Untitled Sunday School Lesson

The J. Philip Hyatt papers comprise material dating from Hyatt’s student days to his death in 1972.

Correspondence files contain letters from 1936 to 1972 and are not at all complete with certain years much more fully represented than others. Important correspondents include W.F.

Albright, Nelson Glueck, George E. Mendenhall, Bruce Metzger, H.H. Rowley, Samuel Sandmel, Claus Westerman, and G. Ernest Wright.

Manuscript or print copies of most of Hyatt’s published writing output are present in the collection including manuscripts, scholarly and popular articles and book reviews, and devotional literature. Also included are his papers written while he was a student, a large collection of sermon and Sunday school notes, and texts of various speeches and addresses.

Material related to Hyatt’s Bible translation work as a member of the Standard Bible Committee from 1945 to 1972 are present including material related to the actual translation process of the Committee.

Hyatt’s teaching career is documented by a significant body of classroom related material including lecture notes, syllabi, papers written by students, etc.

Academic administration involvement is reflected in an extensive collection of Vanderbilt Divinity School and Vanderbilt University related materials. Divinity School materials included Personnel and Policy Committee items, Curriculum Committee items, material related to the Dean searches of 1956 and 1965-66 and to the Lawson case of 1961. A variety of Graduate Department of Religion (of which Hyatt was the chair from 1944-64) materials are present as well.

Hyatt’s involvement with the Vanderbilt University administration is reflected in papers relating to the University Research Council, the University Senate (of which Hyatt was the Divinity School representative), the Academic Policy Committee of the University Senate, and the Chancellor Search Committee which recommended Alexander Heard in 1965.

Hyatt was an active member in a variety of professional organizations. Present in the collection are quite a number of papers from his varied activities in the Society of Biblical Literature including files related to the Yonan Codex controversy of 1955-56 during which Hyatt, then president of the Society, was sued by the Aramaic Bible Society. Other organizations include the National Council on Religion in Higher Education, the Society for Old Testament Study, the American Association of Theological Schools, and the American School of Oriental Research.

Hyatt served as the alumni secretary for the Yale Divinity School class of 1933 and the collection includes extensive correspondence and other materials related to this activity.

An active churchman, Hyatt was deeply involved in various organizations and activities of his denomination, the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. The collection included files from his work with the Disciples Divinity House of Vanderbilt Divinity School, the Disciples Historical Society, and the Disciples Panel of Scholars. Material relating to Hyatt’s ecumenical activities with the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches are also present.

A limited selection of papers related to Hyatt’s social justice activities can be found in these papers. An extensive selection of subject files relating primarily to Hyatt’s scholarly fields of Ancient Near Eastern and Old Testament studies are held in the collection. The presence of a variety of other subject files ranging from the American Indian religion to contemporary theology to Marxism reflects Hyatt’s wide range of interests.

Personal materials held include files on awards and honorary degrees, legal papers, files on family members, and appointment books covering the years 1951-72. Also present is a sizeable collection of short story fiction and other prose by Hyatt’s brother Robert L. Hyatt.

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