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Urantia Book Historical Society, Inc. Archive http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c82r3xcz No online items Guide to Urantia Book Historical Society archive ARC Mss 68 Finding aid prepared by Beaudry Allen, Carla Altamore, and Kaitlin Stumpf UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections 2016 University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara 93106-9010 [email protected] URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections Guide to Urantia Book Historical ARC Mss 68 1 Society archive ARC Mss 68 Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections Title: Urantia Book Historical Society, Inc. archive Identifier/Call Number: ARC Mss 68 Physical Description: 21 boxes(21 Linear Feet) Date (inclusive): 1906-2006 Date (bulk): 1964-1989 Abstract: The Urantia Book Historical Society archive chronicles the philosophy, activities, and teachings of the Urantia Book from its inception in the early 1910s to 2006. The collection consists of materials concerning Urantia Foundation and related groups, such as administrative records, court documents, conference proceedings, correspondence, newspaper-clippings, audiovisual material, Urantia book prints, essays, organizational publications and related research materials. Included are educational materials of the Urantia Book, especially the Boulder School, and members' personal papers. University of California, Santa Barbara Library, Special Research Collections Language of Material: English, French, and Spanish. Conditions Governing Access note The collection is open for research. Use Restrictions Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained. Preferred Citation [Identification of Item], Urantia Book Historical Society, Inc. archive, ARC Mss 68. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara. Historical Note 500,000 BC Dalamatia 200,000 BC The Lucifer Rebellion 600-500 BC Urantia witnesses a proliferation of religious truth 37,848 BC Adam and Eve 1980 BC Melchizedek's Teachings; Machiventa Melchizedek, the onetime sage of Salem, was invisibly present on Urantia for a period of one hundred years, acting as resident governor general of the planet 7 BC Jesus' birth 1827 – 1915Life of Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and also influential in William S. Sadler's early theological beliefs 1875 William S. Sadler MD and Lena K. Sadler (nee Kellogg) were born 1906 Contact made with sleeping subject 1932 The Forum is established 1934 Believed the worst of the materialistic age is over; the higher minds of the scientific world are no longer wholly materialistic in their philosophy Papers on the Life and Teachings of Jesus, the Urantia Papers Part I,II,II are compiled 1935 Urantia Papers Part IV compiled 1955 The Urantia Foundation established 1961 Jacques Weiss translated the Urantia Book into French 1975 Inaugural Urantia Brotherhood International Conference - Kendall College, Evanston Illinois 1955 The Urantia teachings are published in October The Urantia Brotherhood established 1989 The Urantia Foundation disenfranchises Urantia Brotherhood which changes its name to "Fifth Epochal Fellowship" 1984 The Jesusonian Foundation established 1991 Copyright disputes 2006 The establishment of The Urantia Book Historical Society Guide to Urantia Book Historical ARC Mss 68 2 Society archive ARC Mss 68 The Urantia Book, first published in 1955, is spiritual book that presents the origins, history, and destiny of humanity. The teachings traverse concepts of the universe, life and teachings of Jesus from a Christian perspective, and personal spiritual growth. The exact circumstances surrounding the origins of The Urantia Book are vague as the book is without an author, but instead the writings are believed to be from celestial beings providing an "epochal" religious revelation. The Uranita Book consists of 196 papers divided into four parts. The Urantia writings did materialize in Chicago, Illinois during the 1920s. In 1911, William S. Sadler and his wife Lena Sadler, both prominent physicians in the Chicago area, were deeply interested in the supernatural. William Sadler had been approached by a neighbor who was concerned about her husband's sleeping patterns. The patient, in question, would be unable to wake and breathe abnormally. The Sadlers began to investigate the husband's sleeping patterns, and over time, the man began to speak while he slept and the "voice" was not his but celestial beings channeling through him. By 1923, the Sadlers began to host friends and colleagues to weekly theological and philosophical discussions. The interests of the Sadlers and the group were in vogue during the time because the turn of the century had led to sweeping changes in technology and culture, between 1880 and World War I, that created new modes of conceptualizing and experiencing concepts of time and space. There was a socio-cultural collision between science and cultural of "seeing the unseen," evident in the invention of x-rays and popularity of negative space in art but also in the growth of spiritualism. It was in those meetings William Sadler mentioned the unusual sleeping case. Piqued in interest, the group devised questions for the celestial beings through the sleeping patient would answer. The answers received were fully-formed explanations of the universe, later known as the Urantia Papers. The group deemed themselves as the Forum, and was formalized as a closed group of 30 members and pledged to secrecy. A smaller group of five individuals called the "Contact Commission," including the Sadlers, was responsible for gathering the questions from the Forum, acting as the custodians of answers received. It is claimed the papers of the book physically materialized from 1925 until 1935 in a way that was not understood even by the Contact Commission nor the Forum, with the first two parts being completed in 1934 and the third and fourth in 1935. The last Forum gathering was in 1942. In 1939, members began to formalize classes to engage in the more serious and systematic study of the Urantia Papers. The initial class had seventy members and for several years referred to as "The Seventy," a predecessor to School of the Urantia Brotherhood. By 1950, the group evolved into the Urantia Foundation, a non-profit organization, responsible of the papers and spread of its teachings. The writings were officially published in 1955 as The Urantia Book and eventually translated into several different languages with several subsidiary organizations and study groups. Scope and Content The collection details the history and administrative structures of the Urantia Book, from its inception to the early 2000s, which includes individual members and subsidiary groups' materials. The collection mainly relates to the Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood but also includes documents relating to Urantia schools and education-- specifically the Boulder School-- Urantia Association International, and Urantia Book conferences. The collection consists of correspondence, pamphlets, booklets, business practices, court proceedings, publications, unpublished manuscripts, reviews and critiques of the writings, legal documents, and research/reference materials compiled by its members and executive committees. Also included A/V and digital materials of interviews, presentations, and events. The collection is loosely arranged into seven series: Urantia Book Administrative files, Conferences and Workshops, Correspondence, Urantia Book Education and the Boulder School, Meredith Sprunger files, Literature, and Audiovisual. The collection includes digital media not yet accessible until forensic capture. Series. I Urantia Book Administrative files mainly consist of administrative records, including meeting minutes, memoranda, internal correspondence, and publications. Many of files relates to copyright issues, and consequently legal proceedings. In addition, the series includes subject files on members, especially of former board members. In particular, there are files relating to Vern Grimsley. Grimsley founded the Family of God foundation and established a radio ministry. After Emma Christensen, the last Contact Commissioner died, Grimsley announced he was receiving special messages warning World War III was imminent and urged the Urantia Brotherhood to move to Clayton, California. The documents detail his prophecies and how Grimsley's announcement cause agitation through the foundation, which led to what is known as the Vern Grimsley-Clayton incident. The administrative files include the Urantia Brotherhood and some relate to estrangement between the Foundation and Brotherhood. Arranged by subject. Series II. Conferences and workshops consists mainly of conference proceedings, booklets, workshop materials, and related materials of conferences, workshops, and meet-ups on a national and international level. Series III. Correspondence consists mainly of letters, but also includes memoranda, faxes, and related materials demonstrating communication internally and among members. Guide to Urantia Book Historical ARC
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