooks; 3. Memoirs; 4. Subject files; 5. Church bulletins; 6. Family papers; 7. Newspaper clippings; 8. Maps; 9. Photographs; 10. Audio tapes.

Provenance Donated from 1982-1990 by Edgar M. and Eunice L. Wahlberg.

Finding aid Printed descriptive guide available in repository.

Access points Church and social problems

Grace Church and Community Center (Denver, Colo.)

Industrial chaplaincy

Japanese Americans

Labor and church

Methodist Church

Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church (Dearborn, Mich.)

Racial attitudes and the church

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration

Wahlberg, Eunice L.

Document types Correspondence

Photographs

Church bulletins

Clippings

PROVENANCE_____________________________________________________

Edgar M. Wahlberg Papers, 1920-1990.

Collection number 6

The Edgar M. Wahlberg Papers were initially donated by Edgar M. and Eunice L. Wahlberg in 1982 to Auraria Library Archives and Special Collections. In the years from 1982 until 1990, numerous small additions to the collection were made by the Wahlbergs. After Rev. Wahlberg's death, Eunice Wahlberg donated additional papers, photographs, and memorabilia, which will be added as an addendum to the present collection.

Property rights are held by Auraria Library Archives and Special Collections. The donors have placed no restrictions on the use of the materials. Photocopies may be made for purposes of research.

Citation format

Edgar M. Wahlberg Papers, 1920-1990.

Fd #

Auraria Library Archives and Special Collections, Denver, Colorado.

CHRONOLOGY_____________________________________________________

1899 Edgar M. Wahlberg born March 9, 1899, Denver, Colorado

1899 Eunice Lois Chamberlain born June 16, 1899, near Batavia, Iowa

1917 Graduated from West High School, Denver, Colorado

1917-20 Attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

1920-21 Community Boy's Secretary for the Y.M.C.A., Council Bluffs, Iowa

1921 Youth Director for the Fifth Avenue Methodist Church, Denver, Colorado

1921 Edgar M. Wahlberg and Eunice Lois Chamberlain were married in Denver, Colorado

1922-23 Appointed Minister to Greenwood Methodist Church, Globeville, Colorado

1923-24 Director of Religious Education for Washington Park Community Church, Denver, Colorado

1924 Graduated from the University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, Bachelor of Arts

1924 Graduated from the Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado, Bachelor of Divinity

1924 Eunice Lois Chamberlain Wahlberg received a diploma in Religious Education from Iliff School of Theology

1924-26 Appointed Minister to Hiawatha Community Church, Hiawatha, Utah

1926-30 Appointed Minister to Goodwill Parish, Colorado

1930-44 Appointed Minister to Grace Church and Community Center, Denver, Colorado

1944-46 Welfare Officer and Director of Regional Administration for United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and China

1947-61 Appointed Minister to Mt. Olivet Community Methodist Church, Dearborn, Michigan

1961-65 Appointed Minister to St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Detroit, Michigan

1965-67 Director of the Wayne County Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), Detroit, Michigan

1969-76 Appointed Minister to Dearborn First Congregational Church, Dearborn, Michigan

1978 Edgar and Eunice Wahlberg moved to Estes Park, Colorado

1982 Voices in the Darkness (his memoirs) published

1990 My Story: Ninety Years of Living and Loving, 1899 - 1989 (Eunice Lois Chamberlain Wahlberg's memoirs) published

1990 Edgar M. Wahlberg died October 19, Estes Park, Colorado

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE_____________________________________________

Edgar Malcolm Wahlberg was born in Denver, Colorado, on March 9, 1899, the son of John S. Wahlberg and Anne Marie Karlson Wahlberg. After attending Denver West High School, he attended the University of Colorado from 1917 to 1920. He dropped out of school for one year to become Community Boys' Secretary for the Y.M.C.A. in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and that was when he decided to enter the Christian ministry. He returned to Denver, Colorado in 1921 as Youth Director for the Fifth Avenue Methodist Church, and to complete his education at both the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology. It was at Fifth Avenue Methodist Church that he and Eunice Lois Chamberlain met. They had three children. He would receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Denver, and a Bachelor of Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology in 1924. That same year, Eunice Lois Chamberlain Wahlberg received a diploma in Religious Education from Iliff School of Theology, and is believed to be one of the first two women graduates from the school.

While attending college in Denver, Wahlberg served as Minister of the Greenwood Mission, and as Director of Youth Activities for the Washington Park Community Church. Following his graduation, he was appointed Minister of the Hiawatha Community Church in Hiawatha, Utah from 1924 to 1926, and Director of the Grand Junction Goodwill Industries and Minister of the Goodwill Parish, Grand Junction, Colorado from 1926 to 1930. While in Utah, he encouraged local miners to unionize and became involved in other human rights activities.

Reverend Wahlberg was appointed Minister of the Grace Church and Community Center, Denver, Colorado from 1930 to 1944, and under his direction, Grace Church gave leadership to many significant civic, legislative and social activities which received national recognition and was widely publicized for its outstanding service. During this period, he solidified Graces's many constructive programs such as the support of Unemployed Co-operatives during the Depression; the passage of a Uniform Small Loan Act; Organization of Credit Union and Consumers' Co- operatives; establishment of City Department of Recreation; developments of Mary Quigg Newton Camp for boys and girls; promotion of inter-racial fellowship and appreciation; Organization of Mothers' Clinic; Grace Center Nursery School for working mothers; cooperation with Alcoholics Anonymous; support of Workers' and Adult Education projects; Grace Center Emergency Relief Services; and participation in movements to relieve tension areas and safeguard civil liberties. Reverend Wahlberg was a Trustee of Iliff School of Theology, and he also became involved in groups such as Labor Call, Denver Open Forum, the Cosmopolitan Club, and the American Civil Liberties Union as the Denver Chapter's first director. His interest in the labor movement continued as chairman of the State Housing Commission and member of the ACLU, where he worked actively for the civil rights of minorities and migrant workers throughout Colorado.

From 1944 to 1946 Reverend Wahlberg served with the overseas staff of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in Egypt, Palestine and Greece, and in China as Director of Regional Operations.

Reverend Wahlberg was appointed Minister to Mt. Olivet Community Methodist Church, Dearborn, Michigan from 1947 to 1961. Under his leadership, he would continue to serve in many varied capacities which kept him in close contact with organized labor, social work, youth, and varied recreational and human rights organizations. During this period, he would join the district metropolitan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, and was chairman during the McCarthy era. After serving Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church for fifteen years, Reverend Wahlberg was urged to accept an appointment as Minister to St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Detroit, Michigan, where he would serve from 1961 to 1965.

After his retirement from the Ministry, he was appointed the first director of the Wayne County Office of Economic Opportunity, that included all of Wayne County outside of Detroit. This appointment lasted from 1965 to 1967. In 1969, Reverend Wahlberg was asked to help out for a few weeks at the First Congregational Church of Dearborn, this turned into a pastoral

that lasted from 1969 to 1976.

Edgar and Eunice Wahlberg returned to Colorado in 1978, retiring at Estes Park. There both would publish their memoirs. In 1982 Edgar Wahlberg published his memoirs in "Voices in the Darkness", and in 1990 Eunice Wahlberg published hers in "Ninety Years of Living and Loving", 1899 - 1989

The Reverend Edgar M. Wahlberg died in Estes Park, Colorado on the 19th of October, 1990.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS____________________________________________

The Edgar M. Wahlberg Papers, 1920-1990, contain material which documents the lives and activities of Rev. Edgar M. and Eunice L. Chamberlain Wahlberg. The papers include professional and personal correspondence from 1920 through the 1980s, published articles, sermons, notebooks, and extensive subject files. Included also are church bulletins, family papers, newspaper clippings, maps, photographs, and audio cassette tapes.

The papers are organized into 10 series. (See Series Descriptions below) Series 1 - 3 contain materials generated by Rev. Wahlberg in the course of his ministerial and professional duties. The Notebooks in Series 2 contain many of the same items found in Series 1 and Series 4. They were maintained as a separate series because the items were considered by the Wahlbergs to be of particular significance in their lives and work. Materials were ordered chronologically or alphabetically as appropriate. Original order was seldom maintained because the papers were working files and subject to constant reordering in the course of daily use.

Of particular interest to researchers is the role the Wahlbergs played in social activism in the 1930s through the 1980s. While pastor of the Grace Church and Community Center in Denver, Colorado from 1930 to 1944, they were involved in social, civic, and legislative activities to improve the working and living conditions of working class and minorities. Their work received national attention.

Rev. Wahlberg served with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in Egypt, Palestine, Greece, and China from 1944-1946. The files contain his correspondence from this period and provide an insight into the living and working conditions of people in those countries. His last pastorate at Mt. Olivet Community Methodist Church in Dearborn, Michigan, provided Rev. Wahlberg with the opportunity to continue his work with human rights and racial integration.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS____________________________________________

Series 1: Personal Papers 1920-1986

Correspondence from 1920-1983 is arranged chronologically and is divided by letters sent and letters received. Published articles from the 1930s through the 1980s were maintained in the original order, because many were undated and the titles, in many instances, were not descriptive of the contents. The sermons from the 1930s through the 1980s are arranged alphabetically by topic, except for a few titled sermons listed at the beginning of the subseries. Many of the sermons are undated or were used with various titles on several occasions. The radio and television talk show scripts and transcripts from the 1930s through the 1950s complete the personal papers.

Series 2: Notebooks 1932-1963

The notebooks were maintained by Rev. and Eunice Wahlberg. They contain correspondence, sermons, and articles deemed important to their lives and work. The notebooks were dissembled and placed in file folders.

Series 3: Memoirs 1978-1983

Original and typed copies of Voices in the Darkness. Memoirs of Eunice Wahlberg from the Dearborn Historical Museum Oral History Program.

Series 4: Subject Files 1921-1986

Contains the Wahlbergs' working files, divided by people and topics, and thereafter alphabetically. The files contain clippings, notes, correspondence, articles, and pamphlets on numerous topics.

Series 5: Church Bulletins 1931-1986

Bulletins from various congregations in Colorado and Michigan.

Series 6: Family Papers 1925-1990

Includes family correspondence and memorabilia.

Series 7: Newspaper Clippings

Clippings on various topics from the 1930s through the 1980s.

Series 8: Maps 1942-1967

Maps of places where the Wahlbergs lived or visited.

Series 9: Photographs

Series 10: Audio Tapes 1981-1983