Scope and arrangement
The Nathan Wright papers reflect his numerous interests and endeavors in the fields of religion, Black power, education, and race relations. Materials include personal papers; professional files related to the ministry and social issues; speeches and papers delivered at conferences; and writing, both published and unpublished. Additions mostly include professional files and writing.
The Nathan Wright papers and additions are arranged in four series:
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The Personal papers series includes Wright's lengthy CVs; printed information about him; a dissertation written about Wright's ideas about black education (1973); and papers regarding his ordination in 1950. Files pertaining to his education include papers he wrote as a college student, most concerning religious issues, as well as his 1964 Ph.D. dissertation entitled "The Life and Educational Thought of Bernard Iddings Bell (1886-1958)". Also contained in this series are genealogical files, his obituaries, papers regarding his funeral service, and biographical information written by Wright's children.
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1950-1995
The Religious and professional activities series contains many of Wright's sermons; information regarding his stewardships; and materials on his ministry, which he called the "Greater Things Ministries". There are also files regarding the "Assault-on-Illiteracy-Program" (1981-1982) of which Wright served as national chairman. This program strove to rectify the devastating effects of a "functional illiteracy" rate of 44% among Black youth nationwide. Included in this series are statements Wright prepared for a 1969 Senate investigation, particularly concerning economic and other changes that affected Black people.
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1995
This series covers drafts and final versions of papers which Wright presented, some of which express his views on Black power and race relations. Includes "Racism, Marginality and Educational Renewal Today", 1995.
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1937-1995
Wright's drafts for published articles, many concerning Black power, are in this series. Included are semi-monthly summaries; legislative alerts; articles regarding Black empowerment; his column "Peace and Power"; and papers which were published in such journals as Laity Exchange Magazine and Media Review and Viewpoint. Also included are his newspaper columns "Black Empowerment" and "Toward Empowerment".
A significant part of the collection is the Unpublished subseries. There are numerous drafts of Wright's autobiography, "Patrician Poor - Reflections on a Black Upbringing"; what appears to be a complete version of his manuscript "God's History and Other Verse"; "Semitic Wisdom: Judaic Insights for Human Liberation"; and "Let Zion Sing! Poetic Reflections on the Psalms". There are also manuscripts for "Urban Issues Facing the Churches" and "We've All Been Tricked (A Study of Black Power and Family Planning)".