Advance Publishing Company Records, 1910-1937.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

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Special Collections - Upon RequestWest storage range 3 section 3Library Use Only

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Format
Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material
Physical Desc
ca. 0.22 cubic feet.
Language
English

Notes

Organization & arrangement of materials
This collection is organized into the following series: I. Incorporation & By-Laws; II. XXVII. Records: 1910-1934, 1937.
General Note
Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.
Restrictions on Access
In library use only. Available by appointment.
Description
Scope and content: Business records of the Advance Publishing Company in Nashville document the entire history of that company's weekly, The Presbyterian Advance (1910-1934). The records include the charter of incorporation, company by-laws, letters to stockholders, minutes of stockholders and directors meetings (annual and called), fundraising letters, and special reports prepared for stockholders, directors, or the editorial council. Nashville was already in those years a center of religious publishing for several Protestant denominations, and as the typed label on the old scrapbook for these records says, these records convey "the story of struggle to maintain a church paper."
Preferred Citation of Described Materials
Cite as: Advance Publishing Company Records, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
This material may be protected by copyright (Title 17 U.S. Code)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift;,James E. Clarke;,Acc. RT-115.
Biographical or Historical Data
John Hibbett DeWitt (1872-1937), Nashville jurist, civic leader, and Tennessee historian, was aptly described by one contemporary as having "more offices that didn't pay a salary as any man in Nashville," and even a partial list of those offices is impressive -- member of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust, chairman of the Board of Trust of the Watkins Institute, President of the Tennessee Historical Society, member of the Carnegie Library Board (later the Nashville Public Library). An active member of Hillsboro Presbyterian Church, Judge DeWitt servied his denomination's Presbyterian Advance for its entire 24-year existence (1910-1934) as Secretary. The Advance, from offices in the Presbyterian Building at 150 Fourth Avenue North in downtown Nashville, proclaimed on its stationery that it was the "only journal of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. west of Pittsburgh," and was published weekly to several thousand subscribers worldwide. The Rev. James E. Clarke served as President of the company and editor of the Advance, also for its entire existence. The Presbyterian Advance sold its operation to Presbyterian Colleagues, Inc., of Pittsburgh in 1934, at which time it ceased publication. The Advance Publishing Company surrendered its 1910 charter of incorporation on May 11, 1937, just two months after the death of Secretary DeWitt.
Biographical or Historical Data
Dr. James Everitt Clarke (1868-1957), Presbyterian minister, editor, educator, author, and lecturer, was born in Jamaica, Long Island, New York, in 1868, son of a sea captain. Clarke worked in the field of civil engineering before studying for the ministry at New York University and New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He moved to Tennessee in 1891 and was ordained by the Lebanon Presbytery; and between then and 1903 he pastored in Russellville, Kentucky, and in Nashville (Watkins Park Presbyterian Church and Addison Avenue Presbyterian Church). After 1903 he turned to general church work, primarily with church publications and Christian education. He became editor of the Cumberland Presbyterian in 1904, and in 1910 was made editor of its successor, the Presbyterian Advance, which he served until it was bought out in 1934. Later he became an associate editor of The Presbyterian Tribune. He served on the College Board (later the Board of Christian Education) of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., from 1907 to 1940. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee (1906), and Doctor of Laws from Missouri Valley College (1914). He died in Nashville on November 14, 1957.
Language
In English.
Cumulative Index/Finding Aids
Finding aid available in repository;,folder level control,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_Advance_Publishing.pdf.
Ownership and Custodial History
Records were donated to the Nashville Public Library by Rev. James E. Clarke, the company's President and editor of the Presbyterian Advance, in memory of Judge John H. DeWitt, and were in his possession at the time of donation.
Action
Processed,2008;,Ronnie Pugh.

Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Advance Publishing Company Records .

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Advance Publishing Company Records. .

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Advance Publishing Company Records .

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Advance Publishing Company Records

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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