Overview
This collection consists of ministerial records, sermons, addresses, and writings, as well as material related to the Universalist Church of Maine, and the Maine and Massachusetts Universalist Conventions, and the Northeast District of the UUA. The papers span 1933-2009.
Dates
- Creation: 1933-2009.
Access
There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
Extent
5 boxesThe collection consists of ministerial and administrative materials collected and organized by Hawkes during his career. The collection is organized into six series: his personal ministerial records; his sermons, addresses, and writings (the bulk of the collection); liturgical materials; and three series of administrative records. His personal records include church reports, correspondence, marriage and obituary records, and professional records. The second series consists of sermons preached at the First Church in Leominster, sermons and addresses given at other churches and events, as well as articles, papers, and notes. The third series is made up of liturgies and prayers for a variety of occasions and services. The administrative series are separated by organization: the Universalist Church of Maine, the Massachusetts Universalist Convention, and the Northeast District of the Unitarian Universalist Association (AUA). The bulk of the material in these series consist of meeting minutes, financial reports, and annual reports.
Biographical / Historical
Kenneth Clark Hawkes (1913-2009) was born in Portland, Maine. While training for the Universalist ministry in the 1930s, he served as acting pastor of the Prides' Corner Union Church of Westbrook and the Universalist Church of Scarborough and South Buxton. In 1937 he accepted a call to the First Universalist Larger Parish of Canton and Livermore, Maine, where he was ordained as a Universalist minister in 1938. From 1939-1944 he was minister of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Waterville, Maine, where he worked with the students of Colby College; served on the Waterville Council of Churches; and was president of the Waterville Ministers Union. He served as the superintendent of the Universalist Church of Maine from 1942-1950, and moved to Massachusetts in 1950 to serve as minister for the Universalist Church in North Attleboro. In 1953, he took a position as minister at the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Lawrence. In 1960 he returned to Maine, and again served as superintendent of the Universalist Church of Maine, as well as superintendent of the Universalist Churches of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Quebec, Canada. Following the merger of the Unitarian and Universalist churches in 1961, Hawkes became the Executive Secretary of the UUA Northeast District, a post he held until 1967, when he took over as minister for the First Church in Leominster, Massachusetts, where he remained until his retirement in 1975. Throughout his life, Hawkes was involved in social issues, including actively opposing McCarthyism in the 1950s, and marching for civil rights in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- Series I. Personal ministerial records
- Series II. Sermons, addresses, and writings
- Series III. Liturgy and prayer materials
- Series IV. The Universalist Church of Maine and Maine Universalist Convention
- Series V. Massachusetts Universalist Convention
- Series VI. Northeast District UUA
Acquisition Information
Gift of Kenneth Hawkes, 2001.
General note
The number after the slash in each entry in the following list indicates the box number, and the number in parentheses is the folder number.
Processing Information
Processed by Christopher Hoffmann, 2010.
- Title
- Hawkes, Kenneth. Papers, 1933-2009: A Finding Aid.
- Author
- Andover-Harvard Theological Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- div00698
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Divinity School Library, Harvard University Repository
Special Collections at Harvard Divinity School Library preserves and makes accessible primary source materials documenting the history of religion and theology, with particular historical emphasis on American liberal religious traditions. Though the historical strengths of the collections have been in the field of Christianity, other religious traditions are increasingly reflected, in step with Harvard Divinity School's evolving focus on global religious studies. Known as Andover-Harvard Theological Library since 1911, it was renamed the Harvard Divinity School Library in 2021.
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